Regarding the sonority of liquids

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1 University of Barcelona From the SelectedWorks of Clàudia Pons-Moll 2008 Regarding the sonority of liquids Clàudia Pons-Moll Available at:

2 1 2 Clàudia Pons Moll Regarding the sonority of liquids. Some evidence from Romance Clàudia Pons (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) claudia.pons@uab.cat 1. STATE OF THE AFFAIRS (1) The role of the sonority scale in phonology Parameter to account for syntagmatic relations between segments: organization of segments within the syllable Sonority Sequencing Principle: «Segments are syllabified in such a way that sonority increases from the margin to the peak.» (See, among others, Clements 1990) Sonority Dispersion Principle: «Sonority is maximally dispersed in the initial demisyllable and minimally dispersed in the final demisyllable.» (See, among others, Clements 1990) organization of segments across syllables Syllable Contact Law: «Sonority drops maximally across syllable boundaries» (See, among others, Clements 1990) (2) Uncontroversial relative sonority of segments VOWELS > GLIDES > LIQUIDS > NASALS > OBSTRUENTS [See, among others, Bell & Hooper 1978, Harris 1983, van der Hulst 1984, Clements 1987, 1990; Kenstowicz 1994, Smolensky 1995, de Lacy 1997, Holt 1997, Oostendorp 1999, Hall 2000; (without distinction between vowels & glides): Selkirk 1984, Durand 1990, Gnanadesikan 1995, 1997, Nuñez-Cedeño & Morales Front 1999, Cohn & Lavoie 2000.] (3) Controversial relative sonority of segments a. LATERALS vs. RHOTICS laterals > rhotics rhotics > laterals rhotics = laterals b. FRICATIVES vs. STOPS fricatives > stops fricatives = stops c. VOICED OBSTRUENTS vs. VOICELESS OBSTRUENTS voiced obstruents > voiceless obstruents voiced obstruents = voiceless obstruents voiced fricatives > voiceless fricatives > voiced stops > voiceless stops voiced fricatives > voiceless fricatives = voiced stops > voiceless stops d. STOPS vs. AFFRICATES vs. FRICATIVES fricatives > affricates > stops fricatives = affricates > stops fricatives > affricates = stops e. GLOTTALS (See Parker 2002, for exentesive discussion on this subject) (4) Circular argumentations Specific phonological pattern Specific distribution of segments in the sonority scale Some critical reviews on sonority «Segments are assigned to sonority classes on the basis of their distribution within the syllable, but syllabification itself is usually formulated in terms of sonority» (Walther 1993) «The circularity would be avoided if the sonority of segments were definable in some way that was independent of their position in this hierarchy. But this is not the case; sonority has never been satisfactorily defined [ ] Furthermore, there are no prospects that anyone is even getting close to solving this problem except, perhaps, by abandoning it and invoking an entirely new notion to explain segment sequences.» (Ohala 1990,1992) (See Parker 2002, for exentesive discussion on this subject) (5) The sonority scale: universal or language-particular? Universal, categorical and impermutable Language-particular, gradient and permutable (6) Arguments for a more flexible and gradient approach to the sonority scale a) The specific phonetic properties of each sound and each class of sounds can fluctuate from one language to another (and, also, from one dialect to another), although the given label coincides. ( Slightly different sonority values / relative sonority) Example: RHOTIC SOUNDS Voiced dental or alveolar trill r

3 Voiced dental or alveolar tap or flap Voiced dental or alveolar approximant Voiced post-alveolar flap Voiced post-alveolar approximant Voiced uvular trill Voiced uvular approximant Voiced dental or alveolar lateral flap (Ladefoged & Maddieson 1996: 216) b) The specific phonetic features of each sound can (slightly) vary depending on the structural position that it occupies. ( Slightly different sonority values / relative sonority) For rhotics, see, for instance, Recasens & Espinosa (2007): «Phonetic typology and positional allophones for alveolar rhotics in Catalan» For laterals, see, for instance, Recasens (2005): «Articulatory, positional and coarticulatory characteristics for clear /l/ and dark /l/: evidence from two Catalan dialects» c) The relative sonority of sounds can diverge depending on the phonetic context. Larson (1993), for instance, proposes a model in which sonority is considered not absolute, but the result of a mutual (bidirectional) excitation between adjacent segments. (Sonority syntagmatic feature) d) The relative sonority of sounds can oscillate depending on the physiological attributes of the speakers: in Parker (2002), slight sound sonority differences are detected in males and females. ********************************* e) Unlike what is tacitly assumed in traditional approaches to the sonority scale, the sonority distance between different pairs of categories in the hierarchy has not necessary to be the same. «the values are purely relational: the distance between each niche in the hierarchy has the same value. It is not unlikely that this is the wrong approach, and that the sonority distances between segments of lesser sonority are smaller than those between segments of greater sonority, that is, that there are significant discontinuities in the sonority hierarchy» (Selkirk 1984: 121) 3 4 Clàudia Pons Moll f) Languages do not share the same segment inventories, so that the relative sonority distances between sounds across languages may be different. g) Languages can make an equal or a different phonological use of the same physical properties of speech sounds (see Morén 2007). (7) Parker (2002) Phonetically grounded sonority scale Verified through psycholinguistic experiments Intensity Peak intraoral air pressure F1 frequency physical correlates of sonority Peak air flow Duration Cf. «The sonority of a sound is its loudness relative to that of other sounds with the same length, stress and pitch.» Ladefoged (1993) (8) Phonetically grounded / universal sonority scale low vowels > mid vowels > high vowels > [ ] > glides > laterals & > flaps > trills > nasals > /h/ > voiced fricatives > voiced stops > voiceless fricatives > voiceless stops & affricates (Parker 2002: 236) «Most languages in fact conflate the scale in the sense that they do not systematically exploit all the intervals. This is because they either lack the respective phoneme(s) entirely, or else they collapse together two or more adjacent ranks and thus do not distinguish them in terms of their phonological processes». (Parker 2002: 236) (9) Jany, Gordon, Nash, Takara (2007) Calculation of sound s intensity in 4 languages (Egyptian Arabic, Hindi, Mongolian and Malayalam). Disputed sonority contrasts, such as a) laterals vs. rhotics, b) voiceless fricatives vs. voiced stops, c) affricates vs. stops, and d) sibilants vs. other fricatives, follow languagespecific patterns. Undisputed contrasts, such as sonorants > obstruents, are cross-linguistically consistent in their acoustic patterns.

4 2. GOALS 5 6 Clàudia Pons Moll (13) On the relation between the tap [ ] and the trill [r] The purpose of this talk is twofold. On the one hand, focusing on some familiar phonological patterns of liquids in Romance varieties and, also, on some other phenomena less well-known, we prove that the sonority scale proposed by Parker (2002) for these segments leads to the correct predictions in most cases, but not in all. [In this talk] On the other hand, taking these data as illustration, we aim to discuss which sonority conflations and reversals across languages should be possible and which should not [not in this talk], and how these language specific details could be formalized. [In this talk] 3. DATA AND DISCUSSION (10) Liquids VOWELS > GLIDES > LIQUIDS > NASALS > OBSTRUENTS (See 2) (11) Rhotics and laterals VOWELS > GLIDES > RHOTICS > LATERALS > NASALS > OBSTRUENTS (See 3) (12) Regressive manner assimilation asymmetries in Italian val+rà [varra ] (he/she) will be valid orlo [o rlo] edge dol+rà [dorra ] (he/she) will feel pain BUT Carlo [ka rlo] Charles (Cf. valere, dolere) Phonological sonority pattern: r > l /val+ra/ SYLLABLECONTACT IDENT(Manner) a. [valra ] *! b. [varra ] * /orlo/ a. [o rlo] b. [o llo] *! (NOTE: For expository reasons, a very simplified version of the Syllable Contact constraint is used here. For more sophisticated versions of it, see Baertsch (2002), Baertsch & Davis (2003, 2005), Davis & Baertsch (2008), Gouskova (2001, 2002, 2005), and Pons (2003, 2004, 2005).) LATERALS, TAPS > TRILLS There is not a single instance in which the mean value for /r/ is significantly more sonorous than that of / /» (Parker 2002: 233) (14) Distribution of rhotics in Romance Spanish Portuguese Catalan 0 OBSTRUENTS TRILLS a) stem-initial position trill [rje z o] [ i ku] [ri sk] 1 NASALS b) onset position, after a het. C trill [onra o] [un a u] [unra t] 2 LATERALS c) second position of an onset tap [f i o] [f i u] [f t] 3 GLIDES FLAPS d) coda position tap ~ trill [ma /r] [ma / ] [ma /r] 4 VOWELS (After Bonet & Mascaró 1997; Mateus & Andrade 2000) SONORITY DISPERSION PRINCIPLE: «Sonority is maximally dispersed in the initial demisyllable and minimally dispersed in the final demisyllable» (Clements 1990, 2006) Phonological sonority pattern: > r (15) Onset / / trilling in North-Eastern Catalan (15a) Stem-final glide + future and conditional morph(eme)s preservation caurà /kaw+ a/ [k w. a ] (he/she) will fall down cauria /kaw+ i / [k w. i ] (he/she) would fall down traurà /t w+ / [t w. a ] (he/she) will take out trauria /t w+ i / [t w. i. ] (he/she) would take out (15b) Stem-final stop + future and conditional morph(eme)s syllabification to the onset prometrà /p um t+ a/ [p u.m.t a ] (he/she) will promise prometria /p um t+ i / [p u.m.t i. ] (he/she) would promise (15c) Stem-final nasal or lateral + future and conditional morph(eme)s trilling (as a strategy to minimize the intersyllabic sonority rise) venrà /b n+ a/ [b n.ra ] (he/she) will sell venria /b n+ i / [b n.ri ] (he/she) would sell

5 calrà /kal+ a/ [kal.ra ] it will be necessary calria /kal+ i / [k l.ri ] it would be necessary temré /tem+ e/ [t m.ra ] (he/she) will be afraid temria /tem+ i / [t m.ri ] (he/she) would be afraid planyrà /pla + a/ [pl.ra ] (he/she) will complain planyria /pla + i / [pl.ri ] (he/she) would complain (Data from Lloret 2002) Phonological sonority pattern: > r (15d) /tem+ e/ *DIST +2 *DIST +1 *DIST 0 IDENT(Manner) *DIST 1 a. [t m. e ] *! b. [t m.re ] * * /kal+ i / a. [k l. i ] *! b. [k l.ri ] * * Assumed sonority scale (see 13): VOWELS > GLIDES > LATERALS, TAPS > > TRILLS > NASALS > FRICATIVES > STOPS DIST 0 DIST Clàudia Pons Moll temeria /tem+ i / [t.m. i ] (I) would be afraid temeré /tem+ e/ [t.m. e ] (I) will be afraid (Cf. temia [t mi ] he/she was afraid ) planyerà /pla + a/ [pl.. a ] (He/She) will complain planyeria /pla + i / [pl.. i ] (He/She) would complain (Cf. planyia [pl i ] he/she complained ) (16) Evolution of Latin clusters N R and L R a. Catalan (North-Eastern & Majorcan) b. Catalan (most varieties) Onset trilling Epenthesis TE N(E )RU > [t n.r ] TE N(E )RU > [t n.d a] tender DIE VE NE RIS > [div n.r s] DIE VE NE RIS > [div n.d s] Friday Phonological sonority pattern: > r Cf. Spanish Metathesis TE N(E )RU > [tje.no] DIE VE NE RIS > [vje.nes] (17) Blocking of apheresis in Catalan DIST 1 DIST +2 (NOTE: For expository reasons, a very simplified version of the IDENT(Manner) faithfulness constraint is used here.) Cf. Epenthesis in Catalan (other varieties) epenthesis as a strategy to avoid rising /flat sonority across syllable boundaries vendrà /b n+ a/ [b n.d a ] (he/she) will sell vendria /b n+ i / [b n.d i ] (he/she) would sell (Cf. venia [b ni ] he/she sold ) caldrà /kal+ a/ [k l d a ] it will be necessary caldria /kal+ i / [k l d i ] it would be necessary (Cf. calia [k li ] it was necessary ) a. b. c. [ ]nar nar [ r]ibar [r]ibar [ ]omatitzar *[ ]omatitzar [ ]gafar gafar [ r]eglar [r]eglar [ ]ena *[ ]ena [ ]gulla gulla [ r]acada [r]acada [ ]anya *[ ]anya ( to go, to take, needle ) ( to arrive, to fix, earring ) ( to perfume, sand, spider ) (Bonet & Mascaró 1997) Phonological sonority pattern: > r (18) Hypocoristic formation in Catalan a. b. c. Josefina Fina Montserrat Rat Margarita *[ ]ita, Mita Francisco Cisco Jeroni *[ ]oni, Noni Joaquim Quim Aurora *[ ]ora (Data from Cabré 1993)

6 Phonological sonority pattern: > r 9 10 Clàudia Pons Moll (22) Alguerese Catalan complex onset structure INTERIM RESULTS: The phonological patterns related to trills and taps in the Romance varieties analyzed are totally consistent with the experimental results in Parker (2002). (19) On the relation between the tap [ ] and the lateral [l] «Specifically, /l/ patterns as more sonorous than the flap / / 10 times, as equivalent 7 times, and as less sonorous in 3 cases. The flap / / in turn outranks the trill 9 times and ties with it only once. There is not a single instance in which the mean value for /r/ is significantly more sonorous than that of / /» (Parker 2002: 233) (20) Structural distribution in (most) Romance languages a) stem-initial position lateral b) onset position, after a het. C lateral c) second position of an onset lateral / tap d) coda position lateral / tap (21) Catalan complex onset structure C1: [p], [t], [k], [b] / [ ], [d] / [ ], [g] / [ ], [f] C2: [l], [ ] (NOTE: Complex onsets where C2 is a glide are also allowed; for simplicity, we exclude them.) [pl] [bl] [ l] [kl] [ l] [ l] *[tl] *[dl] *[ l] plat simple blau rambla bíblia [pla t] [si mpl ] [bla u] [ra mbla] [bi lj ] dish simple blue way avenue clara vincle glop ungla aglà [kla a] [bi kl ] [ lo p] [u l ] [ la ] clear link sip nail acorn [p ] [b ] [ ] [k ] [ ] [ ] [t ] [d ] [ ] prou [p w] enough cranc [k a k] crab tres sempre [se mp ] always pulcre [pu lk ] tidy entre broma [b o m ] joke gra [ a ] grain dret cambra [ka mb a] room ingrés [i e s] income vendre arbre [a ] tree agre [a ] sour quadre [fl] flor inflar [f ] fret nafra [fl ] [i fla ] [f t] [na f ] flower to inflate cold injury [t s] [e nt ] [d t] [v nd ] [kwa ] three between law to sell picture C1: [p], [t], [k], [b] / [ ], [d] / [ ], [g] / [ ], [f] C2: [ ] * [pl] [bl] * [kl] [ l] *[tl] *[dl] plat [p a t] dish clara [k a a] clear simple [si mp a] simple vincle [bi k ] link blau [b a u] blue glop [ o p] sip it seems nail sembla [se mb a] ungla [u ] [p ] [b ] [k ] [ ] [t ] [d ] prou [p w] enough cranc [k a k] crab tres [t s] sempre [se mp ] always pulcre [pu lk ] tidy entre [e nt ] broma [b o m ] joke gra [ a ] grain dret [d t] cambra room ingrés income vendre [ka mb a] [i e s] [v nd ] [fl] flor inflar [f ] [i f a ] flower to inflate [f ] fret [f t] cold nafra [na f ] injury (Data from Bosch 1999) Diachronic process of rhotacism of [l] as an onset sonority maximization strategy Assumed sonority scale in (15d): VOWELS > GLIDES > LATERALS, TAPS > TRILLS > NASALS > FRICATIVES > STOPS = INTRASYLLABIC DISTANCE What explains, therefore, the avoidance of OBSTRUENTLATERAL onset clusters? Phonological sonority pattern: > l VOWELS > GLIDES > TAPS > LATERALS > TRILLS > NASALS > FRICATIVES > STOPS INTRASYLLABIC DISTANCE three between law to sell INTRASYLLABIC DISTANCE

7 11 12 Clàudia Pons Moll /plat/ *ONSET OBSTRUENT / LATERAL IDENT(Manner) *ONSET OBSTRUENT / TAP a. [pla t] *! b. [p a t] * * (NOTE: For expository reasons, a very simplified version of the constraints regulating the sonority in onsets is exposed here; for a thorough proposal, see Baertsch (2002), Baertsch & Davis (2005) and Davis & Baertsch (2008).) (23) Lateral rhotacism in complex onsets in Sardinian (Nuorese & Logudorese) Cf. Italian PLOVERE (lat.) > [p ] ~ [pr ] [pj]overe to rain PLANTA (lat.) > [p a nta] ~ [pr a nta] [pj]anta plant PLUS (lat.) > [p u z(u)] ~ [pr uz(u)] [pj]ù more PLOM(O) (sp., cat.) > [p u mu] ~ [pr u mu] [pj]ombo lead SPLENE (lat.) > [i sp ene] ~ [i spr ene] lien BLANDUS (lat.) > [b a ndu] ~ [br a ndu] soft CLAVUS (lat.) > [k a vu] ~ [kr a vu] [kj]odo key ORIC LA (lat.) > [o i k a] ~ [o i kr a] ore[kkj]o ear ECCLESIA (lat.) > [k e zja] ~ [kr e zja] [kj]esa church GLANDULA (lat.) > [ a ndula] ~ [ r a ndula] [ j]andula gland UNG LA (lat.) > [u a] ~ [u r a] un[ j]a nail MASC LUS (lat.) > [ma sk u] ~ [ma skr u] mas[kj]o male FLORE (lat.) > [f o e] ~ [fr o e] [fj]ore flower FLOCCUS (lat.) > [f o kkus] ~ [fr o kkus] [fj]occo flake (Data from Pittau 1972, 1991) Phonological sonority pattern:, r > l (24) Lateral rhotacism in complex onsets in Sardinian (Campidanese) PLUS > [p u s] ~ [pr u s] more CLAVIS > [k a i] ~ [kr a i] key FLOS, FLORE > [f i] ~ [fr i] flower FLAMMA > [f a mma] ~ [fr a mma] flower PALMA > [p a mma] ~ [pr a mma] palm DULCIS > [d u tt i] ~ [dr u tt i] sweet PALPARE > [p apa i] ~ [pr apa i] to touch (Data from Wagner 1941, Bolognesi 1998, Frigeni 2004) Phonological sonority pattern:, r > l (25) Lateral rhotacism in complex onsets in Galician FLACCU > [f ]aco slim FLUXU > [f ]ouxo loose ECCLESIA > i[ ]esia church PLATEA > [p ]aza square PLACERE > [p ]acer pleasure (Cf. PLUVIA > chuvia rain ; CLAMARE > chamar to call ; PLORARE > chorar to cry ; FLAMMA > chama flame ) (Data from Frexeiro 1998: 184) (26) Lateral rhotacism in complex onsets in Galician (variation) claridade [kla i a e] ~ [k a i a e] brightness explicar [esplika ] ~ [esp ika ] to explain gloria [ lo ja] ~ [ o ja] glory inclinado [i klina o] ~ [i k ina o] inclined clase [kla s] ~ [k a s] class amables [ama les] ~ [ama es] kind plur. plomo [plo mo] ~ [p o mo] lead (Data from Frexeiro 1998: 184) Phonological sonority pattern: > l (27) Lateral rhotacism in European Portuguese blanco [b a ko] white plato [p a to] dish Phonological sonority pattern: > l (28) Additional evidence a. Syncope in Catalan barana [b a na] handrail taronja [t n a] orange berenar [b na ] breakfast Teresa [t z ] Teresa veritat [b ita t] truth interès [in t s] interest parany [p a ] trap garatge [ a d ] parking

8 baralla [b a a] fight però [p ] but BUT: peril [p i ] danger pelar [p la ] (*[pla ]) to peel embaràs [ mb a s] pregnancy pelut [p lu t] (*[plu t]) hairy verema [b m ] vintage balança [b la nsa] (*[bla ns ]) balance (Data from Recasens [1991] 1996) b. Gemination and devoicing in Catalan poble [p b.bl ] ~ [p.pl ] town doble [do b.bl ] ~ [do.pl ] double segle [se. l ] ~ [se.kl ] century regla [re. l ] ~ [re.kl ] ruler BUT: magre [ma. ] slim negre [n. ] black emigra [ mi. ] (he/she) emigrates agre [a. ] sour (Data from Recasens [1991] 1996) (29) Lateral rhotacism between vowels in Alguerese Catalan a. Word-internally b. Across words (involving clitics) ala [a a] wing a l escola [a ask la] in the school cala [ka a] creek per la mare [pe a ma a] for the mother sala [sa a] room me la dóna [ma a do na] (he/she) gives it to me tela [t a] row c. Synchronic productivity fila [fi a] line mal [ma l] ~ mala [ma a] bad masc. ~ bad fem. gola [ o a] neck vol [v l] ~ voliva [vu i va] (he/she) wants ~ (he/she wanted) mula [mu a] mule llençol [ ans l] ~ llençolet [ ansu e t] sheet ~ sheet dimin. Cf. Intervocalic / /: ara [a a]; pare [pa a]; cara [ka a]; mare [ma a] (Data from Bosch 2002) Clàudia Pons Moll (30) Dental stop rhotacism between vowels in Alguerese Catalan a. Word-internally b. Synchronic productivity cada [ka a] each convid [kumvi t] (I) invite ~ convidar [ku vi a ] to invite fada [fa a] fairy amad [ama t] loved masc. ~ amada [ama a] loved fem. vida [vi a] life (Data from Bosch 2002) (31) Lateral rhotacism between vowels in Sardinian (Sassarese, among other varieties) calori [ka o i] hot soli [so i] sun scola [sko a] school ala [a a] wing mela [me a] almond fila [fi a] line taula [ta w a] table (Data from Peana 1995) The prominence hierarchy for consonants in intervocalic position is that of peaks, not that of margins (Uffmann 2005) Prominence hierarchy for consonants in intervocalic position (adapted to the sonority scale in 21) *V V / STOPS >> *V V / FRICATIVES >> *V V / NASALS >> *V V / TRILLS >> *V V / LATERALS >> *V V / TAPS >> *V V / GLIDES /mal+a/ *V V / STOPS *V V / LATERALS IDENT (Manner) a. [ma la] *! *V V / TAPS b. [ma a] * * /amad+a/ a. [ama da] *! b. [ama a] * * INTERIM RESULTS: The phonological patterns related to laterals and taps in the Romance varieties analyzed are not totally consistent with the sonority scale proposed in Parker (2002), since the tap generally patterns as more sonorous than the lateral, but they are consistent with his experimental results (see 18).

9 (32) On the relation between the lateral [l] and the trill [r] LATERAL > TRILL (Parker 2002: 233) (33) Structural distribution in (most) Romance languages a) stem-initial position lateral / trill b) onset position, after a het. C lateral / trill c) second position of an onset lateral d) coda position lateral / trill Phonological sonority pattern: l > r (34) Rhotic (trill) lateralization in Alguerese Catalan a. Word-internally germana [d al.ma.na] sister part [pa l t] part tarda [ta l da] afternoon març [ma l t s] March curt [ku l t] short b. Synchronic productivity altar [alta r] ~ altar major [alta l.mad o r] altar ~ high altar segur [sa u r] ~ segurs [sa u l t s] safe sing. ~ safe plur. altar [alta r] ~ altar [alta l t s] altar sing. ~ altar plur. mor [m r] ~ mort [m l t] (he/she) dies ~ (he/she) has died Phonological sonority pattern: l > r Clàudia Pons Moll (35) Manner assimilation patterns in Majorcan and Minorcan Catalan (35a) Potential intersyllabic rising sonority (35b) Flat or decreasing intersyllabic sonority manner assimilation manner preservation a. Stop + non-stop consonant d. Stop + stop cap llit /kap## it/ [ka. i t] any bed cap tros /kap##t s/ [kat.t s] any piece cap iot /kap##j t/ [kaj.j t] any yacht llac petit / ak##p tit/ [ a p.p.ti t] small lake b. Alveolar fricative + lateral, rhotic, glide e. Alveolar fricative + non-sibilant dos llits /doz## itz/ [do. i t s] two beds dos peus /doz##p wz/ [dos.p ws] two feet dos rius /doz## iwz/ [dor.ri ws] two yachts dos fils /doz##filz/ [dos.fi ls] two threads dos iots /doz##j tz/ [doj.j t s] c. Nasal + lateral, glide f. Nasal +stop, fricative, rhotic un llum /un# um/ [u. u m] one light un peu /un#p w/ [um.p w] one foot un iot /un#j t/ [uj.j t] one yacht un foc /un#f / [u.f k] one fire (35c) Exception I rising sonority but preservation j. dos nius /doz##niwz/ [doz.ni ws] two nests (35d) Exception II same rising sonority (+1) but k. un riu [un.ri w] one river nasal preservation l. un llum [u. u m] one light nasal assimilation Why? LATERAL > TRILL > NASAL g. Lateral, rhotic, glide + consonant mal fet /mal##fet/ [mal.fe t] not well-done bar petit /ba ##p tit/ [ba.p.ti t] small bar Phonological sonority pattern: l > r INTERIM RESULTS: The phonological patterns related to trills and laterals in the Romance varieties analyzed are totally consistent with the experimental results in Parker (2002).

10 17 18 Clàudia Pons Moll 4. CONCLUDING REMARKS AND TENTATIVE PROPOSAL (38d) Free ranking (when ranges overlap): C2 >> C3; C3 >> C2 (36) Experimental results in Parker (2002): LATERALS > TAPS > TRILLS C2 C (37) Phonological patterns in the Romance varieties analyzed: TAPS > LATERALS > TRILLS (38e) Evaluation time X: C2 >> C3 (common result) C2 C3 (38) Tentative proposal Standard OT (38a) Ordinary categorical (non-variable) ranking: C1 >> C2 >> C3 Boersma & Hayes (2001) Stochastic OT (free variation & gradual learning) (38b) Categorical ranking along a continuous scale C1 C2 C Strict Lax (high ranked) (low ranked) (38c) Categorical ranking with ranges: C1 >> C2 center of the range of values C1 C2 (= most probable values) Strict Lax range of values of C1 range of values of C2 Selection point for C2 (above 35) (38f) Evaluation time Y: C3 >> C2 (rare result) C2 Selection point for C3 (above 35) Frequency effects Selection point for C3 (below 35) C C2 >> C3 (more likely) C3 >> C2 (less likely) Selection point for C2 (below 35) Adaptation of the stochastic model to the organization of segments in the sonority scale (38g) Organization of segments in the sonority scale non-discrete, dense and gradient nature

11 19 20 Clàudia Pons Moll (38f) Each specific sound covers a range of values in the sonority scale, and this range can be shared with that of another sound ( ranges overlap). [l] [ ] [r] [l] range of values [ ] range of values [r] range of values (38g) In these cases, a different phonological interpretation of the relative sonority of the sounds across languages (i.e. a different sonority hierarchy) is allowed and expected. (38h) The consequence of this is that the hierarchy of some sounds is more fixed than that of others in the sonority scale. Cf. [l], [ ] Language Y: [l] > [ ] > [r] Language X: [ ] > [l] > [r] (38i) This account allows to make typological predictions about the cross-linguistic frequency of each hierarchy. Cross-linguistic frequency of each hierarchy according to (38f) [l] > [ ] > [r] (most likely) [ ] > [l] > [r] (less likely) [l] > [r] > [ ] (less likely) [ ] > [r] > [l] (less likely) [r] > [l] > [ ] (less likely) [r] > [ ] > [l] (least likely) 5. 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