Title: Lenition and Contrast
Subtitle: The Functional Consequences of Certain Phonetically Conditioned Sound Changes
Series Title: Outstanding Dissertations in Linguistics
Hardback: ISBN: 0415970997 Pages: 320 Price: U.S. $ 90.00
Abstract:
This book analyzes 153 languages from a large variety of families to
establish a previously unexplored relationship between phonetically
conditioned sound changes such as lenitions and functional (meaning
'maintenance related') considerations. Carefully collecting numerous
inventories of consonants, this collection is likely to become an
important resource for future linguistics research. By distinguishing
between phonetic and phonological neutralization, and showing that
the first does not necessarily result in the second, Naomi Gurevich
uncovers previously unexplored and often surprising trends in the
relationship between phonetics and phonology.
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