Directional Constraint Evaluation Solves the Problem of Ties in Harmonic Serialism

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Andrew Lamont

Author(s):  
Andrew Lamont

Majority Rule is an unattested process where agreement is controlled by the largest class in the input. As a function from inputs to outputs, Majority Rule requires more computational expressivity than do attested phonological transformations. This paper examines how Majority Rule arises in parallel Optimality Theory and Harmonic Serialism. It is shown that in HS, Majority Rule relies on globally evaluated output constraints, which are known to produce computationally complex pathologies. However, without them, HS is unable to produce iterative harmony at all. We propose adopting directional constraint evaluation in HS as a way of modeling harmony while maintaining local representations.



2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kento Nakagawa ◽  
Tetsuro Muraoka ◽  
Kazuyuki Kanosue




Author(s):  
Jeroen Breteler

This paper proposes a framework for the analysis of bounded tone patterns, where tone shifts or spreads across a small distance. The framework starts from the idea that foot structure drives such tone processes, with foot edges acting as targets for tone association. To account for trisyllabic patterns, a theory of layered foot representation is adopted (Kager 2012, Martinez-Paricio 2013). In addition, to account for the opacity of foot-driven tone shift, the analysis is cast in Harmonic Serialism (Prince & Smolensky 1993, McCarthy 2000). Lastly, the paper presents a set of licensing and structural markedness constraints to derive the desired patterns. The approach is successfully applied to the default tone pattern of tbe Saghala noun phrase (Patin 2009), which shows a combination of shifting and spreading over a trisyllabic domain.



2017 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 30
Author(s):  
Andrew Lamont

The Afrikaans diminutive suffix surfaces as one of four allomorphs determined by complex prosodic and segmental interactions including stem augmentation, stem modification in form of diphthongization, and notably bidirectional place assimilation and segmental deletion. This paper presents an analysis in Harmonic Serialism (Prince & Smolensky 1993/2004, McCarthy 2000) that derives the surface allomorphs from an underlying representation /-ʲki/. The analysis departs from Wissing’s (1971) rule-based treatment in rejecting phonologically-conditioned allomorphs in favor of a single underlying form which is subject to phonological derivation and in treating diphthongization as the realization of underlying palatal features following Bye (2013).





Phonology ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
pp. 627-653
Author(s):  
Brandon Prickett

This study uses an artificial language learning experiment and computational modelling to test Kiparsky's claims about Maximal Utilisation and Transparency biases in phonological acquisition. A Maximal Utilisation bias would prefer phonological patterns in which all rules are maximally utilised, and a Transparency bias would prefer patterns that are not opaque. Results from the experiment suggest that these biases affect the learnability of specific parts of a language, with Maximal Utilisation affecting the acquisition of individual rules, and Transparency affecting the acquisition of rule orderings. Two models were used to simulate the experiment: an expectation-driven Harmonic Serialism learner and a sequence-to-sequence neural network. The results from these simulations show that both models’ learning is affected by these biases, suggesting that the biases emerge from the learning process rather than any explicit structure built into the model.





Phonology ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 481-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Pruitt

This paper proposes a model of stress assignment in which metrical structure is built serially, one foot at a time, in a series of Optimality Theory (OT)-style evaluations. Iterative foot optimisation is made possible in the framework of Harmonic Serialism, which defines the path from an input to an output with a series of gradual changes in which each form improves harmony relative to a constraint ranking. Iterative foot optimisation makes the strong prediction that decisions about metrical structure are made locally, matching attested typology, while the standard theory of stress in parallel OT predicts in addition to local systems unattested stress systems with non-local interactions. The predictions of iterative foot optimisation and parallel OT are compared, focusing on the interactions of metrical parsing with syllable weight, vowel shortening and constraints on the edges of prosodic domains.



2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nate Shaftoe

This paper discusses coda lenition phenomena in Chilean Spanish, seeking to create a unified analysis for coda obstruent gliding and /s/-reduction. The paper invokes Moraic Theory to motivate lenition of certain segments in coda position. Using Harmonic Serialism, a serial variant of Optimality Theory, Chilean Spanish is shown to have a minimum sonority requirement on coda segments, and lenites insufficiently sonorous segments. /s/ is shown to place-delete to [h] to avoid sonority restrictions. The lack of /ʔ/ causes obstruents to diverge their derivation from that of /s/. Lenition to glottal segments is preferred, but gliding occurs if this is impossible.



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