The Role of the Listener in the Historical Phonology 
 

of Spanish and Portuguese: An Optimality-Theoretic Account
 





David Eric Holt, M.S.



Mentor: Alfonso Morales-Front, Ph.D.



[Readers: Thomas J. Walsh and Elizabeth Zsiga]



[Defended 10 July 1997; Deposited August 1997]











Note:  Proper viewing of all phonetic symbols requires the 
 

installation of the font SILDoulosIPA.







File 1 includes all front matter (title page, abstract, 
 

acknowledgements, table of contents, definition of language terms), 



introduction, Chapter 1. (54 pp)



File 2 includes Chapter 2. (36 pp)



File 3 includes Chapter 3 and an appendix. (38 pp)



File 4 includes Chapter 4 and two appendices. (77 pp)



File 5 includes Chapter 5 and references. (19 pp)







Abstract:



In this dissertation I study the application to historical sound 



change of a constraint-based approach to phonology. I employ 



Optimality Theory (Prince and Smolensky 1993, McCarthy and Prince 



1993a,b) in the analysis of the principal changes in syllable 



structure that developed from Latin to Spanish and Portuguese. I 



argue that historical sound change is driven by the incorporation 



of phonetic factors into phonology for reasons of lexicon and grammar 



optimization, and show that the role of perception and 



reinterpretation by the listener is crucial in achieving this 



optimization. Additionally, reanalysis of underlying forms may have 



profound effects on the constraint hierarchy of the grammar, leading 



to the step-wise rise of markedness constraints versus faithfulness 



constraints.







Furthermore, several steps in the historical development of certain 



phenomena of syllable structure and phonological/phonetic forms are 



best understood as resulting from effects of perception and 



(re-)interpretation by the hearer. 







Chapter 1 discusses the need for theoretical approaches to historical 



change in additional to traditional ones, introduces theoretical 



machinery (Optimality Theory, lexicon optimization, moraic theory and 



its relation to sonority) and reviews previous OT approaches to 



variation and change.







In Chapter 2 I show that reanalysis by the listener of phonetic 



differences leads to loss of vowel length distinctions in Late Latin, 



initiating massive changes in the distribution of long segments: a 



constraint disfavoring moraic consonants begins to rise, first 



reducing obstruent geminates and vocalizing syllable-final velars.







Chapter 3 continues to explore results of the loss of phonological 



vowel length. I first treat the evolution of the seven-vowel system of 



Late Spoken Latin, and argue that reanalysis of the Latin Stress Rule 



led to vowel lengthening. Later developments lead to diphthongization 



of stressed open mid vowels in Old Spanish. I then show that geminate 



consonants are progressively simplified, with the sonorants now being 



affected. Reduction leads to /n, l/ in Galician/Portuguese, but 



palatal /N, L/ in Old Spanish, where merger with Latin /n, l/ would 



have resulted.







Chapter 4 shows that the listener may (mis)interpret one sound for a 



less marked one based on great acoustic similarity. In the development 



of Latin _Cl_ clusters to Spanish, Galician and Portuguese _-ch-_, I 



argue that voicing assimilation yielded a cluster that was interpreted 



as [tS]. The Uniformity Condition is also reconsidered.







Chapter 5 summarizes the results of this study and offers several 



conclusions about historical sound change in Optimality Theory.







TABLE OF CONTENTS							Page



Definitions of Language Terms						xiii



Introduction 								1



Chapter 1:	Theoretical considerations				6



	1.0	Introduction						6



	1.1	Historical change					6



	1.2	Historical change in generative phonology		7



	1.3	Theoretical assumptions					10



		1.3.1	Optimality Theory				11



		1.3.2	Lexicalization and lexicon optimization in 



			Optimality Theory and previous models		18



		1.3.3	Moraic theory					25



	1.4	Previous OT approaches to variation and historical 



                change                                          	28



		1.4.1	OT approaches to variation			28



			1.4.1.1	Zubritskaya (1994)			28



			1.4.2.2	Anttila (1995)				30



		1.4.2	OT approaches to historical sound change	32



			1.4.2.1	Jacobs (1994, 1995)			32



			1.4.2.2	Hutton (1996)				33



			1.4.2.3	Gess (1996)				37



			1.4.2.4	Summary					37



	1.5	Directions for the present study			38



	Notes to Chapter 1						39



Chapter 2: 	The evolution of Latin vowel length and 



		geminate obstruents					41



	2.0	Introduction						41



	2.1	Distinctive vowel length in Latin			42



		2.1.1	Vowel quantity in Latin				45



		2.1.2	The role of phonetics and the listener in 



                        eliminating vowel length			49



	2.2	Consequences of the loss of contrastively long vowels	53



	2.3	The sonority hierarchy and *LONG			55



	2.4	The rise of *C-mora in the loss of the moraic status 



		of obstruents						61



	2.5	Summary and conclusions					70



	Notes to Chapter 2						72



Chapter 3: 	The evolution of Late Spoken Latin /E, O/ and 



		geminate sonorants					77



	3.0	Introduction						77



	3.1	The phenomena to be analyzed in the history of 



		Hispano-Romance						77



	3.2	Reanalysis of the Latin Stress Rule: Consequences for 



		Hispano-Romance						80



		3.2.1	The effects of STRESS-TO-WEIGHT in 



			Hispano-Romance					81



			3.2.1.1	Vowel lengthening in Hispano-Romance	81



			3.2.1.2	Diphthongization of /E, O/ in Old 



                                Spanish                         	84



	3.3	Evolution of Latin geminate sonorants /nn, ll/ in 



		Hispano-Romance 					91



		3.3.1	Simplification of /nn, ll/ in Galician/



                        Portuguese                              	94



		3.3.2	Palatalization of /nn, ll/ in Old Spanish	94



	3.4	Summary constraints, rankings and classes of moraic 



		segments in Hispano-Romance				100



	3.5	General summary and conclusions				103



	Notes to Chapter 3						106



	Appendix to Chapter 3: Coarticulated nasal and lateral codas in 



				  Andalusian and Caribbean Spanish	110



Chapter 4:	Comprehension, reinterpretation and the 



		Uniformity Condition					115



	4.0	Introduction						115



		4.0.1	Data						116



		4.0.2	Previous accounts				118



		4.0.3	Principal issues of this chapter		122



	4.1	A unified approach					124



		4.1.0	Outline of the present analysis			124



		4.1.1	Analysis of Sp. ll, Gal./Ptg. _lh_ 		125



		4.1.2	Analysis of Sp., Gal./Ptg. _-ch-_		134



		4.1.3	Analysis of Gal./Ptg. _ch-_			142



		4.1.4	Analysis of remaining data from medial position	145



	4.2	The listener as a source of sound change		150



	4.3	Summary and conclusions					152



	Notes to Chapter 4						155



	First Appendix to Chapter 4:  



		On the phonetic plausibility of _Cl_ > tS		162



	Notes to first Appendix to Chapter 4				178



	Second Appendix:  Other cases of the 'Uniformity Condition'	179



	Notes to second Appendix to Chapter 4				192



Chapter 5:	Summary and conclusions					193



References								197







The computer file version:



In preparation of the computer file version I occasionally found it 



necessary to make minimal changes in formatting. For instance, not all 



page breaks are the same, and consequently there may be slight 



differences in page numbering between the Table of Contents and the 



computer file version.