Laryngeal licensing and syllable well-formedness in Quiegolani Zapotec

Abstract

This paper analyzes linguistical features of Quiegolani Zapotec (QZ) via a combination of language-specific rules and universal constraints ordered within a constraint hierarchy that operates within a derivational phonology. A number of complex onset clusters in QZ do not follow the Sonority Sequencing Generalization discussed by J. Greenberg (1978) and E. O. Selkirk (1984), and the distribution of the laryngeal features likewise do not follow the Laryngeal Constraint of L. Lombardi (1991, 1995). QZ exhibits clusters that begin with voiceless fricatives and many reversed onset clusters consisting of sonorant or glide followed by an obstruent. Three privative laryngeal features are used in QZ: voice, spread glottis, and constricted glottis. Each of these features has special licensing constraints that, coupled with a ranking of the universal constraints on prosodic structure, serve to correctly limit the syllable shapes allowed in QZ. At the same time, these shapes also mark the reversed onset clusters as disfavored both language internally and universally. (Contains 39 references.) (NAV)