Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.2357/ VOX-2019-002 Phonological lenition and the inherent strength of the word-initial position The view from Southern Italian dialects Michela Russo (Lyon/ Paris) https: / / orcid.org/ 0000-0002-9840-7081 Shanti Ulfsbjorninn (Bilbao) https: / / orcid.org/ 0000-0001-7273-8408 Résumé: -Au-niveau-typologique-et-diachronique,-la-position-initiale-d’un-mot-est-considéréecomme-une-position-forte,-comparée-aux-autres-positions-syllabiques: -(a)-elle-héberge-un-largeensemble-d’oppositions-phonologiques; -(b)-elle-est-généralement-résistante-à-l’affaiblissementde-façon-asymétrique.-Par-conséquent,-la-fortition-est-retenue-comme-inhérente-à-la-positioninitialedumotetaétél’objetphonologiqueàpartirduquellesthéoriesphonologiquesontmodélisé-la-position-forte/ faible-et-fondé-l’idée-largement-acceptée-que-la-fortition-de-la-positioninitialedumotestuntraitconstitutifdel’architecturegrammaticale- (phonologique).- Toutefois,-dans-plusieurs-dialectes-italiens-centro-méridionaux,-les-occlusives-sonores-à-l’initiale-du-mot-/ b,-d,-ɡ/ -s’affaiblissent-dans-une-échelle-phonologique-qui-les-voit-se-modifier-enfricativesvoisées,liquides,glidesou- Ø.- Àlasuitedecechangement,ontrouvelavariantefaibleenpositioninitialeabsolueetàl’intervocalique,alorsquelavarianteforteapparaîtcomme-le-résultat-d’une-règle-phonotactique-en-position-postconsonantique.-Cette-règle-donnedans-la-plupart-des-cas-une-géminée,-après-une-préfixation-ou-dans-les-positions-créées-par-le- Redoublement Syntactique ( Raddoppiamento Sintattico ,-RS).-Nous-montrerons-ici-que-dans-lesdialectes-italiens-centro-méridionaux-tels-que-le-napolitain,-l’affaiblissement-initial-des-occlusives-sonores-n’est-pas-une-lénition.-Notre-argumentation-défend-l’hypothèse-que-la-positioninitiale-des-racines-lexicales-est-toujours-forte-au-niveau-inhérent,-en-raison-du-fait-que-seulement-la-position-forte-initiale-est-en-mesure-d’héberger-une-opposition-quasi-morphologique. Keywords: - Initialweakening,- Lenition,- Gemination- (Raddoppiamento- Sintattico),- (Quasi) morphological paradigms 1. Problem Central and Southern Italian dialects, such as Neapolitan, are characterized by the wea-kening-of-word-initial-voiced-stops: -voiced-stops-[b,-d,-ɡ]-alternate-with-[v~β~Ø],- [r~ð~l~Ø],- [j~w~v~Ø]respectivelyeitherintheabsoluteinitialpositionorpost-lexically-(##_-and-or-#_-when-V-precedes) 1 . The same alternation applies to clusters 1- [r]-in-Neapolitan.-The-weak-variant-[ð]-of-/ d/ -is,-however,-still-present-in-many-Southern-Italianareas. [l] is the realization particularly of Ischia (near Naples), see r usso / B arry -2004.-Also,-the-[β]variant-of-/ b/ -is-registered-in-Central-and-Southern-Italian-dialects,-see-below-§-2.1. 20 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.8357/ VOX-2019-002 Michela Russo / Shanti Ulfsbjorninn [br,ɡr]ininitialcomplexonsets.- Thisalternation,whereinitialvoicedstopsarereplacedbyweakconsonants,isaverytypicalprocessof- Centraland- Southern- Italian dialects (see AIS -I.67-Standard-Italian-=-St.-It.baciare / bacia Southern Italian type-[vaˈsare]-‘to-kiss’) 2 . The Standard Italian forms (e.g. baciare / bacia ‘to kiss/ (he/ she) kisses’) do not represent a previous stage of the obstruent phonology of Neapolitan, rather, the phonological system in Central and Southern dialects developed independently and in parallel to Italian (b/ v alternations directly from Latin, see a dams 2013). All voiced stops-alternate-diachroni-cally-and-synchronically-according-to-these-contexts. The-strong-variant-of-the-voiced-stop-[b,-d,-ɡ]-is-only-found-in-post-consonantalposition,-as-a-phonotactic-result.-This-can-come-about-in-three-contexts: -(a)-N-+-Cclusters,-(b)-after-prefixes-ending-in-consonants-(-C),-like-Lat.ex / s/ , in / i c / or ad / a c / , or (c) as a geminate formed by Syntactic Doubling ( Raddoppiamento Sintattico , RS) [bb-dd-ɡɡ]-(see-section-2).-In-Central-and-Southern-Italy,-Syntactic-Doubling-leads-togemination-of-a-consonant-at-the-juncture-between-certain-morpheme/ word-boundaries-and-is-accompanied-by-for-ti-tion-of-the-(otherwise-weak)-initial-consonant-of- Word 2 .- Its-occurrencechiefly-depends-on-the-type-of-Word 1 , and on the syntactic relationship-between-W 1 W 2 ,-see-(1)-and-(2)-below 3 : (1)-Neapolitan-initial-strength-and-weakness It. / b/ vs. Neap. [v] - -(a)-##_-absolute-initial-position-and-#_-initial- Neap. It. vasta basta ‘enough’ - -(b)-V_V-internal-words-or-at-word-boundaries sivo sebo ‘sebum’ (c) Raddoppiamento Sintattico (RS) - -- -It.-/ v/ -vs.-Neap.-[bː]-/ -ø C -#_ tre / ø C / -[bː]otetre volte ‘three times’ The- / bdɡ/ patternin- Neapolitanand- Southern- Italiandialectsistheoppositetowhatisfoundin- Standard- Italian- (basedon- Italo-Tuscan),where- / bdɡ/ remain- 2 r ohlFs - §-150,- 153,- 155,- 167,- 215-17,m erlo 1920, W einrich 1958: 43-104, t ulleners -B loemen 1983, F anciullo 1976, 1997, 2018, a ndalò / B aFile 1991, r usso / a Prile 2001. This variation involves also weak- [j]fromlat.j , dj , g e,i -whichalternates-withstrong- [ɟ]- (see- F anciullo 1997: 41, 2018, r usso / a Prile 2001). For the special cases of devoicing involving voiced stops in initial position found in Southern Salentino dialects ( lu tunu , It. il dono ‘the gift’), see particularly F anciullo 1976. This particular-evolution-of-voiced-stops-must-be-interpreted-within-the-general-pattern-of-weakeningof-voiced-stops-that-these-dialects-share-with-the-other-Southern-Italian-dialects-(see-ib.). 3- There-is-a-rich-literature-on-RS; -amongst-many-others-we-can-single-out-c hierchia 1986, s erianni 1989/ 2006, F anciullo 1983-1986, 1997, 2002, 2018, a ndalò 1991, r usso 2013a, 2013b, d’a lessandro / s cheer 2015. Phonological-lenition-and-the-inherent-strength-of-the-word-initial-position-- 21 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.2357/ VOX-2019-002 [bdɡ]inabsoluteinitialposition- (andwhereconsonantscanonlygeminateifaphonological-or-lexical-RS-trigger-W 1 precedes W 2 ): -[diːto] It. dito -‘finger’-vs.-[riːto]- Neap.-Words-with-a-[v]-corres-pond-to-a-/ b/ -or-to-a-/ v/ -in-Standard-Italian. The-Neapolitan-data-are-striking-because-they-flout-the-predictions-of-positionalstrength accounts. It is generally assumed that some phonological environments are inherentlystrongandothersweak,andthatcertaintypesofsegmentsarestrongwhileothersaretheirweakvariants.- Itfollowsthatstrongconsonantsshouldbefoundinstrongpositions- (initialandpost-consonantal)andweakonesinweakpositions (intervocalically). In typology and diachrony, the initial position is considered ‘strong’ compared with-other-positions,-because,-firstly,-it-sustains-more-contrasts,-hosting-a-wider-arrayof-consonants-and,-secondly,-it-is-asymmetrically-resistant-to-weakening/ change-overtime.-Indeed,-it-is-widely-believed-that-the-strength-of-word-initial-positions-is-a-coredesign feature of phonological grammar, a position that is especially reinforced by experimental-findings-(B ecker / n eVins 2009, B ecker / n eVins / l eVine 2012). Phonological models of positional strength also predict the inherent strength of theword-initialposition.- Inthe- Licensing- Inheritancemodel- (h arris 1997), the foot-initial-position-is-inherently-strong,-while-in-the-Coda-Mirror-approach,-it-is-thedisjunctiveposition- (post-codaandinitial)- {C_,- #_},whichisinherentlystrong- (s égéral / s cheer 1999, s cheer / s égéral 2008, s cheer / z ikoVá 2010). Asexpected,- Tuscandialectspresentthemorefamiliarpatternofword-initialstrength-and-lenition-elsewhereː-[diːθo] Tusc. (It. dito -‘finger’). Neapolitan, on the other hand, seems to contradict the predictions of these phono-lo-gical-models-by-having-lenition-in-both-word--and-foot-initial-positions: -[riːto]- Neap. (It. dito - ‘finger’).- Raddoppiamento Sintattico and post-vocalic spirantization show-that-these-opposing-patterns-of-weakening-cannot-be-due-to-the-parameterizedpresence of an initial CV (s cheer 2012) 4 . In-this-paper,-we-will-argue-that-Central-and-Southern-Italian-weakening-is-not-infactphonologicallenitionatall.- Weakenedinitialconsonantsonlyserveasweakcoun-ter-partstostrongconsonantsinthesameposition- (#__),effectivelyforming- (quasi)mor-phologicalparadigms.- Thoughitmayappearparadoxicalinitially,theweakenedcon-sonantsareinfactamanifestationoftheinherentstrengthoftheinitial-position,-because-such-a-weak/ strong-contrast-is-(by-definition)-only-possiblein a phonologically strong initial position. The-weak-initial-variant-only-appears-to-contradict-the- Coda Mirror -object-(øCv-=- Strong-Position,-initial-and-post-coda),-which-predicts-a-strong-universal-word-initialposition or parametrization according to the presence of an initial CV. While this ex-pla-nation-cannot-account-for-the-differences-between-Tuscan-and-Neapolitan-Italian,-our-discussion-of-the-Neapolitan-facts-will-nevertheless-be-used-to-defend-theinherent strength of the initial position as an architectural component of grammar. 4 See section 3. 22 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.8357/ VOX-2019-002 In Central and Southern Italian dialects, phonology aids in the parsing of morpho-syntactic information through the (initial) lenition/ fortition pattern (see sections-2-and-4).-This-strong/ weak-phonological-alternation-reinforces-and-signals-thepresence-of-cer-tain-morpheme-boundaries.-We-will-show-that-this-is-achieved-phonologicallythroughalanguagespecificphonotactics.- Thisconditionstatesthatvoiced-stops-must-involve-the-sharing-of-features-across-two-positions.-This-bipositionality-can-either-be-manifested-as-full-gemination-(where-voiced-stops-share-alltheirfeaturesacrosstwopositions)oraspartial-gemination- (whereanysubsetofthose features is shared). Strong-initial-forms,-expressed-through-bipositionality-(sharing)-of-features,-serveto-point-to-preceding-morpheme-boundaries-and-help-to-identify-(quasi)non-concatenative morphological domains (see sections 4 and 5). 2. How the Central and Southern Italian dialects clash with phonological models The-following-data-come-from-medieval-and-modern-Neapolitan 5 . The account given belowfor- / b/ and- [v]alsoextendsto- / d/ thatalternateswith- [r],andto- / ɡ/ that- -alternates-with-either-[j],-[w]-or-[v]-(and-Ø) 6 . 5 - The-following-sources-have-been-used-(for-precisions-and-abbreviations-see-the-bibliography).-Forthe Angioin period of Naples: RomFrancia; for the medieval «Aragonese» period of Naples: DeRosa,- MsRiccardiano,- Ferraiolo.- Unlessotherwiseindicated,datacomedirectlyfromthetextwithreference to paper and line of the manuscript. In the 16 th -17 th century, Naples has a very rich literary-tradition.-For-this-period,-selected-data-come-from-the-dialectal-texts-written-in-the-17 th and 18 th centuries by D. Basile, G. B. Basile, Capasso, Cortese, Pagano and Perrucci. The-modern-data-for-Neapolitan-and-the-Neapolitan-region-come-from-primary-fieldwork-carriedout-by-the-first-author,-who-is-also-a-native-speaker-of-Neapolitan,-raised-in-the-region.-Recordingsusingaportablecassetterecorderandamicrophoneattachedtotheinformants’clothingweremade-in-informal-interview-situations-in-which-questions-were-asked-about-the-vocabulary-usedinthelocalspeaker’severydaylife.- Theword1-word2stringformsanswerswereembeddedincompletelyspontaneousstructures.- Theanalysisproceededintwosteps.- First,therecordingsweredigitized,andcasesofstrongandweekpositionsidentifiedauditorily.- Secondly,withthehelp-of-thesynchronizedspectrogramandspeech-pressure-waveform,-the-identifiedcases-wereexamined-more-closely-with-regard-to-their-acoustic-micro-structure,-and-for-the-purpose-of-phonetic transcription. 6- Despite-what-has-been-pointed-out-by-l oPorcaro 2004: 119 («Nell’Italia meridionale si è instaurato un regime di variazione (variante I) oggi ormai in via di scomparsa, per cui ad ogni b o V latina iniziale risponde v in iniziale assoluta o se precede parola terminante in vocale - per es. la vakka - mentre si ha (b)b se precede parola originariamente terminante in consonante: per es. tre bbakke ») and l oPorcaro -2016: -285-(«In-molti-dialetti-dell’area-[scil.-Centro-Meridione],-tuttavia,-questecondizionisonooggioscuratedalripristinodell’opposizione- / b/ - ≠- / v/ »),thealternation- [b/ v]isnot recessive in Neapolitan, but fully productive in synchrony (the same is the case for [d/ r] or [ɡ/ v/ j]). Michela Russo / Shanti Ulfsbjorninn Phonological-lenition-and-the-inherent-strength-of-the-word-initial-position-- 23 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.2357/ VOX-2019-002 (2)-Neapolitan-word-initial-strength-and-weakness It. / b/ vs. Neap. [v] - -(a)-##_-absolute-initial-position-and-#_-initial- Neap. It. viato [ja] beato ‘lucky’ - -(b)-V_V-internal-words-or-at-word-boundaries (i) ( povera ) vestia [ja] bestia ‘beast’ (ii) li vagne 7 i bagni ‘the bathrooms’ (c) Raddoppiamento Sintattico (RS) - -- -It.-/ v/ -vs.-Neap.-[bː]-/ -ø C -#_ a/ ø C / -[bː] iento al vento ‘in-the-wind’ (d) More RS (traditionally referred to as post-consonantal RS) (i) no/ ø N / -[bː] ego non vedo ‘cannot see’ (ii) pe/ ø C / -[bː] encere per vincere ‘to-win’ Raddoppiamento Sintattico -can-also-be-lexicalized,-as-illustrated-by-Neapolitan-formsresulting from proclisis (3), from the 17 th -century-text-Cortese-(before-1627) 8 . (3)-Lexical- Raddoppiamento and strong forms - -Prefix-+-weak-/ v/ ->-[bː]- - -(a)-Prefix-Lat.ad > / a øc / Neap. It. (i) abbampare avvampare ‘to blush’ (ii) abbedere vedere ‘to see’ (iii) abbiare avviare ‘to proceed’ (iv) abbistare avvistare ‘to catch sight of ’ (v) abentorato avventurato ‘to have ventured’ - -(b)-Prefix-Lat.ex > / s/ (i) sbanuto svanito ‘absent minded’ (ii) sbegliante sveglio 9 ‘awake’ (iii) sbetoperato ( s)vituperato ‘vituperated’ (iv) sbignare svignarsela ‘to-sneak-away’ (v) sbotare svoltare ‘to turn’ (vi) sbregognare, svergognare ‘to shame’ sbreognare 7 Graphical e -=-/ i,-e/ -in-Neapolitan-texts-is-already-/ -ə/ -in-the-Medieval-period-(e.g.vagne ),-while-o is-still-[o].-Synchronically,-Neapolitan-atonic-final-vowels-are-[-ə]-or-zero-(a -could-resist-in-quality).-For-the-diachronic-development-of-final-Neapolitan-vowels,-see-F ormentin 1998, r usso 2007. 8 m alato 1967: Glossario . 9 See It. vegliante -without-/ s-/ . 24 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.8357/ VOX-2019-002 - -(c)-Prefix-Lat.in > / n/ (/ n/ can also assimilate to onset) (i) mmidiuso invidioso ‘envious’ (ii) ‘mmèstere investire ‘to run over’ (iii) ‘nmierzo in + verso ‘direction’ (iv) ‘mbessecchiare in + vescica + are ‘in + bladder’ (v) ‘mbrognolare imbernoccolire ‘to get lumps’ In-(2c)-and-(2d),-we-see-that-certain-monosyllables-trigger-RS; -they-are-assumed-tohavealatent,empty- Cintheir-finalpositionwhichisresyllabifiedasageminateonset.-This-change-of-a-singleton,-weak-consonant-to-a-geminate-allows-the-strongform of the consonant (the voiced stop) to surface. The-following-data-come-from-17 th -century-Neapolitan-dialectal-literary-texts-butare also found in modern Neapolitan (see modern data in r usso / a Prile 2001). These corres-pond-to-contexts-(2a)-and-(2b),-where-the-weak-form-[v]-is-selected-in-wordinitial position. (4)-Weak-form-contexts,-intervocalic-and-initial - -(a)-[v]-resulting-from-/ b/ -in-initial-position-#_ (i) (povera) vestia (povera) bestia ‘poor beast’ (G.B.Basile I.1.18.28) (ii) stoiavocca tovagliolo 10 ‘napkin’ (G.B.Basile I.1.19.11) (iii) lo vorzillo la borsina ‘the bag.d im ’ (Corvo I.58) (iv) de vestie di bestie ‘of beasts’ (Corvo I.80) (v) de vregogna di vergogna ‘of shame’ (Corvo II.42) (vi) ( facenno) baciamano ‘hand-kiss’ (Corvo III.7) vasamane (vii) li vagne i bagni ‘the baths’ (Perrucci I.41) (viii) la valesta la balestra ‘crossbow’ (Perrucci II.30) (ix)- (chella) vattaglia (quella) battaglia ‘that battle’ (Perrucci II.83) (x)lo vosco il bosco ‘the-wood’ (Perrucci III.10) (xi) lo varcaiuolo il barcaiolo ‘the boatman’ (Perrucci III.32) (xii) ( Grieco) veppero bevvero ‘they drank’ (Perrucci IV.54) (xiii) lo vuolo il volo ‘the-flight’ (Perrucci VI.48) (xiv) de vuje di voi ‘of you’ (Pagano Ded. I.2) (xv) no vesbiglio un bisbiglio ‘a-whisper’ (Capasso II.31) 10 Composed of the verb * studja ( re ) here: ‘to clean’ + vocca ‘mouth’. Michela Russo / Shanti Ulfsbjorninn Phonological-lenition-and-the-inherent-strength-of-the-word-initial-position-- 25 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.2357/ VOX-2019-002 - -(b)-[bː]-surfacing-in-initial-position-after-RS-triggers-#_ 11 - -- --The-following-contexts-correspond-to-(2c).-These-have-RS-triggers-as-the-W 1 : Neap. che , quarche , e , c l (itic) lo (P rn .a cc .m ass ), c l le/ i (P rn .a cc . mPl or FPl ), a , le (a rt . FPl ), certe amongst others 12 : (i) che borrisse che volesse (2 sg ) ‘that-you-wanted’ (D.Basile II.2,444) (ii) che borria che vorrei ‘that I’d like’ (D.Basile I.1) (iii) che buoie che vuoi ‘what-do-you-want’ (Perrucci Pr. 5) (iv) che bita che vita ‘what-a-life’ (D.Basile I.1) (v) quarche bota qualche volta Lat. Quale Quid (D.Basile II) ‘sometime’ (vi) e bedarraie l e vedrai ‘you’ll see them’ (D.Basile II.5,762) c l (l)e ø (P rn .a cc . FPl ) (vii) lo bederraie lo vedrai ‘you’ll see it’ (D.Basile II.2,574) c l lo ø (P rn .a cc .m ass ) (viii) e benciarraie li vincerai ‘and-you’ll-win’ (D.Basile II.5,753) c l (l)i ø (P rn .a cc . mPl ) 13 (ix) lo buostro il vostro ‘your one’ (D.Basile III.6,1006 d lo ø (a rt .m ass ) (x) a biento a vento ‘off-load’ (Corvo Pr. 38) (xi)e (< et ) banno e vanno ‘and (they) go’ (Corvo I.47) (xii) cierte borpe certe volpi ‘certain-foxes’ (Corvo Pr. 41) D ( FPl ) (xiii) le bite le vite ‘the lives’ (Perrucci I.60) d (l)e ø (a rt . FPl ) 14 (xiv) le buce le voci ‘the voices’ (Perrucci Pr. 3) (l)e ø (a rt . FPl ) (xv) le betriate le vetrate ‘the-glass-wall’ (Corvo I.48) d (l) e ø (a rt . FPl ) 11- In-Neapolitan-written-texts,-the-replacement-of-the-weak-variant-[v]-with-the-strong-[bb]-by-graphical b not bb after- RSapplicationisrepresentedquiteregularly.-We-findgraphicalgeminatesmore-regularly-with-other-onsets,seealready-in-the-medieval-text- Ferraiolo: a cCanpo 139r 4, a dDio 94r 28, a ffare 95r 10, a llato 102r-49-etc.-So,-in-written-medieval-and-modern-forms,-there-isgraphical-alternation-betweenb and bb -in-RS-contexts,-but-RS-is-still-indicated-by-the-strong-formb -=-[bb]-selected-in-the-initial-position. 12 Thus, RS is also triggered by the atonic pronouns accusative feminine or masculine plural (l)le , see a ndalò 1991: 243 and already o liVa (before 1736, ed. m alato 1970: 278). This already happens in Medieval Neapolitan: DeRosa le ffece (F ormentin 1998: 276); see infra [b-] in DeRosa se lle beppero (F ormentin 1998: 190, N526). 13 < Lat. illoc or illud . 14 Lat. illaec . 26 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.8357/ VOX-2019-002 In-(4b)-above,-we-further-notice-that-all-functional-determiners-(d), occupying the same position as the d. FPl (l)e or the d.m ass (l)o , can trigger RS (see d. FPl queste ‘these’, quelle ‘those’, altre ‘others’, certe - ‘some’),as-wellasanyfeminineadjectivalpluralsor-m ass elements (see F anciullo 2002). (c) [b] surfacing in root-initial position (after proclitics) These correspond to (1d and 2d), traditionally labelled ‘post-consonantal’ RS triggers: per / pe øc / , con / co øc / and in / i øc / , / no(n)/ . (i) pe bedere per vedere ‘to see ’ (Perrucci II.27) (ii) pe bencere per vincere ‘to-win’ (Perrucci II.35) (iii) co bipare con vipere ‘with-vipers’ (Perrucci III.28) (iv) pe buto per voto ‘by vote’ (Capasso IV.22) (v) non beo non vedo ‘cannot see’ (D.Basile) (vi) non benga non venga ‘not come’ (Perrucci II.49) (vii) ‘mbuolo in volo ‘in-flight’ (Perrucci VI.21) The-process-of-(apparent)-initial-lenition-and-(quasi)-morphological-paradigms-arealready-well-documented-in-Medieval-Neapolitan-texts-(from-the-14 th / 15 th c.) as the following-data-show 15 : (5)-Medieval-Neapolitan-forms: -in-RS-position-[v_]-→b(b) (a) RS triggers ad / a øc / , et / e øc / , < est / e øc / , / le øc / (d. FPl ) etc. - -- -Examples-from-DeRosa-(before-1475,-F ormentin 1998: 275): (i) a (b)bedere a vedere ‘to see’ < Lat. ad / a øc / (ii) a bbuy, a buy a voi ‘to you’ (iii) e be’ e vedi ‘see’ (i mP ) < Lat et / e øc / (iv) che benga che venga ‘may he come’ (conjunction che ) (v) e bestuto è vestito ‘dressed.3 sg ’ < Lat. est (vi) delle burpe delle volpi ‘of-the-foxes’ < Lat. illaec / le øc / - -Examples-from-Ferraiolo-(ca.-1498)- (vii) le binte le venti ‘at-twenty’ (99v 35) / le øc / , but V_V circha vinte ‘about-twenty’ (89v 9) 15 F ormentin 1996: 171-72 and N5, 1998: 189, r usso / a Prile 2001. Michela Russo / Shanti Ulfsbjorninn Phonological-lenition-and-the-inherent-strength-of-the-word-initial-position-- 27 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.2357/ VOX-2019-002 (viii) più bote più volte ‘more times’ (148r 33) < Lat. Plus but secunna vota ‘second time’ (84r 5) (ix) a Bico Vico ‘alley’ (111r 14) but-##_- Vico (115v 11) (x) a bele a vele ‘sailing’ (150r 19) but V_V foro vele (112r 4) Meanwhile,-as-shown-particularly-clearly-in-(4b-vii-x),-we-also-have-[v]-without-an- RS-trigger,-the-weak-variant-surfacing-in-word-initial-position: -V-[CV: circha vinte , foro vele , secunna vota ,andinabsoluteinitialposition- ##_- Vico . Taking again the Southern- Italiantype- [vaˈsare]- It.baciare/ bacia ‘to kiss’ ( AIS - I.67)asexample,in- Medieval-Neapolitan-(Ferraiolo)-we-already-had: (d) Weak [v] V[CVl: (i) appe vasate baciati ‘kissed’ (Ferraiolo 150v 24) (e) Strong [bb] C[CV: (i) a basare (< Lat. ad / a øc / ) (Ferraiolo 128v 10) (ii) et basarenose (< Lat et / e øc / ) (Ferraiolo 97r 14) (iii) et basayele (Ferraiolo 150v 24) (iv) et basò (Ferraiolo 150v 2) - -(f)-RS-is-triggered-by-the-two-RS-triggersad / a øc / and et / e øc / Post-consonantal W 1 with-final-/ n/ -or-/ s/ : (i) no(n) be non vi (MsRiccardiano, s chirru 1995: 136) (ii) in Benecia in Venezia (Ferraiolo 131v 7) but de Venecia (Ferraiolo 101r 3) (iii) non basta (Ferraiolo 111r 39 but gi vasta ci basta ‘it is enough’ (Ferraiolo 115v 23) Lat. ex > / s/ : (i) essbalicziato svaligiato ‘robbed’ (DeRosa, F ormentin 1998: 189 N524) In-comparison-with-the-other-variants-of-the-voiced-stops,-the-weak-variant-of-/ d/ -(the-alveolartrill- [r])isregisteredveryrarelyatagraphiclevelin- Medieval- Neapolitantexts.- However,-indirect-orthographicevidenceallows-us-to-identify-[r]as-the-weak-variant-of- [d].-Specifically,-the-representation-of-hypercorrected-forms-indicates-correspondence-between-the-two-sounds-already-in-that-period,-showing-what-is-known-as-rhotacism-in-themodern dialect. 28 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.8357/ VOX-2019-002 (6) Medieval Neapolitan [r] (a) resgraziato disgraziato ‘good-for-nothing’ (< Lat. dis / de ex -) (DeRosa, F ormentin 1998: 210 and N580) (b) Hypercorrected forms in V_V position (/ r/ is replaced by graphical d ) 16 : (i) mestiede mestiere ‘job’ RomFrancia (ii) carcida carcere ‘prison’ (iii) giudasti giurasti ‘you-vowed’ms. Vat. lat. 10656 (iv) recupidare recuperare ‘recuperate’ recopedato recuperato ‘healed person’ (Ferraiolo, F ormentin 1998: 210 N582, 1988: 150) Thevariationdescribedintheexamplesaboveiscomparableto- Medievaland- Modern Neapolitan 17 . The-weakvariantsof- [bdɡ]canbeentirelydeletedintheir-weakform-Ø,andcontinue-to-alternate-with-a-strong-variant-[(b)b-(d)d-(ɡ)ɡ]-even-when-they-are-notlexical- (etymo-logical)intheparadigm,triggeredgenerallybyan- RSmorphemepreceding-a-word-that-can-also-begin-with-a-vowel-(like-Lat.auricola > It. orecchie ‘ears’,-strong-variants-[ɡɡr-]-or-[bbr]-in-C[CV]-contexts) 18 . The-challenging-aspect-of-the-data-is-the-mystery-of-weakening-in-a-supposedlystrong-initial-position.-Our-solution-to-this-issue-is-to-argue-that-weakening-here-isnot-lenition.-Rather,-this-strong-weak-alternation-provides-morphological-information,-reinforcing-for-the-listener-the-identification-of-the-root-they-heard-as-part-of-acertainquasi-mor-pho-logicalpattern- (thatis,itindicatestheproximitytoanothermorpheme). 2.1 A diachronic insight into Southern Italian betacism. A connection between Spanish and Neapolitan? Oursynchronicexplanationmatchesadiachronicinterpretation.- Weakeningofvoiced stops in Central and Southern Italian seems to go back to the loss of the Latin 16 r usso / a Prile 2001. 17- Such-(quasi)morphological-alternations-already-exist,-and-are-very-established,-in-Medieval-Neapolitan. They are also found in composed nouns, as in the medieval forms cobielle < Lat. Quod Velles - ‘what’vs.chivielle < Lat. Qui Velles - ‘who’,wheretheinterrogativeelement- Quod is an RS trigger-that-selects-a-strong-initial-[b],-while-the-interrogative-element- Qui is not an RS trigger and is-followed-by-the-initial-[v].-See-s chirru 1995: 136 N51. The agglutinated forms signal the proclitic status of the interrogative W1. 18 See r usso / a Prile 2001: 16s., F anciullo 1983-1986. Michela Russo / Shanti Ulfsbjorninn Phonological-lenition-and-the-inherent-strength-of-the-word-initial-position-- 29 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.2357/ VOX-2019-002 opposition-between-/ b/ -and-/ w/ -( b and v ---/ w/ -is-graphicallyv ). This is a historical phase,-which-is-shared-by-other-Romance-languages.- The Appendix Probi ( App. Pr. , 3 rd -4 th century AD), a «manual» on the correct spelling-of-words-(see-a sPerti / P assalacQua 2014) 19 ,-shows-the-Latin-confusion-between- / b/ and- / w/ inthefirstcentury.- Thedatabelowshowthatgraphicalb and v get mutually interchanged in initial, post-consonantal and intervocalic positions, signalling a complete phonological merger. The pronunciation of Latin v and b at this-stage-was-probably-[β] 20 : (7)-Latin-confusion-between-/ b/ -and-/ w/ - (a) App. Pr. N° Instruction (i) 9 baculus non vaclus (ii) 70 alveus non albeus (iii) 215 vapulo non baplo (iv) 91 plebes non plevis (v) 93 tabes non tavis (vi) 298 tolerabilis non toleravilis . At-this-point-in-time,-the-merger-had-also-affected-the-rest-of-Southern-Italy,-as-evident also in the Pompeii Inscriptions (near Naples) 21 : (b)-/ b/ -and-/ w/ -merger-(Pompeian-Inscriptions,-1 st century AD) (i) 4874 baliat -=valeat (ii) 4380 Berus -=- Vērus After this period (2 nd century, l ausBerg -§-300),-the-bilabial-fricative-[β]-becomes-labiodental / v/ in some of the Romance languages. In Italian (and in other languages, such as-French)-/ b/ -was-lexically-established-in-initial-and-post-coda-positions: -bacio ‘kiss’ or erba ‘grass’ vs. cavallo ‘horse’, Lat. ca b allu . The App. Pr. 70 ‘ alveus non albeus ’-already-shows-a-tendency-to-establish-strong- / b/ after coda / l r/ , as It. serbare ‘to store’ from Lat. ser v are or Fr. corbeau -‘crow’-from- Lat. cor v ellu .- However,someexchangesexistevenin- Medieval- French: arvoire (Modern French arbitre ‘referee’) from Lat. ar b itru (V äänänen -§-89). Consequently,-although-in-Latinv and b -merged-into-[β],-the-two-disjunctive-contexts-in-French-and-in-Italian,-the-absolute-initial-and-the-post-consonantal--position,- 19 For a discussion of the codicology dating proposals of App. Pr , see a sPerti / P assalacQua 2014: xxiii s. «The-problem-is-always-that-if-a-text-has-no-historical-allusions,-dating-becomes-im-possible,-andanother-problem-is-that-texts-like-this-( scil. Appendix Probi )-tended-to-be-rewritten/ revised-by-laterscribes, and the mere concept of a ‹date› becomes problematic» ( James Noel Adams, personal communication, 10/ 05/ 2019). 20 The Latin orthography v -=-[w].-See-also-V äänänen -§-89,-l ausBerg -§-300,-366,-373,-F anciullo 1997: 38. 21 We can add the inscription (Rome) Bittoria R I 304 < Lat. Victoria -or-some-examples-from-the-Letters of Claudius Terentianus (regional Latin spoken in Syria, I st c.): ioluclum -468.9,14-=iolucrum , ienire 469.7 vs. ieni 471.19 3, see a dams 1977 and r usso 2013a. 30 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.8357/ VOX-2019-002 {C_,-#_}-which-respectively-unified-as-the-strong-object-øCv-(here-/ b/ )-by-the-Coda- Mirror-theory,-were-phonologized-as-strong-/ b/ -in-these-two-positions,-one-symmetrical-object-øCv 22 . However,-Spanish,-Catalan,-Gascon,-Southern-Italian-dialects-and-Sardinian-haveneu-tralized-the-contrast-between-Latin- V and b --word-initially.-Thus,-following-the- Latinconfusionbetweenb and v ,aphonotacticprocessaffectedthelanguagesof- Southern Romania, such that the realization of the Latin b and v has been established allophonically. For-example,-the-fricative-[-β-]-in-Spanish,-Catalan,-Gascon,-some-parts-of-Occitan- (Languedoc-and-Auvergne)-and-Sardinian,-is-the-reflex-of-Latin-v and b in three con-texts: intervocalically,word-internallyandatmorphemeboundaries- (Sp.haba [aβa], nue[β]o nuevo ‘new’). However,-these-languages-have-a-[b-]-realization-in-absolute-initial-contexts-(##_): - Sp. boca [b]oka ‘mouth’ Lat. b ucca , barba [b]a[rβ]a- ‘beard’-Lat.-b arBa , vino [bino] ‘wine’-Lat.-b inu , vaca [b] aka -‘cow’-Lat.-b acca . The data suggest that after the complete-merger-of-/ w/ -and-/ b/ -in-Latin,-v and b -, in some Latin regions (as in Spain), the-same-historical-sound-change-worked-by-changing-initial-[β]-into-initial-[b].-Thisoccurred-in-the-strong-initial-position,-whereas-the-weak-variant-[-β-]-remained-inintervocalical-contexts.-This-process-and-result-have-been-called-betacism 23 . Ininitialpositionin- Centraland- Southern- Italiandialects,-we-find-[v]- (butalso- [β],see-below)-or-[bb],-depending-on-the-phonological-environment-(the-fortitionenvironment---only-phonotactical,-between-W 1 W 2 ). This process is already recorded-in-Latin-inscrip-tions,-see-for-instance-the-following-early-example-of-strengthening via Syntactic Doubling (s aBatini 1966: 214-216/ 1996: 23-25, N66-67): (8)-Latin-C[CV]-[bː-]-RS a bboce Lat. ad Vocem RS trigger / a øc / -+-[β]-(Lat.-/ w/ -=v )-=-[bb]non dicere ille secrita ab b oce (850 ad) Commodilla’s-graffiti,-Rome- 22- Italian-and-Neapolitan-also-have-opposing-patterns-in-internal-post-coda-position: -while-in-Italian,- Northern-and-Central-Italian-dialects,-we-found-voiced-stops-in-internal-post-coda-position-/ rb,-lb/ : - It. carbone ‘charcoal’ or erba ‘grass’,-Neapolitan-and-Southern-Italian-dialects-generally-have-weakconsonants [rv, lv]: Neap. [varva] It. barba ‘beard’, Neap. [erva] It. erba -‘grass’,-Neap.-[karˈvonə]-It.carbone -‘charcoal’.-The-clusters-[rv,-lv]-can-often-be-broken-by-vowel-epenthesis-or-metathesis-andepenthesis (see s aBatini -1966: -216/ 1966: -25-N65).-This-matches-with-Spanish,-which-has-[-lβ-]-and- [-rβ]-in-post-coda-position,-after-/ l,-r/ .-This-difference-is-predicted-by-our-theory,-as-we-explain-insection-3.-In-Neapolitan,-the-interpretation-of-a-voiced-stop-requires-sharing-of-at-least-one-of-itselements-across-two-positions.-In-post-consonantal-contexts-this-preserves-voiced-stops-after-nasals-and-fricatives.-However,-‘r’,-glides-and-vowels-have-no-features-in-common-with-voiced-stopsand, as such, voiced stops must lenite after these sounds, including / r/ (despite it being a consonantal-sound).-Interestingly,-laterals-vary-cross-linguistically-as-to-whether-they-contain-the-occlusion feature (Edge), a feature also found in voiced stops. In Neapolitan and Spanish, therefore, it must be assumed that laterals do not contain Edge. 23 s aBatini 1966/ 1996: 216 and N66, l oPorcaro 2004. Michela Russo / Shanti Ulfsbjorninn Phonological-lenition-and-the-inherent-strength-of-the-word-initial-position-- 31 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.2357/ VOX-2019-002 The-author-of-the-graffiti-wanted-to-transcribe-the-vulgar-expression-‘at-high-voice’- ( ad is instrumental); later, the author added a second b to the inscription in the graphical form of a small b in ab b oce . This avoids leaving a single b and a bilabial fricative interpretation of the grapheme (s aBatini 1966: 217/ 1996: 195). The graphical v ispronouncedatthistime- [β],butitstrengthensto- [bː]between- W 1 W 2 . The -examplealsoshowsthattheprocesswasalreadyfullyestablishedinthe- Romanvernacular at that period. So, s aBatini 1966/ 1987: 25 suggests that, in the betacistic Central-and-Southern-Italian-area,-the-graphical-opposition-betweenb and bb -wasusedtomakeaphonologicaldistinctionbetweenweakintervocalic- [β]- =b and strong-[bb]-=bb . A graphical intervocalic b -was-first-read-intervocalically-as-[β],-andlater-shifted-to-a-labiodental-[v].-See-other-examples-(ib.: -26-and-N69): (9)-C[CV]-RS-[bː-]- - -(a)-A-proper-name-frequent-in-late-inscriptions: -Q uoBBuldeus < Q uod -V ult -d eus - -(b)-RS-after-Prefix-/ a øc / < Lat. ad : abbenit CIL Vi .13267, Rome abbena CIL Viii .5353, Calama (Numidia) abbocatore 10 th -11 th c., Campania 24 - -(c)-C[CV]-RS-Neapolitan-Latin-[bː-]; -Lat.v becomes [bb] in RS positions 25 : abbocatore PergArm 31.86-87, Naples 1181 a bice PergArmVetere 14.35, Naples 1207 26 vs. pro vice PergArm 9.27, Naples 1154 abbice PergArm 9.27. Naples 1154 27 abbidendum PergArm 11.33, Naples 1159 (d) RS is also present in hypercorrection such as: db -=-[bb]: ad bice PergArm 2.9, Naples 1146 ad bice PergArmVetere 84.217, Naples 1237 In-terms-of-phonological-behavior,-the-distance-between-Central-and-Southern-Italian-dialectsand- Spanish-or-Catalan,-whereabsolute-initial-isalways-[b-]-withoutalternation,-isfurtherrepresented-by-its-phonotactical-absence-in-Western-Romance.-Specifically,-it-is-absent-fromthetwofortitionenvironments,wherewefind- [b-]in- Neapolitanafter- RSandøctriggers.- Gemination-has-been-lost-in-Spanish-and-Catalan,-even-post-lexically.- 24 See abbocatore (1034) in Codex Cavensis , d e B artholomaeis 1901 (cf. LEI 1, 950). 25 This process can be observed through the hypercorrections tb , db that represent [bb] from Latin v also in Medieval Latin in Southern Puglia: atbocatorem (Polignano 992, c d P ugl XX.25), adbocatorem (Bari 954, c d P ugl XX.10), atbersus (Castellana 941, c d P ugl XX.8), adbersus (Conversano 1053, c d P ugl XX.39), atbenit (Castellana 916, c d P ugl XX.5), adbeni (Conversano 994, c d P ugl XX.27), atbeniente (Monopoli 944, c d P ugl XX.9), see r usso 2013a. 26 [abbi] < / aøc/ < Lat. ad . 27 Cf. PergArm 9.28, Naples 1154, ib . 29.80, 1180, etc. 32 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.8357/ VOX-2019-002 Central and Southern Italian dialects and Neapolitan, having derived phonotactically induced geminates of the root-initial consonant, pull phonotactic strengthening-markers-to-the-initial-position,-where-the-strong-variant-can-express-a-fragmentofmorphosyntax.- Themorpho-syntacticboundarybecomesphonologicallysignalled through the selection of strong [b(b)] in initial position, and the sharing of (all)-its-features-with-the-phonotactically-conditioning-morpheme-(W 1 ). A-heteromorphemic-post-codapositionissomewhatdifferentfromtheinternalpost-coda-position-in-Neapolitan,-precisely-because-word-internal-post-coda-consonants do not mark any morphosyntactic category, unlike the initial position in Central-and-Sou-thern-Italian-dialects.-Thus,-word-internal-post-coda-contexts-(after-/ l-r/ )are-always-weak-in-Neapolitan-as-they-are-in-Spanish-(see-N34). A phonotactic alternation closer to Spanish, Catalan and Gascon (Western Romance),-at-least-with-respect-to-the-quality-of-the-two-variants-[b]-and-[β]-(aside-from- Raddoppiamento and absolute initial position), is recorded in medieval times in the Cassinoarea.- Themedievaltext- Ritmo cassinese (13 th century, F ormentin 2007: 74) contains-what-has-been-calledbetacismo cassinese 28 . (10) Cassinese betacism (13 th century): Graphically b replaces v in all the positions (i) ##_- Boltier(a) 51 ‘vorrei’,-‘I-would-like’ =-[β]- (ii) #_questa bita 3 ‘questa-vita’,-‘this-life’ =-[β]- (iii) V_V fabello 1 ‘(io) favello’, ‘I speak’ =-[β]- (iv) C_#est beritate ‘è verità’, ‘(it) is truth’ =-[b]-W 1 -=-RS (v) C_ combengo 41 ‘convengo’, ‘I agree upon’ =-[b]- (vi) C_ abbengo 10 ‘vengo’, ‘I arrive’ =-[b]- (vii) C_ abbibatio 12 ‘affretto’,-‘I-hurry’ 29 =-[b]- According to B aldelli (1958: 35), graphical b -corresponds-to-[β],-as-is-maintained-inthe area of Montecassino to this day 30 . As suggested by F ormentin -2007: -74,-the-weak- [β]-involves-the-initial-position-(##_- Boltiera -and-#_questa bita ) and V_V ( fabello ), whereas-strong-[b]-involves-a-derived-environment: -phonotactically-conditioned-C_- (prefixesor- RSøctriggers).- Thisisreinforcedbytheexampleguita - 23,whereanasal-C-phono-tac-tically-precedes-the-despecifiedv / b ,-replacing-it-withg : non guita 23 ‘vita’. These-languages-show-different-phonotactic-conditions: -in-Spanish,-Catalan,-Gascon,-and-Sardinian,-[b-]-is-synchronically-always-initial-and-[-β-]-always-intervocal- 28 B aldelli 1958, c astellani 2000: 261 N20, F ormentin 2007: 74-75. See s aBatini 1967: [216]/ 1996: [25] and- N66: - «L’usodirappresentarelavariante- [β]colsimbolograficob costituisce il betacismo grafico: quest’usos’è-potuto-mantenereperqualche-tempoanchequandol’articolazioneeradiventata labiodentale» (see also s aBatini 1967/ 1996: [25] N67). 29 From the comparative Lat. ViVacius ,-which-led-also-to-Tusc.- (a)vaccio ‘soon’ (F ormentin 2007: 89). 30- Cassino-is-in-between-Latium-and-Campania.-The-situation-B aldelli 1958: 35 refers to corresponds to a synchronic development in Tagliacozzo and Trasacco, Southern Latium ( Sonnino ), and Northern Campania (Ausonia), all located around Montecassino. Michela Russo / Shanti Ulfsbjorninn Phonological-lenition-and-the-inherent-strength-of-the-word-initial-position-- 33 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.2357/ VOX-2019-002 ic; in- Cen-traland- Southern- Italiandialects,- [bː/ bv]areselectedininitialpositionaccording-to-the-morpho-phonological-conditions.-However,-both-groups-share-thehistorical-change-in-Latin,-wherev -[w]-andb -[b]-were-despecified-and-merged-intoa-single-sound,-whose-manner-features-are-determined-by-the-phonological-(strengthening)-context-inherent-to-the-initial-position.-In-Spanish-the-realization-is-[b-],-sinceinitialconsonantisalwaysstrong,whilein- Centraland- Southern- Italiandialects- [bː/ b-]-is-always-phonologically-and-morpho-syntactically-conditioned. In- Catalanand- Gasconaswell,itseemsclearthattheabsolute-initialpositionbecomes marked by phonotactically conditioned alternations signalling its inherent strength-([b-]).-The-Neapolitan-absolute-initial-[v-]-(or-Southern-Italian-[β-])-is-onlythe result of a phonotactic condition used to highlight the strengthening and complexityoftheinitialpositionin- Southern- Italiandialects,where- [bː/ b-]ininitialposition-acts-as-an-exponent-of-both-phonology-and-morphology.-In-both-offshootsof-Latin,-we-face-the-same-his-torical-process-of-merger,-differentiated-by-later/ furtherphonotactic developments. Furthermore,thepriorvariationin- [b,v/ β]illustratedinthe- Neapolitandata,extended-to-the-whole-set-of-voiced-stops-in-Southern-Italy-and-parts-of-Central-Italy.-It-therefore-affected-the-natural-class-of-voiced-obstruents-[+voice,--cont]: -[b-d-ɡ].- We-now-turn-to-the-phonological-interpretation-and-formalization,-trying-to-determine-how-Neapolitan-phonology-aids-parsing-by-marking-morpho-syntactic-objectsthrough-a-phonological-phonotactic-condition-that-affects-the-inherent-strength-ofconsonants.-This-willalsoexplain-why-theconsonants-inabsolute-initial-positionseem,-at-first-sight,-to-challenge-the-phonological-models-of-positional-strength,-suchas-the-Coda-Mirror.-We-will-also-show-that-the-usual-Strict-CV-explanation-for-variation-in-initial-strength-cannot-be-made-to-work-for-Neapolitan. 3. Theories of lenition and the strength of the initial position Positions-of-strength-and-weakness-in-words-are-typically-distributed-as-shown-in- (11).- Specifically,thedisjunctivecontext- {C_,- #_}- (post-codaandword-initial)isastrong-position,-while-V_V-and-V_#-constitute-weak-positions. (11)-Strong-and-weak-positions (a) Strong positions (onsets) #-[ σ C V C [ σ C V (b) Weak positions (intervocalic onset, coda) V[ σ C V [ σ -VC#- In-Central-and-Southern-Italian-dialects,-the-supposedly-weak-intervocalic-contextvCv (Neap. sivo It. sebo ) is phonetically identical to the object in the «Coda» Mirror, which-should-be-a-strong-position: -øCv-(viato ).-Meanwhile,-crucially,-Standard-Italian-(based-on-Italo-Tuscan)-and-Tuscan-dialects-show-a-more-typical-pattern-wherethe-utterance-initial-position-is-strong: -Tusc.-[ˈdiθo]-vs.-Neap.-[ˈrito], It. dito ‘finger’; - 34 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.8357/ VOX-2019-002 see-the-phonolo-gical-representation-in-(12)-below.-In-Standard-Italian,-we-also-findthe strong consonants in post-coda position as predicted by the Coda Mirror: / rb, lb/ It. barba ‘beard’, carbone ‘coal’, erba ‘grass’, alba -‘dawn’-andalbero -‘tree’.-Meanwhile, in Neapolitan and other Central and Southern Italian dialects, post-consonantal positions trigger a strong variant due to the phonotactic condition of the initial position- (afteraprefix- -n _, z _ or geminated after / a c / a ( d )- -orin- RS),whereasvoiced-stops-in-word-internal-post-coda-are-strong-as-geminates,-but-weak-afterr _ (/ r/ ) and l _-(/ l/ ): -/ rb-rɡ-lb/ -→-[rv-lv] 31 . As-we-have-already-suggested,-Neapolitan-initial-weakening-(and-internal-post-coda-weakening)-seems-to-run-against-the-general-CVCV-formulation-of-the-«Coda»- Mirror (s égéral / s cheer 2001), revised by s cheer / z ikoVá ’s 2010 «Coda»-mirror v2, in which-the-strong-position-has-a-unique-environment: -øCv.-In-this-model,-the-strengthof-con-so-nants-depends-on-the-licensing-force-they-can-obtain-from-a-vowel-positionto-their-right.-Strength-and-weakness-derive-from-a-position’s-ability-to-receive-thecontradictoryforcesofstrength- (licensing)andweakness- (government).- Sinces cheer / z ikoVá -2010-it-is-understood-that-a-position-which-could-in-principle-be-bothlicensed-and-governed-is-only-governed.-These-conditions-give-rise-to-the-followingconstellation-of-strength-and-weak-ness-contexts. (12) Summary of phonological strength in Coda Mirror (a) C-is-weak-when-it-is-[-Lic,--Gov]-«word-final-coda»-or-[+Gov]-«intervocalic» (b) C that is [-Gov, +Lic] is strong «initial» or «post-consonantal» (13) Positional strength in Coda Mirror (a) Weakness-in-the-in-the-Coda-Mirror---The-(unified)-disjunctive-context-{C._,-_#}) (i)-word-internal-«coda»-[-Gov,--Lic] (ii)-word-final-«coda»-[-Gov,--Lic]- C V C v C V C V C v | | | | | | | | C V R T V C V C 31- See- §-2.1and- N32.r ohlFs - §-262,- F anciullo 1976. This positional alternation also brings closer Southern-Italian-dialects-to-Spanish-and-Catalan,-where-the-fricative-[β]-is-also-the-phonotacticalrealization in post-coda position (after / l r/ ). Michela Russo / Shanti Ulfsbjorninn Phonological-lenition-and-the-inherent-strength-of-the-word-initial-position-- 35 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.2357/ VOX-2019-002 (iii) intervocalic [+Gov] Gov C V C V | | | | C V C V (b) Strength in ‘Coda’-mirror (i) Initial [+Lic, -Gov] (ii) Post-consonantal [+Lic, -Gov] Gov Gov # c v C V C V C v C V | | | | | | | C V C V R T V Lic Lic Because of the parametric possibility of the presence of an initial empty CV (henceforth: -initial-CV)-shown-in-(13b,-i),-it-is-possible-for-an-onset-to-be-either-strong-orweak-word-initially-(s cheer 2012). This depends on the presence of the initial empty CV-in-the-fol-lo-wing-way.-If-it-is-present,-it-attracts-the-spoiling-force-of-Governmentaway-from-the-initial-onset,-rendering-it-strong.-Instead,-if-it-is-absent,-Governmentwill-target-the-initial-onset,-rendering-it-as-weak-as-an-intervocalic-onset.-Initially,thismayseemtobethesimplesolutionbehindinitialweakeningin- Neapolitan; however,-this-solution-cannot-be-correct.-- The-proposal-follows-thusly-to-parameterize-the-presence-of-an-initial-CV: -in-Neapolitan-there-is-no-initial-CV,-so-initial-onsets-are-as-weak-as-intervocalic-ones,-whilein-Tuscan,-where-the-initial-onsets-are-strong,-words-begin-with-an-initial-CV: -Tusc.- [CV-d [strong] ito], Neap. [d [weak-(~r)] ito] dito -‘finger’: (14) Tusc: CV-d[ strong ]ito (14) Neap: d[ weak(~r) ]ito Gov Gov c v C V C V C V C V | | | | | | | | d i t o d i t o Lic Outcome: strong [d] weak-[r]- ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ 36 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.8357/ VOX-2019-002 Thus,-there-are-processes-that-would-be-able-to-locate-the-extra-initial-CV-in-Tuscan,whichisresponsibleformakingtheinitialpositionstrong,inlinewith- (14).- Thissolution-can-be-shown-to-be-insufficient-because-of-its-predictions-elsewhere-in-thephonology; -specifically,-the-presence-of-the-initial-CV-makes-mispredictions-aboutexternal-sandhi-(s cheer 2012). In-this-case,-the-solution-fails-because-there-are-no-relevant-differences-of-sandhiin the dialects concerned. While Standard Italian stops undergo spirantization, Tuscan gorgia -applies-across-word-boundaries,-when-consonants-are,-broadly-speaking,intervocalic-(the-famous-process-also-known-as- Gorgia Toscana , g iannelli 1983, m a rotta 2008, r usso 2015, u lFsBjorninn 2016) 32 . In both varieties (in the Central and Southern-Italian-as-well-as-in-Tuscany),-RS-is-triggered-by-many-proclitics,-and-thereis-no-unexpected-blocking-of-the-process-form-putative-initial-CV-in-Tuscan. If-there-were-an-extra-CV-in-Tuscan,-it-would-presumably-be-identified-by-blockingsandhi,-just-as-a-lexical-initial-empty-CV-does-(u lFsBjorninn -2014)-and-by-allowingroot-initial proclitics to resist spirantization. Gorgia is essentially a post-vocalic (or inter-vocalic)processwherethespoilingforceof- Governmentlandsontheonset- (like-13a,-iii).-If-Tuscan-initial-onsets-were-preceded-by-an-initial-CV,-then-this-empty-CV-site-would-absorb-the-Government-and-leave-the-initial-onsets-unaffected-bylenition.-In-short,-we-should-expect-to-get-blocking-of-spirantization-word-initiallyacross morpheme boundaries: (15)-Proposed-initial-CV-wrongly-predicts-inhibition-of-spirantization Gov c V c v C V C V | | | | | i d i t o =-*[idiːti]-[iðiːiti]-‘the-fingers’ Lic 32 We recall that synchronically, the Tuscan Gorgia voiced and unvoiced stops spirantize post-vocalically: -/ p,-t,-k/ -and-/ b,-d,-ɡ/ -are-converted-into-the-weak-sets: -[ɸ-θ-x]-and-[β-ð-ɣ].-The-outcomes-oflenitionvarydiatopically,bothwithrespecttowhichstopslenite- (forinstancein- Pisa/ Livornospirantization-is-restricted-to-/ t,-k/ )-and-what-the-outcome-is: -in-Central-Tuscan-(Florence/ Siena)- / k/ - >- [h],-whilein- Southern- Tuscan,e.g.,-Maremmano- (Grosseto)- / k/ lenitesto- [x].- Theprocessoccurs-post-lexically-across-any-word-boundary; -it-is-blocked-only-by-a-pause.-The-strong-variants- (the stops) are retained in all post-consonantal positions and in the preconsonantal position of «bogusclusters»- / pt,pn/ etc.,aswellasinabsoluteinitialposition.- Theyarealsopreservedasgeminates-either-lexically-or-when-these-are-derived-by-RS.-Therefore,- Gorgia -can-apply-post-lexicallytovoicedstopsproducingthefollo-wingalternation: - [diθo]dito - ‘finger’,- [iði: θi]i diti ‘the fingers’-(15).-For-the-diatopic-distribution-of- Gorgia and a theoretical discussion of the lenition in Tuscany see g iannelli 1983, a gostiniani / g iannelli 1983, m arotta 2008 and u lFsBjorninn 2016; for diachronic considerations and theoretical discussion see r usso 2015. Michela Russo / Shanti Ulfsbjorninn ▼ ▼ Phonological-lenition-and-the-inherent-strength-of-the-word-initial-position-- 37 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.2357/ VOX-2019-002 As-shown-in-(15),-this-prediction-is-not-borne-out: -[iðiːiti]-*[idiːti]i diti ‘the-fingers’; so Tuscan, just like Neapolitan, should be presumed to lack the Initial CV and both varietiesof- Italianshouldbeexpectedtohaveweakinitialconsonants.- Fromthisdemonstration,-we-know-that-the-initial-strength-of-Tuscan-stops,-and-consequentlyits divergence from Neapolitan, is not caused by the presence or absence of an initial CV. Any generalized initial CV proposed for Tuscan should inhibit the application-of-spirantization,-against-the-known-facts.-Therefore,-the-initial-CV-cannot-bethe-locus-of-variation-in-explaining-the-strong-vs.-weak-initial-consonant-in-Tuscanand Neapolitan 33 .-This-testagaincon-firms-that-there-is-nogeneralized-root/ wordinitial empty CV. Interestingly,-as-we-have-also-previously-alluded,-the-pattern-of-weakness-shownin Neapolitan is also problematic for the model of lenition called Licensing Inheritance (h arris 1997). In Neapolitan, lenited positions can also be foot-initial and therefore-should-not-be-subject-to-weakening: -v(iàto) ‘lucky’, (pòve)ra v(èstia) ‘poor beast’. Inthismodel,word-initialityisnotinherentlystrong,butitfrequentlycorrelateswith-being-initial-within-a-foot.- This-model-unifies-strength-and-weakness-by-proposing-what-is-shown-schematically-in-(16)-below.-Positions-licensed-directly-from-the-head-of-the-foot-are-strong,while-other-positions-are-weak; -therefore,-in-this-theory,-foot-initiality-is-inherentlystrong. (16)-Licensing-inheritance,-strength-and-weakness Foot head dependent b á r k a STRONG WEAK However,thismodelcannotaccountfor- Neapolitanbecauseinthisvariety,thelenited consonants are often found foot-initially, the universally strong position (17). 33- Allowing-deletion-of-the-initial-CV-under-proclisis-would-resolve-the-problem,-but-only-arbitrarily,as-the-CV-would-be-present-when-needed-and-removed-when-problematic.-Other-empty-CVs-arenot deleted and instead trigger RS (for Strict CV references: d’a lessandro / s cheer 2015). 38 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.8357/ VOX-2019-002 (17) (povera) v(éstia) ‘(poor) beast’ Foot head dependent b~v e s tj a STRONG? WEAK? As-the-diagram-in-(17)-shows,-Licensing-Inheritance-should-predict-a-strong-resultfor-the-b~v-position,-because-it-is-this-onset-that-is-licensed-by-the-foot-head.-Againstthe-pre-dic-tion-of-the-model,-the-initial-consonant-surfaces-in-its-weak-form: -[v].-Inother-words,-this-model-seems-not-to-account-for-Neapolitan-lenition,-because-thelenited position can be (and often is) foot-initial - the universally strong position. Havingshownthat- Neapolitanseemstoconfoundphonologicalstrengthandweak-ness,itisonlynaturaltoaskwhetherthe- Neapolitandatademandthatweabandon-the-claim-that-initiality-equals-phonologicalstrength-(at-least-as-the-firstexpectation).- Isthisadesignpropertyofphonologicalgrammar? - Shouldinitialstrength-not-be-a-pre-pro-grammed-expectation-of-phonological-universal-grammar? Intheremainderofthispaper,wewillarguethatthe- Neapolitanfactssupportinitial-strength,-though-they-do-so-in-an-apparently-paradoxical-manner.-Our-claimis-that-the-data-supports,-rather-than-contradicts,-the-existing-phonological-modelsof positional strength. We-will-now-argue-that-it-is-a-mistake-to-model-initial-weakening-in-Central-and- Southern Italian as lenition 34 .-Instead,-we-propose-that-Neapolitan-initial-weakeningconsti-tutes-a-part-of-(quasi-)morphological-paradigms.- 4. Neapolitan initial weakening is not lenition 4.1 Reanalysis of Neapolitan How-can-initial-weakening-not-be-lenition? -To-model-Southern-Italian-alternationsas lenition is to misunderstand the phonological strength of positions. The phonological strength of positions is ultimately diagnosed by its ability to license a large or full set of contrasts. This means that strong positions do not typi- 34 After all, voiceless consonants (typically more resistant to lenition than their voiced counterparts) are-never-reduced-in-these-apparently-weak-contexts: -[ˈtots: ə]-It.tozzo ‘piece of bread’. Michela Russo / Shanti Ulfsbjorninn Phonological-lenition-and-the-inherent-strength-of-the-word-initial-position-- 39 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.2357/ VOX-2019-002 cally undergo contrast neutralization. It also means that consonants in strong positionsaregenerallylesslikelytolenite.- Thesearegeneralconditions; however,in- Neapolitan,thelenitionthatweseeisaspecific weakeningofsome consonants. Systemically, the initial position still licenses a greater number of contrasts. This can be-clearly-shown-when-all-the-con-sonant-contrasts-found-in-initial-position-are-compared-to-what-can-be-found-in-a-truly-weak-position,-and-in-Neapolitan-morpheme-internal-post-coda-position-(with-weak-[v]-internally,-typevarva It. barba ‘beard’). As we-noticed-(2.1-N23),-internal-post-coda-does-not-host-any-morphological-contrasteither; -thus,-whereas-internal-C[Cv-is-generally-a-strong-position-in-many-langua-ges,as-in-Italian-or-French,-it-is-a-weak-position-in-Sou-thern-Italian-dialects-[rv].-This-iscoherent in Neapolitan and Southern Italian, since the post-coda position does not license any phono-morphological properties as the initial post-coda position does. Turningword-initially,thispositionhostsmorpho-syntacticfeatures,whilethecomplex-internal-post-coda-position-is-non-salient-and-does-not-con-stitute-a-morpheme.-In-initial-position,-voicedstops-are-only-allowed-tosurface-when-they-aremulti-morphemic. To repeat this point, despite the general ban on voiced stops, these are, in a sense, still-allowed-in-initial-position-(they-are-the-first-phonological-onset-of-the-word)-oncondition-that-(a)-they-form-part-of-a-complex-with-a-fricative-or-a-nasal-consonant- (these-invariably-belong-to-other-morphemes); -(b)-elsewhere-morpheme/ root-initialvoiced stops are permitted on condition that they form a geminate (i.e. they geminate into a preceding morpheme). Indeed, this pattern seems to demonstrate that root-initial-[b]-is-allowed-to-surfaceif it signals the presence of a morpheme boundary .- Thiscreatesalternationswherethemorphemeinisolationsurfaceswiththeweak-form-and-the-multi-morphemic-form-shows-up-with-the-strong-form-(18).-Essentially,-the-strong-foot-initial,-root-initial-«first-onset»-position-of-roots-(C 1 ), can contain «more» melodic material/ segments than other positions. The fact that C 1 -is-a-strong-position-makes-it-a-good-position-for-expressing-patterns of morphology that are signalled by the «amount of phonological material in C 1 ».-The-argument-is-as-follows: -if-a-morphological-paradigm-is-defined-by-melodiccomplexity-as-having-«a-lot-of-phonological-material»-(i.e.-multiple-or-marked-features such as obstruency/ stopness, noise and/ or voicing; see section 5 for representation-with-Elements-theory),-this-necessarily-requires-that-elsewhere-related-roots-donot contain those same features. Therefore, in such systems, C 1 willbesimpleinparadigmalpha- (i.e.-basic,-un-suffixed-word-initial)andcomplex-in-beta- (i.e.-negation).-Importantly-then,-even-in-the-simple-alternant-such-as-(weak)-[r] ito dito ‘finger’, the C 1 -position-is-exercising-its-strength-in-that-C 1 is «acting» simple, so that C 2 -can-contrast-with-it-by-being-complex-elsewhere-(and-define-that-paradigm/ signala-procliticized-morpheme).-This-way,-we-have-systematically-weakened-consonantsin C 1 despite it being an inherently strong position (the Coda Mirror position). 40 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.8357/ VOX-2019-002 (18) Strong consonants in C 1 - - -(a)-øCv-post-consonantal (i) zbignà z-+-√bigna ‘he escapes’ (ii) mbuolo N-+-√buolo- ‘in-flight’ 35 - - -(b)-øCv-RS (i) le bite D-=le ø a rt . FPl + root ‘the lives’ 36 (ii) lo buostro D-=lo ø a rt .m ass noun + root ‘yours’ 37 (iii) lo bederraie c l -=lo ø P rn .a cc .m ass + root ‘you’ll see it’ 38 This-is-parallel-to-what-happens-in-the-Neapolitan-RS-contexts-with-the-other-onsetswhere-the-strong-position-is-identified-by-the-geminate-(see-18c): - (c) RS marking morpheme boundary (i) le mmura D-=le ø a rt . FPl + root ‘the-walls’ 39 (ii) lo mmale D-=lo ø a rt .m ass noun + root ‘the evil’ 40 Since-the-strong-form-of-the-consonant-shows-up-word-internally-in-the-same-phonologicalcontexts- [zbmbbː]andthemorphemesthataresignaledbythestrongform of the initial [b] do not form a natural morpho-syntactic class, this kind of morphemic-signaling-is-only-(quasi)morphological.- (19)-Quasi-morphological-alternations-in-Neapolitan Type Strong/ weak Form Gloss (i) noun weak [ˈvarkə]barca ‘boat.n’ (ii) det . indeF . s . weak [naːˈvarkə] una barca ‘a boat’ (iii) three strong [treˈbːarkə] tre barche ‘three boats’ (iv) det . deF . s weak [a-ˈvokːə] la bocca ‘the mouth’ (v) det . deF . F . Pl strong [e-ˈbːokːə] le bocche ‘the mouths’ (vi) Pret .1 sg weak [adʒːə-ˈvipːətə] ho bevuto ‘I’ve drunk’ (vii) Prn . acc . FPl strong se lle beppero se le bevvero ‘they drank them’ 41 (viii) neg strong [nu-ˈbːerə]non bere ‘don’t drink’ 35- See-above-(4a)-(xiii)lo vuolo and 3b (iv) sbignare ~ svignarsela -‘sneak-away’. 36 It. le vite ,-see-above-4b-(xiii). 37 It. il vostro ,-see-above-4b-(ix). 38 It. lo vedrai , see above 4b (vii). 39 It. le mura , medieval Neapolitan. 40 It. il male , medieval Neapolitan. 41- Medieval-Neapolitan-(but-also-modern); -the-text-used-is-DeRosa-(F ormentin 1998: 190 N526). Michela Russo / Shanti Ulfsbjorninn Phonological-lenition-and-the-inherent-strength-of-the-word-initial-position-- 41 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.2357/ VOX-2019-002 (ix) s strong [ˈzbiɲːə]scappare ‘to escape’ (x) n - ( loc ) strong [ˈbɔːlə] in volo ‘in-flight’ (xi) n - ( loc ) strong [ˈmːokːə]-/ nb/ in bocca ‘in mouth’ 42 (xii) det . deF . count weak [o-ˈviːnə]il vino ‘wine. count ’ (xiii) det . deF . mass strong [o-ˈbːinə] il vino ‘wine. mass ’ (xiv) Prn . acc . mass strong [o-ˈbːonːə] lo vogliono ‘want-them’ 43 (xv) Prn . acc . FPl strong [e-ˈbːonːə] le vogliono ‘want-them’ As-we-have-seen,-in-the-case-of-count-and-mass-nouns-we-have-some-of-the-strongestevidence for root-initial consonants being alternated, according to a strong and weak-paradigm,-to-expone-an-aspect-of-morpho-syntax.-Cases-like-count-and-massnouns-(19-xii-and-xiii),-certain-clitics-(and-certain-determiners)-count/ mass-(19-xiii)are fully morphologized for the content of C 1 : -strong-or-weak.-This-is-most-clear-inthese-forms-because-the-triggering-morpheme-is-otherwise-homophonous.-In-theseforms,-only-gemination-signals-the-morpho-syntactic-difference.-This-is-evident-alsoin-the-examples-above,-parti-cu-larly: -(4b-ix)lo buostro , It. il vostro d-=-a rt .m ass / lo øc / or (4b vii) lo bederraie , It. lo vedrai c l -=-lo ø P rn .a cc .m ass . (20)-Morpho-syntax-and-phonology-of-‘wine’- (Singular) c ount / m ass noun in Neapolitan (see lo mmale 18 iib and lo buostro -4b-ix)- (a)-[o-ˈviːnə]-wine.m ass (b)-[o-ˈbːinə]-wine.c ount 42- Neapolitanhastakenthisastepfurther,-whereunderlyingn +voicedstopsequencessometimesbecome-geminate-nasals-elsewhere-in-Southern-Italy. 43- ‘want-them’.-All-W1-type-proclitics-can-generate-a-strong/ weak-pattern-from-a-voiced-stop-[b-d-ɡ].- This-pattern-leads-to-a-large-restructuration-of-the-Neapolitan-lexicon.-For-instance,-a-lexical-/ r/ -inawordlikethe- Italianverbrompere - ‘tobreak’,whenprecededbya- P rn .a cc .m ass , becomes [o-ˈdːombənə]lo rompono -‘(they)-break-it’.-This-form-surfaces-with-a-weak-[r]-replaced-by-strong- [d],-even-if-the-phoneme-/ r/ -here-is-the-underlying-form-and-we-do-not-expect-it-to-alternate-in-astrong/ weakpattern.- Therefore,phonological- / r/ iscapturedinthe- Neapolitanalternationsinvolving-[d]-and-functions-exactly-as-the-following-regular-[d],-which-alternates-as-expected,-forinstance in the verb It. dire ‘to say’: P rn .a cc .m ass -strong-[o-ˈdiʃə]lo dici -‘you-say-it’-with-a-weakinitial-[r],-but-when-the-morpheme-W1-is-absent-##_,-we-get-weak-[r]: -[ˈriʃə]dici ‘you say’. n n n Num n Num Num ( COUNT ) √ vin Num ( MASS ) √vin 42 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.8357/ VOX-2019-002 The-surfacing-of-either-the-strong-or-the-weak-consonant-is-a-choice-selected-by-thedeterminer-and-allows-for-a-mass-or-count-reading-of-morphologically-singular-headnouns. As-we-illustrated,-D-and-the-c l P rn . FPl or mPl / (l)e øc / -are-also-morphemes-whichselect-voiced-stops-and-generate-a-(quasi-)non-concatenative-inflectional-paradigmalternation 44 .-The-examples-mentioned-above-involve-the-c l P ron -in-(19-xv)-and-the- / le øc / -(D-=-a rt . FPl , cf. (19b iii): delle burpe , It. delle volpi ‘of-the-foxes’,-le binte , It. le venti , lit. ‘the-twenty’-(5-vi-and-vii),-and-le bite , It. le vite ‘the-lives’-(4b-xiii). As-noted-in-section-2,-this-process-captures-other-quantifiers- FPl and determiners withinthe-DPsstructures,suchasthe-D- FPl cierte - ‘some’- (seeabove- 4bxii): cierte borpe , It. certe volpi ( queste ‘these’, quelle ‘those’ etc., see above). Thus, Neapolitan lenition-and-fortition-involve-in-particular-the-D-category-and-principles-affectingits surface. The recovery of the singular c ount / m ass selection is made possible by a strategy,whichappliesinitialfortitiontriggeredby- Dwhen- Nism ass : the m ass feature via N raises to D. The-Locative-is-another-domain-where-the-phonology-appears-to-have-been-nearly-fully-morphologized-through-weak/ strong-alternation-that-comes-from-the-Locative.-The-exponent-of-the-Locative-is-a-nasal-and-this-links-to-the-root-initial-consonant-allowing-it-to-surface-in-its-strong-form.- (21)-Locative-+-√bokːa-[ˈmbokːa]-→-[ˈmːokːa]-‘in-mouth’-(example-to-be-revised-in-[30b])- C v [Loc P]+ C V c v C V | | | | b o k a Toalesser-degreethis-isalsothecase-with-the- (quasi)prefixs -: -[z-ˈbiɲːə]- ‘escape’.- The s --forms-a-semi-productive-quasi-paradigm,-the-semi-fossilized-inheritance-from- Latin ex- ‘out of ’. Morpho-syntactic-relations-apply-when-the-locality-required-lets-computation-intothe domain. Thus, the phonological initial position in Southern Italian dialects is an interface driven environment built through the phonological and syntactic computation.- Themorpho-syntacticaffixes,suchastheprocliticstriggeringthestrongposition (d, c l , P-etc.)-have-an-uninterpretable-feature,-which-is-realized-by-sharingphonological-material-with-the-root. Morpho-syntactic boundaries in Neapolitan are visible to phonology. The morpho-syntax-and-the-phonology-depend-on-lexical-information-and-on-the-selectionof-lexical-syntactic-attributes-of-nouns,-for-instance-singular-m ass / c ount . W 1 proclitics belong to morpho-syntactic categories, but they become part of the phono- 44 Along perfectly analogous lines, this is evident even in some variants of Neapolitan (for instance in-Pozzuoli,-near-Naples),-where-the-d FPl / e/ and masculine plural get homophonous to the masculine-/ i/ ,-but-still-the-masculine-/ i/ -does-not-trigger-strong-/ b/ ,-whereas-the-feminine-/ i/ -does. Michela Russo / Shanti Ulfsbjorninn Phonological-lenition-and-the-inherent-strength-of-the-word-initial-position-- 43 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.2357/ VOX-2019-002 logical-computation-and-representation,-which-build-through-the-strong-position-ofthe-lexical-syntactic-attributes,-including-grammatical-gender-(masculine/ feminine),number (singular/ plural) and countability (m ass / c ount ). Thefactthatthestrong/ weakalternationappliesafterthemorphemeforthree andnotforothernumeralsshowsthatthealternationdoesnotregularlyexponesyntactic heads, but there are also phonologically idiosyncratic aspects to the alternation,-which-reinforce-the-presence-ofthree morphemes nonetheless. Indeed,-thesignificance-of-this-discussion-for-positional-lenitionshould-now-beap-pa-rent.-In-these-forms,-it-would-be-non-sensical-to-refer-to-unprefixed-verb-stemsas-«leni-ted».-Elsewhere-in-the-language,-root-initial-C 1 s can be strong and can contain any segment or other strong segments such as voiceless stops. Additionally, Southern-Italian-roots-undergo-alternations-where-the-C 1 of a root may contain eitherthestrongortheweakformoftheconsonant,dependingonitsmorphemiccontext: - [ˈvarka]- ‘barca’,- [ˈzbarka]- ‘getofftheboat’,- [o-viːnə]- ‘thewine. count ’ [o-bːinə]-‘wine. mass ’.-Therefore,-what-appears-to-be-lenition-in-a-strong-position-inthese Southern Italian varieties represents a semi-morphologization of phonological complexity-in-C 1 . Crucially, this alternation can only be maintained because C 1 is a phonologically-strong-position-that-can-license-the-contrast.-A-phonologically-weakposition (like a coda) could never host this alternation. It is also for this reason that there is no contradiction in saying that voiced stops lenite in C 1 ,whilevoicelessstops-and-affricates-are-allowed-to-remain: -[ˈrito] dito -‘finger’-vs.-[totsːə]tozzo ‘piece of bread’. And for the same reason, there is no contradiction in saying that voiced stops-lenite-in-internal-non-contrastive-RC-post-coda-(after-/ r,-l/ ),-while-they-do-notlenite in post-consonantal C 1 . In Central and Southern Italian dialects, root-initial C 1 -can-contain-any-segment,-voiceless-stops,-affricates-and-even-voiced-stops,-if-theyaremorphologicallycomplex.- Therefore,whatappearstobelenitioninastrongposition in these Central and Southern Italian varieties represents a semi-morphologization-of-phonological-complexity-in-C 1 , and this alternation can only be maintained because C 1 is a phonologically strong position. Indeed, only strong positions can-host-this-kind-of-contrast,-so-it-follows-that-strong-positions-under-these-circumstances-will-fix-a-pattern-of-simple-consonants.- 4.2 Typological connections Typologically,-this-case-of-initial-weakening-is-strikingly-similar-to-fully-morphologized-patterns-of-initial-consonant-strong-weak-root-alternations,-the-so-called-«mutations». These are found in many unrelated language families, such as Bantu (k ula 2002), Nivkh (s hiraishi 2006), West Atlantic (m c l aughlin 2000) and Celtic (B reit 2015), and are not analyzed in terms of «lenition». Rather, they constitute a paradigmatic-effect-based-on-whether-C 1 -is-simple-or-complex-(for-a-certain-feature).-In-theselanguages,rootscomewithstrongorweakinitialconsonantsandparadigmsaredifferentiatedbasedontheclassofinitialonset,strongorweak.- Like- Neapolitan,- 44 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.8357/ VOX-2019-002 this is possible precisely because the initial position is a strong position that can host this type of contrast. The-following-data-from-k ula -2002-show-how-paradigms-can-be-defined-by-howmuch material is contained in the initial position of the root (C 1 ). Roots undergo weak-initial-vs.-strong-initial-alternations-depending-on-their-morphemic-context.- Indeed,-only-a-strong-position-can-hold-such-a-contrast.-These-languages-show-howparadigms-can-be-defined-by-the-strength-or-complexity-of-C 1 .-It-would-not-be-usefulto-describe-the-weak-forms-as-products-of-«initial-lenition».-We-also-illustrate-theconcept-with-the-word-initial-weak-strong-patterns-of-Seereer-Siin-(West-Atlantic),and-Manx-(Insular-Celtic). (22)-Quasi-morphological-alternations-in-other-languages: -Bantu-(k ula 2002) Verb stem N-Vstem Alternation Language leka n deka l-~-d Bemba ‘I stop’ vevela o m belela v-~-b Kwanyama ‘dip into’ reheete n deheete r-~-d Kikuyu ‘have paid’ (23)-Quasi-morphological-alternations-in-other-languages: -Seereer-Siin,-West-Atlantic-(partialpattern) (m c l aughlin 2000) Initial Nominalized Alternation wa: ɗ obaːwaːɗw-~-b ‘search’ ‘researcher’ fec opeːfec f--~-p ‘dance’ ‘dancing’ reːf oteːreːf r-~-t ‘follow’- ‘follower’ xaʄ oqaːxaʄ x-~-q ‘shoot’ ‘shooter’ (24)-Quasi-morphological-alternations-in-other-languages: -Manx-(B roderick 1985; cf. t rommer 2009) Initial Mutated Alternation bedn ən-vedn b-~-v ‘woman’- ‘the-woman’ tʰai mə-hai tʰ-~-h ‘house’ ‘my house’ muːr bedn vuːr m-~-v ‘big’ ‘woman-big’ suːl mə-huːl s-~-h ‘eye’ ‘my eye’ fai mosən-ai f-~-0 ‘homefield’ ‘in the …’ In these languages, the C 1 -position-cannot-be-phonologically-weak.-None-of-thesepat-terns-should-be-thought-of-as-phonological-lenition.-Instead,-in-all-these-cases,-wesee that the inherent strength of the initial position is being recruited as the place to-expone-or-reinforce-(quasi)-morphological-patterns.-Thus,-there-are-many-weakened C 1 ’s, but this is in order to increase phonological contrasts so as to re-enforce cues-for-(quasi-)-morphological-patterns.-Effectively,-morpho-phonology-recruits-aphonotactic and deploys it systematically in a position of phonological strength (to Michela Russo / Shanti Ulfsbjorninn Phonological-lenition-and-the-inherent-strength-of-the-word-initial-position-- 45 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.2357/ VOX-2019-002 itsownadvantage).- Onlyaphonologicallystrongpositioncanmaintaina- (quasi)-morphological pattern of this type, because it is only a strong position that can host-a-strong-~-weak-contrast.-There-fore,-cross-linguistically,-we-see-morphologicalpatterns-of-this-kind-occurring-on-initial-consonants.-This-type-of-(quasi-)morphological-contrasts-are-almost-always-initial,-they-are-usually-called-«consonant-mutation»-and,-as-we-illustrated-here,-occur-in-a-variety-of-unrelated-languages. Backin- Neapolitan,thealternationbetweenstrongandweakformsofvoicedstops-occurs-only-word/ root-initially-and-only-triggered-by-the-presence-of-triggering-morphe-mes.-However,-while-the-alternating-strong-form-of-a-voiced-consonantacts as a signal for a morpheme boundary, the actual alternation is phonologically conditioned.-In-the-following-section,-we-will-propose-a-way-to-unify-the-phonological aspect of the analysis. 5. How it works in Neapolitan It-would-seem-that-initial-weakening-in-Neapolitan-is-exponed-by-taking-a-phonotactics- (defined-in-terms-of-phonological-features),-andexploiting-it-word-initiallyso-that-roots-alternate-between-weak-and-strong-forms. The-feature-system-we-will-be-using-is-classical-Element-Theory-(based-on-B ackley 2011) 45 .-The-characteristic-match-up-between-classes-of-sound-and-element-representation-are-shown-in-[25]. (25) Elements make up of sounds |ʔ| Abrupt sustained drop in amplitude |H| Aperiodic energy |L| Voicing/ Nasality Murmur |A, I, U| Resonance features (formant transitions) «place» Edge Noise Voice Nasality Place Example Oral stop |ʔ| |H| (|L|) |A, I, U| / p/ - {(ʔ),-H,-U} Oral-Affricate |ʔ| |H| (|L|) |A, I, U| / pf/ - {(ʔ,-H),-U} Oral Fricative |H| (|L|) |A, I, U| / v/ - {(H),-L,-U} Nasal |ʔ| |L| |A, I, U| / m/ - {L,-ʔ,-U} Lateral |ʔ| |A, I, U| / ɫ/ - {ʔ,-U} Rhotic |A, I, U| / r/ - {A} Glide (|L|) |A, I, U| / w/ - {U} Glottal fricative |H| (|L|) / h/ - {H} Glottal stop |ʔ| (|L|) / -ʔ/ -{ʔ} 45- The-elements-in-round-brackets-indicate-headship,-however,-this-has-no-bearing-on-the-analysishere. 46 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.8357/ VOX-2019-002 In-Neapolitan,-there-are-initial-roots-where-the-weak-form-does-not-permit-combinations-of-abrupt-and-sustained-drop-in-overall-amplitude-ǀʔǀ,-aperiodic-energy-ǀHǀ,and-voicing-ǀLǀ,-i.e.-there-is-a-phonotactic-against-having-voiced-stops.-The-ET-analysis-is-shown-in-[26]. (26) Illicit onset according to P honotactic -26 (#) *C V ʔ H L P honotactic -26 acts as a ban on an onset, or a C position, hosting the presence of three elements simultaneously: (1) abrupt and sustained drop in overall amplitude |ʔ|-(stopness)-known-as- Edge ,-(2)-aperiodic-energy-|H|-(noise)-known-as-Noise,-and- (3)-(voicing)-L-known-as-Murmur. 46 -This-phonotactics-targets-voiced-stops-(and-affricates),-which-have-all-three-properties.-This-restriction-holds-contextually.-It-appliesinthreecontexts: - (a)word-initially,- (b)intervocalicallyand- (c)incertainpost-coda-positions: -after-/ l/ -and-/ r/ .-These-contexts-share-only-one-property: -theyare all monopositional. It-seems-that-the-(quasi)-morphological-paradigm-operates-by-arbitrarily-banningthis-combination-of-elements-word-initially,-as-shown-in-[26].-This-creates-the-weakform of the root. Interestingly, P honotactic -26-is-not-violated-in-three-other-contexts: -(1)-N+C,-(2)- Z+C, and (3) as geminates. These are also the phonological descriptions of the three strong-(quasi)-morphological-paradigms,-where-the-otherwise-illicit-combination-ofelements is reinforced by the phonotactics and the strong-initial forms of the roots (being-bi-mor-phemic)-allow-the-combination-of-ǀʔǀ,-ǀHǀ,-and-ǀLǀ.-This-means-that-thesethree-environ-ments-have-a-phonological-characteristic-in-common.-They-all-allowthe sharing/ branching of at least one of the three elements named by P honotac tic -26.- Inthesecontexts,oneormoreoftheelementsofvoicedstops- (namedby- P honotactic -26)-can-branch-across-two-phonological-positions.-When-these-elementsare-shared-by-two-positions,-the-whole-structure-is-allowed/ licensed.-Interestingly,only one of the three elements mentioned in P honotactic -26 needs to branch to allow/ license-the-structure.-This-will-be-referred-to-as-the- Branchingness condition . The underlying principle behind the Branchingness condition is probably h oney - Bone ’s 2005 concept of ‘sharing makes us stronger’ (cf. s cheer 2009, u lFsBjorninn / l ahrouchi - 2016).- Thismayhavesomefoundationincueenhancement,butwhat- 46 The name P honotactic -26-is-deliberately-chosen-to-reflect-the-arbitrary-nature-of-the-phonotactics,it-is-equivalent-to-*O(nset){ʔ,-H,-L}-(but-unlike-OT-we-would-not-claim-that-it-is-a-universal-markedness-constraint).-It-is-merely-a-condition-which-has-developed-so-that-the-phonology-may-exponethe morphology. Michela Russo / Shanti Ulfsbjorninn Phonological-lenition-and-the-inherent-strength-of-the-word-initial-position-- 47 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.2357/ VOX-2019-002 matters to us is its phonological description - because it goes on to have morpho-syntactic implications. (27) B ranchingness condition If any of the elements (named by P honotactic -26)-(|ʔ|,-|H|,-|L|)-can-branch,-the-whole-set-islicensed. In-the-absolute-initial-position-of-monomorphemic-words,-a-Neapolitan-onset-has-nochoice-but-to-be-monopositional,-so-utterance-initial-voiced-stops-will-always-sur-facein-their-weak-version.-To-satisfy-P honotactic -26,-the-weak-form-of-the-root-must-loseits Edge -element-as-shown-in-(28).- (28) Illicit onset according to P honotactic -26 *[b] > [v] (Neap. [varka] It. barca ‘boat) # C V … | ʔ H L U A … However,inothermorphologicalparadigms,theotherwiseillicitcombinationofelements-is-licensed-by-branching-in-accordance-with-the-B ranchingness condition. The B ranchingness -condition-means-that-voiced-stops,-the-collection-of-(|ʔ|,-|H|,-|L|),can-surface-as-geminates-where-all-the-elements-branch-across-two-positions.-Thisis-expressed-in-Neapolitan-initial-position-as-geminates,-or-other-type-of-coda-onsetsequence-or-a-nasal-obstruent-sequence.-What-all-these-syllable-structure-configurations-have-in-common-phonologically-is-that-they-are-composed-of-two-phonologicalpositions-and-that-there-is-a-binary-licensing-relationship-between-the-head-and-adependent, and it is in this phonological structure that these three elements can be combined. This-condition-means-that-|ʔ|,-|H|,-|L|-will-never-be-spared-from-lenition-post-vocalically-(unless-it-geminates).-Vowels-are-composed-only-of-resonance-features-andone-of-the-|ʔ|,-|H|,-|L|-needs-to-branch-in-order-to-save-itself-as-a-set.-In-most--languages,nuclei contain only place elements, therefore they do not reinforce a consonant’s manner-featuresː-|ʔ|,-|H|,-|L|.-Vice-versa,-post-consonantally-the-|ʔ|,-|H|,-|L|-may-oftenfind-a-place-to-branch.- It-appears,-therefore,-that-|ʔ|,-|H|,-|L|-is-permitted-in-onsets-that-branch-over-thesetwo-positions.-This-is-visible-most-clearly-in-the-fact-that-geminate-[bː]-is-permittedwhile-a-monopositional-monomorphemic-[b]-is-not.- 48 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.8357/ VOX-2019-002 (29) B ranchingness condition met by geminates 47 #... C v + C V ● ʔ H L Word-initially, this kind of branching is only possible across-bimorphemic structures.- Itisforthisreasonthatthealternationbetweenstrongandweakformsofconsonants signals morpheme boundaries. (30) Branchingness condition in initial position (signaling morpheme boundary) (a) / barka/ [varkə]-‘boat’ (b) / tre øc + barke/ [trebːarkə]- #... *C V #... C v + C V *● ● ʔ H L ʔ H L Many morphemes tag themselves onto the Root-Initial consonant (C 1 ).-This-allowsthe B ranchingness -condition-to-operate-and-therefore-the-licensing-of-the-set: -|ʔ|,-|H|,- |L| and the surfacing of the strong-initial version of the root. (31)-Morphemes-interacting-with-the-B ranchingness condition (a) Full bipositionality saves the set v-~-bː o + vine [obːinǝ]- ‘the-wine.m ass ’ # C v [Num: mass]+ C V ● ʔ H L 47- The-elements-are-explicitly-shown-linking-to-C-for-ease-of-exposition,-so-that-association-lines-canbe-drawn-to-each-of-them-separately. Michela Russo / Shanti Ulfsbjorninn Phonological-lenition-and-the-inherent-strength-of-the-word-initial-position-- 49 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.2357/ VOX-2019-002 Gemination-here-allows-the-structure-to-branch-(and-therefore-to-be-maintained); -inparticular, Edge is represented by bipositionality, see (b): (b) Voiced obstruent licensing # C v [mass] + C V ʔ H L Alternatively,-(|ʔ|,-|H|,-|L|)-can-surface-as-a-partial-geminate,-but-only-if-the-precedingcoda also bears one of the three elements named by P honotactic -26. In practice, this meansthatonlytwotypesofprecedingcodacanbefollowedbyvoicedstops: africative-coda-(where-|H|-can-spread)-and-a-nasal-coda-(where-|ʔ|-and-|L|-can-spread) 48. (c)-Nasalization-allows-Edge-and-Murmur-to-branch-(bipositionality) 49 : v ~ m b I N + barka [ m barkǝ] ‘in the boat’ # C v [Loc P = N] + C V ● ʔ H L Fricative-initial-prefixes-also-allow-the-noise-element-of-the-voiced-stop-to-branch.- Hereagain,weseethe- B ranchingness condition undercutting Phonotactic -26, and permit-ting-the-voiced-stop-to-surface-while-creating-a-weak-strong-alternation-of-theroot-initial C 1 . 48- Nasal-+-voiced-stop-sequences-are-so-featurally-similar-that-in-Neapolitan-they-simply-fuse-togetherasgeminates.- Word-medially,therearenoalternationsto- N+voicedstopsequences,whichhavemergedwithetymologicalgeminatenasals.- However,in- C1 position there is a chance for alternations-(though-they-only-ever-see-the-weakened-singleton-C-and-the-strong-geminate-nasal: - [vokka] ‘mouth’ vs. / n as + root/ [m: okka]-‘put-into-a-mouth’-UR: -/ √boka/ -‘mouth’).-Even-thoughwe-do-not-see-a-phonetic-[b],-we-know-that-[b]-does-not-lenite-after-nasal-codas-because-we-cannotobtain: *[mvokka] for ‘put into a mouth’. 49- These-structures-show-the-phonological-result-after-any-OCP-of-identical-underlying-features-hasapplied. There is a further phonetic condition that makes nasal + voiced stop into a geminate nasal. In this structure, the b -was-not-reduced-tov : -*[mvarkǝ]. 50 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.8357/ VOX-2019-002 (d)-Fricative-allows-Noise-and-Murmur-to-branch-(v-~-zb)v ~ b Z - + bigna [zbiɲːa] ‘escape’ # C v [ Z ] + C V ● ʔ H L The B ranchingness -condition-is-not-violated-in-the-three-structural-configurations: - Geminates,- NCor- ZCsequences.- Whatallthesesyllablestructureconfigurationshaveincommonphonologicallyisthattheyarecomposedoftwophonologicalpositions, a coda and an onset (dependent and head), and one of the elements named in P honotactic -26-is-shared-across-the-two-positions.-This-is-most-obvious-with-geminates-that-share-all-their-features-across-two-positions-(unlike-singletons). Inthestructures- (26-31),thesupposedlyweakinitialpositionistheheadofacomplex-it-forms-with-a-proclitic-position.-Therefore,-while-C 1 -is-arbitrarily-weakenedwhenitoccursinitsbasicform,itcontrastswithitselfasastrongpositionafter-certain-mor-phemes.-These-structures-show-that-the-first-consonant-of-the-root,- C 1 ,is- ‘deliberately’-weakenedby-the-B ranchingness condition,-which-refers-totheessentially arbitrary P honotactic -26. In-the-weakened-initial-(C 1 ), there is a licensing constraint against a certain combination,-while-in-31-(a-d)-the-root-initial-consonant-manifests-its-headhood-by-branchinginto-a-second,-dependent-position,-producing-a-bi-positional-edge- ǀʔǀ.-Meanwhile,-in- (d)-the-sharing-of-H-and-L-is-sufficient-to-license-the-voiced-stop.-This-process-allowsthe-‘weak’-roots-to-contrast-with-‘strong’-roots.-The-strong-roots-are-those-where-C 1 is entitled to hold the strong form of the consonant (all its manner elements and laryngeal elements), because one of the set of elements branches onto the preceding coda position (producing geminates, NC and ZC outcomes). The presence of a strong consonant in C 1 position signals preceding morphemes, and therefore helps the parse. Unlike nasals, the ‘soft sonorants’ (/ r l/ ) do not have contrastive voice features in Ele-ments-Theory,-and-L-is-parametrically-an-occlusive-or-not.-Therefore-word-internallyin- Neapolitan,- / rl/ donotshareanyocclusionwithstops.- Thismeansthatthese sonorants cannot share any of the elements named by P honotactic -26. Therefore, from a B ranchingness perspective, a post rhotic-coda position is the same as an intervocalic-singleton.-Moreover,-within-the-word,-voiced-stops-lenite-after-R-and-Lcodas-as-we-have-seen: -Neap.-[varva] barba ‘beard’ , [erva] erba -‘grass’.-As-we-showbelow,-this-post-coda-position-is-essentially-the-same-as-an-intervocalic-singleton-oranabsoluteword-initialpositionfroma- B ranchingness perspective (note that the issue of B ranchingness is entirely orthogonal to positional strength). Michela Russo / Shanti Ulfsbjorninn Phonological-lenition-and-the-inherent-strength-of-the-word-initial-position-- 51 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.2357/ VOX-2019-002 (32)-Equivalence-of-utterance-initial,-intervocalic-singleton-and-post-R-coda - - -No-spreading-of-(|ʔ|,-|H|,-|L|),-so-B ranchingness condition is not met (a) Post-R-coda, [erva] erba ‘grass’ c V C v C V | | | | |A| |A| |ʔ| |A| |I| |H| e r |L| a |U| b B ranchingness no (b) Utterance initial and singleton intervocalic, [varva] barba ‘beard’ C V C v C V | | | | | |ʔ| |A| |A| |ʔ| |A| |H| |H |L| |L| |U| |U| b b B ranchingness no no 6. Conclusion Having-represented-and-explained-the-pattern-of-Neapolitan-initial-weakening-phonologically, the implications for lenition are clear. Voiced stops are restricted from singleton onsets as a general phonotactics of the language (P honotactic -26). The initial position can host any other strong consonant of the language (unlike the coda-position) and indeed it even hosts the phonotactically banned voiced stops under-certain-morpho-lo-gical-conditionsː-/ in-+-bɔːlə/ ->-[ m bɔːlə]-‘in-flight’,if and only if this meets the B ranchingness condition. Voiced stops must be bipositional. Word-medially,-this-means-that-voiced-stops-can-only-show-up-as-geminates,-whereasword-initially,voicedstopsformalternations.- Thismeansthatgeminatesandpost-consonantal-codas-allow-C 1 to hold a voiced stop, because part of the voiced stop can branch into the coda position. Word-initially, this situation is particularly interesting because C 1 as a singleton onset cannot meet the B ranchingness condition. However,-C 1 can still hold a voiced stop under certain morphological conditions: / z + biɲːa/ - >- [zbiɲːa]- ‘escape’: voicedstopsareallowedtosurfacewhenapreviousmorpheme-(here-/ Z/ )-allows-the-voiced-stop-to-branch-across-the-two-positions.-If- 52 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.8357/ VOX-2019-002 there is a position supplied by the morphology for the elements of the voiced stop to-branch-into,-this-will-preserve-the-strong-form-of-the-consonant-in-C 1 position. This-willleadtoasetofalternationsbetween-weakandstrongforms-which-ultimately act as a signal to parsing that the structure is bimorphemic. In Neapolitan, any consonant, voiceless or voiced, can occupy the root-initial position-depending-on-the-quasi-paradigm.-Strength-and-weakness-are-derived-byfactors-that-enable-the-quality-of-the-initial-consonant-of-the-root-to-support-or-expone-a-particular-syntactic-head,-or-(quasi-)-morpheme,-or-reinforce-the-signaling-oftheassociationofarootwithacertainmorpheme.- Thissetsupasetof- (quasi-) paradigms,sometimesmarkedexclusivelybythestrongformoftheconsonant: - [o-viːnə]-‘the-wine-(count-noun)’-vs.-[o-bːinə]-‘the-wine-(mass-noun)’.- So,-although-Neapolitan-has-forms-with-root-initial-weak-onsets,-the-weakeningof C 1 -is-orthogonal-to-positional-strength.-It-is-the-consequence-of-a-language-specific-pho-no-tactics-(exploited-by-morpho-syntactic-parsing).-In-fact,-C 1 is a phonologically strong position. Only a phonologically strong position could host a strong/ weak-contrast-in-the-first-place.-And-only-a-strong-position-could-be-the-locus-for-apattern based on C 1 -strength-and-weakness.-Therefore,-even-in-forms-such-as: -[(a-) vòkːə]-It.bocca ‘the mouth’, the C 1 -position,-the-(foot-)initial-position,-is-effectivelyexercising-itsstrength-bysurfacingas-weakso-that-it-may-displayacontrast-ina- (quasi)paradigm: -[e-bːokːə]-‘the-mouths’. Initial lenition (or contrast neutralization) is phonologically and typologically unex-pec-ted,-and-the-Neapolitan-facts-do-not-contradict-this-position.-In-our-analysis,- Nea-po-litan-initial-weakening-is-more-similar-to-what-is-widely-thought-of-as-consonant mutation (see 3.2). C 1 can contain any consonant (including voiced stops) depending-on-the-(quasi-)pa-radigm/ morpho-phonological-context,-but-crucially,-thereis no contrast neutralization. Interestingly,-this-is-coherent-with-what-happens-elsewhere-in-the-morphology-oftherelevant- Italianvarieties,forinstance-where-morphologyconstructs-non-concatenative alternations through internal morphemes into harmonic («metaphonic») paradigms-in-vowels-(r usso 2007). In Central and Southern Italian dialects, it is not only vocalic elements that can be related into internal (metaphonic) morphemes alternations,butaswehaveseenwiththelenition/ fortitionpatternmadeupofconsonantal material, the consonants also can build internal paradigms of inherent strength-through-quasi-consonantal-non-concatenative-morphemic-alternations. This-point-of-view-not-only-allows-us-to-separate-initial-and-intervocalic-weakeningfromphonologicallenition,butinasense,italsoseparatesthetwoprocessesfrom each other, since only the former serves as an aid to the parsing of a morphemic contrast. Initial-weak-forms-in-Neapolitan-are-not-a-result-of-lenition; -conversely,-intervocalic-weakening-is-lenition,-a-typologically-normal-consequence-of-being-intervocalic/ foot medial. Michela Russo / Shanti Ulfsbjorninn Phonological-lenition-and-the-inherent-strength-of-the-word-initial-position-- 53 Vox Romanica 78 (2019): 19-56 DOI 10.2357/ VOX-2019-002 Furthermore,ourconclusionestablishesadirect-filiationbetweenthe- Southern- Italian facts and betacism in Spanish or Catalan. Late Latin merged its v and b contrast into one phoneme in some Central and Southern Italian dialects and in Spanish or-Catalan.-In-the-latter,-[b-/ -β-]-(the-bilabial-stop-and-the-bilabial-fricative)-remainpositionalvariantsofthesamephoneme- (see- §-2.1),-while-Neapolitanpresentsitsown-allomorphy,-which-has-been-the-focus-of-this-paper.-Southern-Italian-weakeningiscloserto- Western- Romancelanguages,asitshowsphonotacticallymotivatedstrengthening-patterns-acting-on-the-Latin-merged-[β]. We-conclude-that-initial-weakening-in-Neapolitan-bears-a-role-in-reinforcing-quasimor-phological,-left-edge,-strong/ weak-alternations.-This-quasi-morphological-loadis-borne-by-a-strong-position,-one-which-can-host-a-strong-vs.-weak-contrast.-It-isalso for this reason that there is no contradiction in saying that voiced stops lenite in C 1 ,-but-voiceless-stops-are-allowed-to-remain. Crucially,-this-discussion-allows-us-to-conclude-that,-despite-the-presence-of-initialwea-kening,the- Neapolitanfactsstillsupporttheinherentstrengthoftheinitialposition. So initial strength can still be taken to be a design property of human language falling inside phonological universal grammar. Sources and abbreviations Angioin period RomFrancia =-- Romanzo di Francia .-Redazione-napoletana-delle-storie-di-Fioravante-(first-halfof 15 th c.), cf. P etrucci 1993 «Aragonese» period DeRosa =-l oise d e r osa , I Ricordi (before 1475), cf. 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