earticle

영어

Spirantization in Central Numic Languages: Synchronic and Diachronic Perspectives. Korean Journal of Linguistics. 39-2, 355-376. The present study reanalyzes so-called spirantization in three Numic languages, Panamint, Shoshoni, and Comanche. Different from most of previous research on this issue, it is proposed that partial spirantization in Comanche is in fact an innovator, while full spirantization in Panamint and Shoshoni is original (McLaughlin 1992). It is also shown that the change from /t/ to [ɾ], which all these three languages undergo, is part of spirantization, not tap formation, different from the analysis of Armagost & McLaughlin (1992, 1993). Within the framework of Aperture Theory (Steriade 1993a, 1993b, 1994), taps and fricatives are regarded as having an identical aperture representation, Arelease. Furthermore, this paper analyzes spirantization in Central Numic languages based on Optimality Theory (Prince & Smolensky 1993); it is demonstrated that the re-ranking of the constraints can account for the differences toward spirantization among these languages.