Strength relations in phonology / edited by Kuniya Nasukawa, Phillip Backley.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Nasukawa, Kuniya, 1967-

Backley, Phillip.

Series:

Studies in generative grammar ; 103.

Studies in generative grammar ; 103

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Grammar, Comparative and general--Phonology.

Grammar, Comparative and general.

Mutation (Phonetics).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (408 p.)

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Berlin ; New York : Mouton de Gruyter, 2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

This collection of papers focuses on the general theme of phonological strength, bringing together current work being undertaken in a variety of leading theoretical frameworks. Its aim is to show how referring directly to strength relations can facilitate explanation in different parts of the phonological grammar. The papers introduce illuminating data from a wide range of languages including English, Dutch, German, Greek, Japanese, Bambara, Yuhup, Nivkh, Sesotho and other Bantu systems, demonstrating how strength differences are central to the analysis of phonological patterning not only in well-documented cases of segmental asymmetry but also in other areas of description including language acquisition, pitch accent patterns and tonal phenomena. All of the contributors agree on the need for a phonological (as opposed to a phonetic) approach to the question of strength differences, and show how a strength-based analysis may proceed in various theoretical models including Dependency Phonology, Government Phonology, Strict CV Phonology and Optimality Theory. Many of the papers develop a structural account of their data, in which strength relations are understood to reflect asymmetric licensing relations holding between units in representations. The volume provides a snapshot of current thinking on the question of strength in phonology. The range of language data and theoretical contexts it explores give a clear indication that phonological strength acts as a common thread to unite a range of apparently unrelated patterns and processes.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Contributors

Introduction

Part I: Segmental strength

Why final obstruent devoicing is weakening

Headship as melodic strength

Transparency in nasal harmony and the limits of reductionism

Developmental shifts in phonological strength relations

Strength relations and first language acquisition

Modelling initial weakenings

Part II: Prosodic strength

Against rhymal adjuncts: the syllabic affiliation of English postvocalic consonants

Defining initial strength in clusterless languages in Strict CV

Strength relations between consonants: a syllable-basedOT approach

The phonological structure of the Limburg tonal accents

Projection of licensing potency from a phonological expression

Backmatter

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9786612188077

9781282188075

1282188070

9783110218596

3110218593

OCLC:

456187845