A Lookahead Effect in Mbe Reduplication: Implications for Harmonic Serialism

2020 ◽  
Vol 51 (4) ◽  
pp. 845-859
Author(s):  
Wei Wei ◽  
Rachel Walker
Keyword(s):  
Generating Function ◽  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Correspondence Theory ◽  
Gradual Change ◽  
Surface Form ◽  
Harmonic Serialism ◽  
Parallel Version ◽  
The Status ◽  
Phonological Change ◽  
Serial Evaluation

Various phenomena involving the interaction of reduplication and phonology have been brought to bear on evaluating parallel versus serial theories of phonology. In Base-Reduplicant (BR) Correspondence Theory ( McCarthy and Prince 1995 ), implemented in the classic parallel version of Optimality Theory (P-OT; Prince and Smolensky 1993/2004 ), the mapping from the underlying representation to the surface output is direct, without intermediate stages. In P-OT, the candidate-generating function GEN can simultaneously introduce multiple changes to the input. In contrast, the theory of Serial Template Satisfaction (STS; McCarthy, Kimper, and Mullin (MKM) 2012 ) is an approach to reduplication couched within Harmonic Serialism ( McCarthy 2000 et seq .), a version of OT with serial evaluation that includes intermediate levels of structure. In Harmonic Serialism, GEN is restricted to making no more than one change at each derivational step, a property known as gradualness. An argument put forth in favor of STS is that it does not admit a number of reduplicative patterns that MKM claim are unattested, which are otherwise predicted by BR Correspondence Theory in P-OT ( MKM 2012:225 ). Among these are patterns formerly interpreted as overapplication, backcopying, and underapplication. While such patterns previously served as arguments for BR Correspondence Theory ( McCarthy and Prince 1995 , 1999 ), MKM reexamine those cases and conclude that they do not provide solid evidence against a serial approach. Among the remaining patterns, coda-skipping reduplication and derivational lookahead appear to offer the strongest arguments in favor of STS. These are the two patterns for which the parallel and serial versions of OT make quite distinct predictions. However, recent studies have called the status of arguments involving both patterns into question. Zukoff (2017) shows that STS does not actually exclude coda-skipping reduplication, because certain mechanics that STS employs to account for attested partial onset skipping would predict coda skipping. Adler and Zymet (2017) identify a reduplication pattern in Maragoli that poses a type of lookahead problem for STS: the ordering of reduplication and hiatus-driven glide formation depends on lookahead to the surface form of the reduplicant, which favors a simple onset. In light of the ongoing discussion on these issues, this squib focuses on another kind of lookahead effect in reduplication where the amount of material copied would depend on a subsequent phonological change in the setting of a serial evaluation. Due to the stepwise gradual change in Harmonic Serialism, STS predicts that lookahead effects are not possible, while the potential for multiple, simultaneous changes in P-OT predicts that they exist. In this squib, we argue that a reduplicative affixation in Mbe instantiates a lookahead effect—specifically, one that closely resembles a hypothetical pattern that MKM identify as a problem for STS, were it to be attested. Furthermore, the variation in reduplicant size is arguably a case of “simple-syllable reduplication,” a pattern claimed not to be predicted by STS. This reduplicative pattern in Mbe is straightforwardly accounted for in P-OT. However, in STS the pattern cannot be understood as a lookahead phenomenon, which gives rise to a treatment with unwanted stipulations and complications. We consider three alternatives in STS involving allomorphy or different templatic approaches, but find shortcomings in each.

scholarly journals A Phonological Property of Syllable Structure and Economy in Urdu: An OT Account

2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 80-84
Author(s):  
Dedy Suhery ◽  
Happy Sri Rezeki Purba ◽  
Mohammad Hamid Raza ◽  
Khairun Nisah
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Structural Changes ◽  
Correspondence Theory ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Surface Form ◽  
Sound System ◽  
Input And Output ◽  
Major Factors

Abstract  This paper contains the phonological properties of the syllable structures and the economical procedures of the words in the Urdu language. The paper determines the behavior of certain segments that attach to its own neighboring words and elaborates the economy of the syllable structure of tokens in a particular language. In Urdu, there are various types of segmental processes in terms of addition or deletion of phonemes that affects to root and alters the entire physical mechanism structure of words. The objectives of this paper are to know the exact economic conditions of syllable structures in the words after the addition or elision of segments in the Urdu language. All the process of conflicts between the segments will manipulate by the help of constraint rankings in Optimality Theory (Prince and Smolensky, 1993). The general purpose of this paper is to reveal the whole criteria of implications of principles of Optimality theory and explore the actual framework of syllables with their marginal and obligatory components. The researcher governs the phonological property of consonant clusters with the help of faithfulness constraints and markedness constraints. The architecture of root word completely varies from the artificial formulation of other words, but after the imposition of constraints, we reveal the concrete fact of linguistic items in a specific language. The groundwork of this paper leads to the systematic phenomena of epenthesis and elimination of vowels or consonants with the tenets of OT. In this study, the researcher conveys the representations of consonant clusters and how the adjacent consonants parse by the effect of the extraneous segment in the syllable structure of words. The researcher considers the typology of the syllable structure of words and the phonological observations of linguistic features. This paper deals with the gradient property of segments that alters the framework of underlying form and affected by some other features at the surface form. The generalization of each step of the syllable structure of words should be related to the positional variation of input and output candidates. The conflicts between input and output candidates to become the winner as an optimal candidate can be solved only on the presence of constraint rankings that are evolving in the Optimality Theory. The central idea of this paper delineated the reflection of surface forms that create conflicts between other candidates, solve only through the use of constraints of Optimality Theory. A surface form may be optimal in the sense of least serious violations of a set of violable constraints in a language hierarchy of constraints. It is considered that syllable structure with the phonological and phonetic representation of forms is the major ingredient generalization of the structure of words in a particular language. It is a crucial aspect of a sequence of segments to organize in a well-formed structure after the intervention of vowels and consonants because syllable governs the account of epenthesis and elimination process. In the pattern of sequence of segments in the syllables, there is the process of epenthesis and deletion of phonemes that creates a new wave of segmental processes. This paper determines the syllabic well-formedness turn out of instantiation that refers to the conflicts between faithfulness and well-formedness structure of words regarding the syllables. The range of syllables and the economic property of words in the individual languages rise by the interactions of well-formedness and faithfulness constraints. The basic provision of this paper is to know the precise nature of the typology of the syllable structure in the words and explores how OT captures the well-formedness constraints of input and output candidates. Our whole discussion in this paper will draw on the typological representation of Optimality Theory and the logical results of Prince and Smolensky (1993) that are transposed into a correspondence format. After the analysis of the structural typology of syllables and epenthesis in the Urdu language, we will develop the factorial typology of syllabic well-formedness and faithfulness constraints in the words. We will elaborate on the major factors of constraints and epenthesis at the level of cross-linguistic properties of a particular language. In this study, we will learn how a range of phonological factors of syllable structures triggered by the markedness constraints that is depending on the formal features of faithfulness constraints. It is investigated that unity and diversity at the level of syllable structure are oriented by OT due to the interaction between deep and surface forms to mark the constraints in various repair strategies. It is the process of relating the ranking of different faithfulness constraints with the result of the typological observation of candidates. This paper determines that the factorial typology of the syllable structure of words is based on the Correspondence Theory (McCarthy and Prince 1995) that is a sub-theory of faithfulness constraints allowing a limited set of structural changes such as; addition, deletion, insertion, fusion, featural changes, etc. The central goal of this paper is to shed light on the core behavior of OT principles that are applied to the syllables of the words to find out the exact tokens of a particular language. It is examined that the universality of constraint rankings is sketched by the application of linguistic theory with the notions of ‘possible grammatical processes' and possible interactions of processes'. Some experts provided the values of syllable structures with the tenets of OT as the unmarked value for open or closed syllables. It is a type of assumption that some languages may or may not be open syllables (CV) and closed syllables (VC), while the notion of universality represents all aspects of syllables in all existing languages. This paper reveals that the notion of markedness constraints and faithfulness constraints is not only relevant to the sound system but also proposes to the syllable structure of words and their economy in a particular language. In addition to that, I also apply some better-known arguments originally adduce in support of constraint rankings. Keywords: Optimality Theory; Syllable Structure; Economy; Segmental Processes; Syllable Typology  

scholarly journals Lookahead Effect in Mbe Reduplication

2018 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wei Wei
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Ad Hoc ◽  
Harmonic Serialism ◽  
Parallel Evaluation ◽  
Phonological Change

An approach to reduplication in parallel Optimality Theory predicts the possibility of lookahead effects in contrast to Serial Template Satisfaction in Harmonic Serialism (McCarthy, Kimper & Mullin 2012). I argue that a lookahead effect is found in the reduplicative imperative affixation in Mbe, where the amount of material copied foresees the availability of a subsequent phonological change. A straightforward account of the pattern is available in parallel OT but not the serial approach, which requires ad hoc stipulations about constraint evaluation that introduce unwanted theoretical complications. This paper thus provides evidence in favor of parallel evaluation in the theory of reduplication.

The child's lexical representation: the ‘puzzle-puddle-pickle’ evidence

1980 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlys A. Macken
Keyword(s):  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Detailed Analysis ◽  
Lexical Representation ◽  
Surface Form ◽  
Phonological Development ◽  
Mapping System ◽  
Theory Of Language ◽  
Formal Properties ◽  
Phonological Change ◽  
Do So

Smith (1973) presents a detailed analysis of his son's phonological development between the ages of two and four.1 The book is impressive, not only for the care with which the analysis was done but also, and more importantly, for the clarity with which central acquisition issues were stated. The analysis of the child's productions was done in two ways: first as a mapping from the adult system and second as a self-contained system. In his introduction, Smith raises seven issues that any theory of language acquisition must address; one of these concerns the nature of phonological change. Smith states that when changes occur in the child's output, they do so in an ‘across-the-board’ fashion. On the basis of this (and other) evidence, Smith concludes that the child must have the adult surface form as his underlying lexical representation. The implication is clear: the child must thus perceive in an adult-like fashion and the deviance of his/her output is due to the articulatory difficulty of certain sounds and sound sequences (and in some cases to certain formal properties of his mapping system).

Serialism and locality in constraint-based metrical parsing

Phonology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 481-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Pruitt
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Standard Theory ◽  
Metrical Structure ◽  
Local Interactions ◽  
Local Systems ◽  
Stress Assignment ◽  
Syllable Weight ◽  
Harmonic Serialism ◽  
Non Local ◽  
Constraint Ranking

This paper proposes a model of stress assignment in which metrical structure is built serially, one foot at a time, in a series of Optimality Theory (OT)-style evaluations. Iterative foot optimisation is made possible in the framework of Harmonic Serialism, which defines the path from an input to an output with a series of gradual changes in which each form improves harmony relative to a constraint ranking. Iterative foot optimisation makes the strong prediction that decisions about metrical structure are made locally, matching attested typology, while the standard theory of stress in parallel OT predicts in addition to local systems unattested stress systems with non-local interactions. The predictions of iterative foot optimisation and parallel OT are compared, focusing on the interactions of metrical parsing with syllable weight, vowel shortening and constraints on the edges of prosodic domains.

scholarly journals Moraic coda sonority in Chilean Spanish

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nate Shaftoe
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Harmonic Serialism ◽  
Moraic Theory ◽  
Chilean Spanish

This paper discusses coda lenition phenomena in Chilean Spanish, seeking to create a unified analysis for coda obstruent gliding and /s/-reduction. The paper invokes Moraic Theory to motivate lenition of certain segments in coda position. Using Harmonic Serialism, a serial variant of Optimality Theory, Chilean Spanish is shown to have a minimum sonority requirement on coda segments, and lenites insufficiently sonorous segments. /s/ is shown to place-delete to [h] to avoid sonority restrictions. The lack of /ʔ/ causes obstruents to diverge their derivation from that of /s/. Lenition to glottal segments is preferred, but gliding occurs if this is impossible.

Domain modelling in Optimality Theory: Morphophonological cyclicity vs. stepwise prosodic parsing

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-43
Author(s):  
KAROLINA BROŚ
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Morphological Structure ◽  
Input String ◽  
Domain Specificity ◽  
Prosodic Structure ◽  
Phonological Processes ◽  
Structure Building ◽  
Harmonic Serialism ◽  
Chilean Spanish ◽  
Insight Into

This paper examines opaque examples of phrase-level phonology taken from Chilean Spanish under the framework of Stratal Optimality Theory (OT) (Rubach 1997; Bermúdez-Otero 2003, 2019) and Harmonic Serialism (HS) (McCarthy 2008a, b, 2016). The data show an interesting double repair of the coda /s/ taking place at word edges. It is argued that Stratal OT is superior in modelling phonological processes that take place at the interface between morphology and phonology because it embraces cyclicity. Under this model, prosodic structure is built serially, level by level, and in accordance with the morphological structure of the input string. In this way, opacity at constituent edges can be solved. Stratal OT also provides insight into word-internal morphological structure and the domain-specificity of phonological processes. It is demonstrated that a distinction in this model is necessary between the word and the phrase levels, and between the stem and the word levels. As illustrated by the behaviour of Spanish nouns, affixation and the resultant alternations inform us about the domains to which both morphological and phonological processes should be assigned. Against this background, Harmonic Serialism embraces an apparently simpler recursive mechanism in which stepwise prosodic parsing can be incorporated. What is more, it offers insight into the nature of operations in OT, as well as into such problematic issues as structure building and directionality. Nevertheless, despite the model’s ability to solve various cases of opacity, the need to distinguish between two competing repairs makes HS fail when confronted with the Chilean data under examination.

scholarly journals Phases in the Diffusion of Gases via the Ehrenfest URN Modelx

2010 ◽  
Vol 47 (03) ◽  
pp. 841-855
Author(s):  
Srinivasan Balaji ◽  
Hosam Mahmoud ◽  
Zhang Tong
Keyword(s):  
Steady State ◽  
Normal Distribution ◽  
Initial Conditions ◽  
Fixed Number ◽  
Gradual Change ◽  
Linear Phase ◽  
Martingale Theory ◽  
State Behavior ◽  
The Status ◽  
Diffusion Of Gases

The Ehrenfest urn is a model for the diffusion of gases between two chambers. Classic research deals with this system as a Markovian model with a fixed number of balls, and derives the steady-state behavior as a binomial distribution (which can be approximated by a normal distribution). We study the gradual change for an urn containing n (a very large number) balls from the initial condition to the steady state. We look at the status of the urn after k n draws. We identify three phases of k n : the growing sublinear, the linear, and the superlinear. In the growing sublinear phase the amount of gas in each chamber is normally distributed, with parameters that are influenced by the initial conditions. In the linear phase a different normal distribution applies, in which the influence of the initial conditions is attenuated. The steady state is not a good approximation until a certain superlinear amount of time has elapsed. At the superlinear stage the mix is nearly perfect, with a nearly perfect symmetrical normal distribution in which the effect of the initial conditions is completely washed away. We give interpretations for how the results in different phases conjoin at the ‘seam lines’. In fact, these Gaussian phases are all manifestations of one master theorem. The results are obtained via martingale theory.

Constraints in Verbal Compounding

1998 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 39-64
Author(s):  
Sang-Cheol Ahn
Keyword(s):  
Internal Structure ◽  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Dominance Hierarchy ◽  
Dominance Relation ◽  
Optimal Selection ◽  
Surface Form ◽  
Morphological Studies ◽  
Selection Of

The purpose of this paper is two fold. First, I will examine the internal structure of the N-V-i construction, in terms of the constraints on argument linking. I will incorporate the major concepts in current morphological studies (Sproat 1985, Di Sciullo &1 Williams 1987, and Grimshaw 1990). As for the related issues in Korean, I will reexamine the earlier studies of Ahn (1985), Sohn (1987), H.-Y. Kim (1990), Yu-Cho (1994), and Shi (1993, 1995). Then, I will provide a new categorization of compounds in terms of morpho-lexical and semantic consideration. I will test this categorization phonologically. Second, I will examine several constraints on the selection of a proper nominalizing suffixal form. For this part, I will employ the framework of the Optimality Theory by Prince & Smolensky (1993) and McCarthy & Prince (1993, 1994). Here I will propose five major constraints and their dominance hierarchy and show how these constraints and the dominance relation can account for the optimal selection of the surface form.

Lexical Conditions on Segment Learning

1988 ◽  
Vol 30 ◽  
pp. 118-130
Author(s):  
Allan R. James
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Phonological Processing ◽  
Historical Development ◽  
Phonological Development ◽  
Structural Context ◽  
Target Segment ◽  
The Status ◽  
Unknown Words ◽  
Phonological Change

Theories of phonological processing and of phonological change stress the importance of the word as the structural context of segments in acquisition and historical development, respectively. After a discussion of these theories with reference to a model of second language acquisition, an experiment is reported on in which the pronunciation of four Dutch learners of English was examined. Specifically, they were required to produce a number of known and unknown words from a written list. Examination of the data shows that indeed a model of second language phonological development may be postulated in which the status of the words in which they are embedded as known or unknown is critical for the form of the target segment produced.

Some Formal Implications of Deletion Saltation

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Smith
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Empirical Work ◽  
Correspondence Theory ◽  
Harmonic Grammar ◽  
Binary Features ◽  
Weighted Constraint

Abstract In a phonological saltation alternation, a segment or class “skips” a relatively similar category to surface as something less similar, as when /ɡ/ alternates with [x], skipping [k]. White (2013) and Hayes and White (2015) argue that saltation is unnatural—difficult to learn in the laboratory and diachronically unstable. They propose that the phonological grammar includes a learning bias against such unnatural patterns. White and Hayes further demonstrate that Harmonic Grammar (HG; Legendre, Miyata, and Smolensky 1990) cannot model typical saltation without nondefault mechanisms that would require extra steps in acquisition, making HG consistent with their proposed learning bias. I identify deletion saltation as a distinct saltation subtype and show that HG, with faithfulness formalized in standard Correspondence Theory (CT; McCarthy and Prince 1995), can model this pattern. HG/CT thus predicts that deletion saltation, unlike typical (here called segment-scale) saltation, is natural. Other frameworks fail to distinguish the two saltation types—they can either model both types, or neither. Consequently, if future empirical work finds deletion saltation to be more natural than other saltation patterns, this would support weighted-constraint models such as HG over ranked-constraint models such as Optimality Theory (OT; Prince and Smolensky 1993, 2004); would support CT over the *MAP model of faithfulness (Zuraw 2013); and would support formalizing CT featural-faithfulness constraints in terms of IDENT constraints, binary features, or both.

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