UCLA Working Papers in Linguistics, no.7
Papers in Phonology 5
edited by Adam Albright and Taehong Cho
| Matthew Gordon | Laryngeal Timing and Correspondence in Hupa | 1–70 |
| Heidi Fleischhacker | Cluster-Dependent Epenthesis Asymmetries | 71–116 |
| Adam Albright, Argelia Andrade, and Bruce Hayes | Segmental Environments of Spanish Diphthongization | 117–151 |
| Marco Baroni | How Do Languages Get Crazy Constraints? Phonetically-Based Phonology and the Evolution of the Galeata Romagnolo Vowel System | 152–178 |
| Kristie McCrary | Low Harmony, ATR Harmony and Verbal Morphology in Kisongo Maasai | 179–206 |
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Abstracts
Matthew Gordon – Laryngeal Timing and Correspondence in Hupa
It is argued that variation in the timing of laryngeal features in Hupa results from a combination of faithfulness constraints requiring that both vowels and laryngeal features be phonetically realized, and correspondence constraints requiring phonological identity between forms belonging to the same paradigm. Inherent differences in the phonetic realization of laryngeal features associated with sonorants and those associated with obstruents produce different realizations of laryngeal features for the two classes of consonants. Cases of surface opacity are argued to result from two types of correspondence constraints: one enforced across forms related to a single lexical entry, and one enforced across members of a single aspectual paradigm. The Hupa data has implications for a number of issues in phonological theory: the role of phonetics in phonology, the articulatory as opposed to the acoustic/perceptual basis of features, timing relations between laryngeal and supralaryngeal features, the relation between syllabic constituency and the realization of laryngeal features, the theory of correspondence constraints, and the issue of rule-based vs. constraint-based grammars.
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Heidi Fleischhacker – Cluster-Dependent Epenthesis
Asymmetries
Anaptyxis-prothesis asymmetries, common in loanword adaptation and interlanguage phonology, are characterized by vowel insertion before sibilant + stop clusters, but into obstruent + sonorant clusters. I propose that such patterns reflect an epenthesis strategy in which the site of epenthesis is chosen to maximize perceptual similarity between input and output. Experimental evidence in support of this claim is presented, and a formal analysis is developed in which DEP constraints sensitive to segmental context regulate the location of epenthetic vowels.
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Adam Albright, Argelia Andrade, and Bruce Hayes – Segmental Environments of Spanish Diphthongization
Spanish diphthongization is a well-known example of an exceptionful phonological alternation. Although many forms do exhibit an alternation (e.g. [sentámos] ~ [sjénto] Îwe/I sitÌ, [kontámos] ~ [kwénto] Îwe/I countÌ), many others do not (e.g. [rentámos] ~ [rénto] Îwe/I rentÌ, [montámos] ~ [mónto] Îwe/I mountÌ). Previous accounts of the alternation have largely accepted this unpredictability at face value, focusing on setting up appropriate lexical representations to distinguish alternating from non-alternating roots. Our interest is in whether Spanish speakers go beyond this, internalizing detailed knowledge of the ways in which diphthongization is conditioned by segmental environments. We employed a machine-implemented algorithm to search a database of 1698 mid-vowel verbs. The algorithm yielded a large stochastic grammar, specifying the degree to which diphthongization is favored or disfavored in particular segmental contexts. We used this grammar to make predictions about the well-formedness of diphthongization in novel roots. The predictions were then checked in a nonce probe experiment with 96 native speaker consultants. We found that the consultantsÌ intuitions (both in volunteered forms and in acceptability ratings) were significantly correlated with the predictions of the algorithmically learned grammar. Our conclusion is that Spanish speakers can indeed use detailed segmental environments to help predict diphthongization. We discuss this conclusion in light of various models of linguistic irregularity.
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Marco Baroni – How Do Languages Get Crazy Constraints? Phonetically-Based Phonology and the Evolution of the Galeata Romagnolo Vowel System
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Kristie McCrary – Low Harmony, ATR Harmony and Verbal Morphology in Kisongo Maasai
In these pages I will pursue an Optimality Theoretic account of both Low Harmony and ATR Harmony in Kisongo Maasai. I will assume that harmony processes in Maasai are driven by the constraints AGREE[LO] and AGREE[ATR] ranked with respect to MaxFeature constraints (Casali, 1996, 1997, Lombardi 1998). I will argue that the low vowel [a] is always opaque to ATR Harmony and that the alternation between the [-ATR] vowel [a] and the [+ATR] vowel [o] is limited to verbal morphology. This alternation is analyzed in the Output-optimization Model of Allormorphy (Kager 1996).
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