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One mark per word? Some patterns of dissimilation in Austronesian and Australian languages*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 December 2012

Robert Blust
Robert Blust*
Affiliation:
University of Hawai'i
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Abstract

Adequately accounting for patterns of dissimilation has challenged more than one linguistic theory. This paper brings together evidence for certain recurrent patterns of dissimilation in Austronesian and Australian languages. It does not claim to have found a definitive solution to why these patterns occur, but it does provide indications that avoidance of multiple markedness may be causally implicated. Although the emphasis is different, the proposal offered here thus has fundamental similarities with Alderete (1997) in arguing that where it applies to dissimilation the Obligatory Contour Principle is inseparably connected with marked elements. Its primary contributions are to provide further empirical support for this claim that may not be readily accessible to non-specialists, to generalise the claim to a larger class of data, to suggest that the explanation for such patterns may be cognitive rather than phonetic and particularly to draw attention to conditions under which markedness-triggered dissimilation is suppressed.

Type
Research Article
Information
Phonology , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , December 2012 , pp. 355 - 381
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2012

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Footnotes

*

An earlier version of this paper was given as a keynote address at the annual meeting of the Austronesian Formal Linguistics Association at Harvard University in February 2011. I am grateful to Maria Polinsky for arranging that presentation, and to several members of the audience for their comments and suggestions. I also wish to thank Jason Lobel and Patricia Donegan for lending me materials, and three anonymous Phonology referees for their valuable criticisms that led to improvements in the present manuscript. The usual disclaimers apply.

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