The action at a distance that is characteristic of consonant harmonies stands as a pivotal problem to be addressed by phonological theory. Consider a familiar example from Chumash. The character of coronal fricatives and affricates in Chumash is determined by the rightmost coronal sibilant (1a). This agreement alters /s/ to [S] when preceding a root or suffix palatoalveolar (1b), and conversely /S/ is realized as [s] when preceding [s] (1c). The rightmost sibilant can occur at any distance from the affected fricatives/affricates, and the altered consonants may occur in a root or affix. Data are drawn from Poser (1982) and Shaw (1991). (1) a. SÖapiÖtSoÖit 'I have good luck' sÖapiÖtsoÖus 'he has good luck' b. s-ixut 'it burns' S-ilakS 'it is soft' c. uSla 'with the hand' usla-siq 'to press firmly by hand' Another representative case is seen in the nasal agreement of Kikongo. In this language, the voiced stop in the suffix-idi in (2a) is realized as [ini] in (2b) when preceded by a nasal consonant at any distance in the stem, consisting of root and suffixes (prefix nasals are excluded). The examples are from Piggott (1996). (2) a. m-bud-idi 'I hit' b. tu-kin-ini 'we planted' n-suk-idi 'I washed' tu-nik-ini 'we ground' * We would like to thank Eric Bakovic@ and Kie Zuraw for detailed comments on this paper. For suggestions and comments on this or related work we are also grateful to

Linguists researching the sounds of languages do not just study lists of sounds but seek to discover generalizations about sound patterns by grouping them into categories. They study the common properties of each category and identify what distinguishes one category from another. Vowel patterns, for instance, are analysed and compared across languages to identify phonological similarities and differences. This account of vowel patterns in language brings a wealth of cross-linguistic material to the study of vowel systems and offers theoretical insights. Informed by research in speech perception and production, it addresses the fundamental question of how the relative prominence of word position influences vowel processes and distributions. The book combines a cross-linguistic focus with detailed case studies. Descriptions and analyses are provided for vowel patterns in over 25 languages from around the world, with particular emphasis on minor Romance languages and on the diachronic development of the German umlaut.

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We defi ne consonant harmony as assimilation between consonants for a particular articulatory or acoustic property operating at a distance over at least another segment. 1 Consonant harmony can involve both alternations in affi xes and morpheme structure constraints (Shaw 1991; Hansson 2001b Hansson , 2010 Rose and Walker 2004). Coronal HarmonyThe most commonly attested type of consonant harmony is sibilant harmony, which requires sibilant coronal fricatives and affricates to match for tongue tip/blade posture and location. It is widely attested in Native American languages, but also occurs elsewhere. In Ts'amakko, a Cushitic language of Ethiopia (Savà 2005), the causative suffi x -as (2a) is realized as [a»] when palatoalveolar fricatives or affricates appear in the preceding stem (2b):(2) a. ta{ 'to hide' ta{-as 'to make hide' ¿abb 'to take' ¿abb-as 'to make take' (4) a. yQz 'sucking' àtwá"t` 'adult male elephant' b. dè"l 'skin' dè"nd-á 'my skin' zùol 'snake' zùoyx-á 'my snake'Retrofl ex harmony is reported for Gimira (Benchnon), an Omotic language of Ethiopia (Breeze 1990). In this language, coronal sibilants in roots match in retrofl exion (and tongue tip-blade distinctions s/») and a causative suffi x /-s/ agrees for the retrofl ex feature with a preceding root consonant across intervening vowels and consonants, including non-retrofl ex /r/. Numbers indicate tone levels.(5) a. mak 2 'say' mas 2 'cause to say' dub 4 'dance' dus 4 'cause to dance' b. pert 1 'be red' per ‡ 1 'make red' t ‡'ud' 'spit' t ‡'u ‡' 'cause to spit' Harmony Systems 243Retrofl ex harmony can affect sibilants, as in Gimira, or operate between oral or nasal stops, as in Australian languages such as Arrernte (Arandic) (Henderson 1988; Tabain and Rickard 2007) in which apical alveolar and retrofl ex stops match for retrofl exion in a root. Arsenault and Kochetov (to appear) report that Kalasha roots exhibit retrofl ex consonant harmony between stops, fricatives, and affricates, respectively, but only when participating consonants have the same manner of articulation. Root-internal combinations of retrofl exes and non-retrofl exes with the same manner of articulation are rare or unattested. If manner differs, retrofl ex, and non-retrofl ex consonants freely combine. In all the reported cases, retrofl ex harmony appears to be sensitive to manner distinctions. Nasal HarmonyIn nasal consonant harmony, nasal stops typically harmonize with voiced stops and oral sonorant consonants. Nasal consonant harmony is attested primarily in Bantu languages. In Yaka (Hyman 1995), a nasal stop in a root causes a /d/ or /l/ in the perfective suffi x (6a-c) to become [n] (6d-f). Prenasalized stops are not triggers (6c) and do not block harmony (6f). Vowel height harmony regulates the height quality of the suffi x vowel. (6) a. sól-ele 'deforest' d. kém-ene 'moan' b. jád-idi 'spread' e. nútúk-ini 'bow' c. kú"nd-idi 'bury' f. mé"‚g-ene 'hate'Intervening vowels and non-participating consonants are transparent to the harmony. Liquid harmonyLiquid harmony involv...