No CrossRef data available.
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 January 2026
This paper describes a process of laryngeal reduction in San Martín Peras Mixtec (SMPM; ISO: jmx), an Otomanguean language spoken in Oaxaca and by diasporic communities throughout Mexico and the US. In this process, roots containing a laryngealized vowel often appear in a highly reduced form in fast speech. Laryngeal reduction is gradient, dependent on speech rate, and lacks a phonologically-defined conditioning environment, giving it the characteristics of a phonetic process. However, it is at least sometimes correlated with a phonological process of mora deletion, as evidenced by the fact that some highly reduced laryngealized roots—but no unreduced laryngealized roots—undergo a phonological tone sandhi alternation that applies only to mono-moraic rising tones. The phonological process of mora deletion is argued to be conditioned by the same phonetic factors that drive laryngeal reduction, constituting an instance of a phonological process triggered by purportedly phonetic factors.
I am extremely grateful to the community of San Martín Peras, both in Oaxaca and in California, for their openness and effort in sharing their language with me. Thanks especially to Natalia Gracida Cruz, Roselia Duran Cruz, and Juan Gracida Ortiz. This project would not have been possible without indispensable guidance from Ryan Bennett or helpful feedback from Amanda Rysling, Jaye Padgett, John Kingston, and Junko Ito. Thanks to the reviewers of this article and to audiences at AMP 2021, SSILA 2021, Michigan State University, Mississippi State University, and UCLA for their insightful questions and comments.