Harmonic processes and metaphony in some Italian varieties.

In this article we examine the restrictions which characterize the distribution of phonological content of nuclei within prosodic domains - generally the phonological word or the clitic group. Metaphony interacts with these phonological requirements which are at work in leading to particular types of harmonizing systems. After examining some of the properties of metaphony, we will consider two types of harmonizing mechanisms which govern the distribution of vocalic quality, specifically aperture properties, in the string: restrictions on mid post-tonic vowels in Central Sardinian varieties; the distribution of [-ATR] vowels in Central Sicilian dialects. These harmonic phenomena offer an interesting test for theoretical notions like contrastivity and markedness. The relation between metaphony and harmonic processes gives grounds for fully specified representations to which autosegmental and prosodic restrictions apply introducing an improved ‘perceptibility’ (Kaun 1995) of crucial contrasts.