Hiatus Resolution in Georgian1
نویسنده
چکیده
This paper addresses the significance of rare patterns in linguistic typology. In the Georgian nominal system, vowel deletion in the context of hiatus targets low vowels regardless of position. This pattern is extremely unusual (possibly unique) both in that it targets low vowels (Gouskova 2003) and in that the position of the vowel does not play a role in determining which vowel is deleted (Casali 1996, 1997). Nevertheless, this is a productive phonological pattern in Georgian. In a comparative pattern learning pilot experiment using English speaking subjects, I show that the pattern found in Georgian is more difficult to learn than an unattested, but theoretically predicted, counterpart. The existence of the less natural pattern in Georgian argues in favor of Hayes et al. (2009)’s assertion that cognitive predispositions act as a bias toward natural patterns but do not prevent the emergence of less natural ones.
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