Palatal harmony

Charles W. Kisseberth*, Michael J. Kenstowicz

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the typology of palatal harmony: phonotactic restrictions and phonological alternations for the feature [back]. The first half reviews the parameters for target, trigger, and directionality, as well as neutral, opaque, and transparent vowels in the better-documented Finnish, Turkish, Hungarian, Tuvan, and Uyghur. The second half summarizes the more restricted palatal harmonies in various dialects of Mari (Cheremis). Local harmony primarily affects reduced non-high central vowels. Non-local harmony arises from strengthening a word-final reduced vowel to a full vowel whose palatality (and roundness) is assimilated from a preceding vowel depending on factors of stress, distance, and the full versus reduced status of the trigger. The chapter concludes with a palatal harmony found in the first two syllables of the word in Lezgian; here pre-verbs harmonize with a following stem vowel, demonstrating that palatal harmony can function bidirectionally like the better-known cases of advanced tongue root harmony.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Oxford Handbook of Vowel Harmony
PublisherOxford University Press
Pages49-60
Number of pages12
ISBN (Electronic)9780191865718
ISBN (Print)9780198826804
DOIs
StatePublished - 22 Oct 2024

Keywords

  • Canonical vs. non-canonical harmony
  • Disharmonic word
  • Local vs. non-local harmony
  • Neutral vowel
  • Stress in harmony
  • Target vs. trigger

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