Papers by Vincent Carveth
Explorations in the phonological reconstruction of proto-qiandong-hmongic onsets
This thesis concerns itself with the reconstruction of Proto-Qiandong-Hmongic onsets. It compares... more This thesis concerns itself with the reconstruction of Proto-Qiandong-Hmongic onsets. It compares fieldwork data from two sources and 24 dialects of the Qian dong subgroup, spoken in China's Guizhou province, in order to synthesize a set of onsets for their common ancestor. The reconstruction has twofold relevance, in terms of both elucidating Hmong-Mien language history and bettering understanding of the typology of diachronic development of aspirated spirants, the most distinctive feature of the Qiandong dialects. 34 onsets are reconstructed at the Proto-Qiandong-Hmongic level, including aspirated spirants, five distinct liquids, and prenasalized stops. The typology of fricative development is expanded by determining sources for multiple different aspiration contrasts in spirants, namely a reductive chain shift for the aspirated alveolars and palatals, palatalized bilabials for the aspirated labiodentals, and spirantizing aspirated liquids for the aspirated lateral fricative. ...
The Qiandōng dialects of Hmongic are characterized by the presence of multiple aspirated spirants... more The Qiandōng dialects of Hmongic are characterized by the presence of multiple aspirated spirants (Carveth 2012, Jacques 2011, Wang 1979). This paper proposes three pathways of development for those fricatives, using Qiandōng data from Ma & Tai (1956) and Purnell (1970). The first, leading to alveolar and palatal aspirated fricatives in Qiandōng, is an extension of Wang’s (1979) analysis of a chain shift in the Yǎnghāo dialect. Labiodental aspirated and unaspirated fricatives are reconstructed as having come from palatalized bilabial stops, akin to Pulleyblank’s (1984) reconstruction of Middle Chinese. Finally, lateral aspirated fricatives developed from the spirantization of aspirated liquids.
Uploads
Papers by Vincent Carveth