Tagalog Phonological Inventory and Nasal Substitution

@cite{hayes-2009} @cite{zuraw-2010}

Segment inventory and the nasal substitution process for Tagalog, defined using the SPE formalism from Phonology.LocalRewrite.

Nasal substitution

Tagalog has a productive process whereby a nasal-final prefix (e.g. maŋ-, paŋ-) combines with an obstruent-initial stem and the cluster optionally coalesces into a single nasal homorganic with the underlying obstruent (@cite{zuraw-2010}):

• maŋ + bigáj → mamigáj 'to distribute' (substitution applies)
• paŋ + tabój → pantabój 'to goad' (faithful cluster preserved)

The coalescence pattern is homorganic and voicing-neutralizing: p,b → m; t,d → n; k,g → ŋ.

SPE encoding

The Rule formalism in Theories/Phonology/Process/LocalRewrite.lean supports changeFeatures and delete effects, and segment / wordBoundary contexts. It does not support α-spreading (assimilatory rules where the target inherits a feature value from the context). Tagalog nasal substitution is therefore approximated here as post-nasal obstruent deletion; the homorganic place of the resulting nasal is supplied by the independent rule of homorganic-nasal-place assimilation, which @cite{hayes-2009} treats as a separate process.

Cross-cutting paper analyses

• @cite{zuraw-2010} factorial typology of NS over six obstruents with the constraint set DEP-C / *NC / *ASSOC / *[ŋ / *[n / *[m → see Phenomena/Phonology/Studies/Zuraw2010.lean.
• @cite{zuraw-hayes-2017} 2×2 sub-square analysis (maŋ-other × paŋ-res prefixes, /b/ × /k/ stems) with prefix-indexed UNIFORMITY constraints → see Phenomena/Phonology/Studies/ZurawHayes2017.lean.
• @cite{magri-2025} MaxEnt-on-square deduction from the Hayes-Zuraw shifted-sigmoids generalization → see Phenomena/Phonology/Studies/Magri2025.lean.

§ 1: Stem-initial obstruents (NS targets)

def Fragments.Tagalog.Phonology.p : Phonology.Segment

/p/: voiceless bilabial stop

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def Fragments.Tagalog.Phonology.t : Phonology.Segment

/t/: voiceless alveolar stop

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def Fragments.Tagalog.Phonology.k : Phonology.Segment

/k/: voiceless velar stop

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def Fragments.Tagalog.Phonology.b : Phonology.Segment

/b/: voiced bilabial stop

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def Fragments.Tagalog.Phonology.d : Phonology.Segment

/d/: voiced alveolar stop

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def Fragments.Tagalog.Phonology.g : Phonology.Segment

/g/: voiced velar stop

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§ 2: Homorganic nasals (NS outputs)

def Fragments.Tagalog.Phonology.m : Phonology.Segment

/m/: bilabial nasal

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def Fragments.Tagalog.Phonology.n : Phonology.Segment

/n/: alveolar nasal

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def Fragments.Tagalog.Phonology.ŋ : Phonology.Segment

/ŋ/: velar nasal

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§ 3: Nasal Substitution Rule

def Fragments.Tagalog.Phonology.nasalSubstitution : Phonology.LocalRewrite.Rule

Tagalog Nasal Substitution (@cite{zuraw-2010}).

Post-nasal obstruent deletion: an obstruent ([+cons, −son]) deletes when preceded by a nasal ([+nasal]). The homorganic place of the surviving nasal is supplied by general homorganic-nasal-place assimilation, treated as a separate rule (@cite{hayes-2009} Ch 6).

The variable application of this process — from ~96% for /p/ to ~52% for /g/ in @cite{zuraw-2010}'s dictionary count — is a paper-specific empirical claim and lives in the relevant study files, not here.

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§ 4: Verification

theorem Fragments.Tagalog.Phonology.p_is_voiceless_obstruent : p.HasValue Phonology.Feature.consonantal true = (true = true) ∧ p.HasValue Phonology.Feature.sonorant false = (true = true) ∧ p.HasValue Phonology.Feature.voice false = (true = true)

/p/ is a voiceless obstruent — matches the NS target.

theorem Fragments.Tagalog.Phonology.b_is_voiced_obstruent : b.HasValue Phonology.Feature.consonantal true = (true = true) ∧ b.HasValue Phonology.Feature.sonorant false = (true = true) ∧ b.HasValue Phonology.Feature.voice true = (true = true)

/b/ is a voiced obstruent — matches the NS target despite being voiced.

theorem Fragments.Tagalog.Phonology.nasals_are_nasal : m.HasValue Phonology.Feature.nasal true = (true = true) ∧ n.HasValue Phonology.Feature.nasal true = (true = true) ∧ ŋ.HasValue Phonology.Feature.nasal true = (true = true)

/m/, /n/, /ŋ/ are nasals — match the NS left-context.

theorem Fragments.Tagalog.Phonology.ns_target_matches_obstruents : p.matchesPattern nasalSubstitution.target = true ∧ t.matchesPattern nasalSubstitution.target = true ∧ k.matchesPattern nasalSubstitution.target = true ∧ b.matchesPattern nasalSubstitution.target = true ∧ d.matchesPattern nasalSubstitution.target = true ∧ g.matchesPattern nasalSubstitution.target = true

All six stem-initial obstruents match the nasal-substitution target.

theorem Fragments.Tagalog.Phonology.ns_target_excludes_nasals : m.matchesPattern nasalSubstitution.target = false ∧ n.matchesPattern nasalSubstitution.target = false ∧ ŋ.matchesPattern nasalSubstitution.target = false

The three homorganic nasals do NOT match the obstruent target (sanity check: NS doesn't target nasals themselves).