<OT> New Posting: ROA-1045

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ROA 1045-0809

Alignment versus sonority in CCC structures: a paradigmatic explanation

Rida Bernouss <bernouss at menara.ma>

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=1045


Abstract:
In the present analysis, we argue that the canonical difference
between Moroccan Arabic triliteral nouns and verbs can be
explained by invoking the active role of an alignment and
a sonority condition constraint. We attempt to clarify the
issue by arguing that an examination of the perfective inflection
al paradigm of sound triliteral verbs can provide hints
about the difference in behavior exhibited by CCC verbs
and nouns. Our analysis, couched within Optimality Theory
(McCarthy and Prince 1993a, Prince and Smolensky 1993),
also revises the treatment of the Moroccan Arabic triliteral
sound verb within Optimal Paradigms Theory (McCarthy 2005),
which suggests that the structure of triliteral sound stems
is the result of 'majority- rules effects'. The rationale
behind our research is to demonstrate that triliteral verbs
fail to satisfy the sonority condition because of phonological
and paradigmatic reasons and to point to the necessity of
incorporating a paradigmatic contrast constraint in the analysis.

Comments: This paper has been published in Canadian Journal of Linguistics/Revue canadienne de linguistique 54(1), 2009
Keywords:  sonority, alignment, schwa epenthesis, Optimal Paradigms, perfective inflection, Moroccan Arabic.
Areas: phonology
Type: Squib

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/view.php3?roa=1045