Mechanism of sound change in Optimality Theory

1997 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katya Zubritskaya
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
General Pattern ◽  
Competition Model ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
Constraint Violation ◽  
Variable Data ◽  
Modern Standard ◽  
Constraint Ranking

ABSTRACTIn this article I examine the ongoing loss of palatalization assimilation in Modern Standard Russian within the framework of Optimality Theory (OT) (McCarthy & Prince, 1993a; Prince & Smolensky, 1993) and show that this theory offers new, meaningful explanations for the role of markedness and naturalness in the mechanism of a sound change. I also argue that OT provides new possibilities for relating quantitative patterns to the formal principles of grammatical organization. In particular, in OT, suggested cross-linguistically invariant relations between phonological factors predict a general pattern of influence that these factors have on the quantitative outcome of a change. I suggest that a change operates as a gradual weakening or strengthening of whole subhierarchies of constraints with universally fixed rankings (constraint families, which implement markedness scales in OT). In an examination of variable data, I argue that the major differences in quantitative patterns mirror the fixed constraint ranking within such constraint families and constraint violation/nonviolation in OT grammar. I also discuss the problem of modeling variable data within OT, which, like other formal phonological theories, permits no output variation. I examine a grammar competition model explored in OT literature and argue instead for constraint competition with constraint weight in production.

scholarly journals Phonological and perceptual factor symbiosis in loanword adaptation

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-39
Author(s):  
Alice Rwamo ◽  
Constantin Ntiranyibagira
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Perceptual Similarity ◽  
Perceptual Factor ◽  
Loanword Adaptation ◽  
Perceptual Salience ◽  
Production Factors ◽  
French And English ◽  
Constraint Ranking

This paper examines the two-way interaction of perceptual and production factors in the light of resolving French and English loan structures in Kirundi. The investigation is framed within the view that loanword adaptation results from attempts to match the non-native perception of the L2 input, within the confines of the L1 grammar. Neither a purely perceptual nor a purely grammatical account can explain the facts. Based on 239 French and 44 English corpora of loans, this study examines loanword adaptation at both the phonemic and the phonotactic levels. We prove how the constraint-ranking Optimality Theory (OT) can account for the phonological adaptations of loans but with limitations. The adaptation cannot be fully understood unless perceptual similarity and auditory factors are integrated in the grammar. This study enriches our understanding of the role of perceptual similarity and perceptual salience in phonology and their relationship to constraint ranking.

scholarly journals Syncretism without underspecification: The role of leading forms

2011 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gereon Müller
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
New Approach ◽  
Object Clitics ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
Grammatical Theories ◽  
Constraint Ranking

The main goal of this article is to outline a new approach to syncretism in optimality theory, one that does not rely on the concept of underspecification taken over from grammatical theories which do not recognize constraint ranking and constraint violability. The analysis is based on a concept of morphological exponents as leading forms. Instances of syncretism can be traced back to the selection of unfaithful leading forms as a last resort to avoid paradigmatic gaps: The minimally unfaithful leading form exponent spreads to an empty paradigm cell. Three well-studied empirical domains figure in the analysis: (i) determiner inflection in German ( Bierwisch 1967 , Wiese 1999 ), (ii) Italian object clitics ( Grimshaw 2001 ), and (iii) animacy effects with noun inflection in Russian ( Wunderlich 2004 ).

Palatal Sound Change in the Romance Languages

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
André Zampaulo
Keyword(s):  
Literature Review ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
Romance Languages ◽  
Phonological Information ◽  
Phonetic Information ◽  
Change Events ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Constraint Ranking

This monograph presents a thorough investigation of the main historical and present-day variation and change patterns undergone by palatal sounds in the Romance languages. By relying on phonetic and phonological information to motivate a formal account of palatal sound change, the analyses proposed in this book offer a principled, constraint-based explanation for the evolution of palatals in the Romance-speaking world. It provides a robust and up-to-date literature review on the subject, taking into consideration not only the viewpoints and data from diachronic research, but also the results from various phonetic, phonological, dialectal, and comprehensive studies. By taking into account the role of phonetic information in the shaping of phonological patterns, this book approaches sound change from its inception during the speaker-listener interaction and formalizes it as the difference in constraint ranking between the grammar of the speaker and that of the listener-turned-speaker. This perspective is intended to model how and why similar change events may take place in different varieties and/or the same language across periods of time.

The ”true me”—one or many?

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Iris Berent ◽  
Melanie Platt
Keyword(s):  
Free Will ◽  
Optimality Theory ◽  
The Self ◽  
True Self ◽  
Behavioral Test ◽  
Brain Scan ◽  
Moral Behaviors ◽  
The Brain ◽  
Constraint Ranking

Recent results suggest that people hold a notion of the true self, distinct from the self. Here, we seek to further elucidate the “true me”—whether it is good or bad, material or immaterial. Critically, we ask whether the true self is unitary. To address these questions, we invited participants to reason about John—a character who simultaneously exhibits both positive and negative moral behaviors. John’s character was gauged via two tests--a brain scan and a behavioral test, whose results invariably diverged (i.e., one test indicated that John’s moral core is positive and another negative). Participants assessed John’s true self along two questions: (a) Did John commit his acts (positive and negative) freely? and (b) What is John’s essence really? Responses to the two questions diverged. When asked to evaluate John’s moral core explicitly (by reasoning about his free will), people invariably descried John’s true self as good. But when John’s moral core was assessed implicitly (by considering his essence), people sided with the outcomes of the brain test. These results demonstrate that people hold conflicting notions of the true self. We formally support this proposal by presenting a grammar of the true self, couched within Optimality Theory. We show that the constraint ranking necessary to capture explicit and implicit view of the true self are distinct. Our intuitive belief in a true unitary “me” is thus illusory.

scholarly journals Role of infochemical mediated zooplankton grazing in a phytoplankton competition model

2013 ◽  
Vol 16 ◽  
pp. 41-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicola D. Lewis ◽  
Mark N. Breckels ◽  
Michael Steinke ◽  
Edward A. Codling
Keyword(s):  
Competition Model ◽  
Zooplankton Grazing

scholarly journals An experimental study of the role of social factors in language change: The case of loanword adaptations

2014 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shiri Lev-Ari ◽  
Sharon Peperkamp
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Study ◽  
Social Factors ◽  
Language Change ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
Experimental Setting ◽  
Experimental Paradigm ◽  
Semantic Domain ◽  
The Creation

AbstractThere is great variation in whether foreign sounds in loanwords are adapted or retained. Importantly, the retention of foreign sounds can lead to a sound change in the language. We propose that social factors influence the likelihood of loanword sound adaptation, and use this case to introduce a novel experimental paradigm for studying language change that captures the role of social factors. Specifically, we show that the relative prestige of the donor language in the loanword’s semantic domain influences the rate of sound adaptation. We further show that speakers adapt to the performance of their ‘community', and that this adaptation leads to the creation of a norm. The results of this study are thus the first to show an effect of social factors on loanword sound adaptation in an experimental setting. Moreover, they open up a new domain of experimentally studying language change in a manner that integrates social factors.

The role of zullen in the grammar of modern standard Dutch

Lingua ◽  
1970 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 101-154 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert S. Kirsner
Keyword(s):  
Modern Standard

scholarly journals Sound Change and Grammaticalization in Japanese Verb Morphology

1996 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 429
Author(s):  
Natasha Warner
Keyword(s):  
Annual Meeting ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
General Session ◽  
Verb Morphology

Proceedings of the Twenty-Second Annual Meeting of the Berkeley Linguistics Society: General Session and Parasession on The Role of Learnability in Grammatical Theory (1996)

Psychobiological Responses to Competition in Women

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Raquel Costa ◽  
Miguel A. Serrano ◽  
Alicia Salvador
Keyword(s):  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Agonistic Behavior ◽  
Functional Role ◽  
Response Pattern ◽  
Competition Model ◽  
Stress Model ◽  
Evolutionary Perspective ◽  
Coping Response ◽  
Challenge Hypothesis

From an evolutionary perspective, questions have been raised about whether women have a psychobiological pattern similar to that of men. In humans, hormonal effects of competition and its outcome have been investigated under the biosocial status hypothesis, which proposes that, after a competition, winners would show increases in testosterone whereas losers would show reductions, and the challenge hypothesis, which emphasizes the functional role of testosterone increases in the spring to promote agonistic behavior related to territoriality and access to females. Subsequently, the coping competition model has defended the study of competition within a more general stress model, considering the psychobiological responses as part of the coping response. This chapter shows that women investigations are increasing in number in recent years and that, in competitive situations, they present coping strategies with a psychobiological response pattern that can be enlightened by the coping competition model.

Emergence of the Unmarked in Indian Englishes with Different Substrates

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Caroline R. Wiltshire
Keyword(s):  
Second Language ◽  
Second Language Acquisition ◽  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Learning Algorithm ◽  
Indian English ◽  
Form And Function ◽  
First Languages ◽  
And Function ◽  
Insight Into

This study uses data from Indian English as a second language, spoken by speakers of five first languages, to illustrate and evaluate the role of the emergence of the unmarked (TETU) in phonological theory. The analysis focusses on word-final consonant devoicing and cluster reduction, for which the five Indian first languages have various constraints, while Indian English is relatively unrestricted. Variation in L2 Indian Englishes results from both transfer of L1 phonotactics and the emergence of the unmarked, accounted for within Optimality Theory. The use of a learning algorithm also allows us to test the relative importance of markedness and frequency and to evaluate the relative markedness of various clusters. Thus, data from Indian Englishes provides insight into the form and function of markedness constraints, as well as the mechanisms of Second Language Acquisition (SLA).

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