The Wuvulu Velar Obstruent Puzzle Solved

Abstract

Exuberant free variation of the velar obstruents [.], [k], [x], and [.] has been a long-standing puzzle in Wuvulu phonology. Blust (2008) made progress toward a solution by recognizing the allophony of [.] and [x], and by eliminating [.] from the analysis. The present paper claims to complete the solution with two compelling arguments that are crucial to the problem: (1) neither [k] nor /k/ is associated with the velar allophones [x] and [.], and (2) oddly, /r/ is perhaps the best candidate for the phonemic form of the velars. This paper also evaluates Blust’s (2008) correlation of the stricture features of [x] and [.] with the height of adjacent vowels, and suggests that the correlation could be generalized to include /l/ and its allophones [l] and [d].