ABSTRACT
This chapter proposes an interpretation of several phonological processes in Basque within the framework of Natural Phonology. Its specific starting point is the fundamental idea that “The application of prosodic processes is the most important factor in the living phonological pattern of a language and its long-range phonological ‘drift’” (Donegan & Stampe 1979: 142). It will be argued that some highly productive processes characteristic of Basque that apply to consonants in onset position may have a common motivation along the lines of the head-strengthening preference laws (Vennemann 1988). Processes like obstruent devoicing and the affrication of fricative sibilants will be interpreted as a segmental outcome of the rhythmic organization of Basque, an agglutinative syllable-timed language in which syllable optimization clearly outranks the weight of accent (cf. Donegan & Stampe 1978; Donegan 1993).
