Foundations of Contrastive Hierarchy Theory

transcript

B. Elan Dresher

Introduction

Monday 26 October 2020

Introduc)on

Part I: Historical Antecedents

Part II:A Theory of Contrast

Conclusion

InthistalkIwillpresentabriefintroductiontoatheoryofcontrastivefeaturehierarchiesinphonology.

Istartfromtheassumptionthatphonologyisaboutcontrast;withoutcontrast,thereisnophonology,onlyphoneticsorthephysicsofspeech(Dresher&vanderHulsttoappear).

Introduction

Thequestion,whichContrastiveHierarchyTheoryaddresses,ishowcontrastshouldbeincorporatedintophonologicaltheory.

ContrastiveHierarchyTheoryisbuiltonessentiallytwoideas:

TheEirstideaisthatphonologicalprimes(inmycase,binaryfeatures)arecomputedhierarchically,withthechoiceandorderingoftheprimesbeinglanguageparticular.

Thesecondhypothesisisthatonly contrastiveprimesarecomputedbythephonology;non-contrastivefeaturescanbeadded,forexamplebyenhancement,inapost-phonologicalcomponent.

Introduc*on

IwillshowhowthetheoryhasbeenappliedtovowelreductioninBrazilianPortugueseandtheacquisitionofitsvowelsystem.

IwillthenshowhowtheWestGermanicvowelsystemprovidesachallengingempiricaltestofthetheory(spoileralert:thetheorywillpassthetest!).

Beforegettingtothat,inthefirstpartofthetalkIwillshowthatthecentralideasofContrastiveHierarchyTheory,inoneformoranother,havebeenhidinginplainsightatthecentreofthehistoryofphonology.

Introduction

IwillbeginwithHenrySweet,atthedawnofmodernphonology.

Mostdirectly,thetheoryadaptsproposalsbyRomanJakobsonandN.S.TrubetzkoytothegenerativeframeworkofNoamChomskyandMorrisHalle.

Introduc)on

Conclusion

Thestructureandprogressofthistalkisindicatedinthepanel:

youarehere

1. Sweet 1877

Contrastive Properties and

‘Broad Romic’ Transcription

Introduc8on

Part I

1. Sweet2. Trubetzkoy

3. Jakobson

4. Halle

5. Chomsky & Halle

Part II

Conclusions

Contrast and Broad Transcription

AccordingtoDanielJones(1967:256),HenrySweet(1845–1912)wastheEirsttodistinguishadetailedphonetictranscription(whathecalled‘NarrowRomic’)fromaphonemictranscriptionsuitabletoanindividuallanguage(‘BroadRomic’).

Forexample,thevowelsintheEnglishwordsbait andbet differinthreeways:thevowelinbait islongerandtenserthaninbet,andisadiphthong,whereasthevowelinbet isamonophthong.

IPA[eːj][ɛ]

Anaccuratephonetictranscriptionwouldindicateallthesedistinctions;inthecurrentnotationoftheInternationalPhoneticAlphabet(IPA),theyaretranscribedasshown.

baitbet

long, tense, +jshort, lax, +Ø

Differences

Thesethreedifferences,however,arenotindependent:recombiningthevariouspropertiestocreatenewvowelsasshownwouldnotresultinanewworddistinctfrombothbait andbet,butwouldbeheardassome(perhapsodd-sounding)variantofoneofthesewords.

baitbet

IPA[eːj][ɛ]

Sweet(1877:104)writes:“wemaylaydownasageneralrulethatonlythosedistinctionsofsoundsrequiretobesymbolizedinanyonelanguagewhichareindependentlysigniEicant.”

Contrast and Broad Transcrip*on

Differences Non-contrastingvowels

[eː], [ej], [e], [ɛː], [ɛj], [ɛːj]

Further,“iftwocriteriaofsigniEicanceareinseparablyassociated,suchasquantityandnarrownessorwideness[i.e.,tensenessorlaxness/BED],weonlyneedindicateoneofthem.”Sweetproposes(1877:109–110)thatinbroadtranscription[eːj]shouldbetranscribed‘ei’(or,equivalently,‘ej’)and[ɛ]as‘e’.

Broadei or eje

Thus,ofthethreedifferencesinthevowels,hechoosesthepresenceofanoff-glidej assignificant,ignoringbothquantity(length)andnarrownessorwideness(tensenessorlaxness).

baitbet

IPA[eːj][ɛ]

Differences

Inthiscasehegivestherationaleforhischoice.Heobserves(p.110):“Thenarrownessofall[English]vowelsisuncertain”,especially/ij/and/ej/.

Thatis,vowelscanvaryinthedegreetowhichtheyaretenseorlaxwithoutessentiallychangingtheidentityofthevowel,aslongasotherpropertiesdonotchange.

Broadei or eje

Narrownessnotcontrastive[e:j] or [ɛ:j][ɛ] or [e]

baitbet

IPA[eːj][ɛ]

Differences

Similarly,heEinds(p.18)that“originallyshortvowelscanbelengthenedandyetkeptquitedistinctfromtheoriginallongs.”

Thatis,[bɛt](bet)canbelengthenedto[bɛːt]withoutpassingintobait,and[beːjt](bait)canbeshortenedto[bejt]withoutbeingperceivedasbet.

Lengthnotcontrastive[e:j] or [ej][ɛ] or [ɛ:]

Broadei or eje

baitbet

IPA[eːj][ɛ]

Differences

Whiletensenessandlengthcanbealteredwithoutchangingonevowelphonemeintoanotherone,presumablythesameisnotthecaseforthethirddistinguishingproperty.

Addingaglidetothevowelinbet,orremovingitfrombait,couldcausetheresultingvoweltobeperceivedashavingchangedcategory.

Glideiscontrastive[e:j] not [eː][ɛ] not [ɛj]

Broadei or eje

baitbet

IPA[eːj][ɛ]

Differences

WecanconcludefromhisdiscussionthatSweet’sanalysispositsthatthecontrastivepropertiesofboththevowelsinbait andbet aremidandfront,withnocontrastivespecificationfortensenessorquantity.

Thedifferenceinthetwowordsresidesintheadditionofasecondsegmenttothevowelinbait.

baitbet

IPA[eːj][ɛ]

Differences

Contrastivepropertiesmid, front, off-glide jmid, front

Broadei or eje

Sweetdidnotproposeamethodforcomputingcontrastiveproperties,nordidheconsistentlyattempttoidentifywhatthecontrastivepropertiesareforeverysegment(Dresher2016).

Thefurtherdevelopmentoftheseideas,andtheirconnectionwithfeaturehierarchies,camesomeyearslaterintheworkofthePragueSchoollinguists,notablyN.S.Trubetzkoy(1890–1938)andRomanJakobson(1896–1982).

!onlycontrastivepropertiesneedbetranscribed,

!andthesepropertiescanbeidentiEiedbyobservinghowsoundsfunctioninalanguage.

However,wecanseeinhisworktheideasthat:

2. Trubetzkoy 1939

Phonemic Content and

Contrast as ‘Point of View’

Introduc)on

Part I

3. Jakobson

4. Halle

5. Chomsky & Halle

Part II

Conclusions

N.S.Trubetzkoy’sGrundzügederPhonologie (1939;Englishversion1969,newcriticalSpanishedition2019)isnotableforitsinsightsintothenatureofcontrast.

Trubetzkoy’s Grundzüge der Phonologie

AnimportantnotionofTrubetzkoy’sisphonemiccontent:“Byphonemiccontent weunderstandallphonologicallydistinctivepropertiesofaphoneme…”(Trubetzkoy1969:66).

Phonemic content

“EachphonemehasadeEinablephonemiccontentonlybecausethesystemofdistinctiveoppositionsshowsadeEiniteorderorstructure.”(1969:67–8)

“thecontentofaphonemedependsonwhatpositionthisphonemetakesinthegivenphonemicsystem …”(1969:67)

Phonemic content and structure of the system

“thesystemofdistinctiveoppositionsshowsade=initeorderorstructure…thecontentofaphonemedependsonwhatpositionthisphonemetakesinthe

givenphonemicsystem …”

Theseremarkssuggestthatthephonemiccontentofaphoneme,thatis,thesetofitscontrastiveproperties,oughttoderive fromitspositioninthesystemofdistinctiveoppositions.

Therefore,weneedawaytodetermineaphoneme’spositioninthesystemofoppositionsbefore wehavedetermineditsdistinctiveproperties.

Phonemic content and structure of the system

“thesystemofdistinctiveoppositionsshowsade=initeorderorstructure…thecontentofaphonemedependsonwhatpositionthisphonemetakesinthe

givenphonemicsystem …”

Trubetzkoydoesnotexplicitlyshowushowtodothis;however,awayofprovidinganorderorstructure tothesystemofcontrastsisviathehierarchicalbranchingtreesthatbecameprominentlaterintheworkofJakobson.

FeaturehierarchiesarealreadyimplicitinTrubetzkoy(1939);considerhisdiscussionoftheLatinvowelsystem.

Thatis,thelowvowel/a/ischaracterizedonlybyitsheight;inourterms,itisassignedonlythefeature[+low].

/i/ /u/

/o//e/

The vowel system of Latin

[+low]

[–low]

TrubetzkoyobservesthatinLatin,asinmanyEive-vowelsystems,thelowvoweldoesnotparticipateintonalitycontrasts;‘tonality’referstobacknessorliprounding,thatis,propertiesthataffectthesecondformant(F2).

Buthowcanweprevent/a/fromreceivingotherfeatures?

Wecanifweassigncontrastivefeaturesinanorder,inafeaturehierarchy.

Inordertoexclude/a/fromreceivingtonalityfeatures,itisnecessarytoorder[±low]atthetopofthefeaturehierarchy:thishastheeffectofseparating/a/fromtheothervowels.

Since/a/isalreadyuniquelydistinguished,itwillreceivenofurtherfeatures.

/a/[+low] [–low]

The vowel system of La*n

/i/ /u/

/o//e/

[+low]

[–low]

Latin Topofthehierarchy:[low]

Whattheothertwo(or,moreunusually,three)featuresaredependsontheevidencefromthelanguage.

Commonfive-vowelsystemsusethefeatures[±back]or[±round]and[±high].

/a/[+low] [–low]

Topofthehierarchy:[low]

The vowel system of Latin

[–high] [+high] [–high] [+high]

[–back/round] [+back/round]

/e/ /i/ /o/ /u/

Thenotionofafeaturehierarchyisonlyimplicit inTrubetzkoy’sdiscussionoftheLatinvowelsystem.

Invokingafeaturehierarchyisawaytomakesenseofhisanalysis.

InthecaseofPolabian,however,Trubetzkoyexplicitly referstoahierarchy.

Polabian: “A certain hierarchy”

Heobserves(1969:102–3;2019:156)that“acertainhierarchyexisted”inthevowelsystemofPolabian,wherebythecontrastbetweenfrontandbackvowelsishigherthanthecontrastbetweenroundedandunroundedvowels.

Anotherimportantinsightiscontainedina1936articleaddressedtopsychologistsandphilosophers(Trubetzkoy2001[1936]:20):

Contrast depends on point of view

Whatdoesthismean?TosaythatthecorrectclassiEicationdependsonone’spointofviewmeansthatphonologicalcontrastscanvary fromlanguagetolanguage,andcannotbedeterminedsimplybyinspectinganinventory.

ThecorrectclassiEicationofanopposition“dependsonone’spointofview”;but“itisneithersubjectivenorarbitrary,for

thepointofviewisimpliedbythesystem.”

WehaveseenthatinLatinthelowvowel/a/issetapartfromtheothervowels,inTrubetzkoy’sanalysis.

‘Point of view’ means contrast is variable

Butthisisnottheonlywaytodrawthecontrastsinafive-vowelsystem.

/i/ /u/

/o//e/

[+low]

[–low]

Itispossible,forexample,togroupthelowvowel/a/withtheother[–round]vowels.Troubetzkoy proposesthatArchi(EastCaucasian,inCentralDaghestan)hasavowelsystemthatisdividedinthismanner.

[+round][–round]

Hesaysthisbecauseofthewaythesoundsbehave.

/i/ /u/

/o//e/

Trubetzkoyobservesthataconsonantalroundingcontrastisneutralizedbeforeandaftertheroundedvowels/u/and/o/,contrastingthesevowelswithunrounded/i/,/e/,and/a/.

[+round][–round]Archi

/i/ /u/

/o//e/

“Thismeansthatallvowelsaredividedintoroundedandunroundedvowels,whilethebackorfrontpositionofthetongueprovesirrelevant…”(Trubetzkoy1969:100–1).

Thisanalysiscorrespondstoordering[±round]Eirst,dividingthevowelsintotwogroups:/i,e,a/and/u,o/.

[+round][–round]Archi

/i/ /u/

/o//e/

Furtherdistinctionswithinthesegroupsaremadebyotherfeatures;thetreebelowshowsonepossiblefeaturehierarchy.

[round]>[high]>[low]

[+high] [–high]/i/

[+high] [–high]/u/ /o/

[–low] [+low]/e/ /a/

[–round] [+round]

Japanese

InJapanese,Trubetzkoyarguesthatneutralizationoftheoppositionbetweenpalatalizedandnon-palatalizedconsonantsbefore/i/ and /e/ showsthatthesevowelsareputintooppositionwiththeothervowels/a,o,u/.

[+front] [–front]

Five-vowel systems: Japanese

Thegoverningoppositionisthatbetweenfrontandbackvowels,“liproundingbeingirrelevant”(Trubetzkoy1969:101).

/o//e/

/i/ /u/

Japanese[+front] [–front]

Five-vowel systems: Japanese

/o//e/

/i/ /u/

Thisanalysiscorrespondstoordering[front]Eirst.TherestofthetreeisadaptedfromHirayama(2003).ThesefeaturetreesareimplicitinTrubetzkoy,buttheybecomeexplicitintheworkofRomanJakobsonandhiscollaborators.

[front]>[open]>[low]

[+front] [–front]

[+open] [–open]/e/ /i/

[+open] [–open]/u/

[+low] [–low]/a/ /o/

3. Jakobson 1941

The Acquisition of

Phonological Contrasts

Introduction

Part I

3. Jakobson

4. Halle

5. Chomsky & Halle

Part II

Conclusions

Jakobson’sKindersprache (1941;Englishtrans.1968,Spanish1974),advancesthenotionthatcontrasts arecrucialinphonologicalacquisitionandthattheydevelopinahierarchicalorder.

Jakobson’s Kindersprache

Inparticular,heproposesthatlearnersbeginwithbroadcontraststhataresplitbystagesintoprogressivelyEinerones. 34

TheacquisitionofvowelsystemssetoutinJakobson(1941)andJakobson&Halle(1956)followsthisschema.

Acquisition sequences (vowels)

Atthefirststage,thereisonlyasinglevowel.Astherearenocontrasts,wecansimplydesignateit/V/.

Jakobson&Hallewritethatthislonevowelisthemaximallyopenvowel[a],the‘optimalvowel’.

Acquisition sequences (vowels)

Butwedon’tneedtobethatspeciEic:wecanunderstandthistobeadefaultvalue,oratypicalbutnotobligatoryinstantiation.

Inthenextstageitisproposedthatthesinglevowelsplitsintoanarrow(high)vowel/I/,whichistypically[i],andawide(low)vowel,/A/,typically[a].

Acquisi*on sequences (vowels)

Iwillcontinuetounderstandthesevaluesasdefaults.

widenarrow

Inthenextstagethenarrowvowelsplitsintoapalatal(front)vowel/I/andavelar(backorround)vowel/U/,typically[u].

widenarrow

/A/palatal velar

/I/ /U/

AftertheEirsttwostages,Jakobson&Halleallowvariationintheorderofacquisitionofvowelcontrasts.

widenarrow

palatal velar

/I/ /U/

Thewidebranchcanbeexpandedtoparallelthenarrowone.

/æ/ /a/

palatal velar

Orthenarrowvowelscandeveloparoundingcontrastinoneorbothbranches.

widenarrow

palatal velar /a/

unrnd rnd

/i/ /y/

unrnd rnd

/ɨ/ /u/

Contras*ve features assigned hierarchically

Thisapproachhastwonotablecharacteristics:

Continuinginthisfashionwewillarriveatacompleteinventoryofthephonemesinalanguage,witheachphonemeassignedasetofcontrastivepropertiesthatdistinguishitfromeveryotherone.

!Onlycontrastivefeaturesareassignedtoeachphoneme.

!Contrastivefeaturesareassignedhierarchically,inawaythatcanberepresentedbyabranchingtree.

4. Halle 1959

An argument for specification

by branching trees

Introduc)on

Part I

3. Jakobson

4. Halle

5. Chomsky & Halle

Part II

Conclusions

An argument for branching trees

InTheSoundPatternofRussian (1959;SPR), Hallemakesanargumentonbehalfofbranchingtrees;thisisthefirstsuchargumentIhavefoundintheliterature.

Hearguesthatfeaturespecificationbyabranchingtreeistheonlywaytoensurethatsegmentsarekeptproperlydistinct.

Figure I-1 in The Sound Pattern of Russian, p. 46

(ThisishistreeforRussian.)

SpeciEically,Halleproposed(1959:32)thatphonemesmustmeettheDistinctnessCondition:

Segment-type/A/willbesaidtobedifferentfromsegment-type/B/,ifandonlyifatleastonefeaturewhichisphonemicinboth,hasadifferentvaluein/A/thanin/B/;i.e.,plusintheformerandminusinthelatter,orviceversa.

TheDistinctnessCondition

Thisformulationisdesignedtodisallowcontrastsinvolvingazerovalue ofafeature.

The Distinctness Condition

Considerthetypicalsub-inventory/p,b,m/shownbelow,andsupposewecharacterizeitintermsoftwobinaryfeatures,[±voiced]and[±nasal].

IntermsoffullspeciEications,/p/is[–voiced,–nasal],/b/is[+voiced,–nasal],and/m/is[+voiced,+nasal].

[voiced][nasal]

/b/+–

/p/––

Whichofthesefeaturesiscontrastive?Manypeoplereasonasfollows:

How do we establish contrasts?

Weobservethat/p/and/b/aredistinguishedonlyby[voiced];sothesespeciEicationsmust becontrastive.Similarly,/b/and/m/aredistinguishedonlyby[nasal];thesespeciEicationsmustalso becontrastive.Whatabouttheuncircled speciEications?Thesearepredictablefromthecircledones:

[voiced][nasal]

/b/+–

/p/––

Since/p/istheonly[–voiced]phonemeinthisinventory,itsspeciEicationfor[nasal]ispredictable,henceredundant.Wecanwritearuleorconstraint:Similarly,/m/istheonly[+nasal]phoneme,soitsspeciEicationfor[voiced]isredundant:Thisisastill-popularwayofthinkingaboutcontrastivespeciEications;wecancallitthe‘MinimalDifference’approach(e.g.Padgett2003,Calabrese2005,Campos-Astorkiza 2009,Nevins2010).

[voiced][nasal]

/b/+–

/p/––

++ If[–voiced],then[–nasal]

If[+nasal],then[+voiced]

AccordingtoMinimalDifference,afeatureisonlycontrastiveinasegmentifitistheonly featurethatdistinguishesthatsegmentfromanotherone.

[voiced][nasal]

/b/+–

/p/–

ButaccordingtotheDistinctnessCondition,/p/isnot ‘differentfrom’/m/:whereonehasafeature,theotherhasnone.

Therefore,thesespecificationsarenotproperlycontrastive.

TheyviolatetheDistinctnessConditionbecausenofeaturehierarchyyieldsthisresult.

Ifweorder[voiced]>[nasal],wegeneratean‘extra’speciEicationon/m/.

[voiced][nasal]

/b/+–

/p/–

[–voiced] [+voiced]/p/

[–nasal] [+nasal]/b/ /m/

The Distinctness Condition

[voiced][nasal]

/b/+–

–/m/

[–nasal] [+nasal]/m/

[–voiced] [+voiced]/p/ /b/–

Ifweorder[nasal]>[voiced],wegeneratean‘extra’specificationon/p/.

The Dis*nctness Condi*on

EitherofthespeciEicationsbelowisproperlycontrastive.

[voiced][nasal]

/b/+–

/p/–

[–voiced] [+voiced]/p/

[–nasal] [+nasal]/b/ /m/

Contrastive ≠ Unpredictable

/b/+–

/p/–

[–nasal] [+nasal]/m/

[–voiced] [+voiced]/p/ /b/

[voiced] > [nasal] [nasal] > [voiced]Notethatinahierarchicalapproach,acontrastivefeatureisnotnecessarilyunpredictable.

Therefore, according to SPR, to ensure that all the phonemes of a language aredistinct from one another, it is necessary that their feature speciEications must begenerable by a branching tree.

Contrast is hierarchical

IbelievethatHalle’sargumentiscorrect:asdemonstratedbyArchangeli (1988)andinmoredetailbyDresher(2009),theMinimalDifferenceapproachoftenfailstoyieldany intelligiblesetofspeciEications.Itisthewrongtheoryofcontrast.

Conceptually,themainflawofMinimalDifferenceisitsfailuretorecognizethatcontrastiverelationsinaninventoryexistnotjustbetweenpairsofsegments,butalsobetweengroups ofsegmentsatdifferentlevelsofthehierarchy.

Thus,thereisasenseinwhichcontrastisindeedminimal,almostbydeEinition;butonly whenviewedinhierarchicallayers,andnotinpairwisecomparisons.

Decline of the branching trees

ItisironicthatwhileTheSoundPatternofRussian containsthisoriginalargumentonbehalfofbranchingtrees,atthesametimeitsanalysisofRussiancontributedtounderminingthewholenotionofcontrastivespeciEication(Dresher&Halltoappear).Becauseofthat,andduealsotoargumentsbyLightner(1963)andStanley(1967),underspeciEicationwasabandonedaltogetherinChomsky&Halle’sTheSoundPatternofEnglish (SPE,1968),alongwiththebranchingtrees(forreasons,seeDresher2009:96–104).Theresultwasthatlanguage-particularfeaturecontrastsdidnotplayaroleinthetheoryofgenerativegrammarthatdevelopedfromSPE.

5. Chomsky & Halle 1968

The Generative Framework

and Approach to Phonology

Introduc)on

Part I

3. Jakobson

4. Halle

5. Chomsky & Halle

Part II

Conclusions

ThoughIdepartfromSPEwithrespecttocontrastandthenatureoffeatures,Chomsky&HalleprovidethebroadgenerativeframeworkandcognitiveapproachtophonologythatIassumeinthetheoryofcontrasttowhichInowturn.

The genera*ve framework

Part II: A Theory of Contrast

1. Main Tenets of Contrastive

Hierarchy Theory (CHT)

Introduction

Part I

Part II

1. CHT Main Tenets2. Features in CHT

3. Acquisition: BPvowel system

4. Synchrony:PGmc. Vowels

5. Diachrony: WestGmc. i-Umlaut

Conclusions

Return of the branching trees

Asatheoryofphonologicalrepresentations,branchingtreeswererevived,underothernames,byClements(2001;2003;2009),andindependentlyattheUniversityofToronto,wheretheyarecalledcontrastivefeaturehierarchies(Dresher,Piggott,&Rice1994;Dyck1995;Zhang1996;Dresher1998b;Dresher&Rice2007;Hall2007;Dresher2009;Mackenzie2009;etc.).

ItisthelatterapproachIwillbepresentinghere.Ithasgoneundervariousnames:ModiEiedContrastiveSpeciEication(MCS),or‘TorontoSchool’phonology,orContrastandEnhancementTheory;IcallitContrastiveHierarchyTheory(CHT).

Idon’tclaimthereisany‘standardversion’ofthistheory;inwhatfollows,IwillpresentthetheoryasIunderstandit.

Contrast and hierarchy

TheEirstmajorbuildingblockofourtheoryisthatcontrastsarecomputedhierarchicallybyorderedfeatures thatcanbeexpressedasabranchingtree.

BranchingtreesaregeneratedbytheSuccessiveDivisionAlgorithm (Dresher1998b,2003,2009):

Assigncontrastivefeaturesbysuccessivelydividingtheinventoryuntileveryphonemehasbeendistinguished.

TheSuccessiveDivisionAlgorithm

Criteria for ordering featuresWhatarethecriteriaforselectingandorderingthefeatures?

Phoneticsisclearlyimportant,inthattheselectedfeaturesmustbeconsistentwiththephoneticpropertiesofthephonemes.

Forexample,acontrastbetween/i/and/a/wouldmostlikelyinvolveaheightfeaturelike[low]or[high],thoughotherchoicesarepossible,e.g.[front]or[advanced/retractedtongueroot].

[front]

Inthiscase,/i/and/ə/wouldbedistinguishedbyacontrastivefeature,eventhoughtheirsurfacephoneticsareidentical.

Criteria for ordering features

InsomedialectsofInuktitut,forexample,anunderlyingcontrastbetween/i/and/ə/isneutralizedatthesurface,withboth/i/and/ə/beingrealizedasphonetic[i](Compton&Dresher2011).

Ofcourse,thecontrastivespeciEicationofaphonemecouldsometimesdeviatefromthesurfacephonetics.

/ə/[front]/u/

[round]

A feature can be said to be active if it plays a rolein the phonological computation; that is, if it isrequired for the expression of phonologicalregularities in a language, including both staticphonotactic patterns and patterns of alternation.

PhonologicalActivity

Contrast and phonological ac*vityAstheaboveexampleshows,thewayasoundpatterns canoverrideitsphonetics(Sapir1925).

Thus,weconsiderasmostfundamentalthatfeaturesshouldbeselectedandorderedsoastoreElectthephonologicalactivity inalanguage,whereactivityisdeEinedasfollows(adaptedfromClements(2001:77):

ThesecondmajortenethasbeenformulatedbyHall(2007)astheContrastivistHypothesis:

A theory of contras*ve specifica*on

TheContrastivistHypothesisThe phonological component of a language Loperates only on those features which are necessaryto distinguish the phonemes of L from one another.

Thatis,only contrastivefeaturescanbephonologicallyactive.Ifthishypothesisiscorrect,itfollowsasacorollarythat

CorollarytotheContrastivistHypothesisIf a feature is phonologically active, then it must becontrastive.

Domain of the Contrastivist Hypothesis

Onthishypothesis,underlyinglexicalrepresentationsconsistonlyofcontrastivespeciEications.

Theserepresentationsformtheinputtothecontrastivephonology, whichisthedomaininwhichtheContrastivistHypothesisapplies.

OutputofContrastivePhonology

UnderlyingLexicalRepresentations Contrastivefeaturesonly

PhonologygovernedbytheContrastivistHypothesis

Domain of the Contrastivist HypothesisStevens,Keyser&Kawasaki(1986)proposethatfeaturecontrastscanbeenhanced byotherfeatureswithsimilaracousticeffects(seealsoStevens&Keyser1989;Keyser&Stevens2001,2006).

Ourhypothesisisthatenhancementtakesplaceafterthecontrastivephonology,whenfurtherphoneticdetailisspeciEied.

SurfacePhoneticRepresentations

Phoneticprocesses:enhancement,non-contrastivefeatures

OutputofContrastivePhonology

UnderlyingLexicalRepresentations Contrastivefeaturesonly

PhonologygovernedbytheContrastivistHypothesis

Enhancement of underspecified featuresForexample,avowelthatis[+back]and[–low] canenhancethesefeaturesby:

[+low]

[+back]

[–back]

Idesignateenhancementfeatureswithgreen curlybrackets{ }.

/i/ /u/

[–low]

{+round}

{+high} Theseenhancementsarenotnecessary,however,andotherrealizationsarepossible(Dyck1995;Hall2011).

adding{+round} toenhance[+back] (giving[u,ʊ,o,ɔ],not[ɨ,ɯ,ɤ,ʌ]

adding{+high} toenhance[–low] (giving[u,ʊ],not[o,ɔ]

Markedness

Iassumethatmarkednessislanguageparticular(Rice2003;2007)andaccountsforasymmetriesbetweenthetwovaluesofafeature,wheretheseexist.

Afurtherassumptionisthatfeaturesarebinary,andthateveryfeaturehasamarked andunmarked value.

Forexample,weexpectthatunmarkedvaluesserveasdefaults,andmaybemoreorlessinert.

Neutralization: Vowel reduction

Trubetzkoy(1939:71–5)suggestedthatneutralization—thesuspensionofacontrastincertainpositions—canhavedifferenttypesofoutcomes.

Inothercases,thereducedvowelcannotbephoneticallyequatedwithaparticularstressedvowel;thatis,neutralizationistoavowelthathasadifferentrepresentationfromboththemarkedandunmarkedstressedvowels.

Inthecaseofvowelreduction,forexample,vowelsthatcontrastinstressedpositionmightneutralizetotheunmarkedvowelwhennotstressed.

CHTcanelegantlyrepresentbothtypesofreduction,whichariseinBrazilianPortuguese.

Brazilian Portuguese vowel reduction

Theywrite(2004:229)thatinpre-stressedposition,“thequalityofthecorrespondingstressedvowelisroughlypreserved.”

AccordingtoBarbosa&Albano(2004),aSãoPaulospeakerhadthestressedvowelsshownbelow.

Stressedposition a ue ɔɛ oi

Beforethestress a ue oi

AccordingtoBarbosa&Albano(2004),aSãoPaulospeakerhadthestressedvowelsshownbelow.

Theywrite(2004:229)thatinpre-stressedposition,“thequalityofthecorrespondingstressedvowelisroughlypreserved.”

ButthisisnotthecaseforunstressedvowelsinEinalposition.

Stressedposition a ue ɔɛ o

Finalunstressed ɐ

Beforethestress a ue oi

Brazilian Portuguese vowel reduc*on

Vowel reduc*on in Contras*ve Hierarchy Theory

Spahr(2012)proposesaCHTaccountofBrazilianPortuguesevowelreduction;IhavemodifiedhishierarchytothatproposedbyBohn(2015,2017)forthePaulistadialect.

[–back]2

[+high] [–high]3

[+back]

[+low]1/a/

[–low]2 [–high]3[+high]

[+ATR]

[–ATR]

[+ATR]

[–ATR]

(SeeCarvalho2011foracontrastivehierarchyanalysisoftheEuropeanPortuguesevowelsystemusingprivativeelements.)

Inpre-stressedposition,thereareno[ATR]contrastsunderthe[–high]nodesnumbered3.

[–back]2

[+high] [–high]3

[+back]

[+low]1/a/

[+ATR]

[–ATR]

[+ATR]

[–ATR]

Spahr proposesthatthesenodesareinterpretedasarchiphonemesa laTrubetzkoy(seealsoSpahr2014).

Thenewrepresentations[+back,–low,–high]and[–back,–high]receivetheirownphoneticinterpretations;inthisSoutheasterndialect,theyarerealizedas[o]and[e].

[–back]2

[+high] [–high]3

[+back]

[+low]1/a/

/i/ [e]

BPdialectsdifferastowhether[o,e]or[ɔ,ɛ]aretheresultsofneutralization(seeNevins2012fordiscussionandreferences).

[–back]2

[+high] [–high]3

[+back]

[+low]1/a/

Broadlyspeaking,‘southeastern’dialectshavethe[+ATR][o,e],and‘northeastern’dialectsreduceto[–ATR][ɔ,ɛ].

[e] ~ [ɛ]

[o] ~ [ɔ]

Underspecificationallowsfor‘flexibilityofinterpretation’(Nevins2012)thatallowseither[+ATR]or[–ATR]tobelessmarked.

[–back]2

[+high] [–high]3

[+back]

[+low]1/a/

[e] ~ [ɛ]

[o] ~ [ɔ]

Inunstressedfinalpositionthecontrastsunderthenodesnumbered2aresuppressed,andthesegmentsunderthesenodesreceivedistinctphoneticinterpretationsas[ʊ]and[ɪ].

[–back]2

[+high] [–high]3

[+back]

[+low]1/a/

[e] ~ [ɛ]

[o] ~ [ɔ]

Inthisnewsetofcontraststhesegmentundernode1alsoreceivesadistinctphoneticinterpretation,[ɐ].

[–back]2[+back]

[+low]1[ɐ]

[–low]2

Vowel reduction in Contrastive Hierarchy Theory

Part II: Contrastive Hierarchy

Theory (CHT)

2. Features in Contrastive

Hierarchy Theory

Introduc)on

Part I

Part II

3. Acquisi)on: BPvowel system

Conclusions

Mielke(2008)andSamuels(2011)arguethatphonologicalfeaturesarenotinnate,butrather‘emerge’inthecourseofacquisition.

Emergent features?

Theyarguethatinnatefeaturesaretoospecific,andnosinglesetofproposedfeaturesworksinallcases.

Butiffeaturesarenotinnate,whatcompelsthemtoemerge?

Weneedtoexplainwhyfeaturesinevitably emerge,andwhytheyhavethepropertiesthattheydo.

CHTprovidesananswertothisquestion:learnersmust arriveatasetofhierarchicallyorderedcontrastivefeatures.

Aninventoryof3phonemesallowsexactly2contrastivefeatures.Twovariantsareshown,differinginhowmarkedfeaturesaredistributed.

How many features are there?

[–F1][+F1]

[–F2][+F2]

/1/ /2/

3 phonemes: F1 > F2

[–F1][+F1]

[–F2][+F2]

/2/ /3/

3 phonemes: F1 > F2

A4-phonemeinventorycanhaveaminimumof2featuresandamaximumof3.

[–F1][+F1]

[–F2][+F2]

/1/ /2/

[–F1]

[–F2][+F2]

4 phonemes: minimum 4 phonemes: maximum

[–F2][+F2]

/3/ /4/

[–F3]

Ingeneral,thenumberoffeaturesrequiredbyaninventoryofn elementswillfallinthefollowingranges:

3 1.58 2 24 2 2 35 2.32 3 4

theminimumnumberoffeatures=thesmallestinteger≥log2n

themaximumnumberoffeatures=n–1

6 2.58 3 5

Phonemes log2n min max

Theminimumnumberoffeaturesgoesupveryslowlyasphonemesareadded.

7 2.81 3 68 3 3 710 3.32 4 9

Theupperlimitriseswithn.

12 3.58 4 11

However,systemsthatapproachtheupperlimitareextremelyuneconomical.

16 4 4 1520 4.32 5 1925 4.64 5 24

Atthemaxlimit,eachnewcontrastusesauniquefeatureunsharedbyanyotherphonemes.

32 5 5 31

Emergent features and UG

Thus,thecontrastivehierarchyandContrastivistHypothesisaccountforwhyphonologicalsystemsresembleeachotherintermsofrepresentations,withoutrequiringindividualfeaturestobeinnate.

Onthisview,theconceptofacontrastivehierarchyisaninnatepartofUniversalGrammar(UG),andisthegluethatbindsphonologicalrepresentationsandmakesthemappearsimilarfromlanguagetolanguage.

3. Acquisition:

The Brazilian Portuguese

Vowel System

Introduc)on

Part I

Part II

Conclusions

Branching trees in child language

Morerecently,Bohn(2015,2017)presentsaCHTanalysisoftheacquisitionoftheBrazilianPortuguese(BP)vowelsystembythreechildren.

Branchingtreesdidnotdisappearcompletelyfromphonology:theycontinuedtobeusedinchildlanguagestudies,fortheyareanaturalwaytodescribedevelopingphonologicalinventories.

(Someexamplesare:Pye,Ingram,&List1987;Ingram1988,1989;Levelt 1989;Dinnsen etal.1990;Dinnsen 1992,1996;Fikkert 1994;seeDresher1998aforareview).

Brazilian Portuguese stressed vowelsThetreebelowagainshowstheBPvowels(Paulistadialect)instressedposition.Thehierarchyis[back]>[low]>[high]>[ATR].

[–back]

[+high] [–high]

[+back]

[+low]

[–low] [–high][+high]

[+ATR]

[–ATR]

[+ATR]

[–ATR]

Bohn(2015,2017) motivatesthishierarchybasedonthepatternsofactivityinthisdialect(seealsoBohn&Santos2018).

Acquisition of the BP vowel systemChildL.seemstobeaperfectJakobsonian:thefirstvowelis[a],andthenextoneis[i].ButcontrarytoJakobson,thisisnotaheightcontrast.

[–back][+back]

Itlookslikeone,butBohnobservesthatsubstitutionpatternssuggestratherthatisa[back]contrast,whichisthetopBPfeature(alsocontrarytoJakobson).

Acquisition of the BP vowel systemAm.’sfirstcontrastisbetween[a]and[e],not[i];Bohnproposesthat,aswithL.,thisrepresentsabacknesscontrast.

[–back]

BothL.andAm.makeaEirstcontrastthatreElectsthehighestBPfeature,whichis[back].AreallBrazilianchildrenthisfar-sighted?

[+back]

Apparentlynot!Thethirdchild,A.,beginsdifferently.

A.’sfirstcontrastisbetween[a]and[o].

[+low]

[–low]

Substitutionpatternssuggestthatthisisnotabacknessorroundnesscontrastbutaheightcontrast,basedon[low].

Acquisition of the BP vowel system

Inthenextstage,A.acquirescontrastive/i,e,u/.

[+high] [–high]

[+low]

/i/ /e/

Acquisition of the BP vowel system

Inthenextstage,A.acquirescontrastive/i,e,u/.

[–back]

[+high] [–high]

[+back]

[+low]

/i/ /e/

AtsomepointA.hastoreorganizethefeaturehierarchyinordertoarriveattheadultBPsystem,whichhas[back]>[low].

Acquisi*on of the BP vowel system

The[ATR]contrastbetween/e~ɛ/and/o~ɔ/isthelasttobeacquired.

[–back]

[+high] [–high]

[+low]

[+ATR]

[–ATR]

[+ATR]

[–ATR]

Thus,thethreechildrentakedifferentroutesinacquiringtheBPvowelsystem.

[+back]

TheorderofacquisitionofcontrastsismorevariablethanJakobsonallowed.

[–back]

[+high] [–high]

[+low]

[+ATR]

[–ATR]

[+ATR]

[–ATR]

Nevertheless,thegeneralideathatlearnersacquirecontrastsinahierarchy isafruitfulwaytomodelacquisition.

[+back]

4. Synchronic Phonology:

The Proto-Germanic

Short Vowel System

Introduc)on

Part I

Part II

Conclusions

Proto-Germanic short vowelsIwouldliketolooknowatProto-Germanic,whichiscommonlyassumedtohavehadthefourshortvowels*/i/,*/e/,*/a/,*/u/(Ringe 2006).

Shortvowels

Italsohadlongvowels,butthesewillnotberelevanthere(seeDresher2018fordiscussionofthelongvowels).WhyProto-Germanic?IpicktheProto-GermanicshortvowelsystemtoillustrateaCHTsynchronicanalysisfortworeasons:

First,becauseitslaterevolutionintoWestGermanicandOldEnglishraisessomeinterestingdiachronicissuesthatwewilllooksoon.

Proto-Germanic Contras*ve Features

Andsecond,becausealltheingredientsofaCHTanalysishavealreadybeenassembledbyAntonsen(1972)!

Aswehavecometoexpect,hisutilizationofacontrastivefeaturehierarchyisonlyimplicit,andnotmentioned;howeverhisarticleisaniceillustrationofCHTargumentationavantlalettre.

ElmerAntonsenwasanAmericanlinguistandrunologistwhomademanycontributionstothestudyofGermanicphonology.

AntonsenproposesthefeaturespeciEicationsbelowfortheshortvowelsystem(1972:133):

*/a/ */u/ */i/ */e/Low + – – –Rounded + – –High + –

NoticethattheyshowapatternofunderspeciEicationthatischaracteristicofabranchingtree:theEirstfeatureappliestoallthephonemes,andthescopesoftheremainingfeaturesgetprogressivelysmaller.

Antonsen(1972:132–133)supportsthesefeaturespeciEicationsbycitingpatternsofphonologicalactivity(neutralizations,harmony,anddistributionofallophones)andloanwordadaptationfromLatin.

Thus,basedontheevidencefromthedescendantdialects,heassumesthat*/a/hadallophones*[a, æ, ə, ɒ],whichallhaveincommonthattheyare[+low].

*/a/ */u/ */i/ */e/Low + – – –Rounded + – –High + –[+low]

Further,thereisevidencethat*/i/and*/u/hadloweredallophonesbefore*/a/,againsuggestingthat*/a/hada[+low]featurethatcouldaffectvowelheight.

Andthereisnoevidencethat*/a/hadanyotheractivefeatures(thatis,featuresthatplayedaroleinthephonologybyaffectingneighbouringsegments,orthatgrouped*/a/withothersegmentsasanaturalclass).

[+low]

Asthefeaturethatdistinguishes*/u/from*/i/and*/e/Antonsenchooses[rounded].

Hisreasonisthatalltheallophonesof*/u/wererounded.

[+rounded]

WewillreturnshortlytothisspeciEicaspectoftheanalysis.

Proto-Germanic Contrastive Features

[+low]

Antonsenobservesthatthecontrastbetween*/i/and*/e/wasneutralizedinenvironmentsthataffectedtongueheight(beforehighfrontvowels,lowvowels,andbeforenasalclusters).

Hearguesthatthissupportsdistinguishing*/i/and*/e/byonefeature,[high].

Henotesthatthenegativespecificationsof*/e/areconsistentwithitbeing“theonlyvowelwhichdoesnotcauseumlautassimilationsinaprecedingrootsyllable”.

[+low]

[+high] [+rounded]

Proto-Germanic Contrastive Features

Aselegantasthisanalysisis,Iwillfollowthemajority,includingLass(1994),Ringe (2006:148),andPurnell&Raimy(2015),inassumingthatthefeaturethatdistinguishes*/i,e/from*/u/is[front],not[rounded].

Thereasonisthat*/i/couldcauseallophonicfrontingof*/u/,whichsuggestsithadanactivefeature[+front].

*/a/ */u/ */i/ */e/Low + – – –Front – + +High + –

[+high][+front]

[+low]

Proto-Germanic feature hierarchyWiththisamendment,thecontrastivefeaturehierarchyfortheProto-Germanicshortvowelslookslikethis.

*/a/ */u/ */i/ */e/Low + – – –

High + –

[+high]

[–high]

[+front] [–front]

[–low][+low]

[low] > [front] > [high]

Front – + +

Alltheactivefeaturesarecontrastive,aspertheContrastivistHypothesis.

Moreover,thisanalysisexplainswhycertainvowelsparticipateincertainprocessesandothersdonot.

Proto-Germanic feature hierarchy

Noticethatthefeature[round]playsnoroleinthecontrastivephonologyatthispoint.

*/a/ */u/ */i/ */e/Low + – – –

High + –

[+high]

[–high]

[+front] [–front]

[–low][+low]

Front – + +

ThisaspectoftheanalysiswillsoonbecomeverysigniEicant!

5. Diachronic Phonology:

West Germanic i-Umlaut

Introduc)on

Part I

Part II

Conclusions

Diachronicstudies usingcontrastivefeaturehierarchiesinclude:Zhang (1996) and Dresher & Zhang (2005) on Manchu; Barrie (2003) on Cantonese; Rohany Rahbar(2008) on Persian; Dresher (2009: 215–225) on East Slavic; Ko (2010, 2011, 2018) on Korean,Mongolic, and Tungusic; Compton & Dresher (2011) on Inuit; Gardner (2012), Roeder & Gardner(2013), and Purnell & Raimy (2013) on North American English vowel shifts; Harvey (2012) on Ob-Ugric (Khanty and Mansi); Oxford (2012, 2015) on Algonquian; Voeltzel (2016), Schalin (2017), andSandstedt (2018) on Scandinavian; and Krekoski (2017) on Chinese tonal systems.

Contrastivehierarchies havebeenfruitfullyappliedtophonologicalchangeinavarietyoflanguages.

Contrast shiX and phonological change

SomestudiesutilizingaversionofCHTarelistedbelow.

ContrastiveHierarchyTheorycanshednewlightonalong-standingconundruminthehistoryofWestGermanic.

Itconcernstheruleofi-umlaut,andillustrateshowapost-lexicalphoneticrulecanbecomelexical,andhowanenhancementfeaturecanbecomecontrastive.

West Germanic i-umlaut

ItalsoprovidesaniceempiricaltestofwhatNevins(2015)callsthe“Oops,INeedThat”Problem.

Thisproblemreferstoasituationwhereanon-contrastivefeatureisneededbythephonology.

The “Oops, I Need That” Problem

AccordingtotheContrastivistHypothesis,thissituationshouldnotarise,becauseonlycontrastivefeaturesshouldbeactive.

Thus,the“Oops,INeedThat”ProblemwouldindicateanapparentcounterexampletotheContrastivistHypothesis.

Proto-Germanic feature hierarchy

Recallthat*/i/and*/u/hadloweredallophonesduetotheinEluenceofthe[+low]*/a/.

*/a/ */u/ */i/ */e/Low + – – –

High + –

[+high]

[–high]

[+front] [–front]

[–low][+low]

Front – + +

InWestGermanic,theloweredallophoneof*/u/developedintoanewphoneme*/o/.

Thisnewphonemefilledagapinthesystemandbroughtthe[–front]branchintosymmetrywiththe[+front]branch.

Therefore,thenewvoweldidnotrequireachangetotheinheritedProto-Germanicshortvowelfeaturehierarchy.

Notethatthefeature[round]isstillnot contrastiveatthispoint.

West Germanic feature hierarchy

[+front] [–front]

[low]>[front]>[high]

[+high] [–high]*/i/ */e/

[+high] [–high]*/u/ */o/

[–low][+low]*/a/

West Germanic i-umlaut

*ybil *føːt+ii-umlaut*ubil *foːt+iWestGermanic‘evilN .S .’ ‘footN .P.’Gloss

Theruleofi-umlautbeganinearlyGermanicasaphoneticprocessthatcreatedfrontedallophonesofthebackvowelswhen*/i(ː)/or*/j/followed(V.Kiparsky1932;Twaddell1938;Benediktsson 1967;Antonsen1972;Penzl 1972).

Intheexamplesbelow,*/u/and*/oː/arebothfronted(to*[y]and*[ø],respectively)before/i/inthefollowingsyllable:

i-umlautcruciallypreservestheroundednatureofthefrontedvowels;butinouranalysisoftheWestGermanicvowelsystem,[round]isnotcontrastive.

Uh-oh!Isthisan“Oops,INeedThat”Problem?

i-umlaut: Oops, I need that?

[+front] [–front]

[low]>[front]>[high]

[+high] [–high]*/i/ */e/

[+high] [–high]*/u/ */o/

[–low][+low]*/a/

*u b i l[–low][–front][+high]{+round}

[–low][+front][+high]{–round}

*y b i l[–low][+front][+high]{+round}

Therefore,{round} isavailableasanenhancementfeatureatthepointthat*/u,o/arefronted.

No!Forindependentreasons,manycommentators,beginningwithV.Kiparsky(1932)andTwaddell(1938),proposedthati-umlautbeganasalatephonetic rule,andwasnot partofthecontrastivephonology.

i-umlaut: I don’t need it, it’s an enhancement feature!

*ybil *føːt+ii-umlaut*ubil *foːt+iPre-OldEnglish‘evilN .S .’ ‘footN .P.’Gloss

Pre-Old English i-umlaut

Overtime,however,thereisevidencethati-umlautbecamealexicalrule.

i-umlaut becomes opaque

*ybil *føːt+ii-umlaut*ubil *foːt+iPre-OldEnglish‘evilN.S.’ ‘footN .P.’Gloss

AlreadyinearlyOldEnglish,theunstressed/i/triggerofi-umlautwaseitherloweredafteralightsyllable,asinyfel,

ordeletedafteraheavysyllable,asinføːt. Thesechangesmadei-umlautopaqueonthesurface.Inmanycases,thei-umlauttriggerbecameunrecoverabletolearners.

yfel føːt i-lowering/deletion

i-umlaut becomes opaque

yfil —i-umlaut/ufil/ /yfel/Underlying

‘evilN .S .’ ‘evilN .S .’Gloss

Accordingtostandardaccounts,thisledtothephonologization of[y(:)] and[ø(:)] asnewphonemes.

Anexampleis‘evil’,whoseunderlyingformisrestructuredfrom/uEil/ to/yfel/.

yfel —i-lowering/deletion[yfel] [yfel]Surface

Oldergrammar Newergrammar

Aslongasi-umlautremainsaphoneticprocess,itisnotclearhowitcouldsurvivethelossofitstriggeringcontexts;whydoesn’t/ufel/surfaceas*[ufel]?

Phonologization paradox

—i-umlaut

/ufel/Underlying

—i-lowering

Afterlossofi-umlauttrigger

PostlexicalPhonology

Severalscholarshavepointedoutaproblemwiththisaccount(Liberman1991;Fertig1996;Janda2003;P.Kiparsky2015).

Theonlywayfori-umlauttopersistisifitentersthelexicalphonologywhile [y(:)]and[ø(:)] arestillpredictableallophonesof/u(:)/ and/o(:)/,respectively.

*[ufel]Surface

Thisaccountraisestwoquestions:

! First,why doesi-umlautenterthelexicalphonologywhileitsproductsarenotcontrastive?

P.Kiparsky (2015)suggeststhatitisbecausethenewfrontroundedallophoneswereperceptuallymoresalient thantheirtriggers(cf.Jakobson,Fant,&Halle1952),whichwerebecomingprogressivelyweakerastimewhenon.

Phonologiza*on paradox

! How dotheproductsofi-umlautenterthelexicalphonologywhentheyinvolvenon-contrastivefeaturesthatoriginateinenhancement?

TothisquestionContrastiveHierarchyTheorycancontributeanold/newsolutionbasedonthenotionofcontrastshift.

Ifindthisexplanationtobequitecompelling;butitraisesanotherquestion:

Phonologiza*on paradox

“Onceaphonologicalchangehastakenplace,thefollowingquestionsmustbeasked:

Contrast and phonological change

Old,becauseinanarticleEirstpublishedin1931,RomanJakobsonproposedthatdiachronicphonologymustlookatcontrastshifts(Jakobson1962[1931]).

Whatexactlyhasbeenmodi=iedwithinthephonologicalsystem?

…hasthestructureofindividualoppositions[contrasts]beentransformed?Orinotherwords,hastheplaceofaspeci=icoppositionbeenchanged…?”

Salience and contrast shiXButalsonew,becausethatprogramwasnevercarriedout;CHTgivesusawell-definedwaytolookatcontrastshifts.

Letusrevisitthestagewheni-umlautwasstillapost-enhancementrule.

AdaptingKiparsky’s idea,Iproposethattheperceptualsalienceofthefrontroundedallophonescausedlearnerstohypothesizethat{round} isacontrastivefeature.

*u b i l[–low][–front][+high]{+round}

*y b i l[–low][+front][+high]{+round}

ItwasnotpartoftheearlierWestGermanicfeaturehierarchy.

Contrast shiX in West Germanic

Laterhierarchy:

[low]>[front]>[high]Earlierhierarchy:

[front]>[round]>[high]

Onesuchhierarchyisshownbelow.

Butwecanconstructanothercontrastivehierarchythatincludes[round].

Thisnewhierarchy,however,requiresdemoting[low]tomakeroomfor[round].

Contrast shiX in West Germanic

Laterhierarchy:

[low]>[front]>[high]Earlierhierarchy:

Hopefullynotafeaturethatweneed!

Thisishowcontrastivehierarchieswork:onecanintroduceorpromoteafeature,butthereisatrade-off:anotherfeaturehastobedemoted.

Inthenewfeaturehierarchy,thevowelsareEirstdividedinto[+front]/i,e/and[–front]/u,o,a/.

[+front]

[+high] [–high]

/i/ /e/ /a/

/u/ /o/

[+high][–high]

[–front]

[+round] [–round]

West Germanic feature hierarchy 2

Then[±round]divides/u,o/from/a/.

Finally,[±high]completesthecontrastivefeatures.

Now,wheni-umlautchangesthe[–front,+round] vowels/u,o/to[+front],theresultisnewfrontroundedvowels,whichbeginasallophones.

/u, o/

[–front][+round][αhigh]

[y, ø]

[+front][+round][αhigh]

Hereiswhatthederivedtreelookslike.Thenewfrontroundedvowels[y, ø]arenotunderlying,butareallophonesof/u,o/.

[+front]

[–round]

[+high] [–high]

/i/ /e/

[+round]

[+high][–high]

[y] [ø]

/u/ /o/

[+round] [–round]

[+high][–high]

[–front]

/u, o/

[y, ø]

Althoughtheyareallophones,theycanariseinthecontrastivephonologybecausetheyconsistonlyofcontrastivefeatures.

[+front]

[–round]

[+high] [–high]

/i/ /e/

[+round]

[+high][–high]

[y] [ø] /u/ /o/

[+round]

[+high][–high]

[–front]

/u, o/

[y, ø]

[–round]

Deep allophones

Deepallophonesarepossiblebecausecontrastivefeaturescanbepredictableinahierarchicalapproach.

Wehavelefthangingonequestionthatyoumightbewonderingabout…

TheyarethuswhatMoulton(2003)calls‘deepallophones’;hewasreferringtotheOldEnglishvoicedfricatives,whichalsoariseearlyinthecontrastive(lexical)phonologyasallophonesofthevoicelessfricatives.

Recallthetrade-offthatthisanalysisrequires:

[+front]

[+high] [–high]

/i/ /e/ /a/

/u/ /o/

[+high][–high]

[–front]

[+round] [–round]

West Germanic feature hierarchy 2: Oops, I need that?

Inthenewhierarchy,/a/nolongerhasa[+low]feature.

Uhoh!Dowenowhavea“Oops,INeedThat”Problem?

No!/a/nolongerneedsa[+low]feature!

/u/ /o/

[+high][–high]

[–front]

[+round] [–round]

West Germanic feature hierarchy 2: No, I don’t need it!

Iknowofnoevidence— inOldEnglish,forexample—that/a/causesloweringofothersegments,orother-wiseneedsanactive[+low]feature.

Recallthatthisisinstrikingcontrasttoearlierstagesofthelanguage,wherethereisevidencethat*/a/causedlowering.

[–front]

[–round]

West Germanic feature hierarchy 2: No, I don’t need it!

ThistypeofconnectionbetweencontrastandactivityisexactlywhatContrastiveHierarchyTheorypredicts.

[+low]

Hierarchy2Hierarchy1

Conclusion

Introduc)on

Conclusion

Tosumup,ContrastiveHierarchyTheorymakestestableempiricalpredictionsaboutphonologicalsystems,providesinterestingaccountsofacquisition,andanewwayoflookingatphonologicalinventories.

Conclusions

Ofcourse,manyquestionsremaintobeexplored:

!CantheContrastivistHypothesisbesustainedordoesthe“Oops,INeedThat”Problem(i.e.toomuch activity)arise?

!Conversely,whathappenswhenthereistoolittle activity?Doesphoneticsplayalargerroleindeterminingthefeatures(cf.Krekoski2017)?

!Arethereconstraints,apartfromcontrast,onwhatphonologicalfeaturescanbe?

!Howstablearecontrastivehierarchiesacrosstimeandspace?

IhavetriedtoshowthattheideasthatContrastiveHierarchyTheoryarebuiltonhavealongandevendistinguishedpedigreeinthehistoryofphonology.

!Howdolearnersacquirethefeaturehierarchyoftheirlanguage?

Forvariousreasons,thistheoryneverquitecametogetherinthe20th century.

Itismyhopethatthefullpotentialofthisapproachwillberealizedinthe21st.

Conclusions

For discussions and ideas I would like to thank Graziela Bohn,Elizabeth Cowper, Daniel Currie Hall, Paula Fikkert, Ross Godfrey,Christopher Harvey, Norbert Hornstein, Harry van der Hulst, BillIdsardi, Ross Krekoski, David Lightfoot, Sara Mackenzie, AndrewNevins, Will Oxford, Keren Rice, Christopher Spahr, and Zhang Xi.

Andthankyou!Muitoobrigado!

https://dresher.artsci.utoronto.caFormorerecentpapersandtalks,pleasesee:

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Foundations of Contrastive Hierarchy Theory

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