Abstract
Recently, a number of linguists (cf. Clements, 1991; Odden, 1991; Hume, 1992; Clements and Hume 1992) have proposed models of segment structure in which the place features of consonants and vowels are arrayed on different planes. As a consequence of this arrangement, these models predict that vowel-to-vowel place feature assimilation processes should not be blocked by intervening plain consonants (i.e., consonants with no distinctive secondary articulation).
In this paper, I discuss the implications for these theories of a process of roundness harmony that occurs in Nawuri, a Kwa language of Ghana. Of crucial interest is the fact that the process may be blocked, though not triggered, by the presence of an intervening plain labial consonant. I show that while the treatment of this blocking effect is straightforward in a framework such as that of Sagey (1986), in which labial consonants and round vowels are specified for a [labial] articulator node on the same plane, it is problematic for the more recent theories in which consonantal and vocalic place features are segregated.
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I am indebted to the Nawuri speakers of the village of Kitare who provided the data on which this paper is based, especially Mr. Chris Okumtey-Oklas (now Nana Nkpanibakey II). An earlier, different version of this paper, appeared as Casali (1993). Earlier versions were also presented at the UCLA phonology seminar during the Winter 1993 quarter and at the 24th Annual Conference on African Linguistics at Ohio State University on July 23, 1993; I am grateful for the comments I received on both occasions. I would also like to thank the following persons for their helpful comments and suggestions: Mike Cahill, Bruce Hayes, Pat Keating, Michael Kenstowicz, Robert Kirchner, David Odden, Jaye Padgett, Aaron Shryock, Dan Silverman, Keith Snider, and an anonymousNLLT reviewer. Special thanks are due to Donca Steriade for a great many valuable suggestions. Any shortcomings which remain are my own responsibility.
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Casali, R.F. Labial opacity and roundness harmony in Nawuri. Nat Lang Linguist Theory 13, 649–663 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00992854
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00992854