A Realization Optimality Theory approach to blocking and extended morphological exponence

2011 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 673-707 ◽  
Author(s):  
ZHENG XU ◽  
MARK ARONOFF
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Markedness Constraint ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
Morphosyntactic Feature ◽  
Extended Exponence

Blocking in inflection occurs when a morphological exponent prevents the application of another exponent expressing the same feature value, thus barring the occurrence of multiple exponents of a single morphosyntactic feature value. In instances of extended exponence, more than one exponent in the same word realizes the same feature value. We provide a unified account of blocking and extended exponence that combines a realizational approach to inflection with Optimality Theory (Realization Optimality Theory), encoding morphological realization rules as ranked violable constraints. The markedness constraint *Feature Split bars the realization of any morphosyntactic feature value by more than one exponent. If *Feature Split ranks lower than two or more realization constraints expressing the same feature value, then we observe extended exponence. Otherwise, we find blocking of lower-ranked exponents. We show that Realization Optimality Theory is superior to various alternative approaches to blocking and extended morphological exponence.

An Alternative Information Theory Approach for Modelling Spatial Interaction

1987 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-394 ◽  
Author(s):  
J R Roy
Keyword(s):  
Information Theory ◽  
Shannon Entropy ◽  
Information Gain ◽  
Spatial Interaction ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Combined Approach ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Forecasting Models ◽  
Kullback Information ◽  
Alternative Approaches

In the use of information theory for the development of forecasting models, two alternative approaches can be used, based either on Shannon entropy or on Kullback information gain. In this paper, a new approach is presented, which combines the usually superior statistical inference powers of the Kullback procedure with the advantages of the availability of calibrated ‘elasticity’ parameters in the Shannon approach. Situations are discussed where the combined approach is preferable to either of the two existing procedures, and the principles are illustrated with the help of a small numerical example.

scholarly journals BLOCKING AND EXTENDED EXPONENCE OF SUFFIX PRONOUNS IN ARABIC PERFECTIVE VERB CONJUGATION

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zaqiatul Mardiah ◽  
Nur Hizbullah ◽  
Awaliyah Ainun Niswah
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Verb Conjugation ◽  
Extended Exponence

Noyer (1997) utilized blocking and extended exponence to encode pronouns in the conjugation of imperfect verbs in Arabic. His findings were criticized by Stump (2001) and Xu (2010), because the formulation was considered too complex. Xu (2010) offered a unified integrated account based on Optimality Theory while still relying on blocking and extended exponence. However, their for-mulation only focuses on the pronouns of imperfect verb conjugations. So far, the optimality of conjugations of perfective Arabic verbs which are also complex in nature, have not been considered yet in their studies. This study extends the work of Xu (2010) by developing the formulation of the optimal forms of the suffix pronouns of the Arabic perfective verb conjugations. The results of study reveal that several exponences which in different situations, each can realize several assingments. Instead, there is an assignment that is realized by more than one exponence

Relational hierarchies in Optimality Theory: the case of syllable contact

Phonology ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 21 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Gouskova
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Constraint Set ◽  
Theoretical Predictions ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
Hierarchical Constraints ◽  
Constraint Hierarchies

A number of phonological laws require adjacent elements to stand a certain distance apart from each other on some prominence scale. For example, according to the Syllable Contact Law, the greater the sonority slope between the coda and the following onset, the better. Languages such as Faroese, Icelandic, Sidamo, Kazakh and Kirghiz select different thresholds for an acceptable sonority slope. This article proposes a theory for deriving hierarchies of relational constraints such as the Syllable Contact Law from prominence scales in the constraint set CON in Optimality Theory. The proposal is compared to two alternative approaches, non-hierarchical constraints and the local conjunction of constraint hierarchies, which are argued to make undesirable empirical and theoretical predictions.

scholarly journals Syntax-Semantics Interface in Linguistic Theory

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (122) ◽  
pp. 41-66
Author(s):  
مؤيد جمعة جمعة ◽  
زينب محمود الكواز
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Native Language ◽  
Linguistic Theory ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Adequate Description ◽  
Foreign Teachers ◽  
Case Grammar ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
George Lakoff

According to a process called selected focusing, the linguist in order to produce a coherent statement or an adequate description has to focus on one aspect of a language and exclude the others. Yet, such isolation is only an artificial element. A layman or a child does not have a least idea about the various levels of language. Yet, he is very-well equipped with the grammatical, structural, and semantic tools that help him to instantly identify the ill-formed or unmeaningful sentences of his native language as language is learned and taught as a whole. With regard to syntax-semantics interface in linguistic literature, two opposite mainstreams have been found; a syntactically- oriented perspective (Chomsky 1957, 65, 79, 81, Cullicover 1976, Radford 1988, Horrock 1987, and Haegman 1992) modified and supported later on by the Optimality Theory approach (henceforth OT) established by Alan Prince and Paul Smolensky (1993) and a semantically-oriented one in its two facets the generative and the interpretive (Jerrold J. Katz & Jerry A. Fodor: 1963, George Lakoff 1963) developed in some of its aspects by Charles Fillmore's case grammar (1968). Furthermore, a great deal of effort has been proposed in line with these two opposite approaches to produce some experimental psycholinguistic and neurolinguistic studies to support or reject one or both of them (Millar & Mckean 1964, Savin & Perchonock 1965, and Clifton & Odom 1966, Gleason, J. & Ratner, N. 1993, Friederici, Angela D., & Jürgen Weissenborn 2007).           The early generative transformational approach went too far in insisting that the syntactic aspect has an autonomous characteristic and should be dealt with in isolation from semantics; others argue that they are interrelated and cannot be separated. Some linguists as the generative semanticists consider semantics as more basic in grammatical description than syntax; whereas, others hold a totally reversed approach assuming that semantics cannot be described and it should be considered as an extra-linguistic element. This paper is at attempt to shed some light on this serious linguistic controversy to arrive at some general outlines that might help the linguistic theorists, language second/foreign teachers and students to establish a scientific scheme in dealing with language.     

scholarly journals Asymmetry of Kazakh velar and uvular consonants

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Heather Yawney
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Analysis ◽  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Final Position ◽  
Front Vowel ◽  
Environment Effect ◽  
Markedness Constraint ◽  
Back Vowel ◽  
Morpheme Boundary

Little descriptive work has been done on the place and voicing restrictions of the asymmetrical velar and uvular consonant inventory in Kazakh. In Kazakh, velar and uvular consonants are restricted depending on their neighbouring vowel. Velars appear in front vowel environments and uvulars appear in back vowel environments (place restriction). Voiced and voiceless velars and uvulars are restricted depending on their position in the word. At the morpheme boundary, velars and uvulars are voiceless in the word-final position and voiced in the stem-final position, when followed by a vowel-initial suffix (voicing restriction). The results from elicitation-based production experiments with six native Kazakh speakers reveal that the place restriction is not productive from real words to nonce words but the voicing restriction is. The data suggests a derived-environment effect where the resulting voicing process is conditioned morphologically. A theoretical analysis within Optimality Theory captures the voicing pattern using an indexed-markedness constraint and Local Conjunction.

Direction of Assimilation in Child Consonant Harmony

2003 ◽  
Vol 48 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 385-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joe Pater ◽  
Adam Werle
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Child Language ◽  
Standard Analysis ◽  
Language Differences ◽  
Place Of Articulation ◽  
Consonant Harmony ◽  
Markedness Constraint ◽  
Place Assimilation ◽  
Positional Faithfulness ◽  
Language Assimilation

AbstractIn child language, consonants often assimilate in primary place of articulation across intervening vowels. In adult language, primary place assimilation occurs only between adjacent consonants. In both cases, the first consonant usually assimilates to the second. The standard analysis of directionality of local assimilation in Optimality Theory uses positional faithfulness to protect the second consonant. In this article, it is argued that directionality in child language assimilation is due not to positional faithfulness, but to a markedness constraint that specifies that a consonant preceding a dorsal must agree in place of articulation with it. Along with directionality, this constraint accounts for cases in which dorsals, but not labials, trigger assimilation, which occurs in Korean as well as in child language. Differences between the attested types of assimilation in adult and child language can be explained by differences in the activity of positional faithfulness in the two domains.

scholarly journals The Spanish lexicon stores stems with theme vowels, not roots with inflectional class features

Probus ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ricardo Bermúdez-Otero
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Distributed Morphology ◽  
Phonological Process ◽  
Syntactic Features ◽  
Unrestricted Access ◽  
Alternative Approaches ◽  
State Of Affairs ◽  
Locality Conditions ◽  
New Evidence ◽  
Better Than

Abstract The choice of theme vowels in Spanish nouns and adjectives can be predicted neither from the phonological shape of roots nor from syntactic features like gender. However, this state of affairs does not require the postulation of inflectional class features. The alternative is for the Spanish lexicon to store stems with their theme vowels, instead of roots annotated with declension diacritics; default generalizations over the lexical entries of stems can be expressed by means of lexical redundancy rules. The hypothesis of stem storage is compatible with the failure of Spanish theme vowels to surface in certain environments: this is demonstrably caused by an entirely general and regular phonological process deleting unaccented stem-final vowels before suffixes beginning with another vowel. Stem storage receives further support from psycholinguistic data from recognition latencies. Additional new evidence comes from cyclic locality conditions on allomorph selection, as shown by an analysis of the well-known stress-driven alternation displayed by items like [kont-á-ɾ] ‘count.inf’ ∼ [kwént-a] ‘count. 3sg’. In derivatives like 〚N 〚V kont-a〛 ðóɾ-∅〛 ‘counter’, assuming that diphthongal allomorphy is a property of the root incorrectly predicts that the choice of allomorph will be determined in the first cycle: i.e. *[kwentaðóɾ]. The locality problem vanishes if /koNt-a/ and /kweNt-a/ are both listed in the lexicon as stem allomorphs. These data show that Stratal Optimality Theory allied to a stem-driven theory of morphology performs better than alternative approaches to allomorphic locality. Root-driven Distributed Morphology is too local: the domains for allomorph selection that it generates are too narrow. Conversely, noncyclic versions of Optimality Theory fail to predict allomorphic locality (even if they can describe its effects) because they endow allomorph selection with unrestricted access to the global environment.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document