SIL Electronic Working Papers 1997-001

This paper compares the forms of the historically conservative Written Tibetan with those of the modern spoken dialect of Lhasa Tibetan. The comparison yields several conclusions concerning the historical development of the syllable in Lhasa Tibetan: the relevant feature for analysis is not dental but coronal; historical sound changes have taken place due to constraints at the level of the syllable; and the feature Coronal is underspecified in Written and Lhasa Tibetan according to modified constrastive underspecification and not according to universal coronal underspecification.