(Re)use of place features in voiced stop systems : Role of phonetic constraints

Computational experiments focused on place of articulation in voiced stops were designed to generate ‘optimal’ inventories of CV syllables from a larger set of ‘possible CV:s’ in the presence of independently and numerically defined articulatory, perceptual and developmental constraints. Across vowel contexts the most salient places were retroflex, palatal and uvular. This was evident from acoustic measurements and perceptual data. Simulation results using the criterion of perceptual contrast alone failed to produce systems with the typologically widely attested set [b] [d] [g], whereas using articulatory cost as the sole criterion produced inventories in which bilabial, dental/alveolar and velar onsets formed the core. Neither perceptual contrast, nor articulatory cost, (nor the two combined), produced a consistent re-use of place features (‘phonemic coding’). Only systems constrained by ‘target learning’ exhibited a strong recombination of place features.
tmh_import_11_12_14 QC 20111229