Strength and Weakness at the Interface: Positional Neutralization in Phonetics and Phonology

302 Pages·2006·5.01 MB·English

by  Jonathan Barnes

Strength and Weakness at the Interface
≥
Phonology and Phonetics
10
Editor
Aditi Lahiri
Mouton de Gruyter
Berlin · New York
Strength and Weakness
at the Interface
Positional Neutralization
in Phonetics and Phonology
by
Jonathan Barnes
Mouton de Gruyter
Berlin · New York
MoutondeGruyter(formerlyMouton,TheHague)
isaDivisionofWalterdeGruyterGmbH&Co.KG,Berlin.
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LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData
Barnes,Jonathan,1970(cid:2)
Strengthandweaknessattheinterface:positionalneutralizationin
phoneticsandphonology/byJonathanBarnes.
p.cm.(cid:2)(Phonologyandphonetics;10)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
ISBN-13:978-3-11-018521-8(cloth:alk.paper)
ISBN-10:3-11-018521-0(cloth:alk.paper)
1.Grammar,Comparativeandgeneral(cid:2)Phonology. 2.Neutrali-
zation (Linguistics) 3.Phonetics. I.Title. II.Series.
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Acknowledgments
This book grew out of my 2002 UC Berkeley doctoral dissertation on the
subject of positional neutralization and phonological typology. This being
the case, all those thanked in that prior work may hereby consider
themselves thanked again (even, perhaps especially, the cats). To that
earlier foundation have been added new data, new discussion, even some
new experimental results. Gone, I hope, are most of the errors, oversights,
and imperspicuities. Since then a great many people have helped me move
this work forward. First among them is Sharon Inkelas, my one-time
advisor and current colleague, whose advice, help, and encouragement was
indispensible in making all this happen. The debt of gratitude I owe to her
is vast. Alan Yu was a great help to me with his Mandarin language skills
back when I was trying to figure out whether Seediq vowel reduction really
works that way. It does, but I callously forgot to thank him in my
dissertation. Sorry Alan, and thanks. Here on the east coast, Donca Steriade
and Edward Flemming have been a wonderful source of inspiration at all
times, and good neighbors too. The beauty of their work in phonetics-
phonology is a large part of what keeps me interested in these issues.
Others who have provided valuable discussion, advice, and encourage-
ment in one way or another over the last few years include Juliette Blevins,
Alejna Brugos, Andrew Garrett, Larry Hyman, John Kingston, Dasha
Kavitskaya, Shigeto Kawahara, Michael Kenstowicz, Aditi Lahiri, Teresa
McFarland, David Mortensen, Orhan Orgun, Jaye Padgett, Janet
Pierrehumbert, Anne Pycha, Stefanie Shattuck-Hufnagel, Jen Smith, Colin
Wilson, and Cheryl Zoll. Audiences at the UMass Amherst and MIT
phonology circles, the MIT Speech Group, and the LSA annual meeting in
Boston all heard bits and pieces of this work and provided helpful feed-
back. The various instructors and students at the 2005 LSA Summer
Institute in Cambridge provided an endlessly stimulating setting for the
final days of this book’s preparation. I am grateful too to all my students
and my colleagues at Boston University for the questions, challenges,
support, and advice they bring to me in the day-to-day, and generally just
for making this a great place to be a linguist. Carol Neidle and Paul
Hagstrom are owed particularly profuse thanks for their roles in the
preparation of this volume. The editorial staff at Mouton made everything
much easier than it might otherwise have been. Anke Beck and Wolfgang
Konwitschny were especially helpful on the production end, while Aditi
Lahiri provided critical structural guidance. Here in Massachusetts, Julia
Munemo was a wonderful copy editor with a keen eye for my punctuation-
vi Acknowledgments
related foibles. Finally, my family was as patient and supportive through
the run-up to this book as they were during my years as a graduate student.
Thanks Mom, Dad, Alison, and Grandma Carla. This work is dedicated to
my beloved wife Jen.
Contents
Acknowledgments....................................................................................... v
Chapter 1. Introduction............................................................................ 1
1.1. Phonetics and phonology in recent approaches to positional
neutralization.................................................................................. 3
1.1.1. Pure Prominence............................................................................ 3
1.1.1.1. Phonetic arbitrariness in Pure Prominence models....................... 5
1.1.2. Phonetically-driven Phonology..................................................... 6
1.1.3. Integrated Phonetics and Phonology............................................. 7
1.1.4. Neo-Grounded Phonology............................................................. 8
1.2. Goals............................................................................................... 8
1.3. Phonetics and phonology in the Phonologization Approach........ 9
1.4. Categories, neutralization and the phonologization process........ 11
1.5. Organization................................................................................... 16
Chapter 2. Stressed syllables and unstressed vowel reduction............ 19
2.1. Unstressed vowel reduction: patterns of neutralization................ 20
2.1.1. Vowel height contrasts................................................................... 20
2.1.2. Nasalization.................................................................................... 27
2.1.3. Quantity.......................................................................................... 28
2.2. The phonetics of vowel reduction................................................. 29
2.3. Case studies.................................................................................... 32
2.3.1. The phonologization of phonetic vowel reduction: Bulgarian..... 32
2.3.2. Categorical vowel reduction: Belarusian...................................... 36
2.3.3. A mixed system: Brazilian Portuguese......................................... 37
2.4. UG-based approaches to UVR typology....................................... 39
2.5. Vowel reduction in Russian........................................................... 47
2.5.1. Facts................................................................................................ 48
2.5.2. Experimental investigation of Russian UVR................................ 52
2.5.2.1. Subjects.......................................................................................... 52
2.5.2.2. Materials......................................................................................... 52
2.5.2.3. Methods.......................................................................................... 53
2.5.2.4. Results............................................................................................ 55
2.5.2.5. Discussion...................................................................................... 63
viii Table of Contents
2.6. Phonetic determinism in UVR systems......................................... 67
2.6.1. Vowel reduction in Seediq............................................................. 68
2.7. Summary........................................................................................ 71
Chapter 3. Final syllables......................................................................... 73
3.1. Final syllable prominence.............................................................. 74
3.1.1. Phonetic prominence...................................................................... 74
3.1.2. Psycholinguistic prominence......................................................... 77
3.2. Phonological strength effects in final position.............................. 78
3.2.1. Tone in final position..................................................................... 78
3.2.2. Vocalic strength effects in final position...................................... 79
3.2.2.1. Hausa.............................................................................................. 79
3.2.2.2. Pasiego Spanish.............................................................................. 82
3.2.3. Final syllable resistance to assimilation and reduction................. 86
3.2.3.1. The phonetic roots of final resistance........................................... 93
3.2.3.2. Syllable structure effects on final resistance................................. 97
3.2.3.3. Final strength and psycholinguistic prominence........................... 98
3.3. Why final strength is different from stressed syllable strength.... 100
3.4. Categorical and gradient effects in final strength systems........... 103
3.5. On assumptions concerning licensing capacity and phonetic
prominence..................................................................................... 108
3.6. Final Weakening............................................................................ 114
3.6.1. Devoicing....................................................................................... 115
3.6.2. Glottalization.................................................................................. 125
3.6.3. Mixed systems................................................................................ 132
3.6.4. Nasalization.................................................................................... 134
3.6.5. Final vowel reduction and loss of contrasts.................................. 141
3.6.5.1. Lowering........................................................................................ 141
3.6.5.2. Final reduction............................................................................... 143
3.6.5.3. The phonetics of final syllable reduction...................................... 146
3.7. Vowel quantity in final syllables................................................... 151
3.7.1. Neutralization of quantity contrasts in final position.................... 151
3.7.2. Final short vowel avoidance.......................................................... 157
3.8. Summary........................................................................................ 158
Chapter 4. Initial syllables........................................................................ 161
4.1. Recent work on initial syllable phonology.................................... 162
4.1.1. Functional motivations for PN in stressed and initial syllables... 163
Table of Contents ix
4.1.2. Agenda for this chapter.................................................................. 165
4.2. Licensing asymmetries in initial position..................................... 165
4.3. The phonetics of initial position.................................................... 168
4.4. Initial-syllable strength effects...................................................... 173
4.4.1. Initial syllables in languages with fixed initial stress................... 174
4.4.2. Other sources of duration in initial syllables................................ 177
4.5. Vowel harmony and initial syllables............................................. 179
4.5.1. Initial syllables in English............................................................. 179
4.5.1.1. Subjects.......................................................................................... 180
4.5.1.2. Materials......................................................................................... 180
4.5.1.3. Methods.......................................................................................... 181
4.5.1.4. Results............................................................................................ 182
4.5.2. Initial syllables in Turkish............................................................. 184
4.5.2.1. Subjects.......................................................................................... 186
4.5.2.2. Materials......................................................................................... 186
4.5.2.3. Methods.......................................................................................... 187
4.5.2.4. Results............................................................................................ 188
4.5.3. Initial strengthening and Turkic Palatal Harmony........................ 193
4.5.3.1. Does vowel harmony come from vowel reduction?..................... 193
4.5.4. Bantu............................................................................................... 200
4.6. Summary........................................................................................ 203
Chapter 5. Conclusions............................................................................. 206
5.1. Phonologization and Universal Grammar in typology................. 206
5.2. On the integration of phonetics and phonology............................ 209
5.3. Does “anything go” in phonology?............................................... 220
5.4. Further challenges: incomplete neutralization.............................. 223
Notes............................................................................................................ 239
References.................................................................................................... 256
Index............................................................................................................. 285