Consonant gradation

• Main Author: Bakró-Nagy, Marianne
• Format: Book Part
• Language: unknown
• Published: Oxford University PressOxford 2022
• Subjects: Nganasan*; saami
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780198767664.003.0042; https://academic.oup.com/book/chapter-pdf/47098161/oso-9780198767664-chapter-42.pdf

Abstract Consonant gradation, or the alternation of certain “strong-grade” consonants or consonant clusters with their “weak-grade” counterparts, is a peculiar morphophonological phenomenon occurring in the north-western (Saami and Finnic) and north-eastern (Nganasan) peripheries of Uralic; whether these two have common roots in Proto-Uralic is still a matter of debate. The Uralic consonant gradation comes in two types. Syllabic or radical gradation affects wordstem-internal consonants and was originally conditioned by the openness or closedness of the following syllable, rhythmic or suffixal gradation affects the consonants at the onset of a suffix and was originally conditioned by the presence or absence of stress on the preceding syllable. These original conditions have in many cases been obscured by sound changes or analogical developments, so that the gradation has been partly or completely morphologized. Its forms vary from language to language according to the quality and quantity of the consonants and consonant clusters.