Italian preconsonantal s-voicing is not regressive voice assimilation

Bibliographic Data

ID20344472
AuthorsBálint Huszthy (Babeş-Bolyai University , Cluj-Napoca , Romania, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume38
Issue1
Pages33-63
Publication date2021-02-23
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Linguistic Review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0167-6318 • E-ISSN: 1613-3676
PublisherWalter de Gruyter GmbH (PUBLISHER • DE)
DOI10.1515/tlr-2021-2058
OpenAlexW3133268068
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited39

In the literature of laryngeal phonology Romance languages are considered voice languages, exhibiting a binary distinction between a voiced lenis and a voiceless fortis set of obstruents. Voice languages are characterised by regressive voice assimilation (RVA) due to the phonological activity of [voice]. Italian manifests a process similar to RVA, called preconsonantal s-voicing; that is, /s/ becomes voiced before voiced consonants. Since /sC/ is the only obstruent cluster in Italian phonotactics, Italian seems to fulfil the requirements for being a prototypical voice language. However, this paper argues that s-voicing is not an instance of RVA, at least from a synchronic phonological point of view. RVA and Italian preconsonantal s-voicing essentially differ at every level of a synchronic comparison: in the input, in the trigger, in the domain of application and in the frequency of the processes. In Italian only sibilant fricatives may undergo voicing before consonants; however, other obstruents (which mostly appear in loanwords) do not assimilate for [voice]. Italian preconsonantal s-voicing does not take place at the word boundary or at morpheme boundaries, and it seems to be optional is new loanwords; thus, it is not a postlexical process like RVA. The synchronic differences between the two phenomena are analysed in Classical Optimality Theory. The laryngeal system of Italian prefers faithfulness over markedness, which means that non-/sC/ obstruent clusters surface with underlying voice values; while the voicing of /s/ before voiced consonants is seen as phonetic and not phonological

Grammaticalization · Linguistics · Markedness · Obstruent · Phonological rule · Phonology · Phonotactics · Syllabification · Syllable · Voice · Voice-onset time · Linguistic Studies and Language Acquisition · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Mathematics · Philosophy · Phonetics and Phonology Research · Psychology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access