For many years, there have been disagreements between the linguistic community about the role of allophones in distinctive feature theory. Many claim that the addition of allophones to feature theory would help further the investigation of language rules; others claim that they would be superfluous and unwieldy to work with. It is my opinion that allophones should be added to the distinctive feature theory models as a method of creating a deeper analysis of the formalization of phonological rules in different languages. As confirmation of this claim, I present evidence in the form of apicolabials in the various languages of Vanuatu and how they have changed over time. Apicolabials, also more commonly known as linguo-labials, are consonants created by contracting the tip of the tongue against the upper lip. The application of apicolabials is used in stops,
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Lynch and Brotchie (2010) suggest that the apicolabial shift occurred before the deletion of word-final vowels when adapting from Proto-Oceanic consonants to those of modern-day Tirax. However, it does not apply to labiovelars when it is followed by a word-final vowel or a POC back vowel, as shown in figure (4). POC apicolabial shift to alveolars in Tirax with deletion of word-final vowels
ᶰ*bweta ‘taro’ bet *bue ‘bamboo’ na/bu
ᶰ*labwe ‘root’ lba ᶰ*kabu ‘fire’ xebu ‘burnt’ ᶰ*bwisi ‘fart’ bsi/s *molis ‘citrus’ molih
*mwata ‘snake’ n/mat ᶰ*damu ‘yam’
Lynch and Brotchie (2010) suggest that the apicolabial shift occurred before the deletion of word-final vowels when adapting from Proto-Oceanic consonants to those of modern-day Tirax. However, it does not apply to labiovelars when it is followed by a word-final vowel or a POC back vowel, as shown in figure (4). POC apicolabial shift to alveolars in Tirax with deletion of word-final vowels
ᶰ*bweta ‘taro’ bet *bue ‘bamboo’ na/bu
ᶰ*labwe ‘root’ lba ᶰ*kabu ‘fire’ xebu ‘burnt’ ᶰ*bwisi ‘fart’ bsi/s *molis ‘citrus’ molih
*mwata ‘snake’ n/mat ᶰ*damu ‘yam’