Diachronic labial palatalization in Xinguan Arawak

Abstract

The goal of this short paper is to address additional facts related to the process of full labial palatalization (or coronalization) proposed in Carvalho (2016a) for Yawalapiti, an Arawak language of central Brazil. After discussing the broader theoretical significance of the full palatalization of labials to typology and to the theory of sound change, I will show that the identification of the correspondences supporting the recognition of this development in Yawalapiti can be traced back to Karl von den Steinen's 1894 publication of the earliest available documentation of the Xinguan Arawak languages. Next, I argue that a pattern of allomorphy in the 2sg prefix of Yawalapiti can be understood as a relic of the series of sound changes that mapped a labial stop *p to a coronal consonant in palatalization-prone environments. Finally, I note that this labial coronalization change has the status of a drift-like tendency within the Xinguan Arawak subgroup, a fact underscored by its independent occurrence in Waurá. Furthermore, a relatively late date can be assigned to this development on the basis of a comparison of recent data on this language with the vocabularies found in the Von den Steinen material.