The Consonant Phonotactics of Georgian Published by LOT phone: +31 30 253 6006 3512 JK Utrecht fax: +31 30 253 6000 The Netherlands e-mail: [email protected] http://www.let.uu.nl/lot/ Cover illustration: The oldest specimen of Georgian writing, found in the Bolnisi Sioni Temple (5th century). ISBN 90-76864-24-1 NUGI 941 Copyright © 2002 by Marika Butskhrikidze. All rights reserved. The Consonant Phonotactics of Georgian PROEFSCHRIFT ter verkrijging van de graad van Doctor aan de Universiteit Leiden, op gezag van de Rector Magnificus Dr. D.D. Breimer, hoogleraar in de faculteit der Wiskunde en Natuurwetenschappen en die der Geneeskunde, volgens besluit van het College voor Promoties te verdedigen op woensdag 6 november 2002 te klokke 16.15 uur door Marika Butskhrikidze geboren te Tbilisi (Georgië) in 1971 Promotiecommissie promotores: Prof. dr. C.J. Ewen Prof. dr. H.G. van der Hulst (University of Connecticut) co-promotor: Dr. J.M. van de Weijer referent: Prof. dr. E.V. Hume (Ohio State University) overige leden: Prof. dr. V.J. van Heuven Dr. H.J. Smeets YX=5YQL&HPVP6REOHEV [To my parents] Contents Acknowledgements .......................................................................... xi Abbreviations and Symbols .......................................................... xiii 1 Preliminaries ....................................................................... 1 1.0. Introduction: the ‘problem’ ............................................................................... 1 1.1. Ontological premises ........................................................................................ 2 1.1.1. Marked vs. unmarked ............................................................................ 3 1.1.2. Form vs. meaning .................................................................................. 5 1.1.3. Lexicon vs. grammar ............................................................................. 9 1.2. Epistemological premises ............................................................................... 11 1.3. Language as an open system ........................................................................... 12 1.4. Methodology ................................................................................................... 14 1.5. Proposals ......................................................................................................... 15 1.6. Outline ............................................................................................................ 16 2 Phonotactics: Domains and Principles ........................... 19 2.0. Introduction ..................................................................................................... 19 2.1. The domain ..................................................................................................... 20 2.1.0. Introduction ......................................................................................... 20 2.1.1. The word ............................................................................................. 21 2.1.2. The syllable ......................................................................................... 25 2.1.2.0. Introduction .............................................................................. 25 2.1.2.1. Syllabification .......................................................................... 27 2.1.2.2. Phonotactics ............................................................................. 31 2.1.2.3. Word-edge phenomena ............................................................. 33 2.1.2.4. Phonological processes ............................................................ 35 2.1.2.5. Accent assignment ................................................................... 40 2.1.2.6. Conclusions .............................................................................. 41 viii CONTENTS 2.1.3. The stem .............................................................................................. 42 2.1.3.1. Phonotactic restrictions ............................................................ 42 2.1.3.2. Phonological processes ............................................................ 45 2.1.3.3. Accent assignment ................................................................... 48 2.1.3.4. Conclusions .............................................................................. 49 2.1.4. General conclusions ............................................................................ 50 2.2. Morphological typology ................................................................................. 50 2.2.0. Introduction ......................................................................................... 50 2.2.1. Previous studies on morphological typology ...................................... 51 2.2.2. The morphological classification revised ............................................ 52 2.3. Principles ........................................................................................................ 59 2.3.0. Introduction ......................................................................................... 59 2.3.1. The Obligatory Contour Principle ....................................................... 61 2.3.2. The Sonority Sequencing Principle ..................................................... 64 2.3.2.0. Introduction .............................................................................. 64 2.3.2.1. Statistical data from Zubkova (1990) ....................................... 64 2.3.2.2. Conclusions .............................................................................. 68 2.3.3. The Principle of Resolvability ............................................................. 68 2.3.4. Phonotactic generalisations ................................................................. 70 2.3.5. Conclusions ......................................................................................... 70 2.4. General conclusions ........................................................................................ 71 3 Georgian Phonotactics ...................................................... 75 3.0. Introduction ..................................................................................................... 75 3.1. The Georgian language ................................................................................... 75 3.2. The phonemic inventory ................................................................................. 80 3.2.1. The vowel system ................................................................................ 81 3.2.2. Hiatus .................................................................................................. 83 3.2.3. Labials ................................................................................................. 84 3.2.4. Conclusions ......................................................................................... 85 3.3. The consonant system ..................................................................................... 85 3.3.1. Syllabicity of sonorants ....................................................................... 88 3.3.2. The sonorant /v/ as a secondary articulation ........................................ 93 3.4. The minimal word ........................................................................................... 96 3.4.1. Word-final position ............................................................................. 98 3.4.2. Word-initial position ........................................................................... 99 3.4.3. Conclusions ....................................................................................... 100 CONTENTS ix 3.5. General introduction to consonant syntagmatics .......................................... 101 3.5.1. Harmonic clusters .............................................................................. 103 3.5.1.0. Introduction ............................................................................ 103 3.5.1.1. Phonological behaviour .......................................................... 103 3.5.1.2. Conclusions ............................................................................ 105 3.5.2. Consonant combinations in adjacency .............................................. 105 3.5.3. Conclusions ....................................................................................... 112 3.6. Testing the hypothesis .................................................................................. 113 3.6.1. Studies by Kobalava (1967) .............................................................. 113 3.6.2. Studies by Melikishvili (1997) .......................................................... 115 3.6.3. My study ............................................................................................ 119 3.6.4. Conclusions ............................................................................ 119 3.7. General conclusions ...................................................................................... 120 4 Phonetic Evidence for Harmonic Clusters: A Perceptual Experiment ............................................... 123 4.0. Introduction ................................................................................................... 123 4.1. Alternative approach ..................................................................................... 125 4.1.1. Method .............................................................................................. 126 4.1.1.1. Stimuli ...................................................................................