| ROA: | 267 |
|---|---|
| Title: | Lexical Stratification and Ranking Invariance in Constraint-based Grammars |
| Authors: | Haruka Fukazawa, Mafuyu Kitahara, Mitsuhiko Ota |
| Comment: | 15 pages. "Other" file is a Mac WordPerfect 3.5 file |
| Length: | 15 |
| Abstract: | Lexical stratification and ranking invariance in constraint-based grammars. Haruka Fukazawa University of Maryland at Collage Park Mafuyu Kitahara Indiana University Mitsuhiko Ota Georgetown University Lexical stratification -- the partitioning of the lexicon into distinct subsets with different phonological characteristics -- appears to be at odds with the fundamental OT assumption that the grammar of each language is represented by a single invariant ranking of constraints. In fact, previous OT accounts of lexical stratification have generally compromised ranking invariance by allowing, for instance, faithfulness constraints to re-rank according to the sublexicon (Cf. Ito^ and Mester 1995). To remedy this situation, Fukazawa (1997) proposes a Correspondence Theoretic analysis of lexical stratification which fully adheres to the concept of invariant ranking. In this model, each sub-lexicon is posited to have its own unique Input-Output Correspondence relation. Each IO-relation then bears a full set of faithfulness constraints and all stratum-specific constraints are ranked independently in the constraint hierarchy. The main goal of the paper is to further demonstrate the empirical advantages of this approach and to tackle some related conceptual issues. Using Japanese as a domain of investigation, we will show that a model of lexical stratification that employs multiple faithfulness constraints not only fares better than the re-ranking approach from a theory-internal point of view, but also covers a wider range of empirical facts about the Japanese lexicon. The decisive evidence is found in hybrid words which consist of elements from more than one sublexicon. Our analysis shows that the well-formedness of such words must be evaluated simultaneously against distinct faithfulness constraints, each specific to the sublexicon to which the components of hybrids belong. Without stratum-specific faithfulness constraints that are separately rankable, attempts to obtain the same results run into serious empirical problems. We will further address two conceptual issues involved in the claim that multiple projections of faithfulness constraints derive the effects of lexical stratification. First, there are concerns that such a move may lead to learnability problems and/or unrestricted projections of the same type of constraints. We show how these problems can be circumvented by employing simple learning procedures. The crux of the idea is that the propagation of faithfulness constraints is touched off during the course of acquisition by a specific type of data in the ambient language. Since this process takes place only under pressure from the data, it serves as an evaluation metric which prevents excessive multiplication of faithfulness. Second, our model opens up the possibility that stratum-specific constraints can be ranked freely with respect to each other, allowing some amount of flexibility in the relation between lexical strata. Despite previous claims that lexical strata form a core-periphery structure, we find evidence in the Japanese lexicon that this is not necessarily the case -- an indication that there are no a priori restrictions on the relative ranking of stratum-specific faithfulness constraints across different FAITH types. This leads us to the conclusion that the core-periphery organization is only a tendency that may have resulted from the process of lexical assimilation, but not an inherent property of the grammar. |
| Type: | Paper/tech report |
| Area/Keywords: | |
| Article: | Version 1 |