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Labial unmarkedness in Sri Lankan Portuguese Creole

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  04 July 2003

Elizabeth Hume  and
Georgios Tserdanelis
Elizabeth Hume
Affiliation:
Ohio State University
Georgios Tserdanelis
Affiliation:
Ohio State University
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Abstract

In this squib we introduce new language data into the debate concerning the markedness of place of articulation. The data illustrate a process of assimilation in Sri Lankan Portuguese Creole where coronal patterns as more marked than both labial and dorsal. Labial unmarkedness is further supported by the feature's asymmetrical patterning in consonant deletion as well as its distribution and frequency. The patterns are of particular significance since they provide a clear example of a language in which labial patterns as unmarked, thus leading us to the conclusion that there is no single, universal unmarked place of articulation. Implications of the Sri Lankan Portuguese Creole pattern for structure- and constraint-based accounts of markedness are discussed.

Type
Squibs and Replies
Information
Phonology , Volume 19 , Issue 3 , December 2002 , pp. 441 - 458
Copyright
© 2002 Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

We owe a debt of gratitude to Ian Smith for making his electronic database of SLPC available to us and for answering our many questions over the last few years concerning the phonology of the language. Earlier versions of this paper were presented at the Mid-Continental Workshop on Phonology (1999), the Montreal–Ottawa–Toronto Workshop on Phonology (2000) and the Department of Linguistics, University of Tromsø (2001). We thank the members of those audiences for their valuable input, in particular José Hualde, John McCarthy, Charles Reiss, Curt Rice and Keren Rice. We are also grateful to Mary Bradshaw, Nick Clements, Keith Johnson, Brian Joseph, David Odden and Donca Steriade for their comments and suggestions. Finally, we extend our sincere appreciation to the members of the OSU seminar on markedness, 2002 (Catalin Anghelina, Hope Dawson, Shelome Gooden, Grant McGuire, Jeff Mielke, Misun Seo and Andrea Sims), as well as to the three reviewers and associate editor, who provided much critical input on an earlier version of this paper.