On segmental neutralizations in Bulgarian and Danish
Keywords:
neutralization, vowel reduction, lenition, Bulgarian, DanishAbstract
The article compares the neutralizations of segmental contrasts in Modern Standard Bulgarian and Modern Standard Copenhagen Danish. Possible phonetic and functional explanations for the neutralization (or lack thereof) of certain contrasts are discussed. Both languages exhibit neutralization of vowel height contrasts (due to unstressed vowel reduction in Bulgarian and /r/-coloring in Danish), but this process is less extensive in Danish. An overview of the cognitive mechanisms underlying incomplete neutralization is given with regard to the final devoicing of obstruents in Bulgarian. The synchronic lenition of Danish plosives is analyzed as a non-neutralizing, contrast-maintaining process – with some notable exceptions.
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