This paper provides a description and an Optimality Theory analysis of the Japanese language game sakasa kotoba. This analysis contributes to the phonological study of language games, as sakasa kotoba constitutes a novel language game type: total mora reversal. In addition, our analysis contributes to the study of Japanese phonology, by providing evidence (i) for the mora, (ii) on the internal structure of the syllable in Japanese and (iii) on the representation of moras occurring in complex syllables, namely coda nasals, geminates and long vowels. The patterning of these moras suggests that the game manipulates intermediate representations, rather than underlying or surface forms. We propose a formal analysis within the framework of Stratal OT. The analysis uses a game-specific constraint to motivate reversal, with other aspects of game form shape determined through the interaction of markedness and faithfulness constraints.
This paper demonstrates repair strategies when place feature of the special moras in Japanese (the second half of a long vowel, moraic nasals, and the first half of a double consonant) fail to be specified in a usual manner. I posit three repair processes based on the observations of marked environments (loanwords, a word game called Sakasa Kotoba, blending): (i) over-application of regular structures in core lexicon, (ii) irregular structures that are produced through The Emergence of the Unmarked (TETU), and (iii) game-specific structures. I illustrate that even in marked environments, repair processes make outcome structures as unmarked as possible with these strategies. Based on the observations in the marked environments (mainly from Sakasa Kotoba), I further discuss the process of morification and underlying representations of special moras.
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