Coordinated and local optionality in Serial Noisy Harmonic Grammar

Natural Language & Linguistic Theory · 2024-10-22

What Constitutes Privileged Positions in Vowel Harmony?

Oxford University Press eBooks · 2024-10-22

Abstract Vowel harmony systems often grant special status to vowels in particular positions. Such vowels may trigger harmony, resist harmony, or become the endpoint for harmony. This chapter investigates the positions that are eligible for privilege of this sort, what kinds of privilege each position exhibits, and possible sources of that privilege. Privilege may be either phonologically grounded or morphologically grounded: stressed syllables, initial syllables, final syllables, roots, and stems are the primary positions that exhibit privilege cross-linguistically. Some of these positions exhibit the full range of privileged behavior cross-linguistically, while for other positions only a subset of possible privileged effects is attested. Formal accounts of privilege are examined, focusing primarily on the Optimality Theory (OT)-based constraint families of positional licensing and positional faithfulness.

Zero-Weighted Constraints In Noisy Harmonic Grammar

Linguistic Inquiry · 2023-01-23 · 1 citations

In Noisy Harmonic Grammar (Boersma and Pater 2016), a stochastic version of Optimality Theory (Prince and Smolensky 1993), the constraints are weighted and the outcomes are probability distributions over GEN, computed by adding a noise factor to the constraint weights at each evaluation. Intuitively, one might expect that constraints bearing zero weights would have zero empirical effect, but this turns out not to be so. First, we show that a constraint with zero weight in NHG continues to affect the probability of candidates that violate it; the effect is either upward or downward, depending on other factors. Second, under certain arrangements intended to maintain the principle of harmonic bounding, zero-weighted constraints can force zero probability for candidates that violate them. We suggest what sort of cases linguists should seek in order to test the truth of these predictions, and also point out alternatives we might appeal to if these predictions emerge as false.

Lexical Selection in Bolognese Clitic Allomorphy

Isogloss Open Journal of Romance Linguistics · 2022 · 1 citations

• Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Linguistics

This paper presents an analysis of the Bolognese 3ms.nom clitic, which deviates from the expected alternations found in other Romance languages. It appears as [al] preconsonantally and [l] prevocalically, but it surprisingly has an apparent third allomorph, [a], which occurs only (and sometimes optionally) when preceding dat, acc, or neg clitics. For example, [a=t=ˈdiːz] ‘he says to you.s’ seems to show a sequence of 3ms.nom [a] and 2s.dat [t]; the expected preconsonantal [al] is replaced by [a]. We argue that constructions of this sort involve not a string of clitics but instead a “duplex” clitic [at] that combines 3ms.nom with 2s.dat. This approach explains why the apparent [a] surfaces only before certain clitics: it is actually the first half of a larger clitic that is available only in the presence the appropriate feature combinations (such as 3ms.nom and 2s.dat). We formalize this proposal in Optimality Theory using the framework of Lexical Selection. This analysis accounts for the puzzling behavior of the 3ms.nom clitic and necessitates refinements to the Lexical Selection formalism.

Categorical and gradient ungrammaticality in optional processes: Supplementary material

Language · 2021-01-01

Categorical and Gradient Ungrammaticality in Optional Processes

Language · 2021 · 84 citations

• Computer Science
• Linguistics
• Computer Science

Current theories of optionality often take a gradient view of grammaticality: unattested variants are not categorically excluded but rather highly improbable. Vowel harmony in Eastern Andalusian challenges this view. Unstressed vowels optionally harmonize in a coordinated fashion. For example, if one posttonic vowel harmonizes, they all must. Different implementations of NOISY HARMONIC GRAMMAR are tested for their ability to account for this pattern. Only the implementation that categorically excludes forms with uncoordinated harmony succeeds; other implementations, which can only make such forms unlikely outputs, provide inferior models. This contrast indicates that there remains a need for a categorical approach to (un)grammaticality alongside a gradient approach.

Persistence and Opacity in Eastern Andalusian Harmony

Proceedings of the Annual Meetings on Phonology · 2021

• Computer Science
• Linguistics
• Computer Science

This paper proposes a novel account of a derivationally opaque aspect of ATR harmony in Eastern Andalusian. Harmony in the language is driven by Positional Licensing: [-ATR] originating on final vowels must spread to the stressed vowel. Intervening post-tonic vowels optionally also harmonize, as do pretonic vowels. Typically in licensing-driven systems, if harmony is unable to reach the licensor, harmony does not affect non-licensing positions either. Not so in Eastern Andalusian: high vowels do not harmonize, but a stressed high vowel does not prevent unstressed vowels from harmonizing as normal – harmony can overapply on these vowels. The analysis, couched in serial Harmonic Grammar, develops a new mechanism called persistence that accounts for this opacity. Under persistence, once a feature satisfies Positional Licensing by spreading to the licensing position, Positional Licensing remains satisfied for the rest of the derivation, even if the feature vacates the licensing position. This allows a stressed high vowel to harmonize, thereby permitting unstressed vowels to harmonize, too, and then harmony can retract off the high vowel without running afoul of Positional Licensing.

Overshoot in licensing-driven harmony

Phonology · 2019-11-01

Kaplan (2018a) argues for a positive and gradient version of positional licensing in Harmonic Grammar. A chief difference between this formalism and standard positional licensing is that it predicts that harmony whose goal is to place a feature in a licensing position may overshoot its target by extending beyond the licensing position. Centralisation harmony in Tudanca Montañés bears out this prediction: though harmony triggered by a final vowel typically stops at the stressed syllable, under particular circumstances it extends into the pretonic domain. Positive gradient positional licensing is indispensable in an account of this. It plays a central role in a gang effect that drives overshoot, an interaction that cannot be replicated with standard versions of positional licensing.

Positional licensing, asymmetric trade-offs and gradient constraints in Harmonic Grammar

Phonology · 2018-05-01 · 7 citations

In Harmonic Grammar, positional licensing interacts with faithfulness constraints in pathological ways: spreading a feature to a licensing position to satisfy positional licensing can incur many faithfulness violations, and if there are sufficiently many such violations, they gang up to block spreading. This problem is solved if positional licensing is recast as a positive constraint that rewards licensed features in proportion to the number of positions they are associated with, thereby countering faithfulness's multiple violations. This proposal provides support for positive constraints, calls into question arguments against gradient constraints and lays the groundwork for a sound theory of positional licensing in Harmonic Grammar.

Positional faithfulness in Harmonic Grammar

Journal of Linguistics · 2018-02-26 · 104 citations

In Tamil, coronals are licensed in onsets and initial syllables, exemplifying what Jesney (2011b) calls Licensing in Multiple Contexts (LMC). Jesney shows that while only positional faithfulness produces LMC in Optimality Theory, positional licensing provides a competing analysis of LMC in Harmonic Grammar (HG). This suggests that positional faithfulness may not be necessary in HG. We argue, though, that positional faithfulness remains essential. First, other facts in Tamil are incompatible with the positional licensing approach to LMC, rendering the positional faithfulness alternative the only viable analysis. Second, only with positional faithfulness can certain typological generalizations concerning assimilation between consonants be captured.