User Tools

Site Tools


2.inventories:2.2.counterparts:2.2.3.differences_between_short_long_vowels_in_harmony

2.2.3. Differences between short/long (reduced/full) vowels in harmony

Are there differences between the similar short and long (reduced and full etc.) vowels in harmony?

Finn. Seto Er. HMr MMr Ud. Hun. SMn SKh VKh Nga. Ka.
F/B no no no no? yes yes
R|T yes no? yes?

F/B: front/back harmony
R|T: rounding, total harmony
—: not applicable

Hungarian
In rounding harmony, there is /ɛ/ : /ø/ alternation, but no /eː/ : /øː/ alternation. Moreover, /ɛ/ : /ø/ alternation is always part of an /ɛ/ : /ø/ : /o/ alternation, and there is no  /ø/ : /o/ alternation without an alternant /ɛ/ (some dialects do have such suffixes; in Standard Hungarian, there is a derivational suffix /nok/ : /nøk/ without an alternant /nɛk/,1) but its productivity is highly questionable).
Southern Khanty
/ĕ/ : /ɘ̆/ alternation, but [i] : [ɨ] and [e] : [ɘ] alternations are allophonic, less consistent and even B allomorphs can be followed by F alternating vowels (weak spreading strength).
Kamas
Full vowels exhibit F/B harmony (/ɑ/ : /e/), while the reduced vowel does not undergo F/B harmony after unrounded vowels but undergoes full harmony after rounded vowels (based on Klumpp 2016: 41).
1)
Cf. hírnök ‘messenger’ from hír ‘news’, elnök ‘president’ from el- ‘front’, mérnök ‘engineer’ from mér- ‘measure (v.)’, ülnök ‘assessor’ from ül ‘sit’, látnok ‘visionary’ from lát ‘see’, etc.
2.inventories/2.2.counterparts/2.2.3.differences_between_short_long_vowels_in_harmony.txt · Last modified: 2021-08-17 by László Fejes