A Reduction and Spreading Theory of Voicing and Other Sound Effects, ms. Universitat Autònoma de

A set of different surface effects commonly found in the phonology of natural lan-guages, voicing assimilation and final devoicing, are derived from two parameters, Reduction, the loss of phonological structure, and Spreading, the association of two unas-sociated nodes. Reduction is an operation on a node (e.g. voice), and it can take three values: no operation, Deassociation of the node, or Deletion of the node. Spreading has just the two minimal values, + and-. Spreading can combine with Reduction, or with Deassociation, resulting in two different assimilatory effects. When Spreading takes the negative value, or when contextually no spreading is possible, the surface effect that results is devoicing. The different parametric settings of Recluction and Spreading coupled with syllable control, and stages of application, predict the appropriate surfa-ce clusters of voicing effects. These results are extended to other effects like place centralization, unmarked assimilation, and to a set of residual or sporadic effects like progressive assimilation in regressive systems. Key words: phonological theory, voicing, assimilation, devoicing. Resum. Una teoria de reducció i d'escampament de la sonoritat i d'altres efectes sonors Tota una sbrie d'efectes superficials que es troben sovint en la fonologia de les llengües naturals, l'assimilació i l'ensordiment final, es deriven de dos parimetres: la Reducció, O NOTE OF THE EDITORS. Although CatWPL normally publishes the results of ongoing research, the editors have considered that this 1987 manuscript was worth publishing. To avoid problems of citation, this paper should better be referrecl to as Mascaró (1987). 'A reduction and spreading theory of voicing and other sound effects. ' UAB. Unpublished manus