Phonology Problem: Nasalization Spreading

Hi all,

For my recent language Tan Tyls, I created a nasal spreading
rule that was based on something I'd seen somewhere.  It goes
as follows:

(1) Any vowel becomes nasalized when directly adjacent to a nasal
consonant (so the vowel in /mjV/ is not nasalized).

(2) Nasalization spreads rightward, but may not cross a "back"
consonant.  The back consonants are defined as /q, ?\, h/.

The labeling of these as back consonants was motivated by them
sharing similar properties in Tan Tyls--that listed above being a
main one.

Recently, though, I read an article that described how nasalization
spreads through exactly these types of consonants, and not the
ones it spreads through currently in Tan Tyls.  And I think the
logic of it works.

What it said is that, essentially, for nasalization to spread, the
velum should be (or be allowed to be) lowered.  Thus, voiceless
stops should be the biggest block to the spread of nasalization,
voiceless fricatives less so, voiced stops less so, nasals not at all,
and back consonants (that is, those that don't involve the velum
at all, like /?\/ and /h/) should allow nasalization spreading
very easily.

So here's my question.  First, do those who've read stuff (or seen
stuff) on nasalization spreading agree with the logic of this article?
And if so (or if not), should I change what I've gotten?  That is, is
what I have currently happening impossible, or an extreme
phonological improbability?

-David
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"A male love inevivi i'ala'i oku i ue pokulu'ume o heki a."
"No eternal reward will forgive us now for wasting the dawn."

-Jim Morrison

http://dedalvs.free.fr/

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