35.2078, Disc: Is lenition /g/ > [j] really possible?

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LINGUIST List: Vol-35-2078. Mon Jul 22 2024. ISSN: 1069 - 4875.

Subject: 35.2078, Disc: Is lenition /g/ > [j] really possible?

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Date: 22-Jul-2024
From: Fiammetta Di Pasquale [fiammetta.di-pasquale at etu.univ-cotedazur.com]
Subject: Is lenition /g/ > [j] really possible?


My PhD thesis project focuses on the outcomes of the lenition process
of the voiced velar plosive in Southern Italo-Romance, which, before
back vowels /a, o, u/, results in a fricative [ɣ] or a palatal [j]
depending on the area, as shown in (1).

(1) < b. lat. *gatt(u) "cat"; < b. lat. *guttja "drop"

Fricative outcome:
- Noepoli (PZ) u ˈ[ɣ]att Lausberg (1939§163)
- Teramo (TE) ˈ[ɣ]ɑttʃə

Palatal outcome:
- Matera (MT) a ˈ[j]att AIS (1928-1940)
- Altamura (BA) ˈ[j]ɔttʃ Loporcaro (1988:196)

Lenition or palatalization?
If lenition is a structural phenomenon (Scheer & Ségéral 2008), on the
other and palatalization is an assimilatory one. Lenition implies that
the weakening of a consonant depends on its position within the CVCV
string rather than on the quality of the surrounding segments, which
characterizes assimilatory phenomena.
If we consider both segments, fricative and palatal, as the outcomes
of a lenition process, while the fricative outcome can be considered
predictable before back vowels, the palatal outcome is less so, as it
does not align with the surrounding phonological material.
For the Italo-romance varieties, on one hand, Rohlfs (1966§155) argues
that palatal lenition results from the same weakening process that
converts a plosive into a fricative, which then further weakens into a
semivowel, as illustrated in (2):

(2) *g > [ɣ] > [j] / _a

For example, Latin *gall(u) initially evolves to ˈ[ɣ]all(u) and
subsequently to ˈ[j]all(u).
On the other hand, Loporcaro (1988:88) contends that fricative and
palatal outcomes should be considered distinct, as the palatal outcome
actually derives from the generalization of palatalization in front of
the palatal vowels /_i, e/ extending before /_a (as occurs in
Gallo-Romance). A synthesis, extracted from the text, is shown in (3):

(3) *g > [j] / _i, e > [j] /_a; > [ʃ] / _i,e

For example, Latin *gall(u) becomes ˈ[j]all(u), and the Latin glide
/j/ in *janwariu produces [j]ənˈnɛjr and subsequently [ʃ]ənˈnɛjr.

The project also focuses on the reanalysis of empty intervocalic
positions, highlighting how these positions are prone to the
epenthesis/prothesis of the corresponding weak allophones, fricative
or palatal.
Moreover, other unrelated languages exhibit identical phenomena of
lenition and reanalysis of the voiced velar. Regarding Medieval and
Modern Greek, which shows the same segments – the voiced velar
fricative and the palatal approximant – Holton et al. (2019: 143-144,
151-152) highlight the coincidence of the same segmental melody for
the outcomes of lenition and epenthesis, both with the velar fricative
and the palatal (lenition: ὑπά[γ]εις > πάεις: to go (pres. 2p.sg.);
epenthesis: τὸ αἷμα > τὸ [γ]-αἷμα, the blood). Morley (2015) reports
the case of Buryat (previously described by Poppe 1960 and Rice 2005),
in which the deletion of /g/ and a phonologically conditioned
epenthesis of the same voiced velar plosive in intervocalic contexts
is observed. Synchronically, in Uyghur, as noted by Vaux in his
inventory of consonant epenthesis and hypercorrection (2001), the
palatal [j] is deleted and reappears in a morphologically conditioned
epenthesis.

Now, my question is: is it truly possible for velar lenition to result
in a palatal (before back vowels) ? Are there languages that exhibit
lenition to a palatal (before back vowels) ? If so, which ones? Do you
know of any examples?

Thank you for reading! Feedbacks are welcome! :)

Please direct responses to
fiammetta.di-pasquale at etu.univ-cotedazur.com.

Fiammetta

Linguistic Field(s): Linguistic Theories
                     Phonetics
                     Phonology

Subject Language(s): French (fra)
                     Greek, Modern (ell)
                     Italian (ita)
                     Spanish (spa)

Language Family(ies): Romance
                      Southern Romance



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