scholarly journals Sonority Principle in French Nominal Loanwords into Moroccan Arabic: An Optimality-theoretic Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (10) ◽  
pp. 54-68
Author(s):  
Ahmed Smirkou
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Final Position ◽  
Theoretic Analysis ◽  
Morphological Marker ◽  
Loanword Adaptation ◽  
Vowel Epenthesis ◽  
Moroccan Arabic

This paper examines the adaptation of French nominal loans into Moroccan Arabic by adopting the framework of optimality theory. The focus is to unveil the phonological and morphological repair strategies enforced by the phonotactic constraints of the borrowing language to resolve sonority principle in complex codas. The investigated phonological strategy is schwa and a high vowel epenthesis. Schwa epenthesis is triggered to split final biconsonantal codas that violate sonority principle. In three consonantal coda clusters, schwa insertion is conditioned by the sonority value of the consonants, where it is consistently epenthesized before the most sonorous segment. A high vowel behaves differently; it is epenthesized in the final position without splitting the coda cluster, and enforces the cluster to be syllabified as an onset instead of a coda, and as such sonority principle is satisfied. It is also argued that the addition of the morphological marker {-a}, which is primarily morphologically driven, indirectly satisfies sonority principle; by doing so, it blocks the application of schwa or a high vowel epenthesis, which points to the fact that such phonological and morphological strategies conspire to satisfy sonority principle. The study also provides further support for the phonological stance on loanword adaptation.

scholarly journals Exceptional Arabic Diminutive Forms of Nouns with [aa]: An Optimality-Theoretic Analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (5) ◽  
pp. 68
Author(s):  
Albatool Mohammed Abalkheel
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Theoretic Analysis ◽  
Syllable Weight ◽  
Morphological Processes ◽  
Arabic Dialects

Most diminutive forms in Arabic adhere in their derivation to certain simple phonological and morphological processes without any complications. However, there are exceptions to be found, including diminutive forms of nouns with [aa] in which the segment [w] surfaces. Using Optimality Theory (OT) as a framework and using syllable weight as a base of analysis, this study aims to provide an accurate explanation of such phenomena. This work will show that the root of words with [w] is not simply biconsonantal with an emphatic segment (i.e., [w]) inserted to fill the empty onset. Instead, the root is triconsonantal in which [w] is an essential segment. It also reveals that syllable-weight constraint is inviolable in Arabic dialects.

Phonological variation and Optimality Theory: Evidence from word-initial vowel epenthesis in Vimeu Picard

2001 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 253-303 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Auger
Keyword(s):  
Probabilistic Analysis ◽  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Striking Feature ◽  
Phonological Variation ◽  
Complex Interplay ◽  
Quantitative Evidence ◽  
Variable Pattern ◽  
Grammatical Competence ◽  
Vowel Epenthesis ◽  
Break Up

One striking feature of Vimeu Picard concerns the regular insertion of epenthetic vowels in order to break up consonant clusters and to syllabify word-initial and word-final consonants. This corpus-based study focuses on word-initial epenthesis. It provides quantitative evidence that vowel epenthesis applies categorically in some environments and variably in others. Probabilistic analysis demonstrates that the variable pattern is constrained by a complex interplay of linguistic factors. Following Labov (1972a, 1972b) and Antilla and Cho (1998), I interpret such intricate grammatical conditioning as evidence that this variation is a reflection of a grammatical competence that generates both categorical and variable outputs, and I propose an account within the framework of Optimality Theory. An analysis of individual patterns of epenthesis by members of the community reveals that, even though all speakers share the same basic community grammar, their use of epenthesis differs qualitatively as well as quantitatively. I show that individual grammars can be derived from the community grammar, and that Optimality Theory allows us to formalize the idea that individual grammars constitute more specific versions of community grammars.

scholarly journals Resolving the Issue of the Target of Vowel Copy in Fijian Loanwords

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gakuji Kumagai
Keyword(s):  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Vowel Quality ◽  
Minimal Projection ◽  
Loanword Adaptation ◽  
Vowel Epenthesis ◽  
Epenthetic Vowel

English loanwords into Fijian undergo vowel epenthesis, as Fijian disallows coda consonants and consonant clusters. Vowel copy is an option for determining epenthetic vowel quality in loanword adaptation (Kumagai 2016a; Schütz 1978, 2004). The target of copy epenthesis seems to be either the preceding or following vowel of the epenthetic site. However, the choice of target vowel is indeterminate, as there is no vowel copy in Fijian native phonology. This paper offers a resolution to the problem by adopting an expanded version of prosodic projection theory (Martínez-Paricio 2012, 2013), in which feet are allowed to exhibit maximal/minimal projection. I propose Foot Condition, which requires the Foot[±max/±min] to circumscribe the vowel copy domain.

scholarly journals Vowel Epenthesis and Consonant Deletion in Japanese Loanwords from English

2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shinichi Shoji ◽  
Kazuko Shoji
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Native Japanese Speakers ◽  
Vowel Epenthesis ◽  
Perceptual Salience ◽  
Japanese Speakers ◽  
Constraint Ranking

<p>The current study examines Japanese loanwords from English in the framework of optimality theory (OT). The goal of this study is to investigate which vowels native Japanese-speaking borrowers epenthesize and when they delete consonants in modifying English source words. We aim to offer (i) a unified explanation with a single ranking of constraints for vowel epenthesis and (ii) a perceptual explanation for consonant deletion. Two experiments with native Japanese speakers were conducted to support the proposed analyses. The first experiment demonstrated that, when modifying illicit phonotactics in foreign words, native Japanese speakers select epenthetic vowels based on the constraint ranking of: Complex, CodaCond &gt;&gt; Max-IO  &gt;&gt; Palatal-Front, SyllableInventoryStructure (SIS), Ident-IO &gt;&gt; *Round, *Low &gt;&gt; *Front &gt;&gt; High &gt;&gt; Back &gt;&gt; Dep-IO. The second experiment revealed that Japanese loanwords can be subject to deletion of consonants rather than vowel epenthesis, due to the lack of perceptual salience; Japanese speakers delete consonants when they fail to perceive consonants in coda and clusters in source words, especially when the source words are aurally given.</p>

analysis of adaptation of the Loanwords in Kikuyu technological Words

2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 109-120
Author(s):  
GACHAU ELENA NYAGUTHII ◽  
ANASHIA NANCY ONG’ONDA
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
English Language ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Loanword Adaptation ◽  
Medicine Education ◽  
Linguistic Phenomenon

This paper examines loanwords adopted by native Gikuyu speakers to nativise English technological words using the theoretical framework of Optimality Theory as initiated by Prince and Smolensky (1993). Loanword adaptation is a linguistic phenomenon that occurs cross linguistically whenever one language interacts with another language. However, there are stipulations to borrowing because loanwords must be adapted to fit the second language’s Phonology system. Drawing from a sample of 80 words collected from the domain of technology, medicine, education and agriculture, the study found that Gikuyu speakers use processes such as insertion, deletion, vowel substitution and preservation to nativist borrowed word from English. The study also found out that this process occurs because of the tolerance threshold to segment preservation within a given constraint domain and due to distinctive features in English language and Gikuyu language.

scholarly journals Sonority Sequencing Principle in Sabzevari Persian: A Constraint-Based Approach

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 434-465
Author(s):  
Mufleh Salem M. Alqahtani
Keyword(s):  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Phonological Processes ◽  
Repair Strategy ◽  
Vowel Epenthesis ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Northeast Iran

AbstractThis study sheds light on the relationship between the Sonority Sequencing Principle (SSP) and syllable structure in Sabzevari, a Persian vernacular spoken in the Sabzevar area of Northeast Iran. Optimality Theory (OT), as a constraint-based approach, is utilized to scrutinize sonority violation and its repair strategies. The results suggest that obedience to the SSP is mandatory in Sabzevari, as shown through the treatment of word-final clusters in Standard Persian words which violate the SSP. These consonant clusters are avoided in Sabzevari by two phonological processes: vowel epenthesis and metathesis. Vowel epenthesis is motivated by final consonant clusters of the forms /fricative+coronal nasal/, /plosive+bilabial nasal/, /fricative+bilabial nasal/, /plosive+rhotic/, /fricative+rhotic/, and /plosive+lateral/. Metathesis, as another repair strategy for sonority sequencing violations, occurs when dealing with final consonant clusters of the forms /plosive+fricative/and / fricative+lateral/.

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 To Epenthesize or Not? Adaptations of English Coda [m] in Standard Mandarin Loanwords

2016 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ho-Hsin Huang ◽  
Yen-Hwei Lin
Keyword(s):  
Experimental Results ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
Perceptual Similarity ◽  
Perceptual Cues ◽  
Loanword Adaptation ◽  
Vowel Epenthesis ◽  
Phonological Features ◽  
Experimental Strategies ◽  
Adaptation Data

This study investigates how English coda [m] is adapted into Standard Mandarin (SM) loanwords both in the existing corpora and in perceptual similarity adaptation data from monolingual SM and bilingual SM-English speakers. The nasal [m] in coda position is prohibited in SM. Deletion, nasal place change ([m]-->[n]/[ŋ]) and vowel epenthesis are the possible repair strategies. The generalizations identified in the corpora indicate that deletion never occurs (cf. Preservation Principle from Paradis 1996, Paradis & Lacharité 1997). Vowel epenthesis appears in SM when English coda [m] is in word-medial and word final positions. Nasal place change appears when English coda [m] is followed by a labial obstruent.  Variable adaptations happen when English coda [m] is followed by an obstruent. The experimental results show that (i) the bilingual experimental strategies for nonce word adaptations are similar to the patterns observed in the SM loanwords corpora and (ii) monolinguals’ adaptation patterns are more variable due to greater dependence on perceptual cues. The fact that monolinguals and bilinguals differ in the extent to which they employ perceptual cues and phonological features/constraints for loanword adaptations challenges a pure perception-based account of loanword adaptation. 

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