| ROA: | 61 |
|---|---|
| Title: | Exceptionality in Optimality Theory and final consonants in French |
| Authors: | Bernard Tranel |
| Comment: | |
| Length: | 17 |
| Abstract: | Exceptionality in Optimality Theory and final consonants in French ROA-61 except.rtf, except-rtf.zip Bernard Tranel University of California, Irvine This paper proposes an explanatory restrictive analysis of French words (e.g. huit 'eight') whose final consonants behave like latent consonants in liaison contexts (e.g. petit 'small'), but like fixed consonants elsewhere (e.g. net 'clear'). Previous treatments have viewed these mixed-behavior words in complete disconnection from the rest of the grammar, either as arbitrary exceptions to phonological rules or as requiring special allomorphy statements, thereby predicting a wide array of unattested dialectal variations. By contrast, the OT approach proposed here accurately depicts the actual narrow space within which the pronunciation of these special words may be found. The analysis is based on free suppletion, with the language's independently motivated Constraint Hierarchy governing the distribution of the multiple phonological representations. The account crucially relies on tier-dependent alignment and two satellite hypotheses regarding Constraint Ranking (the Ranking Cluster Condition, which states that variably ranked constraints behave as a cluster in terms of constraint ranking, and the Constraint Hierarchies Acquisition Principle, which proposes that the task of a child in learning a given Constraint Hierarchy is basically to demote constraints when there is positive evidence to do so). ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |
| Type: | Paper/tech report |
| Area/Keywords: | |
| Article: | Version 1 |