Anticipatory nasalization in A’ingae: Language-specific phonetics, not incomplete neutralization (Joint work with Scott AnderBois, Shen Aguinda, and Hugo Lucitante)

Cross-linguistically, vowels often undergo contextual nasalization in [VN] and [NV] sequences. In English, vowel nasalization in [VN] appears partial rather than categorical. Cohn (1990, 1993) influentially argued that vowels in [VN] contexts in English are phonologically unspecified for nasality (= [ø nasal]), and undergo gradient coarticulatory nasalization during phonetic implementation, differentiating them from true [+nasal] vowels (as in e.g. French /Ṽ/). In contrast, Solé (1992, 1995) argued that contextual nasalization is so extensive, controlled, and systematic in English [VN] that these vowels should be treated as phonologically [+nasal]. Phonetic differences in the extent of nasalization in English [VN] vs. French /Ṽ/ could then reflect the distinction between derived (predictable) vs. underlying (contrastive) [+nasal] vowels — in other words, incomplete neutralization.

In this talk, I approach this debate with nasal airflow data from A’ingae, a language isolate spoken in the Ecuadorian and Columbian Amazon. A’ingae has a /V Ṽ/ contrast, and a phonological process of left-to-right nasal spreading in /NV/ → [NṼ]. A’ingae also has extensive, but nonetheless partial nasalization in [VN] and [VⁿD] sequences. Nasalization before [N,ⁿD] is phonetically distinct from nasalization on contrastive /Ṽ/, and on nasal vowels derived by left-to-right spreading. Consequently, partial nasalization in [VN] and [VⁿD] cannot reflect a distinction between derived and underlying nasal vowels (= incomplete neutralization), because not all derived nasal vowels have the same phonetic profile. I also argue that nasalization in [VN] and [VⁿD] does not have the phonetic profile expected for phonological nasal spreading to sub-segmental units. The overall conclusion is that partial nasalization in [VN] and [VⁿD] sequences reflects underspecifed nasality [ø nasal] on vowels, along with an articulated system of language-specific phonetic realization.

Location: Haines Hall 220