<OT> New Posting: ROA-570

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ROA 570-1202

Phonological Augmentation in Prominent Positions [Dissertation]

Jennifer Smith <jlsmith@unc.edu>

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=570


Abstract:
PHONOLOGICAL AUGMENTATION IN PROMINENT POSITIONS
Jennifer L. Smith
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
  Originally filed:  May 2002
  This version:  Revised, December 2002

This dissertation presents a theory of markedness 
constraints that apply exclusively to material in 
phonologically prominent or 'strong' positions, called 
here M/str(ong) constraints.  It is proposed that two 
substantively based restrictions hold of such constraints.  
The first restriction is the Prominence Condition, which 
states that the only legitimate M/str constraints are those 
whose satisfaction enhances the perceptual prominence of 
the strong position in question.  For example, an M/str 
constraint demanding high-sonority nuclei in the strong 
position stressed syllable is legitimate, but a constraint 
that simply bans a typologically marked feature value in 
some strong position is not.  The Prominence Condition 
correctly predicts that all M/str constraints are 
prominence-enhancing or augmentation constraints.

The second restriction, the Segmental Contrast Condition, 
applies to M/str constraints on positions that are strong 
for psycholinguistic (as opposed to phonetic) reasons.  
This restriction has its basis in the importance of 
psycholinguistically strong positions for early-stage 
word recognition.  It prohibits any M/str constraint from 
referring to a psycholinguistically strong position if its
 satisfaction would impede early-stage word recognition, 
such as by neutralizing segmental feature contrasts (except 
for those that improve left-edge demarcation, which 
potentially facilitates word recognition).  Thus, an 
M/str constraint calling for high-sonority nuclei in the 
psycholinguistically strong position initial syllable, 
despite passing the Prominence Condition, will be banned 
by the Segmental Contrast Condition; its satisfaction 
neutralizes a segmental contrast that is not at the left 
edge.

The Prominence Condition and the Segmental Contrast 
Condition are formally implemented as filters on the 
output of generalized constraint-building schemas, 
determining which of the logically possible M/str 
constraints are actually included in the universal 
constraint set.  In an extension of Inductive Grounding 
(Hayes 1999a), these and other constraint filters are 
viewed as the locus of functional grounding in the formal 
phonological system.  This Schema/Filter model allows the 
constraint set to reflect substantive phonetic and 
psycholinguistic factors, while maintaining a view of 
phonology as a formal system that manipulates formal 
objects — including constraints and the basic phonological 
elements from which they are constructed — without 
necessarily having access to every fine-grained detail of 
articulation, acoustics, perception, and processing.

Keywords: positional markedness, positional augmentation, phonological
theory, functional grounding, neutralization

Areas: Phonology

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=570