| Summary: | The group of "guttural" consonants (pharyngeals, laryngeals, uvulars and emphatics) pattern together in terms of several phonological properties, as extensively documented by McCarthy (1991). He argues that this natural class can be captured in feature geometry with a Pharyngeal node. However, the status of the laryngeal consonants within this class· of segments is unresolved. While it is clear that the laryngeals (? and h) pattern with the other guttural consonants in Semitic languages, these sounds have also been argued to be Placeless (Steriade 1987, Bessell 1992). McCarthy (1991) suggests that languages may in fact stipulate whether laryngeal consonants are specified with a Pharyngeal node, or are Placeless. Bessell & Czaykowska-Higgins (1992) and Bessell (1992), based on data from Interior Salish languages, argue that this selection is independent of the inventory of guttural segments within a language.In this paper, I will take the opposite view. I argue that, in fact, the representation of laryngeals is intrinsically tied to the range of guttural consonants in a given language. Laryngeals are specified with a Pharyngeal node only when pharyngeal or uvular consonants are also present; otherwise, they are Placeless. I reexamine the evidence for treating laryngeals as Placeless within systems with large post-velar inventories, and conclude that the data point to another solution involving the feature [Retracted Tongue Root], a dependent of the node Pharyngeal. This predicts two possible ways of lowering vowels, spreading the feature [Retracted Tongue Root], which groups together emphatics, uvulars and pharyngeals, and spreading the node Pharyngeal, which is a region of articulation, and characterizes all the guttural consonants.
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