Contrast and Phonological Activity in Nez Perce Contrast and Phonological Activity in the Nez Perce Vowel System
نویسندگان
چکیده
0. Introduction Features which pattern as inert with respect to phonological processes are often unnecessary in distinguishing segments in an inventory. The relationship between phonological activity and contrastiveness has been modeled in theories of underspecification (e.g. Archangeli 1984, Steriade 1987). However, there is no consensus on how to determine which features are contrastive. The theory of the contrastive hierarchy (Jakobson and Halle 1956, Dresher 1998a,b) provides a method for determining contrasts in an inventory by ranking features so that some features take scope over others. This theory relies upon analyses of language-particular inventories. In OT, however, inventories arise from constraint ranking and language-specific inputs are rejected. The role of the inventory in determining phonological behaviour is therefore more limited in OT. This talk provides an analysis of the Nez Perce vowel system within the framework of the contrastive hierarchy. Our analysis assumes an abstract front vowel which participates in ATR harmony. An abstract vowel is assumed in analyses by Jacobsen (1968), Rigsby and Silverstein (1969), Zwicky (1971), and Hall and Hall (1980). In addition, we demonstrate that contrastive specifications are compatible with OT and can be achieved using mechanisms such as Ident constraints and contextual markedness constraints which are central to that theory. An alternative analysis of Nez Perce vowel harmony within the framework of OT is found in Bakovic (2000). As in our OT analysis, he uses featural faithfulness constraints and markedness constraints. His account differs from ours in its lack of reference to contrast. Appealing to the theory of the contrastive hierarchy we demonstrate that many of Bakovic's rankings are unmotivated and that making explicit reference to contrast can determine the crucial constraint rankings.
منابع مشابه
Contrast and Phonological Activity in the Nez Perce Vowel System*
0. Introduction Features that pattern as inert with respect to phonological processes are often unnecessary in distinguishing segments in an inventory. A natural way of accounting for the phonological inertness of noncontrastive features is via underspecification. If noncontrastive features are absent from underlying representations and barred from the phonology, it follows that they will not b...
متن کاملEjectives in Nez Perce
This paper discusses ejectives in Nez Perce, a Penutian language spoken in western Idaho, northeastern Oregon and eastern Washington. Using words collected in carrier phrases, VOT, burst amplitude, f0, intensity, and jitter are analyzed to provide a description of ejectives in Nez Perce. Kingston (1985, 2005) proposed a stiff/slack dichotomy for ejectives, however, researchers (Wright et al. 20...
متن کاملErgative case and the transitive subject: a view from Nez Perce
Ergative case, the special case of transitive subjects, raises questions not only for the theory of case but also for theories of subjecthood and transitivity. This paper analyzes the case system of Nez Perce, a ”three-way ergative” language, with an eye towards a formalization of the category of transitive subject. I show that it is object agreement that is determinative of transitivity, and h...
متن کاملEvents in Space
Many languages make use of verbal forms to express spatial relations and distinctions. Spatial notions are lexicalized into verb roots, as in come and go; they are expressed by derivational morphology such as Ineseño Chumash maquti ‘hither and thither’ or Shasta ehée ‘downward’ (Mithun 1999: 140-141); and, I will argue, they are expressed by verbal inflectional morphology in Nez Perce. This ver...
متن کامل