Distinctive Features and the Liquids in Picard

The class of liquid consonants, which traditionally groups laterals and (most) rhotics (Catford 1977:237), has been called into question by recent research examining phonological features. The primary issue with defining the class based on a shared feature [liquid] is that unlike [nasal], for example, there is no agreed upon measurable phonetic correlate to the phonological feature. Dickey (1997:150) defines [liquid] based on a shared behavior, proposing that the class is comprised of “non-nasal sonorant consonants”, a definition that she ultimately rejects. While she argues that they do constitute a natural phonological class based on the shared behavior and distribution of the two types of consonants in numerous languages, Colantoni & Steele (2005) provide evidence that there are just as many differences as similarities between them in Spanish and French. The current research examines these consonants in Picard, a Gallo-Romance variety spoken in Northern France and Southern Belgium. The language, which has undergone substantial loss especially over the 20 century, is seeing some revitalization efforts through both written (journals, literature, comic books, etc.) and spoken (social groups, presentations of written works) media. The current research focuses primarily on the Picard spoken in the Vimeu region, which is located northwest of the city of Amiens. The liquids in Picard are interesting both due to their phonotactics as well as the various processes in which they are involved. Firstly, due to their high sonority, these consonants play a larger role as the interior member of a complex consonant cluster (i.e. the consonant closest to the nucleus) than other consonants. Secondly, there are cases of epenthesis and deletion due to some of these phonotactics restrictions. Importantly, some of these restrictions serve to show the similarities between the two types of consonants while others present different behaviors. Finally there is also a process of metathesis, which further serves to distinguish these consonants as it only acts on the rhotic. This paper is organized as follows. Section 2 outlines previous research on the definition of phonological classes. Section 3 looks at liquid-glide onsets in Picard and proposes that the asymmetric behavior of /l/ and /r/ is due to a difference in place specification. Section 4 examines Picard coda clusters involving liquids and the interaction between sonority and place features. Section 5 presents the conclusions of the current work as well as areas for future research.