Arguments for a Privative L Tone in Northern Tepehuan

This paper proposes that Northern Tepehuan is a tonal language with just one lexical tone 'low tone' and therefore privative system. L sufficient to explain the pitch contrasts in also necessary "inconsistencies" of stress assignment. Stress normally predictable from size word, syllable-weight, cued by H* intonational tone. Nonetheless, words do not obey Stress-to-Weight constraint, it could be argued displaced heavy syllable virtue high-ranked *Align(Head/Low) constraint prohibits placement on L. The explains why can stressed syllables.