Session 4: Diachronic and synchronic processes of sound change
In this session we will discuss several families of phonetic and phonological sound change -- consonant strength changes (weakening and strengthening), vowel reduction, and processes affecting phonotactic complexity -- and issues related to their crosslinguistic prevalence, geographic distribution, and other features. We will also discuss some proposed motivations for various types of sound change.
Guest presentations:
Denis BERTET: "An unusual case of diachronic strengthening in Tikuna"
Gérard PHILIPPSON: "Strengthening and weakening in Bantu consonant system evolution"