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Minimal word constraint in Turkish final devoicing
Göktuğ Börtlü (Selçuk Üniversitesi), Tobias Scheer (Université Côte d'Azur, CNRS), Eugeniusz Cyran (Catholic University Lublin)
Final devoicing in Turkish is more intricate a pattern than in other final devoicing languages (like German or Russian). Voiced fricatives never undergo this process (kɑz "goose.Nom" - kɑz‑ɨ "id. Acc"). Word-final voiced stops always devoice in bisyllabic (or bigger) roots (kitɑp "book.Nom" - kitɑb-ɨ "id. Acc", note that there are also lexically voiceless items: sepet "basket.Nom" - sepet‑i "id., Acc"), but they may (tɑt "taste.Nom" - tɑd‑ɨ "id. Acc") or may not devoice (sɑʤ "sheet metal.Nom" - sɑʤ‑ɨ "id. Acc") in monosyllabic CVC roots. Whether or not a monosyllable undergoes final devoicing cannot be predicted: it is a lexical property of roots (e.g. Inkelas 1995). Finally, the root-final stop may also be lexically voiceless (both in mono- and bisyllabic roots), as in top "ball.Nom" - top-u "id. Acc". We aim at understanding this three-way distinction in CVC roots, as well as the size restriction.
We introduce an observation that we believe has gone unnoticed thus far: final stops in CVC monosyllables behave as described, but in CVCC monosyllables they side with bisyllables. That is, CVC roots may or may not undergo final devoicing, but CVCC roots always do (gɑrp "west.Nom" - gɑrb‑ɨ "id. Acc"). We conclude that there is a size constraint on final devoicing in Turkish.
We tackle this puzzle, the key being that all CVC items geminate their last consonant in order to meet the minimal size requirement (which is CVCV or CVCC). Non-devoicing stops in CVC items possess the laryngeal specification L (or [voice]) and their geminacy disallows delaryngealization (geminate integrity), i.e. the removal of L. Devoicing stops on the other hand are C°, i.e. unspecified for laryngeal properties: they are passively voiced in intervocalic position, and happily devoice elsewhere, even being a geminate, because no phonological item needs to be removed: C° are naturally voiceless except when receiving passive voicing.
