Analysis of Phonological Processes of Consonants in Farimani Dialect based on Autosegmental Phonology

In Autosegmental phonology introduced by Goldsmith as an independent field of generative phonology, phonological representations are made up of different layers. In this approach, each feature or group of features that make a phonological contribution in a language is situated on independent tiers. In Autosegmental phonology, features are independent and have their own existence. The purpose of the present study is to introduce, analyze and describe the phonological processes of consonants in Farimani dialect on the basis of autosegmental phonology approach. The author seeks to assess the effectiveness of this approach on the analysis and justification of phonological processes of consonants in this dialect. Hence, the phonological processes of assimilation, elition, neutralization, compensatory lengthening, lenition, and fortition were studied. The findings indicate that a detailed explanation of the process of lenition, fortition and neutralization is challenging on the basis of nonlinear approach.