Palatalization in Laomian: evolution and resistance

Abstract

AbstractPalatalization is a common phenomenon in the Laomian language of South-east Asia. This paper compares the phonetic bilabial, velar, and coronal consonants of Laomian and their counterparts in related languages. A phonological analysis of the evolution of palatalization in Laomian is provided from a feature geometry perspective using the frameworks of nonlinear phonology and Optimality Theory. The results show that bilabials in Laomian, like those in related languages, include only the simple palatalized form ‘bilabial + glide j’ without evolving into affricates. Velars, based on different functions of [i], evolve into prepalatals and ‘velar + glide j’ respectively. Alveolars turn into prepalatals before vowels with the [-back] feature. A limited set of words in Laomian can still be pronounced in two ways with consonants belonging to two categories, reflecting different evolutionary stages of phonetic chains.