Palatalization and “strongi” across Inuit dialects

• Published in: Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique
• Main Authors: Compton, Richard, Dresher, B. Elan
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2011
• Subjects: inuit
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0008413100003145; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0008413100003145

Abstract Inuit dialects with palatalization all distinguish between “strong i ” and “weak i ”: instances of surface [i] that cause palatalization and those that do not, respectively. All dialects that have completely lost this contrast also lack palatalization. Why are there no /i, a, u/ dialects in which all instances of surface [i] trigger palatalization? We propose that this typological gap can be explained using a contrastivist analysis whereby only contrastive features can be phonologically active, palatalization is triggered by [coronal], and contrastive features are assigned in an order placing [low] and [labial] ahead of [coronal]. In a three-vowel inventory only [low] and [labial] are contrastive, while in the four-vowel inventory [coronal] must also be contrastive to distinguish strong and weak i. It follows from these assumptions that [i] can trigger palatalization only if it is in contrast with a fourth vowel.