Labial opacity and roundness harmony in Nawuri

Abstract

Recently, a number of linguists (cf. Clements, 1991; Odden, 1991; Hume, 1992; Clements and Hume 1992) have proposed models of segment structure in which the place features of consonants and vowels are arrayed on different planes. As a consequence of this arrangement, these models predict that vowel-to-vowel place feature assimilation processes should not be blocked by intervening plain consonants (i.e., consonants with no distinctive secondary articulation).