| Sumario: | The article focuses on the Similar Place Avoidance (SPA) principle, a phonotactic constraint that disfavors the co-occurrence of consonants sharing the same place of articulation within CVC (consonant–vowel–consonant) sequences across languages. Analyzing lexical data from 100 languages—including 18 Slavic, 44 non-Slavic Indo-European (IE), and 38 non-IE languages—the study confirms that labial and dorsal homorganic sequences are widely and strongly avoided, while dental (coronal) sequences show weaker avoidance, and palatal sequences are avoided less consistently, especially in Slavic languages. The research highlights that the class of coronals should be subdivided into dento-alveolars and post-alveolar/palatal consonants, with sonorancy (obstruent vs. sonorant) playing a significant role in dental avoidance but not affecting palatals similarly. Additionally, a distinct sibilancy avoidance effect is identified, influencing the distribution of sibilant consonants. The study also discusses favored cross-linguistic patterns, such as the labial-dental (labial-coronal) effect, and notes that SPA violations often occur in sound-symbolic, expressive, or morphologically complex words. Overall, the findings suggest that SPA is a robust but complex phenomenon shaped by place of articulation, sonorancy, and language-specific phonological inventories.
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