Segmental Mutations

This chapter examines segmental mutations and processes in Taiwanese Southern Min (TSM), including assimilation, dissimilation, gemination, syllabic reduction, contraction, and vernacular-literary phonological differences. Assimilation occurs in place (e.g., homorganic nasal assimilation, optional palatalization) and manner (e.g., nasal harmony). Dissimilation prevents adjacent identical [back] features in diphthongs and avoids co-occurrence of [labial] and [dorsal] features in onset glides and coda consonants. Gemination lengthens glides, nasals, and stops. Stop codas of checked syllables are voiced and undergo gemination when followed by a vowel-initial function word; otherwise, they undergo final devoicing. Gemination is constrained to the prosodic word domain, and the chapter suggests a gradient interpretation of geminate inalterability in some systems. Syllable reduction leads to contraction, with nuclear segments potentially undergoing transformations like devocalization, merger, or nasalization. Contraction follows an edge-in paradigm, with sonority-based priority. Vernacular-literary differences include onset consonants in the literary register undergoing pharyngealization and velarization, and vowels alternating through rounding and derounding, reflecting a trend toward unmarked phonological structures.