Phonological analysis in Optimality Theory

64 tapering off at the end. Sequences claimed to be vowels with onglides have a short transition into the vowel, with intensity rising through the onglide to reach a peak in the following vowel.

4.4 Phonological analysis in Optimality Theory

This section presents a phonological analysis of syllabification of vocoid sequences within Optimality Theory. In Optimality Theory Prince and Smolensky 1993, underlying forms are evaluated by a ranked set of constraints in order to achieve an optimal surface form. In order to find the necessary constraints, the phonological processes are stated below in OTL friendly descriptive generalizations McCarthy 2008, with an eye toward the ultimate constraints. 38 Syllables must have onsets e.g. ka karai [kakarai̯] ‘chase’, iok [jok] ‘shore’, except those beginning with the second vowel in a nonLLH sequence e.g. kiak [ki.ak] ‘blood’. This requirement is enforced by requiring that vocoids in initial position are nonsyllabic. 39 Vocoid sequences are always disyllabic e.g. ki deok [kide.ok] ‘pinched’ except when the sequence is LH e.g. ʔamahai [ʔãmãh.ãF ̯̃] ‘bed’. In this case the second vocoid is nonsyllabic. 40 The first vocoid in a sequence following a nonLinitial glottal consonant ʔ or h must be in the syllable onset e.g. kõʔĩã [kõʔ.jã] ‘tree sp.’ except when the sequence is LH e.g. bohoi [boh.oi ̯] ‘rope’. This requirement is enforced by a requirement that the first vocoid be nonsyllabic. The first descriptive generalization suggests a constraint against initial vowels. The constraint Onset, a very commonly invoked constraint in OT, is repeated here from Prince and Smolensky 1993. 41 Onset: syllables must have onsets. 65 The exception clause in 38 suggests a constraint against certain kinds of diphthongs. All but LH sequences are disyllabic. Rosenthall 1994 proposes a constraint SonFall, which disallows rising sonority in a diphthong. 42 SonFall: sonority may not rise in a diphthong. This constraint presupposes ranking of vocoids in a sonority hierarchy, where low vocoids are the most sonorous, followed by mid vocoids and then high vocoids see Parker 2002. SonFall thus disallows a higher vocoid from preceding a lower vocoid in a diphthong. Along with this, generalization 39 suggests a markedness constraint requiring vocoids to occupy syllable nuclei. This constraint is violated in LH sequences. 43 Vmora: [Lcons] segments must be moraic in the output. Table 15 and Table 16 show the crucial ranking SonFall » Onset » Vmora for HL and LH sequences. Each asterisk marks one violation of a constraint. The exclamation point marks where a candidate loses against another more optimal candidate. Table 15. ʔa piah [ʔa.pi.ah] ‘graze’ ʔaLpiah SonFall Onset Vmora →ʔa.pi.ah ʔa.pi ̯ah Table 16. ka karai [ka.ka.rai ̯] ‘chase’ kakarai SonFall Onset Vmora →ka.ka.rai ̯ ka.ka.ra.i Since SonFall disallows rising sonority in a diphthong, a SH diphthong would not violate the constraint. This predicts incorrect syllabification of SH sequences, as shown in Table 17. 66 Table 17. ki deok [ki.deo̯k] ‘pinched’, incorrect prediction kiLdeok SonFall Onset Vmora × ki.deo̯k ki.de.ok To correctly predict Enggano SH sequences, SonFall has to be revised to require rising sonority rather than disallowing falling sonority. 44 SonFall revised: sonority must fall in a diphthong. The revised version of SonFall requires the more sonorous vocoid to be first in a diphthong.With the revised version of SonFall, SH sequences are correctly predicted to syllabify as separate syllable peaks, grouping with the HL sequences rather than the LH sequences. This is shown in Table 18. Table 18. ki deok [ki.de.ok] ‘pinched’, correct prediction kiLdeok SonFall Onset Vmora →ki.de.ok ki.deo̯k The third descriptive generalization in 40 above suggests that glottal consonants syllabify as the coda of the previous syllable, causing the following vocoid in nonLLH sequences to be nonsyllabic to satisfy Onset. This constraint is formulated in 45. 45 [ σ ʔ,h: glottal consonants cannot be in syllable onsets. This constraint crucially dominates Vmora, as seen in the LH sequence in Table 19. Table 19. karaʔai [ka.raʔ.ai ̯] ‘type of tree’ karaʔai [ σ ʔ,h SonFall Onset Vmora →ka.raʔ.ai ̯ ka.raʔ.a.i ka.ra.ʔa.i Table 20 shows a HL sequence and the correctly predicted output form. [ σ ʔ,h, SonFall and Onset all crucially dominate Vmora. 67 Table 20. kõʔĩã [kõʔ.jã] ‘tree sp.’ kõʔĩã [ σ ʔ,h SonFall Onset Vmora →kõʔ.jã kõʔ.ĩ.ã kõʔ.ĩã kõ.ʔĩ.ã Table 21 shows a SH sequence, whose syllabification is the same as that of the HL sequence. Table 21. koʔoeʔ [koʔ.o̯eʔ] ‘devil’ koʔoeʔ [ σ ʔ,h SonFall Onset Vmora →koʔ.o̯eʔ koʔ.o.eʔ koʔ.oe̯ʔ ko.ʔo.eʔ Returning now to vocoid sequences following nonLglottal consonants, the current constraint hierarchy predicts that the first vocoid in a HL or SH sequence is nonsyllabic. This incorrect prediction is shown in Table 22. Table 22. ki deok [kid.e̯ok] ‘pinched’, incorrect prediction kiLdeok [ σ ʔ,h SonFall Onset Vmora × kid.e̯ok ki.de.ok The incorrectly predicted form has more codas than the correct form. The markedness constraint NoCoda Prince and Smolensky 1993 appeals to the universal dispreference for syllable codas. 46 NoCoda: syllable codas prohibited. NoCoda is crucially ranked above Onset to predict the correct form, as shown in Table 23. 68 Table 23. ki deok [ki.de.ok] ‘pinched’, correct prediction kiLdeok [ σ ʔ,h SonFall NoCoda Onset Vmora →ki.de.ok kid.e̯ok Glottal consonants syllabify as codas in spite of the constraint NoCoda, so [ σ ʔ,h crucialy dominates NoCoda. The complete constraint ranking is [ σ ʔ,h, SonFall » NoCoda » Onset » Vmora. This ranking correctly predicts all attested syllabification patterns of vocoid sequences. Table 24 summarizes the constraint ranking as it applies to the various vocoid sequences. 69 Table 24. Summary of OT constraint ranking [ σ ʔ,h SonFall NoCoda Onset Vmora ʔaLpiah →ʔa.pi.ah ʔa.pi ̯ah ʔap.jah kaLkarai →ka.ka.rai ̯ ka.ka.ra.i ka.kar.ai ̯ kiLdeok →ki.de.ok ki.deo̯k kid.e̯ok karaʔai →ka.raʔ.ai ̯ ka.raʔ.a.i ka.ra.ʔa.i ka.ra.ʔai ̯ kõʔĩã →kõʔ.jã kõʔ.ĩ.ã kõʔ.ĩã kõ.ʔĩ.ã koʔoeʔ →koʔ.o̯eʔ koʔ.o.eʔ koʔ.oe̯ʔ ko.ʔo.eʔ iɘb →jɘb iɘb i.ɘb Using constraints already proposed in the literature on OT with some modifications, this analysis correctly predicts syllabification of Enggano vocoid sequences. 70

CHAPTER 5 VOWEL QUALITY