This thesis presents an analysis of the phonological processes that affect contiguous nasal and obstruent segments. These phonological processes include voice, manner and place assimilation as well as deletion and coalescence. The goal of this thesis is to account for these seemingly disparate processes by introducing universal constraints on the representation of segments in non-linear phonology. Deriving these processes from the principles of a theory of representation is beneficial because such an analysis is not possible in a theory that appeals only to rules. The result is a theory of phonology with greater explanatory adequacy than a theory that relies on rules. / Chapter 1 contains a review of the history of the representation of segments and the representation of assimilation as well as a discussion of the theoretical assumptions used throughout the thesis. Chapter 2 contains a discussion of the phonological processes as they occur during the formation of prenasalized consonants. These processes are shown to be triggered by the representation of prenasalized consonants and a theory of underspecification. Chapter 3 proposes an analysis of the universal characteristics of nasal-obstruent place assimilation which is then extended to explain some universal properties of consonantal assimilation in general.

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Submitted to Faculty of Arts in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in the Department of African Languages at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 1988. / This dissertation treats Vowel Raising as a part of Assimilation in Southern Sotho. Assimilation as a concept in any language is a broad concept that includes consonantal and vowel- influences that have been juxtaposed. The influence may be between two vowels in juxtaposition i.e. [i] next to [e] produces [e] . [u] next to [ O 3 or E E 3 also produce the allophones of two vowel phonemes i.e. E C> 3 and EE3 respectively. In short, when close vowels are juxtaposed to open or semi-open vowels, raising will take place. Exceptions may occur sporadically. This study has been treated in eight chapters. (a) CHAPTER ONE Theoretical background and motivation to the study are given. An hypothesis that [ £ 3 and E J3 as allophones are non-semantic, is given. (b) CHAPTER TWO Common Bantu and Ur-Bantu are discussed. The aim is to trace how far they had influenced the development of the present Southern Sotho. Different types of Sotho v/charts are treated. (c) CHAPTER THREE The origin of the Vowel Charts in respect of the IPA is discussed. All what pertains to IPA alphabet and its usage is treated. (d) CHAPTER FOUR The Vowel treatment of I) P Kunene and D T Cole are critically discussed- The two are the great contributors to the study of Vowels in Sotho. (e) CHAPTER FIVE Southern Sotho Vowel chart is made from the research findings. (f) CHAPTER SIX The Concept Assimilation is treated in full. (g) CHAPTER SEVEN Vowel raising as a concept is fully treated. CHAPTER EIGHT i) In order to grasp Vowel Raising correctly an attempt at its codification has been done. This approach has contributed greatly to the. study of Vowel Raising. ii) In conclusion it has been discovered that [e] and Co] are phonemes identical with Cardinal vowels numbers 2 and 7. They are not the allophones of [E] and [a 3 as Kunene argues. / University of Zululand

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Georgetown University, 1971. / Spine title: Speech of immigrant Gallego-Spanish speakers in New York City. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 249-252).

Thesis - Rijksuniversiteit te Utrecht. / Summary in English: p. 264-270.

Photocopy of typescript. / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

In this thesis, we investigate several processes affecting coronals and velars in Tamil and Malayalam, two Dravidian languages spoken in southern India. We begin by discussing two assimilation processes which apply adjacent to front vowels, Palatalization, where anterior coronals become palatoalveolar, and Coronalization, where velars are fronted to palatoalveolar. We compare and contrast the feature geometries proposed by Sagey (1986) and Hume (1992) in their ability to adequately express these processes. In Sagey's model, front vowels are argued to be Dorsal. It is thus impossible to express either Palatalization or Coronalization as spreading. In Hume's model, where front vowels are Coronal, both processes involve spreading. However, the model does not formally distinguish between these two processes across languages; thus, it fails to capture the fact that Palatalization is widely attested but Coronalization seems to be restricted to diachronic alternations. In order to express this asymmetry, we adopt the model advanced by Goad & Narasimhan (1994), a revision of Goad (1993), where Palatalization involves spreading but Coronalization is a two-step process, spreading followed by reanalysis. In this model, a single feature (front), defined as "front of articulator", is doubly dependent on both Dorsal and Coronal nodes. Its interpretation is thus partly determined by the node to which it links; it marks apicality in coronals and front of tongue body in dorsals. In Chapter 3, we demonstrate how this model allows us to capture the fact that in Malayalam, only a subset of the anterior coronal consonants, the apicals, form a natural class with front vowels. In Chapter 4, we provide support for the model from languages other than Tamil and Malayalam, both Dravidian and non-Dravidian.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2003. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xx, 351 p.; also includes graphics Includes bibliographical references (leaves 344-351). Available online via OhioLINK's ETD Center

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