| ROA: | 383 |
|---|---|
| Title: | Coda obstruents and local constraint conjunction in north-central Peninsular Spanish |
| Authors: | Richard E. Morris |
| Comment: | To appear in Current Issues in Linguistic Theory: Selected Papers from the 29th Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. |
| Length: | 15 |
| Abstract: | Coda obstruents and local constraint conjunction in north-central Peninsular Spanish Richard E. Morris Middle Tennessee State University This study uses the principle of local conjunction (Smolensky 1995, Crowhurst & Hewitt 1997, Ito & Mester 1998, Lubowicz 1998) to account for the distribution of coda obstruents in colloquial north-central Peninsular Spanish. In this dialect, underlying voiced obstruents /b, d, g/ are generally devoiced and spirantized in syllable coda, thus surfacing as [F, T, x] (cf. Hualde 1989; MartÃnez-Gil 1991). Unvoiced coda obstruents /p, t, k/, however, are realized as fricatives [F, T, x] only if they precede a voiced consonant; otherwise, they emerge as stops [p, t, k]. [F=unvoiced bilabial fricative; T=unvoiced dental fricative] Whereas previous generative studies (e.g. MartÃnez-Gil 1991) have relied on crucial feeding and counterfeeding relations between ordered rules to predict the correct allophony of coda obstruents in this dialect, an Optimality Theoretic (OT) analysis must account for it without reference to intermediate derivational stages. Viewed in terms of input-to-output mapping, the distribution of coda obstruents attested in this dialect is mysterious. A presentation and evaluation of the relevant data is followed by a discussion of local conjunction in OT. It is then shown that local conjunction can account for the input-to-output mappings required by the Spanish data. Finally, the role of local conjunction in language change is considered. [to appear in Current Issues in Linguistic Theory: Selected Papers from the 29th Linguistic Symposium on Romance Languages. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.] |
| Type: | Paper/tech report |
| Area/Keywords: | Phonology |
| Article: | Version 1 |