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Article published In:
Diachronica
Vol. 40:3 (2023) ► pp.341–383

Lenition alternation in West Gyalrongic and its implications for Southeast Asian panchronic phonology

ORCID logo | Trinity College Dublin
Based on internal reconstruction, this paper resolves a long-standing problem observed in Khroskyabs, a West Gyalrongic language (Sino-Tibetan), that seems to sporadically have lenited voiceless stops, resulting in irregular correspondences with East Gyalrongic. Two major sound changes are involved: intervocalic lenition and post-stress intersyllabic compression. It turns out that the processes proposed here are one probable solution to monosyllabicization in languages of Southeast Asia, explaining a pathway from polysyllables or sesquisyllables toward monosyllables. Through examining potential problems of previous reconstructions in various languages, this paper shows that the Khroskyabs case provides a plausible direction in the solution of relevant unresolved problems from a panchronic perspective.
Keywords: Sino-Tibetan, West Gyalrongic, Khroskyabs, lenition, syllable compression, monosyllabicization, sound change
Article outline
  • 1.The problem: An irregular lenition split in Khroskyabs?
    • Structure of the paper
  • 2.Theoretical background
    • 2.1West Gyalrongic languages
      • Phonological sketch of Siyuewu Khroskyabs
    • 2.2Typology of lenition
    • 2.3Monosyllabicization in Southeast Asian languages
  • 3.Reconstructing lenition in Khroskyabs
    • 3.1Overview of lenition alternation
    • 3.2Types of lenition alternation in Khroskyabs
    • 3.3Reconstruction of Type A
    • 3.4Reconstruction of Type B
    • 3.5Reconstruction of Type C
  • 4.Intersyllabic compression in post-stress position
    • 4.1Intersyllabic compression
    • 4.2Suprasegmental system in modern Khroskyabs
    • 4.3Intersyllabic compression in post-stress position
    • 4.4Transphonologization upon illegal clusters
      • *s-toˠ ‘show’
      • *s-tæˠk ‘be alone’
      • *s-pæ.C.tsæk ‘chop’
    • 4.5Interim summary
  • 5.Lenition in other West Gyalrongic languages
    • 5.1Lenition alternation in other West Gyalrongic languages
    • 5.2Presyllables as the source of lenition
    • 5.3Intersyllabic compression
      • The case of ‘ten’
      • The case of ‘window’
    • 5.4Summary for lenition alternation in Horpa-Stau and Tangut
  • 6.Lenition and compression in other Sino-Tibetan languages
    • 6.1East Gyalrongic
    • 6.2Burmese
    • 6.3Old Chinese and Proto-Min
    • 6.4The onset in Proto-Sino-Tibetan
  • 7.Contribution to panchronic phonology and historical linguistic methodology
    • 7.1Towards a panchronic account of compression
    • 7.2The usefulness of detailed analyses of alternating doublets
    • 7.3The necessity of explaining internal variations
  • Acknowledgements
  • Notes
  • Abbreviations
  • References
Published online: 24 March 2023
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https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.21016.lai
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