Non-myopic nasal spreading in Saraiki
Nancy C. Kula
Nasir A. Syed
(reviewers: Bien Dobui, Andrew Lamont, Adam McCollum, Stephen Nichols & Colin Wilson)
Abstract: Saraiki manifests asymmetric bidirectional nasal spreading. Regressive nasal spreading is sequential and myopic. It is triggered by a nasal and applies iteratively leftwards, unless it encounters a blocker. Vowels and approximants are targets, while liquids and obstruents are blockers. Progressive nasal spreading, by contrast, is non-myopic and categorical – it must apply to all segments in its domain. It only activates if there are suitable targets to the right edge of the domain. It does not activate at all, if there is a blocker ahead, even if that blocker is non-contiguous to the trigger, counter-intuitively showing a sour grapes effect. An element-based representational account is offered, warranting a rethinking of the typology of harmony systems.
Kula, Nancy C. & Syed, Nasir A. 2020. “Non-myopic nasal spreading in Saraiki”. Radical: A Journal of Phonology, 1, 126-182.