| Abstract: | The common phonological process of coronalization, where a velar stop [k] becomes a strident coronal affricate [tS] or [ts] before a high front vocoid, has yet to receive an adequate formal explanation. While this process is usually thought to result from articulatory assimilation, some linguists have claimed it to be primarily acoustic in nature (Flemming 2002, Guion 1996, 1998, Ohala 1992). This is analogous to assibilation, an acoustic process where a dental stop [t] becomes [ts] before a high front vocoid (Kim 2001). The striking similarities between coronalization and assibilation lead me to argue that they are closely related, and that a formal analysis of assibilation (Kim 2001) can be adapted to account for coronalization. After comparing the typology of coronalization (Bhat 1978) to the typology of assibilation (Hall and Hamann 2003) I provide a thorough formal analysis of coronalization that takes both acoustic and articulatory factors into account. |
