Oma Lough Historical Phonology

The phonology of Òma Lóngh Kenyah as described by Soriente (2006) shows striking typological differences from its nearest relatives. Contrary to a pattern of avoidance that is almost universal in Austronesian languages, it has developed final palatals, including a voiceless unreleased palatal stop (...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Oceanic linguistics 2007-06, Vol.46 (1), p.1-53
Main Author: Blust, Robert
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Austronesian languages
Dialects
Historical analysis
Innovations
Language
Language typology
Linguistics
Nasals
Native languages
Phonetics
Phonological change
Phonology
Stops
Vowel harmony
Vowels
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Summary:The phonology of Òma Lóngh Kenyah as described by Soriente (2006) shows striking typological differences from its nearest relatives. Contrary to a pattern of avoidance that is almost universal in Austronesian languages, it has developed final palatals, including a voiceless unreleased palatal stop (written -j), and a palatal nasal (written -ny). In violation of universal tendencies in phonological systems, it has also innovated a voiceless velar nasal (but no other voiceless nasals) in final position. Out of a Proto-Kenyah sixvowel system in which tense mid vowels occurred only word-finally, it has developed three new vowels and an unusual system of double vowel harmony that requires both High-Mid avoidance and Tense-Lax agreement. Even more surprisingly, a typologically bizarre connection between the tenseness/laxness of the penultimate vowel and the shape of the final syllable is present in one subclass of bases, but emerges clearly only through a historical analysis. Together, these innovations add to an already impressive picture of north-central Borneo as a "hot spot" for rapid phonological change, including changes that do not appear to be phonetically motivated.
ISSN:0029-8115
1527-9421