This dissertation explores the nature and extent of retroflex consonant harmony in South Asia. Using statistics calculated over lexical databases from a broad sample of languages, the study demonstrates that retroflex consonant harmony is an areal trait affecting most languages in the northern half of the South Asian subcontinent, including languages from at least three of the four major families in the region: Dravidian, Indo-Aryan and Munda (but not Tibeto-Burman). Dravidian and Indo-Aryan languages in the southern half of the subcontinent do not exhibit retroflex consonant harmony. In South Asia, retroflex consonant harmony is manifested primarily as a static co-occurrence restriction on coronal consonants in roots/words. Historical-comparative evidence reveals that this pattern is the result of retroflex assimilation that is non-local, regressive and conditioned by the similarity of interacting segments. These typological properties stand in contrast to those of other retroflex assimilation patterns, which are local, primarily progressive, and not conditioned by similarity. This is argued to support the hypothesis that local feature spreading and long-distance feature agreement constitute two independent mechanisms of assimilation, each with its own set of typological properties, and that retroflex consonant harmony is the product of agreement, not spreading. Building on this hypothesis, the study offers a formal account of retroflex consonant harmony within the Agreement by Correspondence (ABC) model of Rose & Walker (2004) and Hansson (2001; 2010). Two Indo-Aryan languages, Kalasha and Indus Kohistani, figure prominently throughout the dissertation. These languages exhibit similarity effects that have not been clearly observed in other retroflex consonant harmony systems; retroflexion is contrastive in both non-sibilant (i.e., plosive) and sibilant obstruents (i.e., affricates and fricatives), but harmony applies only within each manner class, not between them. At the same time, harmony is not sensitive to laryngeal features. Theoretical implications of these and other similarity effects are discussed.

This dissertation explores the nature and extent of retroflex consonant harmony in South Asia. Using statistics calculated over lexical databases from a broad sample of languages, the study demonstrates that retroflex consonant harmony is an areal trait affecting most languages in the northern half of the South Asian subcontinent, including languages from at least three of the four major families in the region: Dravidian, Indo-Aryan and Munda (but not Tibeto-Burman). Dravidian and Indo-Aryan languages in the southern half of the subcontinent do not exhibit retroflex consonant harmony. In South Asia, retroflex consonant harmony is manifested primarily as a static co-occurrence restriction on coronal consonants in roots/words. Historical-comparative evidence reveals that this pattern is the result of retroflex assimilation that is non-local, regressive and conditioned by the similarity of interacting segments. These typological properties stand in contrast to those of other retroflex assimilation patterns, which are local, primarily progressive, and not conditioned by similarity. This is argued to support the hypothesis that local feature spreading and long-distance feature agreement constitute two independent mechanisms of assimilation, each with its own set of typological properties, and that retroflex consonant harmony is the product of agreement, not spreading. Building on this hypothesis, the study offers a formal account of retroflex consonant harmony within the Agreement by Correspondence (ABC) model of Rose & Walker (2004) and Hansson (2001; 2010). Two Indo-Aryan languages, Kalasha and Indus Kohistani, figure prominently throughout the dissertation. These languages exhibit similarity effects that have not been clearly observed in other retroflex consonant harmony systems; retroflexion is contrastive in both non-sibilant (i.e., plosive) and sibilant obstruents (i.e., affricates and fricatives), but harmony applies only within each manner class, not between them. At the same time, harmony is not sensitive to laryngeal features. Theoretical implications of these and other similarity effects are discussed.

Notre thèse traite de la rétroflexion et de la corrélation double de voisement et d’aspiration tant du point de vue phonétique que phonologique. En utilisant la palatographie et la linguographie directes, nous avons montré que les coronales simples sont produites majoritairement comme des lamino-dento-alvéolaires, les affriquées comme des lamino-alvéolaires, et enfin que les rétroflexes varient entre le type cacuminal et le type rétroflexe. Les différentes modélisations phonologiques des segments coronaux ont été examinées et confrontées à nos résultats dans une perspective de phonologie de laboratoire. Renvoyant principalement au mouvement vertical de la pointe de langue, nous avons proposé un trait [rétroflexe], en tant que trait de manière rattaché au noeud coronal. L’étude de la corrélation de voisement et d’aspiration a d’abord été menée au niveau acoustique. Le modèle ACT (Mikuteit & Reetz 2007) que nous avons utilisé, nous a permis de décrire acoustiquement les quatre types d’occlusives du népali tant du point qualitatif que quantitatif. Cependant, l’ACT (After Closure Time) n’a pu être utilisé comme paramètre unique pour les distinguer alors qu’il était suffisant en bengali. Nous avons ensuite mené une étude des contraintes cooccurrencielles entre occlusives aspirées, en nous fondant sur l’analyse du dictionnaire népali en ligne de R.L. Turner (1931). Nous avons pu dégager la généralisation suivante : hormis certaines racines contenant les séquences de type /Tʰ…h/ (où Tʰ = n’importe quelle occlusive aspirée et sourde), les occlusives aspirées sont absentes des affixes et les combinaisons de racines et d’affixes contiennent au maximum une aspirée. / Our thesis deals with the retroflexion and the voicing and aspiration contrasts in Nepali from a phonological and phonetic point of view. Using palatography and linguography, we showed that dentals are mainly produced as lamino-denti-alveolar, affricates as lamino-denti-alveolar and, at last, that retroflexes vary, being either cacuminal or retroflex.Various phonological models of coronal features were examined and compared in the light of our articulatory results in a Laboratory Phonology perspective. Referring mainly to the vertical movement of the tip of the tongue, we proposed the feature [retroflex], as a manner feature attached to the coronal node. The study of the voicing and aspiration contrast was first done at the acoustical level. The ACT model (Mikuteit & Reetz 2007) provides us for a useful tool to describe acoustically the four types of stops in Nepali, from a qualitative as well as a quantitative point of view. However, ACT (After Closure time) could not be used as a single parameter to distinguish them, while it was sufficient in Bengali. Finally, we performed a study of co-occurrence constraints between aspirated stops, based on the analysis of the online Nepali dictionary of R. L. Turner. We could extract the following generalisation: except in some roots including sequences such as /Tʰ…h/ (where Tʰ= any aspirated unvoiced stops), the aspirated stops are not found in affixes and combinations of roots and affixes contain maximally one aspirated stop.

Com base nos pressupostos teórico-metodológicos variacionistas (LABOV, 2006 [1966]; 2008 [1972]; 1999; 2001; 2010) e em alguns conceitos caros à terceira onda (ECKERT, 2012) da Sociolinguística, este trabalho objetiva estudar a comunidade de fala sul-mineira de Itanhandu. Itanhandu se localiza em uma região de tríplice divisa entre os estados de Minas Gerais, São Paulo e Rio de Janeiro. Além dessa posição geográfica singular, os itanhanduenses revelam possuir com as capitais fluminense e paulista uma relação de identificação maior do que possuem com a própria capital de seu estado, o que parece influenciar o falar local, sobretudo na realização de (-r). O estudo de Itanhandu iniciou-se com uma coleta de 36 entrevistas sociolinguísticas na cidade, que possibilitaram constatar a presença não só de retroflexos, pronúncia considerada a mais prototípica na comunidade, mas também de tepes e fricativos, variantes comumente associadas às capitais de São Paulo e do Rio de Janeiro, respectivamente. Diante da verificação da ocorrência de tais variantes em Itanhandu, aventou-se a hipótese de que elas estariam correlacionadas aos dois grupos de identificação presentes na cidade, um que se compõe de itanhanduenses que gostam de morar lá e não desejam se mudar ou que tenham saído dela, mas desejam voltar; e outro que se define por itanhanduenses que desejam tentar a vida fora de Itanhandu ou que já se mudaram e não desejam retornar. Entretanto, a análise quantitativa dos dados mostra que as variantes não prototípicas em Itanhandu estão mais ligadas ao tempo de permanência que os itanhanduenses passaram fora de sua cidade natal, ou seja, pronúncias tepes e fricativas são menos correlatos de uma questão identitária e mais de um fenômeno que se dá naturalmente em um processo de acomodação linguística (GILES, 1973) pelo qual passam os itanhanduenses que moram em outras cidades, principalmente localizadas nos estados de São Paulo e Rio de Janeiro. Além disso, este trabalho também investiga a existência de graus de retroflexão em Itanhandu. Retroflexos fortes, ou seja, mais duradouros e intensos, opõem-se a retroflexos fracos, ou melhor, mais curtos e com intensidade reduzida. A análise quantitativa dos dados mostra que tal variação correlaciona-se, principalmente, a variáveis linguísticas: são os grupos de fatores Classe Morfológica da Palavra com (-r) e Frequência do Item Lexical com (-r) os que mais explicam a existência de tal fenômeno em Itanhandu. Por fim, esta dissertação mostra a complexidade da identidade itanhanduense, composta não só de relações sociais, econômicas e linguísticas estabelecidas com cidades paulistas e fluminenses, mas também a partir das vivências individuais dos itanhanduenses, das cidades em que eles já moraram, da forma com que se relacionam com Itanhandu e com os itanhanduenses, das posturas que assumem diante de fatos da vida cotidiana e, principalmente, diante de fatos da realidade linguística da comunidade de fala em que se inserem. / Based on variationist theory and methods (LABOV, 2006 [1966]; 2008 [1972]; 1999; 2001; 2010), including third wave sociolinguistics (ECKERT, 2012), this masters thesis focuses Itanhandu, a town in Southern Minas Gerais, located near the border between Minas Gerais and São Paulo e Rio de Janeiro. Itanhanduenses tend to identify themselves with the capitais of these two states more than with Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais. Such identification has an influence in their local speech, especially when it comes to variable (-r). In a sample of 36 sociolinguistic interviews collected in Itanhandu, there are fricative and tap ocurrences of (-r), aside from the retroflex which is prototypical in the community. The fricative and tap variants are commonly associated with the capitals São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, respectively. The main initial hypothesis is that this case of variation correlates with how Itanhanduenses identify themselves: those who like to live in Itanhandu and do not wish to move to another city (and those who have moved out but would like to return to Itanhandu); and those who would like to leave their birth town (including those who live somewhere else and would not like to move back to Itanhandu). The quantitative analyses suggest that fricative and tap occurrences of (-r) are less correlated to these subgroups, and more strongly associated with how long a period Itanhanduenses spend outside of their birth town. There seems to be a process of accomodation (GILES, 1973) in the speech of those Itanhanduenses who have lived in other cities, especially in the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. This thesis also looks into degrees of (-r) retroflexion. Strong retroflex (lengthier and more intense) and weak retroflex (shorter and less intense) are analyzed as a variable, which correlates more strongly to linguistic factors: Word Class and Word Frequency. This thesis shows that the Itanhanduense identity is composed not just by social, economic and linguistic relations to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, but also by individual experiences, both in Itanhandu itself and in other cities. Such experiences are revealed in stances taken during the sociolinguistic interviews, in relation to facts of their day-to-day life, including their linguistic experiences.

Com base nos pressupostos teórico-metodológicos variacionistas (LABOV, 2006 [1966]; 2008 [1972]; 1999; 2001; 2010) e em alguns conceitos caros à terceira onda (ECKERT, 2012) da Sociolinguística, este trabalho objetiva estudar a comunidade de fala sul-mineira de Itanhandu. Itanhandu se localiza em uma região de tríplice divisa entre os estados de Minas Gerais, São Paulo e Rio de Janeiro. Além dessa posição geográfica singular, os itanhanduenses revelam possuir com as capitais fluminense e paulista uma relação de identificação maior do que possuem com a própria capital de seu estado, o que parece influenciar o falar local, sobretudo na realização de (-r). O estudo de Itanhandu iniciou-se com uma coleta de 36 entrevistas sociolinguísticas na cidade, que possibilitaram constatar a presença não só de retroflexos, pronúncia considerada a mais prototípica na comunidade, mas também de tepes e fricativos, variantes comumente associadas às capitais de São Paulo e do Rio de Janeiro, respectivamente. Diante da verificação da ocorrência de tais variantes em Itanhandu, aventou-se a hipótese de que elas estariam correlacionadas aos dois grupos de identificação presentes na cidade, um que se compõe de itanhanduenses que gostam de morar lá e não desejam se mudar ou que tenham saído dela, mas desejam voltar; e outro que se define por itanhanduenses que desejam tentar a vida fora de Itanhandu ou que já se mudaram e não desejam retornar. Entretanto, a análise quantitativa dos dados mostra que as variantes não prototípicas em Itanhandu estão mais ligadas ao tempo de permanência que os itanhanduenses passaram fora de sua cidade natal, ou seja, pronúncias tepes e fricativas são menos correlatos de uma questão identitária e mais de um fenômeno que se dá naturalmente em um processo de acomodação linguística (GILES, 1973) pelo qual passam os itanhanduenses que moram em outras cidades, principalmente localizadas nos estados de São Paulo e Rio de Janeiro. Além disso, este trabalho também investiga a existência de graus de retroflexão em Itanhandu. Retroflexos fortes, ou seja, mais duradouros e intensos, opõem-se a retroflexos fracos, ou melhor, mais curtos e com intensidade reduzida. A análise quantitativa dos dados mostra que tal variação correlaciona-se, principalmente, a variáveis linguísticas: são os grupos de fatores Classe Morfológica da Palavra com (-r) e Frequência do Item Lexical com (-r) os que mais explicam a existência de tal fenômeno em Itanhandu. Por fim, esta dissertação mostra a complexidade da identidade itanhanduense, composta não só de relações sociais, econômicas e linguísticas estabelecidas com cidades paulistas e fluminenses, mas também a partir das vivências individuais dos itanhanduenses, das cidades em que eles já moraram, da forma com que se relacionam com Itanhandu e com os itanhanduenses, das posturas que assumem diante de fatos da vida cotidiana e, principalmente, diante de fatos da realidade linguística da comunidade de fala em que se inserem. / Based on variationist theory and methods (LABOV, 2006 [1966]; 2008 [1972]; 1999; 2001; 2010), including third wave sociolinguistics (ECKERT, 2012), this masters thesis focuses Itanhandu, a town in Southern Minas Gerais, located near the border between Minas Gerais and São Paulo e Rio de Janeiro. Itanhanduenses tend to identify themselves with the capitais of these two states more than with Belo Horizonte, the capital of Minas Gerais. Such identification has an influence in their local speech, especially when it comes to variable (-r). In a sample of 36 sociolinguistic interviews collected in Itanhandu, there are fricative and tap ocurrences of (-r), aside from the retroflex which is prototypical in the community. The fricative and tap variants are commonly associated with the capitals São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, respectively. The main initial hypothesis is that this case of variation correlates with how Itanhanduenses identify themselves: those who like to live in Itanhandu and do not wish to move to another city (and those who have moved out but would like to return to Itanhandu); and those who would like to leave their birth town (including those who live somewhere else and would not like to move back to Itanhandu). The quantitative analyses suggest that fricative and tap occurrences of (-r) are less correlated to these subgroups, and more strongly associated with how long a period Itanhanduenses spend outside of their birth town. There seems to be a process of accomodation (GILES, 1973) in the speech of those Itanhanduenses who have lived in other cities, especially in the states of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. This thesis also looks into degrees of (-r) retroflexion. Strong retroflex (lengthier and more intense) and weak retroflex (shorter and less intense) are analyzed as a variable, which correlates more strongly to linguistic factors: Word Class and Word Frequency. This thesis shows that the Itanhanduense identity is composed not just by social, economic and linguistic relations to São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, but also by individual experiences, both in Itanhandu itself and in other cities. Such experiences are revealed in stances taken during the sociolinguistic interviews, in relation to facts of their day-to-day life, including their linguistic experiences.