The phonology of nasal-obstruent sequences /

This thesis presents an analysis of the phonological processes that affect contiguous nasal and obstruent segments. These phonological processes include voice, manner and place assimilation as well as deletion and coalescence. The goal of this thesis is to account for these seemingly disparate processes by introducing universal constraints on the representation of segments in non-linear phonology. Deriving these processes from the principles of a theory of representation is beneficial because such an analysis is not possible in a theory that appeals only to rules. The result is a theory of phonology with greater explanatory adequacy than a theory that relies on rules.Chapter 1 contains a review of the history of the representation of segments and the representation of assimilation as well as a discussion of the theoretical assumptions used throughout the thesis. Chapter 2 contains a discussion of the phonological processes as they occur during the formation of prenasalized consonants. These processes are shown to be triggered by the representation of prenasalized consonants and a theory of underspecification. Chapter 3 proposes an analysis of the universal characteristics of nasal-obstruent place assimilation which is then extended to explain some universal properties of consonantal assimilation in general