pentland08@interspeech_2008@ISCA

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#1 Consonant enhancement in Lamalama, an initial-dropping language of Cape York Peninsula, North Queensland [PDF] [Copy] [Kimi1]

Author: Christina Pentland

In this paper I describe the consonant system of Lamalama and show that it is an extreme example of an initial dropping language in which consonants are enhanced or strengthened in word-initial position. Initial dropping languages have undergone a series of radical sound changes including - but not limited to - the loss of word-initial consonants. Lamalama has lost entire word-initial syllables with the result that most roots are monosyllabic C(C)V(C) forms. In a reduced phonological system various strategies are used to enhance word-initial consonants and maintain consonantal contrasts.