English voicing in dimensional theory

Abstract

Assuming a framework of privative features, this paper interprets two apparently disparate phenomena in English phonology as structurally related: the lexically specific voicing of fricatives in plural nouns like wives or thieves and the prosodically governed “flapping” of medial /t/ (and /d/) in North American varieties – which we claim is itself not a rule per se, but rather a consequence of the laryngeal weakening of fortis /t/ in interaction with speech-rate determined segmental abbreviation. Taking as our point of departure the Dimensional Theory of laryngeal representation developed by Avery and Idsardi [Avery, Peter, Idsardi, William, 2001. Laryngeal dimensions, completion and enhancement. In: Alan Hall, T., (Ed.), Distinctive Feature Theory. de Gruyter, Berlin, pp. 41–70], along with their assumption that English marks voiceless obstruents but not voiced ones [Iverson, Gregory K., Salmons, Joseph C., 1995. Aspiration and laryngeal representation in Germanic. Phonology 12, 369–396], we find that an unexpected connection between fricative voicing and coronal flapping emerges from the interplay of familiar phonemic and phonetic factors in the phonological system.