Pozycje nuklearne i peryferyjne a interpretacja fonologiczna aproksymantów [j] i [w] w języku polskim
Nuclear and peripheral positions with respect to the phonological interpretation of the approximants [j] and [w] in Polish

Summary/Abstract: In this paper the author focuses on the phonological interpretation of Polish approximants [j] and [w] within the framework of Axiomatic Functionalism (AF) (e.g., Mulder 1989). Notions of a nuclear and peripheral position are introduced and the treatment of approximants in AF in French and Czech is reviewed. It is argued that it is both appropriate and economical to interpret [j] and [w], respectively, as allophones of /i/ and /u/ in peripheral positions. The proposal leads to the necessity of establishing a new class of phonemes, namely the class of semi-vowels, however, the total number of phonemes required to interpret Polish data isreduced which is a significant advantage of the proposed analysis.

• Details
• Contents