<OT> New Posting: ROA-900

[Rutgers Optimality Archive]

ROA 900-0207

A (not so) paradoxical instance of compensatory lengthening:
Samothraki Greek and theoretical implications

Nina Topintzi <i.topintzi at ucl.ac.uk>

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=900


Abstract:
Samothraki Greek onset-/r/ deletion with subsequent compensatory
lengthening (CL) of the following vowel poses two major
problems for current phonological theory. First, such a
pattern should be impossible because in moraic theory onsets
never bear weight, thus - under the assumption that CL is
all about mora conservation (cf. Hayes 1989 and several
others) - their deletion should not induce lengthening.
Second, CL is an instance of opacity and opacity is the
single biggest conundrum that Optimality Theory faces. This
paper addresses both issues and suggests that CL should
not be treated as mora conservation, but instead as position
preservation through the presence of a mora. This move sidesteps
the previous problems as no reference to the input moraicity
of segments is required and consequently onsets, like codas,
can cause CL. Moreover, concerns about OT�s parallelism,
single input-output mapping and Richness of the Base are
taken into account ensuring that the resulting analysis
observes all of them. The proposed solution neatly accounts
for a number of CL cases and is successfully implemented
in Samothraki Greek, an elaborate analysis of which is offered
to capture the full range of facts.

Comments: To appear in Journal of Greek Linguistics 7 (2006)
Keywords: Compensatory lengthening, Samothraki Greek, position
correspondence, moraic theory, opacity
Areas: Phonology
Type: Journal Article

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=900