Phonology of Positional Asymmetry and Geminates: Constraints from Gestural Coordination Dynamics

Abstract

Nam, Hosung. 2011. Phonology of Positional Asymmetry and Geminates: Constraints from Gestural Coordination Dynamics. Korean Journal of Linguistics, 36-2, 337-365. The asymmetries between prevocalic and postvocalic positions that this study focuses on are twofold: (1) languages are attested that disallow codas (e.g. Fijian), only allows released (e.g. Arabic, Hindi, and Russian) or unreleased codas (e.g. Korean), or allow optionally released coda (e.g. English) in the postvocalic position whereas no languages are known as onsetless and prevocalic stops are always released; (2) postvocalic consonants are likely to be a target of various phonological processes (deletion, assimilation, and epenthesis). Nevertheless, unlike unreleased stops, it has been documented that released stops are rarely targeted for such processes in a pre-consonantal context. We attempt to unify such a postvocalic syllable typology and the positional asymmetries by positing gestural dynamic marked constraints, SYN and SEQ replacing ONSET and NOCODA. This study shows how constraints based on independently motivated dynamic gestural principles can be employed to account for cross-linguistic postvocalic patterns (released, unreleased and codaless) and some asymmetrical behaviors (between onset and coda) by proposing a split consonant gesture and a postvocalic coordinative structure distinct from the prevocalic one. (Haskins Laboratories)