UCL Working Papers in Linguistics 11 (1999)
Prenasalisation and melodic complexity
KUNIYA NASUKAWA
In the northern Tohoku dialect of Japanese (Kanai 1982), it has been assumed
that the melodic structure of prenasalised plosives is more complex than that
of voiced plosives. This paper questions that view, however, calling upon the
argument that prenasalisation occurs only in truly voiced plosives in an
intervocalic environment. The analysis refers to the principle of Licensing
Inheritance (Harris 1994, 1997), and examines its influence on the headship
status of the nasal prime (Nasukawa 1998).
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