This paper provides an Optimality-Theoretic account of the consonantal repairs employed by Standard Sundanese to adapt seven illicit Arabic consonants in Arabic loanwords and thus bring them into conformity with its phonemic system. The study supports Best's Perceptual Assimilation Model (PAM), which posits that the unfamiliar consonants are perceived to their closest native counterparts in terms of articulatory features. It has been found that all seven Arabic consonants are replaced with native Sundanese counterparts with, first and foremost, the same major articulator (i.e., labial or coronal: IDENT (ARTICULATOR)) and voicing quality (i.e., [±voice]: IDENT (VOICE)), followed by the same manner of articulation (i.e., IDENT (MANNER)), which is preserved in the adaptation of five Arabic consonants only. In addition, while the source place (i.e., IDENT (PLACE)) and stridency (i.e., IDENT (STRIDENCY)) features are matched in only three adaptations each, IDENT (C) (i.e., no change of features) is never reflected in the data. Moreover, the adaptation of Arabic consonants satisfies markedness restrictions (represented by *EMPHATIC, *LABIODENTAL, *DENTAL, */f/, */z/, and */ʃ/) in Sundanese phonology against the importation of Arabic consonants. This is captured by the following OT constraint ranking: MARKEDNESS, IDENT (ARTICULATOR), IDENT (VOICE)>> IDENT (MANNER)>> IDENT (PLACE)>> IDENT (C). In conclusion, this paper contributes to the insufficiently researched area of Sundanese loanword phonology.

This study uses data from loanwords in Indonesian to argue for a phonological analysis using Harmonic Grammar (e.g. Smolensky & Legendre 2006, Pater, Bhatt & Potts 2007, Pater 2009). In original data consisting of Arabic and Dutch loanwords containing initial and final consonant clusters produced by 24 native speakers of Indonesian, we find both deletion and epenthesis to resolve word-final clusters, while word-initial clusters sometimes have epenthesis and sometimes are tolerated intact. The adaptations of Arabic and Dutch loanwords reveal the influence of three markedness constraints generally observed in Indonesian (*ComplexCoda, *ComplexOnset, and MinWord), and support a role for phonology in the analysis of borrowing, rather than a purely perceptual approach. When native monosyllables and borrowed monosyllables without clusters are considered, we find evidence that a standard Optimality Theory strict ranking is inadequate to account for the data; these constraints must be allowed to ‘gang up’, as in Harmonic Grammar, to account for the deletions, epenthesis, and non-adaptations found in the data.

This paper investigates the patterns of topic maintenance and topic transition used to create conversation and their accompanying structural features speakers employ to signal these two conversational phenomena. The data are a 21-minute dyadic dinnertime conversation between a boyfriend and girlfriend; they are both native speakers of American English, in their late twenties. The two significant findings of the study are as follows. First, the data reveal that the speakers used three major techniques, namely minimal responses, substitutions, and deletions, to maintain the same topic of the conversation (Goffman, 1983; Radford & Tarplee, 2000; Abu Akel, 2002; Sukrutrit, 2010; Jeon, 2012). Second, in the analysis of topic transition, the data show that the speakers resorted to different types of topic transitions (i.e., collaborative, unilateral, linked, minimally linked, and sudden) to end an ongoing topic and start a new one (West & Garcia, 1988; Ainsworth-Vaughn, 1992; Okamoto & Smith-Lovin, 2001; Sukrutrit, 2010; Jeon, 2012).

Based on lists of well-established English loanwords and relying on Optimality Theory, this paper investigates the syllabic adaptation of problematic structures of English loanwords in Standard Kiswahili. It has been found that word-final singleton and complex codas are never tolerated in Kiswahili; therefore, they are repaired via edge vowel epenthesis (e.g., /ti.mu/ "team"; /lif.ti/ "lift"), displaying a strong preference for open syllables (i.e., NOCODA#) and syllable contact pairs in Kiswahili (i.e., SYLLCONT) and maintaining the contiguity of corresponding segments in the input and the output (i.e., CONTIGUITY-IO). With respect to the type of the epenthetic vowel, it is either coronal /i/ (e.g., /pla.ni/ "plan") or labial /u/ (e.g., /gra.mu/ "gram") depending on the place feature (i.e., coronal or labial) of the consonant immediately to its left (i.e., AGREEL(CPL)). Finally, word-initial singleton and complex onsets remain intact in English loanwords (e.g., /kla.bu/ "club"), revealing the importance of the onset (i.e. ONSET) requirement in Kiswahili and obeying input contiguity (i.e., CONTIGUITY-IO), sonority sequencing principle (i.e., SON-SEQ), and syllable contact law (i.e., SYLLCONT)-which all might be violated if edge/medial vowel epenthesis was triggered to adapt onset consonants in English loanwords.

No abstract

<p><span style="font-size: medium;">Using original data of syllabic adaptations of borrowed words produced by </span><span style="font-size: medium;">24</span><span style="font-size: medium;"> native speakers of Indonesian, we find both deletion and epenthesis to resolve word-final clusters, while word-initial clusters sometimes have epenthesis and sometimes are tolerated intact.</span><span style="font-size: medium;">  </span><span style="font-size: medium;">We show that the adaptations of Arabic and Dutch loanwords obey an Indonesian limit on complex codas, and furthermore reveal two subtle constraints: bisyllabic minimal word size and falling sonority across syllable boundaries. By showing that distinct adaptations are conditioned by the same markedness constraints, the OT analysis corroborates a view of borrowing as a phonological, rather than purely phonetic, process. </span></p>

Based on three lists of well-established Arabic lexical borrowings in Standard Kiswahili and Standard Kisukuma, the study attempts to answer two questions. First, the study explores what consonantal repair strategies are triggered by both Standard Kiswahili and Standard Kisukuma to ensure the conformity of the Arabic consonants with the consonantal inventories of the two borrowing languages. Second, it investigates whether these repair strategies are phonological operations. It was found that nine of the ten consonantal repairs employed by both Standard Kiswahili and Standard Kisukuma are governed by the hypothesis and principles proposed by Paradis and LaCharité (1997, 2001, 2005), that is, the Non-Availability Hypothesis, Category Proximity and Preservation Principles, and the Threshold Principle. These findings lend strong support to the argument that loanword adaptation processes are phonologically motivated. In conclusion, the paper aims to contribute primarily to the research on loanword adaptation in general, and to the literature relevant to the consonantal repair strategies in Standard Kiswahili and Standard Kisukuma, in particular.