| ROA: | 151 |
|---|---|
| Title: | Conflicting Directionality |
| Authors: | Cheryl Zoll |
| Comment: | |
| Length: | |
| Abstract: | Optimality Theory has been very successful in accounting for non-local dependencies straightforwardly, obviating the need to build the ill-formed intermediate structures that are sometimes inevitable in serial derivational frameworks (Prince & Smolensky (1993), McCarthy & Prince (1993)). The limits of parallel output evaluation have also forced re-assessment of other phenomena traditionally thought to require serial rule application. Directionality effects, for example, are recast in OT by designating one edge of a domain as a magnet for phonological material (Prince and Smolensky (1993), McCarthy and Prince (1993). The bidirectionality of Japanese Mimetic Palatalization , stress assignment in Selkup and general tone association presents apparent difficulties since it seems to require that both edges be designated simultaneously dominant. This paper demonstrates, however, that conflicting directionality in such cases arises from the opposition between the licensing of marked structures versus the demands of more general alignment. The account reveals the link between the segmental and prosodic cases of conflicting directionality, relates them to well-attested cases of licensing cross- linguistically, and undermines what has been considered to be a strong argument for contrastive underspecification. |
| Type: | Paper/tech report |
| Area/Keywords: | |
| Article: | Version 1 |