Relational hierarchies in Optimality Theory: the case of syllable contact

Gouskova, Maria

doi:10.1017/s095267570400020x

Cited by 73 publications

(74 citation statements)

References 39 publications

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“…In /el.pa/ the syllable boundary contains a sonority fall from coda to onset, but in /ep.la/, there is a sonority rise, which is why many languages (such as English) choose to parse /epla/ as /e.pla/. While syllable contact in often framed in terms of sonority (Gouskova 2004;Gouskova 2001;Parker 2003), in which there is a preference for a sonority fall across a syllable boundary, there are some issues with using sonority to predict well-formedness of syllable boundaries, particularly for segments close to each other on the sonority hierarchy. First, there is no unified definition of sonority, and languages may differ as to which definitions work best (Wright 2004).…”

Section: Syllable Contactmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptually Based Constraints and Metathesis: Evidence from Artificial Grammar

Finley

2017

AMP

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The present paper explores the role of sonority and other perceptual constraints in governing syllable structure constraints. One of the most important issues in phonology today is the formalization of the phonetic grounding of markedness constraints (Hayes and Steriade 2004). Sonority constraints have been particularly controversial because there is no formalized definition of sonority, but rather several different contributing factors, such as intensity, constriction and formant transitions, that all vary depending on context (Henke, Kaisse, and Wright 2012; Wright 2004). This paper makes use of an artificial grammar learning paradigm, whereby adult English speakers were exposed to a consonant-consonant metathesis pattern that either improved sonority at a syllable boundary, or worsened sonority at a syllable boundary. Learners did not show generalization in line with sonority-based syllable contact laws, but instead showed generalization in accordance with avoidance of a voiced obstruent in coda position, thus supporting a theory of sonority and syllable contact that makes use of the interaction of perceptual cues, rather than a strict, abstract sonority hierarchy.

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Section: Syllable Contactmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceptually Based Constraints and Metathesis: Evidence from Artificial Grammar

Finley

2017

AMP

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“…Berent et al, 2007;Daland et al, 2011). Formally speaking, then, one way to derive the prediction that prothesis rate follows the pattern in sT > sN > sL is by casting the SSP as a markedness hierarchy (Gouskova, 2004). Since sT is the most marked sC onset, the desire to repair it should be stronger; and since prothesis is the available repair, prothesis should be higher for sT than other sC onsets.…”

Section: Prediction For Prothesis Rate: St > Sn > Sl (T = Stop N = Nmentioning

confidence: 99%

Toward a generative theory of language transfer: Experiment and modeling of sC prothesis in L2 Spanish

Daland

Norrmann-Vigil

2015

Open Linguistics

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When native Spanish speakers produce English words with initial [s]-consonant clusters (sC), they sometimes produce a prothetic vowel, e.g. stigma > estigma. This paper reports a production experiment on this phenomena, as well as computational modelling of the experimental results. Carlisle (1991a) proposed the 'resyllabification account' in which prothesis is a language transfer effect, whose essential motivation is to satisfy L1/Spanish syllable phonotactics. Replicating all previous work, a greater rate of prothesis was found in postconsonantal contexts than in postvocalic contexts (Rick (e)stinks > Ricky (e)stinks). A novel prediction is that when prothesis occurs, the [s] should have durational characteristics associated with the coda position, whereas it should have onset characteristics when prothesis does not occur; this was found. Another prediction is that a grammar which captures the variability in prothesis should in some sense be "between" the L1/Spanish and L2/English grammars. This latter prediction was tested by developing a constraint-based analysis of sC prothesis in Maximum Entropy Harmonic Grammar (Goldwater & Johnson, 2003). The results were consistent with a view of language transfer as 'linear interpolation' of constraint weights, conditioned on an 'effort' constraint reflecting how phonological planning varies with task/ modality demands.Keywords: phonotactics, prothesis, Spanish, maxent IntroductionIt is well-known that speakers who acquire additional languages as adults exhibit 'language transfer' -they speak a variant of the target language reflecting interference from earlier languages. Language transfer effects pose two related, but conceptually distinct problems for language science. The first is empirical -what do speakers actually do, and what factors influence their behavior? The other type of problem is theoretical -what aspects of non-native speech should be accounted for by grammatical theories, and how does the theory account for them? This paper addresses these questions in the context of native speakers of Mexican Spanish who began speaking English as adults, hereafter referred to as 'SpEns'.When SpEns say English words beginning with an [s]-consonant cluster (hereafter referred to as sC), they often produce a prothetic vowel before the onset cluster, e.g. school → (e)school (Carlisle, 1991a;Goldstein, 2001;Harris, 1987; Yavas & Barlow, 2006 Robert Carlisle, who has produced the majority of empirical studies on sC prothesis in SpEns, proposed the resyllabification account (Carlisle, 1991a). The essence of the idea is that Spanish allows [s] in the syllable coda, but not sC in onset. Spanish phonotactics can be satisfied by 'moving' the [s] out of complex onset and into a preceding coda position. When the preceding word ends with a vowel, as in (1b), that word's lexical vowel may absorb the [s]. However, when the sC word is phrase-initial, as in (1a), a new coda position must be created through vowel prothesis. In both cases, the [s] is said to 'resyllabify' beca...

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“…The explanation and the formalization of the asymmetry of the lateral liquid have been based on the Stochastic Optimality Theory (StOT), through constraints. Having the mechanism of relational alignment as its background, this study proposes sonority distance constraints adapted from Gouskova (2004). However, differences lie in the fact that this study takes into account the relation between the onset and the nucleus, besides the one between the nucleus and the syllable coda.…”

Section: Formalization Of the Asymetry Of The Lateral In Syllable Onsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Constraints of sonority distance were based on Gouskova's (2004) relational alignment mechanism which tries to establish a relation of sonority distance between the coda and the onset of the next syllable or between complex onsets and codas, with a sonority scale. In this study, however, the aim is to depict the most harmonic distances between the onset and the nucleus, as well as between the nucleus and the coda.…”

Section: The Formalization Of the Constraintsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the data refer to a border region between Portuguese and Spanish, it may be stated that the nucleus will always be vocalic (ALARCOS LLORACH, 1994;HARRIS, 1983;BISOL, 2005;CÂMARA JÚNIOR, 1975), getting 7 in the scale. As a result, the relation of distance between the onset and the nucleus and between the nucleus and the coda of the syllable under study was established as follows: Since this study deals with sonority distances among the nucleus and the syllable onset and coda positions, this constraint was chosen to be represented as "Dist ONC 6 ", unlike the constraints Dist found in Gouskova (2004). Likewise the treatment given to point constraints (*lateral{ dorsal, labial, coronal}), constraints DIST ONC also carry a stringency relation; in the analysis, less marked structures emerge first.…”

Section: The Formalization Of the Constraintsmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

A Formalização Da Assimetria Da Lateral Em Onset E Em Coda De Sílaba No Português Dos Campos Neutrais Pela Ot Estocástica

Neuschrank

Matzenauer

Luzardo

et al. 2015

Alfa, rev. linguíst. (São José Rio Preto)

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O foco de análise do presente estudo é a assimetria que a líquida lateral apresenta nas posições de onset e de coda de sílaba, uma vez que mostra estabilidade fonética no onset e variação na posição de coda. Como o funcionamento da lateral pré e pós-vocálica apresenta diferenças no português e no espanhol, este estudo elegeu, como objeto de análise, o português dos Campos Neutrais, na fronteira Brasil-Uruguai, por seu contato com o espanhol. A base empírica é o português dos Campos Neutrais, emprestada de Espiga (2001), já que, segundo o autor, nessa região a lateral em posição de onset se manifesta como alveolar, enquanto pode assumir cinco formas fonéticas na posição de coda: alveolar, velarizada, labializada, vocalizada e zero fonético. A explicitação e a formalização da assimetria da líquida lateral são propostas com base na Teoria da Otimidade Estocástica, por meio de restrições. Com base no mecanismo de alinhamento relacional, o presente estudo propõe restrições de distância de sonoridade inspiradas em Gouskova (2004), dela diferenciando-se por ter a particularidade de considerar a relação entre o onset e o núcleo e entre o núcleo e a coda de sílaba.

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Relational hierarchies in Optimality Theory: the case of syllable contact

Cited by 73 publications

References 39 publications

Perceptually Based Constraints and Metathesis: Evidence from Artificial Grammar

Perceptually Based Constraints and Metathesis: Evidence from Artificial Grammar

Toward a generative theory of language transfer: Experiment and modeling of sC prothesis in L2 Spanish

A Formalização Da Assimetria Da Lateral Em Onset E Em Coda De Sílaba No Português Dos Campos Neutrais Pela Ot Estocástica

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