Evolution of phonological contrast in sibilants - typological analysis

Martin Vančura - Diplomová práce (2012) Evolution of phonological contrat in sibilants - typological analysis Abstract: The goal of this paper is to employ the paradigm of Greenbergian language typology to process diachronic data originating in the field of historical linguistics. In the first few chapters, I discuss both disciplines and identify some of the pitfalls of such an endeavour. The substance of this paper lies in chapter 4 where I try to demonstrate a real utilization of this diachronic typology on a specific set of data, represented by documented cases of the evolution of sibilants. Then I analyse the precise articulatory and evolutionary character of the sibilants in selected branches of the Indo- European language family and selected languages of the world and I attempt to uncover the common evolutionary tendencies of their sibilant systems. At the end of this chapter, I construct a map of sibilants' evolutionary trajectories and I propose some remarks on the general phonetics and phonology of sibilants