[ATR] in the phonology of Polish
Małgorzata Čavar
Indiana University
[ATR] is usually associated with rather more exotic languages and is usually used to describe vowels. In this talk I will argue that [ATR] might be one of the dimenions of the description of both vowels and consonants in Polish, and that by referring to [ATR] we may derive a number of simple generalizations about the interaction of vowels and consonants.
It was observed that the qaulity of vowels differs phonetically depending on whether the preceding consonant is phonetically palatalizd or not. Thus, Rubach (1984) mentions that front mid vowel undergoes tensing after prepalatals. Similar claim was made with regard to all vowels by Biedrzycki (1978). However, stating the generalization as a tensing using traditional features for consonantal place is not very explanatory:
[-cons, -high, -back] . [+tense] /[+cons, +cor, -ant, +high, -back]
Notice that features describing prepalatals [+high] and [-back] are not targetted in this process: front mid vowel does not change to [+high], and [-back] is not the quality that is being modified either.
If we, however, notice that the tense vowel and the prepalatal sounds share the position of the tongue root, then we arrive at a plausible explanation of the phenomenon. Vowels assume the tongue root position characteristic for the preceding consonant. I will show that this hypothesis has indeed a phonetic justification. Further, the effects of the C-V agreement in terms of [ATR] are much more general than the mid vowel tensing and are involved in such processes like i-retraction after post-alveolars, fronting of [ɨ] after velar stops, palatalization of velar stops to prevelars before [e], and secondary palatalization. Finally, I will provide some cross-linguistic perspective and show similar effects in other languages.
References:
Biedrzycki, Leszek. 1978. Fonetyka angielskich i polskich rezonantów. Porównanie
samogłosek i spółgłosek rezonantowych. Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe.
Rubach, Jerzy. 1984. Cyclic and Lexical Phonology. The Structure of Polish. Dordrecht: Foris.