Abstract
We advocate for a diachronic typological approach to phonology, arguing that explanation for phonological structure must appeal to dynamic processes. We outline basic assumptions and explanatory mechanisms of this framework and demonstrate its utility by applying it to aspects of consonant phoneme inventory structure. Examining sound change paths through which palatal(ized) and ejective consonants emerge, we show that initial conditions in a language influence the likelihood of a sound change occurring, and that sound change trajectories may differ in their lifespans and the ease with which they are entered into. Regarding more general theoretical issues, we find that focusing on the dynamic processes that create inventories is more likely to produce accurate predictions about the patterns observed than structural generalizations such as feature economy. We conclude that further elucidating the details of sound change will lead to a fuller and more explanatory phonological typology.
Author contributions
SE: conceptualization, investigation, methodology, data analysis, writing. JB: conceptualization, investigation, methodology, writing.
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Supplementary Material
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
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- Current research in phonological typology
- Investigating the ‘what’, ‘where’ and ‘why’ of global phonological typology
- Canonical phonology and criterial conflicts: relating and resolving four dilemmas of phonological typology
- Refining explanation in Evolutionary Phonology: macro-typologies and targeted typologies in action
- The prosodic foot beyond prosodic prominence: a preliminary survey
- On the comparability of prosodic categories: why ‘stress’ is difficult
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- Diachronic phonological typology: understanding inventory structure through sound change dynamics
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- Estimating areal effects in typology: a case study of African phoneme inventories
- Word prosody of African versus European-origin words in Afro-European creoles
- Towards a phonological typology of the Kalahari Basin Area languages
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Articles in the same Issue
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- Current research in phonological typology
- Investigating the ‘what’, ‘where’ and ‘why’ of global phonological typology
- Canonical phonology and criterial conflicts: relating and resolving four dilemmas of phonological typology
- Refining explanation in Evolutionary Phonology: macro-typologies and targeted typologies in action
- The prosodic foot beyond prosodic prominence: a preliminary survey
- On the comparability of prosodic categories: why ‘stress’ is difficult
- Bootstrap co-occurrence networks of consonants and the Basic Consonant Inventory
- Frequent violation of the sonority sequencing principle in hundreds of languages: how often and by which sequences?
- Diachronic phonological typology: understanding inventory structure through sound change dynamics
- Place typology and evolution of implosives in Indo-Aryan languages
- Estimating areal effects in typology: a case study of African phoneme inventories
- Word prosody of African versus European-origin words in Afro-European creoles
- Towards a phonological typology of the Kalahari Basin Area languages
- The typological frequency of consonants is highly predictive of their order of acquisition in English