Introduction to Russian phonology and word structure Ch 8: Assimilation, part 1: Voicing and devoicing

Q&A 1. Is there any logic to having final devoicing?

Q&A 1. Is there any logic to having final devoicing? –Yes, it is well-motivated as an assimilation to zero pronunciation (silence!), in anticipation of the stoppage of speech.

Q&A 2. What useful purpose could final devoicing serve?

Q&A 2. What useful purpose could final devoicing serve? –It can help to mark the boundary between words

Q&A 3. What is special about m, n, r, l, (and j) as concerns voicing assimilation?

Q&A 3. What is special about m, n, r, l, (and j) as concerns voicing assimilation? –These consonants don’t cause assimilation and they can only rarely be devoiced. Note that these sounds form a natural class – what is it?

Q&A 3. What is special about m, n, r, l, (and j) as concerns voicing assimilation? –These consonants don’t cause assimilation and they can only rarely be devoiced. Note that these sounds form a natural class – what is it? –They are the sonorants!

Q&A 4. Which consonants cause preceding consonants to voice?

Q&A 4. Which consonants cause preceding consonants to voice? –Hard and soft б, д, г, з, plus ж. Notice that these sounds form a natural class. What is it?

Q&A 4. Which consonants cause preceding consonants to voice? –Hard and soft б, д, г, з, plus ж. Notice that these sounds form a natural class. What is it? –The voiced obstruents! (well, except в, which seems to have some issues…)

Q&A 5. What is going on with в, and why is it acting like a “window”?

Q&A 5. What is going on with в, and why is it acting like a “window”? –Basically в is still waffling on its status as an obstruent. It does act like an obstruent when it has another obstruent following it, to back it up, otherwise it acts like a sonorant (betraying its heritage).

Q&A 6. What’s going on with свадьба and its relationship to сват and сватать?

Q&A 6. What’s going on with свадьба and its relationship to сват and сватать? –This is a rare example of Russian failing to preserve a morphological relationship in the spelling of a root consonant. It should be *сватьба, but note also свадебный.

More fun with transcription Let’s do this on the board…