An element-based analysis of nasal-glide assimilation in the Taqbaylit prepositional phrase

Abstract

In this paper we aim to describe and analyze the different phonetic realizations resulting from nasal-glide assimilations in some dialects of Taqbaylit Berber. Specifically, we aim to study the assimilation of the nasal-approximant /n-w/ which yield to different labial(ized) realizations [ww, pp, pp^w, bb^w, gg^w], and the nasal-yod /n-j/ that result in palatal segments [jj, kk, gg] depending on the dialect. While these facts are well documented, most works are limited to descriptive accounts and rarer are the attempts to theoretically explain their phonological derivation. Our analysis is couched in Element Theory (Kaye et al. 1985, 1990, Harris 1990, 1994, among others) and proposes to analyze the internal structure of the surface segments and their link to the underlying forms and explain their distribution in Taqbaylit dialects. Our analysis also contributes to the theoretical debates on the link between voicing and nasality and their element-representation.