Affix-favored Contrast Inequity and Psycholinguistic Grounding for Non-concatenative Morphology

Ussishkin, Adam

doi:10.1007/s11525-006-0005-3

Cited by 11 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 30 publications

(37 reference statements)

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“….? ), whether Semitic morphology requires operations on form on one or two tiers [155][156][157], and how many affixal position slots are required for Athebascan languages such as Navajo [158]. A language that is particularly painful for compositional theories is Yélî Dnye, an Indo-Pacific language spoken on Rossel island (in the south-east of Papua New Guinea).…”

Section: Complexity 29mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Discriminative Lexicon: A Unified Computational Model for the Lexicon and Lexical Processing in Comprehension and Production Grounded Not in (De)Composition but in Linear Discriminative Learning

et al. 2019

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The discriminative lexicon is introduced as a mathematical and computational model of the mental lexicon. This novel theory is inspired by word and paradigm morphology but operationalizes the concept of proportional analogy using the mathematics of linear algebra. It embraces the discriminative perspective on language, rejecting the idea that words’ meanings are compositional in the sense of Frege and Russell and arguing instead that the relation between form and meaning is fundamentally discriminative. The discriminative lexicon also incorporates the insight from machine learning that end-to-end modeling is much more effective than working with a cascade of models targeting individual subtasks. The computational engine at the heart of the discriminative lexicon is linear discriminative learning: simple linear networks are used for mapping form onto meaning and meaning onto form, without requiring the hierarchies of post-Bloomfieldian ‘hidden’ constructs such as phonemes, morphemes, and stems. We show that this novel model meets the criteria of accuracy (it properly recognizes words and produces words correctly), productivity (the model is remarkably successful in understanding and producing novel complex words), and predictivity (it correctly predicts a wide array of experimental phenomena in lexical processing). The discriminative lexicon does not make use of static representations that are stored in memory and that have to be accessed in comprehension and production. It replaces static representations by states of the cognitive system that arise dynamically as a consequence of external or internal stimuli. The discriminative lexicon brings together visual and auditory comprehension as well as speech production into an integrated dynamic system of coupled linear networks.

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Section: Complexity 29mentioning

confidence: 99%

The Discriminative Lexicon: A Unified Computational Model for the Lexicon and Lexical Processing in Comprehension and Production Grounded Not in (De)Composition but in Linear Discriminative Learning

et al. 2019

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“…1986; Van der Hulst 1988; Clements 1989, 1991; Parkinson 1996; Salting 1998, 2005; Schane 2005), and, more recently, various developments within optimality theory (Smolensky 1993; Akinlabi 1994, 1997, 2006; Casali 1996; Leitch 1996; Pulleyblank 1996, 1997, 1998, 2002; Pulleyblank and Turkel 1996; Pulleyblank et al. 1997; Cahill 1999; Causley 1999; Baković 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003; Noske 2000; Krämer 2001; McCrary 2001; 2001a,b; O’Keefe 2003, 2007; Kaplan 2006, 2007; Lahne 2006; Ussishkin 2006; Finley 2007; Lesley‐Neuman 2007; Sasa 2007; Hansson forthcoming; among others).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

ATR Harmony in African Languages

Casali

2008

Language and Linguist. Compass

119

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A widespread phonological pattern in African languages of the Niger‐Congo and Nilo‐Saharan families is a type of vowel harmony or assimilation based on a phonological feature [ATR], or advanced tongue root. This article introduces the general behavior of African ATR harmony systems, briefly describes their geographic and genetic distribution, and discusses the phonetic basis of the feature [ATR]. I describe several aspects of typological variation in ATR harmony languages, with particular attention to some controversial issues of theoretical interest on which recent research may shed additional light. Topics covered include the nature of a widely discussed typological distinction between dominant and root‐controlled ATR harmony languages, the extent to which [–ATR] vowels behave as dominant, the behavior of the frequently neutral vowel /a/, and the question of whether the direction of application of ATR harmony can be predicted from the morphological possibilities found in a language.

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“…This configuration, in which FAITH-AFFIX ≫ FAITH-STEM, was explicitly argued against by McCarthy and Prince (1995). Ussishkin (2006) has provided reasons to dismiss this objection, presenting a number of examples from different languages in which affix faithfulness seems to take precedence over stem faithfulness. Let us assume that the theoretical grounding is not problematic and see what other problems arise.…”

Section: April 2018mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In this section I present a number of arguments against the stem-based theory of Semitic morphology (Bat-El 1989Laks 2011Laks , 2013aLaks ,b, 2014Ussishkin 1999Ussishkin , 2000Ussishkin , 2003Ussishkin , 2005Ussishkin , 2006. I will mostly be arguing against the proposal in Ussishkin (2005), since it is the most explicit in trying to link morphosyntactic affixation with morphophonological processes.…”

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confidence: 99%

Templatic morphology as an emergent property

Kastner

2018

Nat Lang Linguist Theory

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Modern Hebrew exhibits a non-concatenative morphology of consonantal "roots" and melodic "templates" that is typical of Semitic languages. Even though this kind of non-concatenative morphology is well known, it is only partly understood. In particular, theories differ in what counts as a morpheme: the root, the template, both, or neither. Accordingly, theories differ as to what representations learners must posit and what processes generate the eventual surface forms. In this paper I present a theory of morphology and allomorphy that combines lexical roots with syntactic functional heads, improving on previous analyses of root-and-pattern morphology. Verbal templates are here argued to emerge from the combination of syntactic elements, constrained by the general phonology of the language, rather than from some inherent difference between Semitic morphology and that of other languages. This way of generating morphological structure fleshes out a theory of morphophonological alternations that are non-adjacent on the surface but are local underlyingly; with these tools it is possible to identify where lexical exceptionality shows its effects and how it is reined in by the grammar. The Semitic root is thus analogous to lexical roots in other languages, storing idiosyncratic phonological and semantic information but respecting the syntactic structure in which it is embedded. * Thanks to Alec Marantz, Maria Gouskova and Michael Becker for their input into Chapter 3 of my 2016 NYU dissertation, on which this paper is based. Thanks also to Edit Doron and Stephanie Harves for their guidance and comments, to Gillian Gallagher for helpful discussions, and to Maria once more for written comments on the manuscript. The ideas presented here benefited greatly from conversations with Hagit Borer,

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Affix-favored Contrast Inequity and Psycholinguistic Grounding for Non-concatenative Morphology

Cited by 11 publications

References 30 publications

The Discriminative Lexicon: A Unified Computational Model for the Lexicon and Lexical Processing in Comprehension and Production Grounded Not in (De)Composition but in Linear Discriminative Learning

The Discriminative Lexicon: A Unified Computational Model for the Lexicon and Lexical Processing in Comprehension and Production Grounded Not in (De)Composition but in Linear Discriminative Learning

ATR Harmony in African Languages

Templatic morphology as an emergent property

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