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An identity bias in phonotactics: Evidence from Cochabamba Quechua

An identity bias in phonotactics: Evidence from Cochabamba Quechua Abstract Speakers of Cochabamba Quechua (CQ) participated in two tasks involving phonotactically illegal nonce forms with pairs of identical (e.g., (p'ap'u)) and non-identical ejectives (e.g., (k'ap'u)). In a repetition task, speakers were more accurate on identical than non-identical ejective pairs, though no asymmetry was found in an ABX discrimination task, nor in acoustic analysis of nonce roots with identical and non-identical ejective pairs. The latent preference for identical ejectives is unexpected given the phonotactics of CQ, which categorically disallows both identical and non-identical ejective pairs. The asymmetry is in accord with the typology, however. Many languages systematically exempt identical segments from a phonotactic restriction that applies to non-identical segments. It is argued that this cross-linguistic identity preference has its roots in a synchronic bias in favor of identical segments. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Laboratory Phonology de Gruyter

An identity bias in phonotactics: Evidence from Cochabamba Quechua

Laboratory Phonology , Volume 5 (3) – Aug 1, 2014

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References (132)

Publisher
de Gruyter
Copyright
Copyright © 2014 by the
ISSN
1868-6346
eISSN
1868-6354
DOI
10.1515/lp-2014-0012
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Abstract Speakers of Cochabamba Quechua (CQ) participated in two tasks involving phonotactically illegal nonce forms with pairs of identical (e.g., (p'ap'u)) and non-identical ejectives (e.g., (k'ap'u)). In a repetition task, speakers were more accurate on identical than non-identical ejective pairs, though no asymmetry was found in an ABX discrimination task, nor in acoustic analysis of nonce roots with identical and non-identical ejective pairs. The latent preference for identical ejectives is unexpected given the phonotactics of CQ, which categorically disallows both identical and non-identical ejective pairs. The asymmetry is in accord with the typology, however. Many languages systematically exempt identical segments from a phonotactic restriction that applies to non-identical segments. It is argued that this cross-linguistic identity preference has its roots in a synchronic bias in favor of identical segments.

Journal

Laboratory Phonologyde Gruyter

Published: Aug 1, 2014

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