<OT> ROA-865: Mundurukú: Phonetics, Phonology, Synchrony, Diachrony

[Rutgers Optimality Archive]

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ROA-865-0906

Title: Mundurukú: Phonetics, Phonology, Synchrony, Diachrony
Author: Gessiane Picanco, Museu Paraense Emilio Goeldi
<gpicanco at museu-goeldi.br>
Length: 424 pp.

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=865

Abstract:
This dissertation offers an in-depth investigation of the phonology of
Mundurukú, a Tupi language spoken in the Amazonian basin of Brazil,
approached from three interrelated perspectives: phonetic,
phonological and diachronic. It examines (i) the Mundurukú vowel and
consonant inventories, (ii) syllable structure and syllabification,
(iii) phonotactic patterns, (iv) nasal harmony, (v) consonant
mutation, (vi) tone system and the tone-creaky voice interaction,
(vii) reduplication, and (viii) the phonological behavior of various
affixes. The phonetic investigation focuses on several acoustic
properties of segments (i.e. vowels and consonants), and on
phonological contrasts observed in vowels, in particular the
oral-nasal and modal-creaky voice oppositions, in addition to tonal
distinctions. This is done with a view to determining how and to what
extent such phonetic realizations can be imposed on phonological
representations. These issues constitute an important part of the
study, and are particularly relevant to the discussion about the
coarticulatory effects observed in the realization of stops, nasals
and laryngeals. The study also offers a formal account of all major
phonological processes attested in the language such as
syllabification, nasal harmony, consonant mutation, tone, etc. The
theoretical model adopted here is Optimality Theory (OT), which
defends a representation of the structural design of grammars based
upon a ranking of universal constraints. Each chapter contributes to
the development of an OT-based grammar of the phonology of Mundurukú
by examining new aspects of the language, and by situating them in a
large-scale scenario until the OT-grammar is assembled. This result is
presented in the last chapter. In search of evidence for the
synchronic analysis, and for a better understanding of some
uncharacteristic patterns, the study turns to the historical
development of the language. Using data from Kuruaya, a sister
language to Mundurukú, hypotheses about the stage that preceded both
languages, Proto-Mundurukú, are made available. In recovering this
stage, and the stage that preceded the modern period, it is possible
to recover many of the changes the grammar has undergone and which
culminated in the synchronic patterns.

Areas: Phonetics, Phonology, Historical Linguistics
Keywords: Phonetic structures, Phonological analysis, Diachrony
Type: PhD Dissertation

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=865