Complex sounds
San Duanmu · Oxford University Press eBooks · 2016
This chapter deals with the representation of complex sounds, which include affricates, consonant–glide (CG) units, consonant–liquid (CL) units, contour tones, pre- and post-nasalized consonants, clicks, ejectives, and implosives. I show that the No Contour Principle offers a precise definition of feature compatibility and what is or is not a possible complex sound. A possible complex sound is one that can be represented as a single sound, such as affricates, CG units, and CL units. In addition, clicks, ejectives, and implosives, which have been problematic for feature theory, can also be represented as single sounds when they occur between vowels; otherwise they can be represented as two-sound units. On the other hand, contour tones and pre- and post-nasalized stops cannot be represented as single sounds but must be represented as two-sound clusters, and evidence is offered that they are.