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In:Sonic Signatures: Studies dedicated to John Harris
Edited by Geoff Lindsey and Andrew Nevins
[Language Faculty and Beyond 14] 2017
► pp. 201–214

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On the diachronic origin of Nivkh height restrictions

 | Sapporo Gakuin University
 | Leiden University Centre for Linguistics
Published online: 30 November 2017
DOI logo with link
https://doi.org/10.1075/lfab.14.c12
Nivkh, a genetic isolate spoken in the Russian Far East, displays a pattern of stress-dependent height restrictions in a linguistic area where tongue-root harmony is prevalent. We argue that the Nivkh pattern derives from an earlier tongue-root system. This system developed into a height-based system following the loss of tongue-root contrasts in high vowels, in much the same way as has been proposed for dialects of Manchu.
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Height harmony and TR harmony in Manchu
  • 3.From TR harmony to height harmony: The case of Sanjiazi Manchu
  • 4.Vowel co-occurrence restrictions in Nivkh
  • 5.From TR harmony to height restrictions: The case of Nivkh
  • 6.Conclusion
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • References
References (17)
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Cited by (3)

Cited by three other publications

Harry van der Hulst & Nancy A. Ritter
2024. The Oxford Handbook of Vowel Harmony, DOI logo
Ksenia Bogomolets & Harry van der Hulst
2023. Word Prominence in Languages with Complex Morphologies, DOI logo
de Kok, Kenneth, Bert Botma & Marijn van ’t Veer
2018. Glides and laryngeals as a structural class. Linguistics in the Netherlands 35 ► pp. 51 ff. DOI logo

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