结构所引起的辅音音变: 论三个客家话软腭音龈腭化演变的不平衡

粤东北部三县见组字在细音条件下只有/KiAC/类音节变音为龈腭音: *[k]、*[kʰ]、*[ŋ]分别变成[ȶ]、[ȶ^h]、[ȵ];音变后介音也流失了。/KiC/类音节不变。这个观察有别于前人的记述,但可以通过语图分析得到验证。借助音节建构的分析,文章说明不平衡的演变来自见组细音的两组音节内部结构的不同:/KiAC/类音节中K,与[i]同属音首,所以糅合为龈腭辅音;而/KiC/类音节中,[i]却作为韵核,与音首关系疏远,所以未能糅合。

Across 3 Hakka dialects, velars (*k, *k^h, ŋ) shift to become alveolo-palatals (ȶ, ȶ^h, ȵ respectively) when followed by the medial glide [i], but such shifts are unattested when [i] is the syllable nucleus. The paper argues that this asymmetrical shift is triggered by structural affinity which is a consequence of standard syllabification algorithm. Thus, theories of generative phonology shed light on historical shifts. The *velar→alveolo-palatal shift can easily be understood from the perspective of feature geometry: the high, front position of [i] palatalizes and fronts the velars. Given the structural affinity account, this is a natural process of anticipatory assimilation.