Namaeh Farhangistan

Namaeh Farhangistan

Lateral and Nasal Consonants in Persian: An Emergent Perspective

Document Type : Original Article

Author
Golnaz Modarresi Ghavami
Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics, Allameh Tabatabaei University, Tehran, Iran
10.22034/nf.2025.487599.1360
Abstract
Certain consonants belong to different natural classes in different languages and as such must have different values for a specific distinctive feature in different languages. One such case is the case of the lateral consonant /l/ and nasal consonants for the feature [±continuant]. These phonemes belong to the [-continuant] class in some languages and to [+continuant] class in others and pose a challenge for feature theories in Generative Phonology in which the value for features is pre-determined and innate. In Emergent Phonology, the value for features is acquired and language-specific and is determined based on the behavior of phonemes in each language. In this paper, an attempt is made to determine the value of the feature [±continuant] for the lateral consonant /l/ and nasal consonants in Persian. For this purpose, we have investigated the behavior of these consonants in initial consonant clusters of loanwords as well their behavior in final consonant clusters in Persian compared to some other Iranian languages and dialects. Evidence shows that the lateral and nasal consonants of Persian belong to the class of [-continuant] sounds and are thus more consonant-like than vowel-like. On the other hand, it seems that these consonants belong to the class of [+continuant] sounds in other Iranian languages and dialects and are thus more vowel-like especially in final consonant clusters. This difference in class membership has resulted in the devoicing of cluster-final laterals and nasals in Persian to incur less violations of the Sonority Sequencing Principle, while other Iranian languages and dialects use vowel epenthesis for the same purpose.
Keywords
Distinctive feature [± continuous]: lateral consonants: nasal consonants: duality of feature value: generative phonology: Persian language

Subjects

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Namaeh Farhangistan
Volume 24, Issue 2 - Serial Number 96
Nameh Farhangestan (Iranian languages ​​and dialects)
May and June 2025
Pages 37-50

  • Receive Date 05 September 2024
  • Revise Date 12 September 2024
  • Accept Date 31 October 2024