Re: another silly phonology question

Marcus Smith wrote:
>Yoon Ha Lee wrote:
>>Are there certain tendencies for *how*
>>language phonologies violate symmetry, when they do?
>
>It seems to me that this was discussed a number of months ago, but that may
>have been a class of mine.
>
>Take a the classical series:
>
>p t k
>b d g
>f s x
>v z G
>
>If any voiceless stop is missing, it is most likely /p/.  If a voiced one
>is missing, it is most likely /g/. Why? I don't know. If you do not have a
>contrast in the stops, then you probably have voiceless, unaspirated stops.
The reason for this is physiological. Basically, its more difficult to
maintain voicing in a velar stop than it is in a labial stop. Voicing is
best maintained when the pressure below the vocal chords is higher than
the pressure above it. Obviously, this itself is best maintained in a stop
when the cavity between the vocal chords and the closure is largest. A
larger cavity allows the pressure to build up for a longer period than it
would in a smaller cavity. So since the cavity in a labial stop is much
larger than the cavity in a velar stop, then its obvious that voicing in a
labial stop is more favored in a velar stop.

>If you are missing a fricative, it is probably one of the velars. If you
>are missing an entire row of fricatives, it is probably the voiced. /s/ is
>almost never missing. (Many Australian languages have no phonemic fricatives.)
The reason for this is also physiological and perceptability. Its easier to
produce and percieve a voiceless stop than a voiced one. Voicing tends to
mask the frication noise made at the point of obstruction. Also, the flow
impedence at the glottis in a voiced sound increases the difficulty in
creating the turbulence needed to make the frication noise at the articulatory
constriciton. Sibilants like /s/ are among the most perceptible fricatives that
can be produced. Velars on the other hand are the least.

>There are probably lots more, but these are all that I can think of.
Here are a few more:

If there is nasal harmony, it is always the voiced sounds that are prone to
nasalization. This is because nasalized voiceless sounds are less perceptible
than nasalized voiced sounds.

If there is prenasalized stops, the stop element is almost always voiced. This
is because the raising of the velum in such a sequence allows for an increase
in the cavity behind the articulatory closure making it easier to maintain
voicing in such a sequence. (Viz. discussion above regarding /p/ and /g/).

That's all _I_ can think of.

>One thing to remember though is that many languages are asymmetric. People
>like to talk about symmetry, but it is often the case that the systems
>presented are idealized. I have never worked with language with a perfectly
>symmetrical phonemic inventory.
It also helps to remember why things are asymmetric in the first place.
When you know the physiological and perceptibility reasons why certain
sounds are disfavored, then it becomes less surprising why inventories
are asymmetric.

-kristian- 8)