<OT> New Posting: ROA-573

[roa@ruccs.rutgers.edu]

ROA 573-0203

Vowel Innovation in Arabic: Inductive Grounding and Pattern Symmetry

Kimary Shahin <shahin@interchange.ubc.ca>

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=573


Abstract:
This paper provides a functionalist explanation of current vowel innovation
in colloquial Arabic, by which short epsilon is being innovated from /æ/,
and /o/ from /u/. The former phoneme split seems due to pressure for greater
perceptual distinction between /æ/ and /æ:/, and is explicable as the result
of inductive grounding within OT (Hayes 1998). The /o/ results from imposition
of inventory symmetry in reaction to the new epsilon, for a more learnable
vowel system. An important contribution of this paper is its application
of inductive grounding to paradigmatic phenomena.

Keywords: vowel innovation, Arabic, inductive grounding, perceptual difficulty,
symmetry

Areas: Phonology, Phonetics, Language Change

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=573