scholarly journals Optimality theory and historical phonology: an example from nasal harmony in Mundurukú

2013 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 257-274
Author(s):  
Gessiane Picanço
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
Historical Phonology ◽  
Relative Chronology ◽  
Modern System ◽  
Diachronic Changes

This paper offers an account of diachronic changes in nasal harmony in Mundurukú, a Tupian language from Brazil. It attempts to show that the Optimality Theory provides new ways of accounting for sound change, other than constraint re-ranking. A comparison of Mundurukú and Kuruaya's modern systems points out that the source system, Proto-Mundurukú, had similar properties to those currently observed in Kuruaya. In particular, nasal spread targets were voiced stops and sonorants, whereas voiceless obstruents were transparent. This system was developed into another in Pre-Mundurukú, because new contrasts were introduced in the language, turning obstruents into opaque segments, thus blocking nasalization. Formal OT account of both cases relies on restricting harmony constraints, as shown by the relative chronology that gave rise to Mundurukú's modern system. In addition, this study discusses the consequences of this change to synchronic grammar, and how it explains the process' irregularities.

Natural Sound Change and Its Patterns: The Case of the Lateral Approximant l

2012 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-140
Author(s):  
Wei Zheng
Keyword(s):  
Sound Change ◽  
Historical Phonology ◽  
Old Chinese ◽  
Natural Sound ◽  
Evolutionary Phonology ◽  
Diachronic Changes

In light of Chinese historical phonology, modern dialects, languages of Chinese minorities and field phonetics, this paper discusses (1) the development of the Yi-initial words from Old Chinese to Middle Chinese, (2) the development of the Lai-initial words from Middle Chinese to modern dialects, (3) the phonological behavior of segment l in different syllabic positions from the perspective of evolutionary phonology. Such evolutionary developments as palatalization, velarization, nasalization, labiodentalization, fricativization, strengthening and so on can be identified for approximant l. This provides an important panchronic and typological perspective for the interpretation of both diachronic changes and synchronic variation.

scholarly journals Footnotes on a Parthian sound change

2013 ◽  
Vol 76 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Agnes Korn
Keyword(s):  
Sound Change ◽  
Consonant Cluster ◽  
Historical Phonology ◽  
Middle Persian

AbstractThe treatment of Proto-Iranian*θw(PIE *t) is one of the isoglosses distinguishing Middle Persian from Parthian and thus important for Western Iranian dialectology. The re-discussion of the Parthian development of this consonant cluster by Nicholas Sims-Williams presents a welcome opportunity for some notes on the matter. I will argue that there is some additional evidence in favour of his suggestion that the Parthian result is not-f-as previously assumed, but a consonant cluster. I will also suggest a modification of the steps that the development takes. The Middle Persian development of*θwas well as some related issues of historical phonology and Pth. orthography and Western Ir. are likewise discussed.

scholarly journals Contributions to a relative chronology of Persian

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-43
Author(s):  
Agnes Korn
Keyword(s):  
The Other ◽  
Historical Phonology ◽  
Relative Chronology ◽  
Sound Changes ◽  
Word Forms ◽  
Old Persian ◽  
Middle Persian ◽  
Previous Scholarship

Abstract Old Persian shows a change of postconsonantal y, w to iy, uw, respectively. However, if one applies (pre-)Middle Persian sound changes to the Old Persian forms, the result is at variance with certain Middle Persian forms. If one were to assume a syncope reversing the Old Persian change of y, w to iy, uw, this would also affect old cases of iy, uw and likewise yield incorrect results for Middle Persian. The Old Persian change can thus not have operated in the prehistory of Middle Persian, and there is a dialectal difference between attested Old Persian and the later stages of the language, which is to be added to those already noted. The paper also discusses some sound changes that are connected to the Old Persian change in one way or the other. Cases in point are the processes called Epenthesis and Umlaut in previous scholarship, which this article suggests to interpret as occurring in different contexts and in different periods. The former is limited to Vry, which yields Vir and feeds into a monophthongisation that, as shown by some late Old Persian word forms, occurred within Achaemenid times, giving ēr and īr from ary and əry. Epenthesis did not occur in the prehistory of Parthian, whereas the monophthongisation did. The Appendix presents a tentative sequence of the processes discussed in this article, which is intended as a contribution to the relative chronology of Persian historical phonology.

Analogy, simplification, and the history of French

1974 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-78
Author(s):  
Douglas C. Walker
Keyword(s):  
Sound Change ◽  
Historical Phonology ◽  
Conditioning Factors ◽  
History Of ◽  
Verner's Law ◽  
Phonological Change

In traditional studies of historical phonology, there is frequently a division between sound change and analogy. Sound change is said to proceed gradually and inexorably under strictly phonetic conditions; “La règle générale est que les transformations phonétiques s’opèrent avec une constance absolue c’est-à-dire que les mêmes phonèmes placés dans les mêmes conditions, se développent d’une manière identique.” (Schwan-Behrens 1963: 12). Occasionally, when the conditions are not apparent, there may be some concern until further research uncovers the conditioning factors. Such was the case with Verner’s law, for example. Yet in any interesting situation, there remains a body of forms for which the proper phonetic environment cannot be found. The items just do not follow the normal phonetic “laws.” In these cases, analogy is often called on to explain the discrepancy, and also to account for the reintroduction of regularity into a system “ravaged” by the forces of phonological change; “L’analogie joue un rôle considérable en roman (et en français) qui s’est reconstitué, comme on l’a dit, sur les ruines du latin où les ravages d’une évolution phonétique brutale avaient entièrement boulversé le système des oppositions morphologiques et de leurs valeurs” (Guiraud 1965: 63).

Lexical phonology and sound change: the case of the Scottish vowel length rule

1991 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-53 ◽  
Author(s):  
April M. S. McMahon
Keyword(s):  
Historical Linguistics ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
Vowel Length ◽  
Historical Phonology ◽  
Phonological Rule ◽  
High Degree ◽  
Lexical Phonology ◽  
Generative Approach ◽  
Degree Of Similarity ◽  
Phonological Rules

The key assumption in the standard generative approach to historical linguistics (King, 1969) is that each sound change is incorporated directly into the native speaker's grammar as the final phonological rule, moving up gradually into the grammar as further changes are implemented. Restructuring of underlying representations by later generations during acquisition is theoretically permitted, but infrequently invoked, with the result that the historical phonology of a language will be almost directly mirrored in the order of its phonological rules. The only extractable generalizations are then that the ‘highest’ rules will correspond to the oldest changes, and that a sound change and the rule into which it is converted will tend to be identical or at least show a high degree of similarity in formulation. This approach casts no light at all on the problem of the implementation of sound change.

Disyllabic attractors and anti-antigemination in Austronesian sound change

Phonology ◽  
2007 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Blust
Keyword(s):  
Sound Change ◽  
Interesting Consequence ◽  
Austronesian Languages ◽  
Widespread Occurrence ◽  
Historical Phonology ◽  
Historical Changes ◽  
Dominant Pattern ◽  
Recurrent Patterns

An overview of the historical phonology of the Austronesian languages shows certain recurrent patterns of change that resemble the synchronic notion of a conspiracy. Over 90% of all lexical bases in Proto-Austronesian and other early Austronesian proto-languages are disyllabic. This dominant pattern, which was transmitted to most of the 1200-plus Austronesian languages spoken today, has tended repeatedly to reassert itself in forms that have come to have other than two syllables. As a structurally defined target that is satisfied by diverse historical changes, this preferential disyllabism can be considered an ‘attractor’ in the sense of Kelso (1995). Perhaps the most interesting consequence of disyllabic attractors in Austronesian historical phonology is the widespread occurrence of syncope only between identical consonants, a pattern that Odden (1988) has characterised in synchronic systems as one of ‘anti-antigemination’.

Sound Change, Preferences, and Explanation

1992 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 421-441
Author(s):  
Robert W. Murray
Keyword(s):  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Historical Phonology ◽  
Original Theory ◽  
Preference Theory ◽  
The Status ◽  
Basic Concepts

Based on data from Romance historical phonology, Picard (1990) attempts to demonstrate that the preference theory for syllable structure developed in Vennemann (1988a), Murray (1988), and elsewhere is inadequate. In this response, I argue that Picard's criticisms are vitiated by a number of flaws including a) the fact that he misconstrues basic concepts of preference theory in a number of cases and accordingly develops false extensions which have little relevance to the original theory and b) that his criticism of consonantal strength does not take into consideration different theoretical frameworks. Although some substantive points remain including the status of sibilant plus plosive clusters, the internal structuring of syllables, and Proto-Romance syllabication, I argue that preference theory provides a suitable basis for the fruitful development of research along these lines.

Studies in Armenian historical phonology (II)

2016 ◽  
Vol 121 (1) ◽  
pp. 39-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ronald Kim
Keyword(s):  
Sound Change ◽  
Historical Phonology ◽  
Early Change

Abstract It is argued that PIE mid vowels were raised in absolute Auslaut prior to the general apocope in prehistoric Armenian. This sound change accounts for the shape of the aorist middle 3sg. ending -aw (< *-aðu < *-ato ← PIE *-to), as well as the lack of palatalization in hing ‘five’ (< *hengu < *hengʷi < PIE *pénkʷe) and indefinite o-kʿ ‘anyone’, i-kʿ ‘anything’ (< PIE *-kʷe). The evidence of ‘five’ suggests that this was an early change, preceding the peculiar Armenian development of PIE *-nKʷ- > *-wḰ-.

Sound Change in Romance and the Non-Explanatory Nature of Preference Laws

1990 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-80 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc Picard
Keyword(s):  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Sound Change ◽  
Historical Phonology

In recent years, it has been proposed, notably by Vennemann and Murray, that the direction of sound change can be predicted in terms of a set of syllable-structure preference laws which are based on the notion of consonantal strength. This paper attempts to show how problematic such an approach proves to be when the data from Romance historical phonology proposed in support of these laws are examined critically. Numerous counterexamples and internal contradictions suggest that syllable structure has little or no influence on the effectuation of any type of sound change, and that it is purely fortuitous if a more "preferred" structure happens to emerge from a phonetically-motivated operation.

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