Reading quiz qns

1. No the constraint *[mba] is not a language universal
2. Which of the following is analyzed as the underlying form of the English past tense suffix?
   1. /d/
3. Both of the following statements adequately characterize the voicing alternation in Zoque. T/F?
   1. voiceless stops become voiced in post-nasal position [T]
   2. voiced stops become voiceless in word-initial position [F, no alternation]
4. Which of the following is the most common type of alternation in the world’s languages? [assimilation]
   1. Local vs Long-distance assimilation
5. Which of the following is posited as a reason for the ubiquity of the most common type of alternation?
   1. Local assimilation is ubiquitous because strong articulatory, perceptual, and processing requirements all favor it.

Phonotactics

Constraints

Language specific constraints on sound sequences (constraints are never language universal!)

• What sounds can occur in a particular position

• What sounds can occur next to each other

• Static generalization: Structure constraints within a single morpheme
  • Observe frequency of a certain pattern within a morpheme
  • Example: Nasal must agree in place of place of articulation with following stop
  • Example: Obstruent clusters must agree in voicing
• Alternations: different variants of morphemes
  1. Allophonic Alternation: allophone choice depends on phonotactic constraints.
     • language wide and not specific to a morpheme
     • e.g. voiceless plosives are only aspirated syllable initially, unaspirated elsewhere (is one surface form of [p, b, k] etc.!)
     • e.g. /l/ is only velarized (dark [l]) at the end of a syllable
  2. Allomorphic alternations (changes) or Morphophonological alternations
     • choice of the allomorph depends on the phonotactic constraints
     • Specific to that combination of morphemes
     • Object of analysis is a morpheme and its allomorphs
     • e.g. past tense suffix /d/, /t/, /id/, even though underlying form is /d/. syllable final /k/ + /d/ –> /kt/

Alternations

Each morpheme has a single entry in the mental lexicon as the underlying form.

The different allomorphs (words pronounced) are the surface forms.

Rules generate the surface forms from underlying forms. Factors include:

• Phonological environments

Morphophonological alternation vs Phonological alternation

Morpho-phonolgoical: Between two morphemes

Phonological: Between two phonemes (notice that this is a more general type of rule!)

To determine if there is phonological alternation when you have identified:

• Come up with the most similar morpho-phonological rules first
• Determine what is the phonological difference

Assimilation

Two adjacent segments become more similar

• Voicing assimilation
• Place assimilation
• Nasal place assimilation
• Allophonic vowel nasalization
• Complete assimilation

Long-distance assimilation or Harmony

Non-adjacent segments become more similar

• Vowel harmony (the most common kind)
• Consonant harmony
  • Chumash: sibilants in the word must share the same place.
• Tone harmony
  • African languages (e.g. Shona): Rightward spread of high tone.

Coalescence

Two segments merge into one. The segment demonstrates characteristics of both original.

Dissimilation

Segment changes to be less similar to an adjacent one. Purpose is to reduce confusion or ease of pronunciation.

• Voicing dissimilation
• Fricative dissimilation
• Lateral dissimilation
• Rhotic dissimilation
• Long-distance dissimilation

Lenition/Fortition

“Strength”: stops $>$ fricatives $>$ taps or rhotics $>$ all sonorants $>$ [h] or glottal stop

Lenition (Reduction) is weakening, fortition is strengthening

• Consonant lenition
• Post-nasal hardening
• Stress

Debuccalization

Any consonant becomes a glottal stop (losing its oral articulation).

Epenthesis

Hiatus: Two vowels from different syllables come next to each other.

Epenthesis is good at remedying hiatus

Lengthening and Shortening

Lengthening

• Compensatory lengthening
  • When a deletion occurs, the preceding vowel lengthens to make up for the loss

Shortening: long segment becomes short.

• closed syllable shortening: shortening to avoid long (CVVC) vowel in a closed syllable.
  • e.g. Yowlumne syllable structure:
    • (Control) Short vowels: [xat-al] -> [xa.tal], [xat-hin] -> [xat.hin],
    • [laan-al] -> [laa.nal] AVOIDED, [laan-hin] -> [lan.hin] (USED HERE)

Metathesis

Segment/syllables switching order.

Can be local or long distance

Morphophonological alternations

e.g. Nasal assismilation in Zoque only applies to prefixes but not within words.

e.g. Nasal assimilation is obligatory for “in-“ (“imbalance” vs “insanity”), but optional for “un-“ (“unbalanced”). (some pronounce [un], others [um].)