<OT> New Posting: ROA-865

[roa at ruccs.rutgers.edu]

ROA 865-0906

Mundurukú: Phonetics, Phonology, Synchrony, Diachrony

Gessiane Picanco <gpicanco at museu-goeldi.br>

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.

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

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