Transition tempo in Swabian

Abstract

The Swabian consonants are opposed along an aspirate fortis-lenis scale, in which [b] is more fortis than [w] and [g] is more fortis than [j]. However, in certain lenitive environments, the more lenis [w] and [j] are realized as the more fortis [b] and [g], contrary to phonetic expectations. What appears to be happening is indeed a lenition, but one along another phonetic parameter -3- the transition tempo that differentiates consonants, vowels, and glides. That this basic phonetic parameter should actually function within the phonology — should be a distinctive feature — has significant implications: It emphasizes the importance of acoustic phonetic analysis in the determination of the phonological structure; it shows that even the basic difference between consonant, vowel, and glide can be used within the consonant subsystem of a phonological system; and it demonstrates the need for a dynamic, nonsegmental analysis of the data (as opposed to a nonlinear one — see Griffen 1990 in an earlier volume of this journal).