A cross - linguistic study of the patterning of consonant clusters including a liquid

A cross - linguistic study of the patterning of consonant clusters including a liquid

This study explores what motivates sound alternations in a consonant cluster including a liquid as one of its members (a C/liquid cluster, hereafter). In this study, I hypothesize that phonological processes affecting C/liquid clusters are the result of segment contact rather than the Syllable Contact Law as discussed in Vennemann (1988), Clements (1990), Rice & Avery (1991), Baertsch & Davis (2000), among others. In explaining phonological modifications in C/liquid clusters as resulting from segment contact, I argue that the patterning of C/liquid clusters is closely related to speech perception. That is, as main factors motivating the alternations in the cluster, I consider contrasts of weak perceptibility triggered by phonetic similarity between two members of a cluster (Kawasaki 1982, Ohala 1992, 1993). Based on the findings of a typological survey concerning alternations in C/liquid clusters, I show that the segment contact account makes correct predictions regarding the patterning of C/liquid clusters, while the syllable contact account does not.