The accentual system of standard Japanese.

. H I ~ uA::ntn. M U li. -,R>FcL,i 0, r : , ~ ~ k R ~ ~ . , r ! l LAW

;,!:!, :! gs, (~.l)llF.

THE ACCENTUAL SYSTEM OF STANDARD- JAPANESE

"

Y

JAMES D . McCAWLEY

M.S., University o f Chicago ( 1 9 5 8 )

SUBMITTED I N PARTIAL FULFILLMENT

OF T H E REQUIREMENTS FOR THE

DEGREE O F DCCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

a t t h e

MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

-

January, 1965

--

-.

Signature o f A u t h o r . . . . , . . . , . . . ; . . . Department o f Modern Languages,

September 16. 1964

C e r t i f i e d b y . . .

...

T h e s i s s u p e r v i s o r

...

Accepted by....

Chairman, Departmental Committee on Graduate Students

!The a c c e n t u x l s y s tern of s-ndard Japanese James D. McCa~iley

Submitted t o t h e '.Department of IjIodern Languages on

Sept. 16, 1964 i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l l m e n t of t h e requirements f o r t h e degree of Doctor of PhiLosophy.

The theory o f g e n e r a t i v e phoaology has been a p p l i e d t o t h e s t u d y of .the a c c e n t u a l systems of E n g l i s h ,

Russian, 'and Gemaaa, languages wliich have a " s t r e s s a c c e n t " , i n which a p h r a s e w i l l g e n e r a l l y c o n t a i n a. primary s t r e s s and s e v e r a l secondary, t e r t i a r y , e t c .

s t r e s s e s . I n making a g e n e r a t i v e - p h o n o l o g i c a l a n a l y s i s of Japanese, whose a c c e n t u a l system i s one of " p i t c h

a c c e n t , i n which a p h r a s e can b e c h a r a c t e r i z e d a c c e n t u a l l y simply i n terma of t h e l o c a t i o n o f a f a l l I n p a t c h and i n which t h e r e i s n o t h i n g comparable t o t h e s e v e r a l degrees of s t r e s s which c a n b e found i n a word i n Ehglish, i t i s my i n t e n t i o n n o t only t o make a n a c c u r a t e a n a l y s i s of t h e f a c t s of Japanese b u t a l s o t o shed some l i g h t on t h e

formal n a t u r e of such c o n c e p t s as " s t r e s s a c c e n t " , " p i t c h s c c e n t

",

and "'tone language

".

'

Chapter I i s a s k e t c h of g e n e r a t i v e phonological theory. Chapter 11-is a d s s c r i p t i o n of t h e r u l e s r e l a t i n g t o segmental phonolom i n a t r a ~ ~ s f o r m a t i o n a l g r m a r of Japanese; i t i n c l u d e s a d e t a i l e d s t u d y of verb and

a d j e c l i v e i n f l e c t i o n and a discussion of t h e d i f f e r e n c e s

In behavior of i t e m s from d i f f e r e n t s t r a t a of vocabulary. Cliapter I11 i s a t r e a t m e n t of t h e accentual. system or" atand=d Japanese; i t c o n t a i n s a thorough d i s c u s s i o n of

the a c c e n t u a l a l t e r n a t i o n s in Noun

+

E n c l i t i c combinations

and in verb and a d j e c t i v e i n f l e c t i o n , and t h e a c c e n t u a t i o n of noun compounds; i t -Is .shown that, t o p r e d i c t t h e

a c c e n t u a t i o n of Japanese u t t e r a n c e s i t i s n e c e s s a r y f o r t h e grammar t o c o n t a i n a t r a n s f o r m a t i o n a l c y c l e of r u l e s . Furthermore, t h e r u l e s wliich a s s i g n a c c e n t t u r n o u t t o have t h e same f orrnal n a t u r e as t h e s t r e s s assignment r u l e s of ' I s t r e s s - a c c e n t languages S U C ~ I as C$Ylglish.

Appendix I i s a l i s t of ttpre-accenting" and "'de-accentingr' morphemes i n .Japanese.' Appendkx I1 i s a b r i e f survey of

t h e a c c e n t u a l systems of Japanese d i a l e c t s .

mesis s u p e r v i s o r : Noam Chomsky

TAB LX OF CON TEN TS P r e f a c e 4 Chapter I. G e n e r a t i v e P h o n o l o g i c a l !t?heory 9 1 1 The o t i o n of a grammar 9 1.2 The f u n c t i o n of t h e p h o n o l o g i c a l component 1 2 1.2.1 P h o n e t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n 12 1.2.2 U n d e r l y i n g r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s 15

1.2.3 The rules of t h e p h o n o l o g i c a l component 20

1.2,4 The r e l a t i o n between f e a t u r e specifl.cat5.ons i n

t h e l,exicam and t h o s e i n p h o n e t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s 26 1.3 The s h a p e of p h o n o l o g i c a l r u l e s 29

1.3.1 The f e a t u r e s 29

1.3.2 Hdw rules o p e r a t e ; b l a n k s 31

1 . 3 . 3 Junc t u r a l e l e m e n t s 48

I

1.4 1.3.4 The s t r u c t u r e of t h e p h o n o l o g i c a l component S y l l a b l e and mora 55 60

1.4.1 1.1orpheme 's truc t u s e and p h o n o l o g i c a l rules 60

i

1.4.2 The e v a l u a t i o n lneasure 65

f

I

Chapter 11. The s e g m e n t a l phonology of J a p a n e s e 7 2

3

2.1 Tile s t r a t a of v o c a b u l a r y 72 .:I 2.2 )If a c e l l a n e a u s problems 81

1

2.3 Segment i n v e n t o r i e s 102 2.4 I n f l e c t f o n 107 4 t 2.4.1 Regular i n f lee t i o n 107 i 2.4.2 I r r e g u l a r v e r b s 115 f 2.5 S i n o - J a p a n e s e morphemes 1 ? 9

r i 2.6 Tne rules of s e g m e n t a l phonology 128 I C I Cha$ter T I , Accent 139 I 3.1 General r e m a r k s 139 1 3.2 Nauns 140 .. 'I 3 . 3 Verbs and a d j e c t i v e s 144 i': 3.4 Some e x c e p t i o n s t o t h e r u l e s of 3 . 3 157

!!

3.5 Compound nouns 1 64 1 ! 3.6 The h o n o l o g i c a l p h r a s e 181

i

3.1 The

P

u l I c y c l e 190 , 3.8 Concluding remarks 192 Appendix I. L i s t s of p r e - a c c e n t i n g and d e - a c c e n t i n g mor-phexzes 197

If.

Appendix TI. Accent i n t h e J a p a n e s e d i a l e c t s

P r c f ace -

EIy p r i m a r y purpose In undertalckg the h v e s t i g a t i o n r e p o r t e d below i s t o g i v e a g e n e r a t i v e - p h o n o l o g i c a l

a n a l y s i s of a l r e a d y h o w n d a t a a b o u t s t a n d a r d Japanese r a t h e r t h a n t o accuslulate new d a t a , A6 a r e s u l t , t h e

"informants I ' which I have used nave t o a l a r g e e x c e n t

been d i c t i o n a r i c ? ~ and t e x t b o o k s r a t h e r t h a n l i v e p e r s o n s , 1Iy p r i n c i p a l Informant h a s been Hirayma's "Zenkoku dkusento J i t e n " (4.11- Japan Accent D i c t i o n a r y ) , EL most v a l u a b l e work which c o n t a i n s a s t a g g e r i n g w e a l t h of

-

. . .

i n f o r m a t i o n ) i n a d d i t i o n t o an 888 page d i c t i o n a r y which g i v e s t h e Tookyoo, w o o t o , and Kagoshinia a c c e n t s f o r a l l t h e words l i f i t e d plus t h e Tookyoo a c c e n t f o r t h e

principal i n f l e c t e d forms of v e r b s and a d j e c t i v e s and

phrases and s h o r t s e n t e n c e s c o n t a i n i n g t h e r e l e v a n t words, t h e "Zed.coku Akusento J i t e n " a l s o c o n t a b s a s k e t c h of t h e a c c e n t u a l s y s t e m s of t h e d i a l e c t s (which i n c l u d e s a 40 page word l i s t g i v i n g p r o n u n c i a t i o n s In 1'2 d i f f e r e n t d i a l e c t s ) and a comprehensive t r e a t i s e on t h e accentual. system of s t a n d a r d Japanese. -

b l y one l i v e i n f o r n a n t w a s Sige-Yuki Kuroda, a t p r e s e n t a graduate s t u d e n t i n l i n g u i s t i c s a t M . 1 .T,,

who 3: c o e s u l t e d when Hirayama p r o v i d e d i n s u f f i c i e n t d a t a f o r my p u r p o s e s , I n c a s e s where h i s i d i o l e c t d i f f e r s from t h a t r e p o r t e d by H i r a y m a , I have a c c e p t e d IQ.

Kuroda's f o r m s , except i n t h e c a s e s where he f e l S t h a t t h e forms he .use6 a r e non s t a n d a r d .

Rro o t h e r s o u r c e s f r o m which I have drawn a f a i r amount of d a t a a r e ~ a s h i r o ' s "Hyoojungo Akusento no ICyoohonl' ( ~ e x t b o o k of Standard J a p a n e s e ) and E l e a n o r Harz J o r d e n ' s "Beginning Japanese", The former i s a book i n t e n d e d f o r Japanese who wish t o a c q u i r e standard p r o n u n c i a t i o n ; while Tashiro wrote i t i n t h e c a p a c i t y of a speech t e a c h e r r a t h e r t h a n a l i n g u i s t , I t Is of

c o n s i d e r a b l e i n t e r e s t t o t h e l i n g u i s t in t h a t i t c o n t a i n s a huge corpus of u t t e r a n c e s w i t h a c c e n t s marked, as w e l l

as some m o s t p e r c e p t i v e o b s e r v a t i o n s r e g a r d i n g t h e r e g u l a r i t i e s which u n d e r l y t h e d a t a . Mrs, ord den's

textbook a l s o c o n t a i n s a huge corpus of d a t a a b o u t

a c c e n t and, l i k e ~ a s h i r o ' s book, i t e n a b l e s t h e r e a d e r t o g e t t h e f e e l of Japanese a c c e n t u a t i o n by going through a s e r i e s of , ~ a d e d examples which I l l u s t r a t e t h e v a r i o u s a c c e n t u a l phenomena of Japanese. _-- I d i d n o t become aware of t h e e x i s t e n c e of ~ i n d a i c h i ' s ''Ir.Zeikai Akusento JILenl' u l i t i l I had m i t t e n t h e bulk of this d i s s e r t a t i o n ; i f I had had a chance t o c o n s u l t i t e a r l i e r , I am s u r e t h a t my

-.

s e c t i o n on noun comp-ounds would have been more

comprehensive, s i a c e Kindalchi g i v e s t h e most t h o r o u g h account I have e v e r s e e n o f t h e a c c e n t u a t i o n of J a p a n e s e noun c ompounds

,

I w i l l t r a n s c r i b e most of my examples u s i n g t h e Bloch-Jorden r o n a n i z a t i o n , d e v i a t i n g o n l y t o t h e e x t e n t

of n o t d i s t i n g u i s h i n g between t h e i r symbols g and

.&

I

-

nor between

-

n and

g.

_{When i t becomes necessary f o r me t o}

i n d i c a t e more phone-t;ic d e t a i l than such an orthography would allow, I w i l l simply i n t r o d u c e extra symbols a d hoc a t t h e p l a c e s where t h e need a r i s e s . When Japanese p l a c e names, etc. occur i n g l o s s e s o r

in

t h e t e x t , I w i l l

use

the Hepburn sys8en

ef

r o m m i z a t i o r , n o d i f i s 6 ~ n l y t o

the e x t e n t of using double l e t t e r s fnsBead of macrons; thus I w i l l m i t e k,vuusyuusiki "~(yuushuu s t y l e ' , I n s t e a d of [?jJ I w i i l w r i t e [q], which Is more amenable t o

typewriting.

Since I am an adherent of a school of l i n g u i s t i c

.J

thought which does n o t b e l a i v e in phonemes, my u s e of s l a s h e s

/

/

and square b r a c k e t s [ may n o t be r e a d i l y comprehensible t o adherents of o t h e r schools, The source of the problem i s that when one i s o g e r a t i n g i n terms of a system of ordered r u l e s , the i n t e r m e d i a t e s t a g e s

through which an i t e m p a s s e s a r e n e i t h e r underlying forms nor phonetic r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s ; n e v e r t h e l e s s , one s t i l l needs some kind of b r a c k e t s w i t h i n which t o enclose t h e s e i n t e r m e d i a t e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s , The p r a c t i s e which I have follorred i s t o u s e

//

and

[ I

as r e l a t i v e r a t h e r than

a b s o l u t e symbols, s o t h a t when I m i t e "/p/ becomes [h]

i n t e r v o c a l i c a l l y f 1 and give examples l i k e "/kepai/

=

[kehai

",

t h e s l a s h e s and b r a c k e t s will s l m p l ~ m e a n t h e i n p u t a d

output ( r e s p e c t i v e l y ) of whatever r u l e i s under d i s c u s s i o n

aC the moment. B u s a f o m which appears i n square b r a c k e t s on one page may appear In s l a s h e s on t h e n e x t page,

I

would l i k e t o express my most s i n c e r e gra$itude t o

my advisor, Noam Chomsky, who h a s had a profound Influence on my t h i n k i n g &d has been a c o n t i ~ u o u s source of

fn-t;ellectual s t i m u l a t i o n such as I had never encountered before coming t o M.1, T. I am e q u a l l y g r a t e f u l t o Morris E a l l e , whose i d e a s 'can be found on every page of t h i s d i s s e r t a t i o n and with whom I have had c o u n t l e s s hours of s t i m u l a t i n g and p l e a s u r a b l e discussion. I t i s t o him and Prof. Chomsky t h a t I c r e d i t m y r a p i d transformation from t h e i n t e L l e c t u a 1 c o u n t e r p a r t of a 97-pound weakling i n t o

a productive s c h o l a r I n my chosen f i e l d ,

I wish t o t h d Sige-Yuki KurocQ, w:%thout whose a s s i s t a n c e i t would have taken m e twice a s long t o g e t h a l f 'the r e s u l t s which I p r e s e n t h e r e ; I have always been a b l e t o t u r n t o him f o r ~ t i m u l a t ~ g i n s i g h t s i n t o the s t r u c t u r e of Japanese, a,nd I must r e p o r t t h a t i n what

follows I have p l a g i a r i z e d froni him unmercifully. I am

g r a t e f u l t o Theodore

M.

Lightner f o r having g r e a t l y

enriched my understanding of g e n e r a t i v e phonology i n many hours of discussion; I a l s o w i s h t o thank M r . L f g h t n e r D s

I wife Lee f o r s o g r a c i o u s l y p u t t i n g up w i t h t h e marathon

endure. I also wish t o e4upress g r a t i t u d e t o G, I h b e r t 14atthews a d & i r a JCoraai f o r useful comments on and

criticisms of ,. .'.set t i o n s of this d i s s e r t a - b i o n , t o Rev. Willem A. Grootaers f o r i n t r o d u c i n g me t o Japanese d i a l e c t o l o ~ y and assisting my s t u d y fn ti1a-b a r e a w h i l e

1 was a t Seton B a l l U n i v e r s i t y i n summer, 1963, to A r n o l d Sat-berthwait and E r i c a G a r c i a , who by acting as d e v i l ' s a d v o c a t e have h e l p e d me t o s e e more c l e a r l y just

where

I

stand on phonologioal t h e o r y , and t o Phyllis Hershf ang, ~ i h o p r o o f r e a d 'this manuscript and made many

GENERA TI VE: PHOJTQLO GI GAL TIIEORY

fikue1-1-rya4wa slfiJ9le+cA

caM4lJ?

-rP\jnww,

.MAN- $ewe? c l r a p ~ b

-

eflM~~~Be~e-lblr\lr W~AbfblN @ l l J l % ~ ~ ~

~ n o ~ c k o b

t D o ~ e ~ h r w ,

---

E. D. Polivanov 1 . I The no t i o n of a grammar

"Accentuation i s t h e most d i f f i c u l t , o r more c o r r e c t l y , t h e o n l y d i f f i c u l t problem of Japanese phonology", Thus i n 1924 Polivanov c h a r a c t e r i z e d t h e c o n t r a s t between

-

the

complexity of t h e ~ a ~ & e s e a c c e n t u a l system and t h e r e l a t i v e s i m p l i c f t y of e v e r y t h i n g e l s e i n Japanese phonology. Accordingly, i n t h e f o l l o w i n g g e n e r a t i v e -

phonological t r e a t m e n t of Japanese phonology, I w i l l devote p a r t i c u l a r a t t e n t i o n t o t h e a c c e n t u a l system.

Followfng Chomsky [3], I assume t h a t the grammar of

<-.,

any- language h a s t h e f o l l o x l n g components :

~ a n s ~ o r m a t i o n a l ~ P h o n o l o g i c a l

the b a s i c sentence shapes of t h e lan,guage. A basic s e n t e n c e shape i s a string of "dumng symbols" w i t h .a. l a b e l e d

i m e d l a t e cons tl-kuen-i; (Ic) s t r u c t u r e , f o r example,

/h

m

Aux V3

_ _ 1 .

.

. " / . , 2.

2. k l e x i c o n , which c o n s i s t s of a l i s t of t h e morphemes of t h e language, t o g e t h e r with f u l l i d i o s y n c r a t i c

i n f o r m a t i o n about each nlorphenie : a l l i n f o m a t i o n needed t o chasac t e r i z e i t s morphophonemic

,

s y n t a c t i c , and

semantic behavior. a,

-.

3 . Rules of combination, v~liici? fill o u t b a s i c s e n t e n c e shapes by i n s e r t i n g morphe~nes o r o t h e r b a s i c s e n t e n c e shapes i n p l a c e of the dummy symbols. For example, t h e r u l e s of combination a l l o w one t o s u b s t i t u t e raorphemes i n t o t h e s t r u c t u r e given above and o b t a i n t h e s t r u c t u r e

AQ

1SP Aux

\

I

BiZ,1 P r e s u " \ wash B i l l

u n d e r l y i n g " B i l l .crashes himself

",

afid t o substd.tu-te t h a t -various morphemes i n t o t n e s t r u c t u r e

-

4

_1lux

.

"P

_{X P a s t V}

J

b

.

_{IUP llJP}

\

X X X

I

m d o b t a i n t h e s t r u c - k r e

wash ~ k 3 1 !!!he output of the r u l e s of combination i s the "deep ( s y n t a c t i c ) s t r u c t u r e " of an u t t e r a n c e . The above t r e e diagram i s %bus the "deep s t x u c t u r e t t of the u t t e r a n c e

"I told Bill t o wash himself ",

4, A semantic component, which a s s i g n s i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s

t o the deep s y n t a c t i c s t r u c t u r e s of sentences,

5, A transformational componea, which c a r n i e s

out order changes, d e i e t i s n s , and o t n e r operations on the deep s t r u c t u r e of a sentence, thereby converting i t i n t o the ''surf ace (syntactic ) s t r u c t u r e " of t h e sentence. For ezample, the t r m s f o r n a t i o n a l component converts the l a s t t r e e diagram i n t o

A

Aux V-'

which i s tb.e s u r f a c e s t r u c t u r e of "I t o l d B i l l t o want1 himself 'I.

6. F b a l l y , a phonolo$.cal component, w h i c h

a s s o c i a t e s t h e p h o n e t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of an u t t e r a n c e t o i t s s u r f a c e s y n t a c t i c s t r u c t u r e .

1,2 The f u n c t i o n of the p h o n o l o g i c a l component What I w i l l s a y below w l l l be c o n f i n e d t o a

d i s c u s s i o n o f t h e l e x i c a l and p h o n o l o g i c a l components of a t r a n s f o r m a t i o n a l grammar of Japanese, F l y taslc i s t o find a p p r o p r i a t e ways of r e p r e s e n t i n g t h e morphemes of Japanese i n t h e d i c t S o n a r y and t o g i v e a s e t of r u l e s f o r c o n v e r t i n g surf ace s y n t a c t i c s t r u c t u r e o involvFrig t h o s e d i c ti o n a r y r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s I n t o the c o r r e c t

- p h o n e t i c form,

1.2,1 P h o n e t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n .

Before g o i n g on, i t w l l l b e n e c e s s a r y for me t o make

- -

p r e c i s e what I mean by t h e "phonetic form" of an u t t e r a n c e . By "phonetSc form 'I I mean a r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i n which all

p h o n e t i c c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s subjec t t o 1 i n : ~ i s t i c r e g u l a r i t y _- a r e r e p r e s e n t e d , Any a c t u a l speech a c t w i l l , of c o u r s e , e.xh1bI.t many characteristics which w i l l n o t b e i n c l u d e d

In t h e p h o n e t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n , namely t h o s e which a r e tile

r e s u l t of e x t r a - l i n g u i s t i c f a c t o r s s u c h as t h e s i z e of t h e s p e a k e r ' s v o c a l o r g a n s , h i s s t a t e ~f mental a l e r t n e s s , t h e p o s s i b l e p r e s e n c e of chewing gum i n his mouth, e t c , I n the

-

p h o n e t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n , 3nly t h o s e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s a r e

-

/ - -

marked whose p r e s e m e o r absence is determined by the

language i t s e l f

.

A p h o n e t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n Ln t h i s s e n s e i s a rather

t a l l o r d e r , s i n c e very fins d e t a l l s of p r o n u n c i a t i o n may

s t i l l correspond t o l i n g u i s t i c r e p l a i - i t i e s i n a

language, One might a t t e m p t t o simplify t h e problem by

s e p a r a t i n g t h o s e p h o n e t i c c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s which p l a y - a

r o l e within t h e language from t h o s e which, while a p a r t

of t h e l a n g u m , are a s u p e r f i c i a l p a r t of i t , where by

" ~ u p e r f i c i a l ' ~ f e a t u r e s I mean t h o s e which play l i t t l e o r

no r o l e i n c o n d i t i o n i n g v a r i a n t s of o t h e r segments. If

such a n o t i o n makes s e n s e , t h e n it would be p o s s i b l e t o

d i v i d e the p h o n o l o g i c a l component of t h e p m a r of a

language i n t o two p a r t s : t h e p h c n o l o a i c a l

-

rules, which

i n v o l v e o 3 l y a l i m i t e d s e t of p h o n e t i c f e a t u r e s , and t h e f e a t u r e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n r u l e s , which c o n v e r t "systematic

-

p h o n e t i c r e p r e s e n t a t 3 . o n s " l n terms of that small s e t of

f e a t u r e s i n t o detailed p h o n e t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s ,

me

most

ambitious and v a l u a b l e a t t e m p t

i n

t h i s d i r e c t i o n has been

Morris H a l l e t s u s e of dakobsons s theory of d i s t i n c t i v e

f e a t u r e s l

.

~ a k o b s o n ' s g o a l was a c t u a l l y q u i t e d i f f e r e n t ,

0

- -

I)

) R. Jakobson, C. G. M. F a n t , and M. Halle, "Preliminaries

namely t o s e t up a minimal s e t of acoustic/p4ysiologlcal

oppositions i n terms of which 311 d i s t i n c t i v e (i.e.,

phonemic) oppos i t i o n s between

s

egmente could be exprossed,

However, Halle and h i s d i s c i p l e s have used the Jakobsonian

/ -.

system of f e a t u r e s with considerable succees as a system

of "systematic phonetic r e p r e s e n t a t i o n " of utterances.

Since the t o p i c s which I w i l l discuss in t h i s dissertation

can be t r e a t e d without going i n t o r e a l l y f i n e phonetic

d e t a i l s , i t w i l l be s u f f i c i e n t f o r my purposes i f I accept

the Jakobsonian system of f e a t u r e s a s providing a system

of systematic phonetic r e p r e s e n t a t i o n , I w i l l thus assume

t h a t t h e phonological component of a grammar of any language s p l i t s i n t o the two components indicated above:

phonological r u l e s , which Involve only the Jakobsonian _-

f e a t u r e s , and f e a t u r e i n t e r p r o t a t i o n r u l e s , which convert t h e - Jakobeonlari f e a t u r e - s p e c i f i c a t i o n s i n t o ranges of physical v a r i a b l e s , Let me c l a r i f y the r o l e s of these two

p a r t s w i t h

an

example2: HLndi has a binary opposition of

a s p i r a t i o n ; the phonological r u l e 8 w i l l y i e l d sys tematic

phonetic r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s i n which the a s p i r a t e d members

of this opposltion a r e marked

[+

tense] and the unaspirated

members [- tense], However, phonetically t h e r e are n o t two

but t h r e e degrees of a s p i r a t i o n i n Hindi: voiceless

"unaspirates I' have a percep tible-==amount of a s p i r a t i o n ,

-

-2T ;

am g r a t e f u l t o U n o l d Satterthwaxt f o r c a l l i n g

a l t h o u g h n o t s o g r e a t an amount as do t h e t r u e " a s p i r a t e s 'I,

The r e l e v a n t " f e a t u r e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n r u l e s " a s s i g n

segments - t h r e e degrees of a s p i r a t i o n (none, small, f u l l ) a c c o r d i n g t o t h e i r Jakobsonian f e a t u r e composi t i o n ,

1.2.2 Underlying r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s

m e p a r t of t h e phonologl.ca1 component which I w i l l concern myself with w i l l t h u s have as i t s o u t p u t m a t r i c e s of b i n a j f e a t u r e s p e c i f i c a t l o n s : an u t t e r a n c e w i l l be r e p r e s e n t e d as a sequence of segments and each segment w i l l bs r e p r e s e n t e d as a s e t of v a l u e s f o r t h e Jakobsonian f e a t u r e s , I nust now c o n s i d e r i n g r e a t e r d e t a i l what t h e i n p u t t o t h e s e r u l e s w i l l be. I have a l r e a d y s a i d t h a t t h e r u l e s o p e r a t e on t h e s u r f a c e s y n t a c t i c s t r u c t u r e of

an u t t e r a n c e , t h a t i s on a r e p r e s e n t a t i ~ n which i n d i c a t e s a sequeuce of morphemes w i t h a l a b e l e d immediate

-

c o n s t i t u e n t s t r u c t u r e ,

The r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of a morpheme must i n some way-be a s p e c i f i c a t i o n of _- a l l i t s i d i o s y n c r a t i c p r o p e r t i e s , Not \ a l l E n g l i s h v e r b s can t a k e an animate o b j e c t ; t h e r e f o r e t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of t h e verb " s u r p r i s e " m u s t - c o n t a i n e i t h e r t h e i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t i t c a n t a k e an animate o b j e c t I .

* o r some o t h e r i n f o r m a t i o n from which t h a t i n f o r m a t i o n can be deduced. Hot a l l Z h g l i s h morphemes correspond t o a s t r e t c h of sound beginning w i t h a v o i c e l e s s b i l a b i a l s t o p ; t h e r e f o r e t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of t h e p r e f i x "pre-" must c o n t a i n i n f o r m a t i o n from which I t can be deduced

corresponding s t r e t c h of sound. Not a l l . E n g l i s h v e r b s

form t h e p a s t t e n s e by a b l a u t ; t h e r e f o r e t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of t h e verb " s i n g " must c o n t a i n i n f o r m a t i o n from which i t can be deduced t h a t t h e p a s t t e n s e form i s "sang1' and n o t "-%singed",

I t w i l l be noted t h a t much of t h e i d i o s y n c r a t i c information a b o u t m o r p h e ~ e s re l a t e e t o t h e p h o n e t i c form o f u t t e r a n c e s i n v o l v i n g t h o s e morphemes, One way of

r i p r e s e n t i n g t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n i s t h e s o - c a l l e d

--

item-and- arrangement r e p r e s e n t a t i o n , i n which a l i s t of t h e

p h o n e t i c and phonemic shapes a morpheme can t a k e i s

-

given, +,ogre t h e r w i t h a 11s t of t h e envir,onments i n which the d i f f e r e n t shapes occur, Thus t h e ]English morpheme " s p i t ' 1 would be r e p r e s e n t e d by a l i s t of f o u r a l t e r n a n t s / s p i t , spiD,

smt,

S#D/ ( D d e n o t e s t h e v o i c e d a l v e o l a r

f l a p ) t o g e t h e r with t h e s t a t e m e n t s

/ s p i t / o c c u r s e x c e p t when PAST o r PP ( t h e pas^

p a r t i c i p l e morpheme) o r an u n s t r e s s e d vowel f o l l o w s , / s p i ~ / o c c u r s when an u n s t r e s s e d vowel f o l l o w s ,

/sp&t/ o c c u r s when PAST o r PP f o l l o w s but i s n o t in

turn followed by an u n s t r e s s e d vowel, ,

/ s p z ~ / o c c u r s when followed by PAST o r P P p l u s an

-

u n s t r e s s e d vowel.

However, an 1 tem-and-arrangement r e p r e s e n t a t i o n f a i l s t o meet t h e i m p o r t a n t r e q u i r e m e n t (which I w i l l assume t o be imposed on a i l l i n g u i s t i c d e s c r i p t i o n ) t h a t d i c t i o n a r y .--

-e n t r i -e s c o n t a i n no r-edundant Information. Not-e t h a t i n t h e above example many p i e c e s of i n f o r m a t i o n a r e s t a t e d f o u r times. For example, t h e morpheme " s p i t alwgrys corresponds t o a s t r e t c h of sound which baglns w i t h /sp/; b u t i n s t e a d o f t h i s i n f o r m a t i o n - b e i n g s t a t e d j u s t once, i t i s

i n c l u d e d i n t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of each of t h e f o u r

a l t e r n a n t s 3 , Furthezmore, much of t h e i n f o r m a t i o n which t h e item-and-arrangement r e p r e s e n t a t i o n 1ncl.udes does n o t have t o be marked I n t h e d i c t i o n a r y e n t r y a t a l l , s i n c e i t does n o t correspond t o i d i o s y n c r a s i e s of t h e p a r t i c u l a r morpheme b u t Is a consequence of g e n e r a l p r i n c i p l e s a b o u t

t h e language. F o r example, s i n c e I n 1 t l a l consonant4 c l u s t e r s E n g l i s h can only b e g i n

u n n e c e s s a r y t o say t h a t t h e f i r s t segment of " s p i t u i s

/s/: i t i s s u i f i c i e n t j u s t to-give t h e - i n f o r m a t i o n t h a t

i t i s a consonant, and a l l o t h e r i n f o r m a t i o n about i t . .. -

( t h a t I t Is v o i c e l e s s , t h a t i t Is a f r i c a t i v e , t h a t I t Is d e n t a l , t h a t i t is s t r i d e n t ) w i l l be p r e d i c t a b l e ,

-

- -

-

') I n a granmar of my own i d i o l e c t , where t h e r e a r e s i x a l t e r n a n t s ( t h e above p l u s /spi?/ and

/spx?j),

I t would be r e p r e s e n t e d s i x t i n e s .

4

) I u s e t h e term "consonantft h e r e t o exclude l i q u i d s .

S i m i l a r l y , I t i s unnecessary t o say t h a t " ~ p 1 t ' ~ h a s a l t e r n a n t s / s p i ~ / and /S=D/ b e f o r e an u n s t r e s s e d vowel, s i n c e moqhemes which end in /t/ i n o t h e r environments always have an a l t e r n a n t i n /D/ when f o l l o w e d by an

u n s t r e s s e d vowel. Moreover, i f t h e facS t h a t a verb forms I t s p a s t t e n s e by a b l a u t is c o n s i d e r e d t o be a f e a t u r e of t h e e n t i r e morpheme ( J u s t l i k e , say, t h e f e a t u r e of t a k i n g an inanimate s u b j e c t ) , t h e n I t i s unnecessary t o s a y t h a t " s p i t " h a s an a l t e r n a n t /spxt/ b e f o r e t h e p a s t t e n s e morpheme, s i n c e t h e f a c t t h a t t h e vowel i s /dQ/ w i l l be p r e d i c t a b l e from t h e f a c t t h a t t h e morpheme i s

a b l a u t i n g and t h a t t h e p r e s e n t - t e n s e voweZ i s /i/.

I f a l l of t h i s redundant i n f o r m a t i o n i s o m i t t e d from t h e item-and-arrangement r e p r e s e n t a t i o n , a l l t h a t remains i s t h e f o l l o w i n g : llspit?is an a b l a u t l n g v e r b stem whose p h o n e t i c f o r m c o n s i s t s of a consonant f o l l o w e d by a

.... -. , b i l a b i a l s t o p , followed by a l a x f r o n t vowel which I s h i g h e x c e p t i n t h e p a s t t e n s e and p a s t p a r t i c i p l e , followed by a d e n t a l s t o p which Is v o i c e l e s s e x c e p t when an u n s t r e s s e d vowel f o l l o ~ i s . However, n o t e t h a t even t h i s z e p r e s e n t a t i o n s t i l l c o n t a i n s redundant i n f o r m a t i o n , s i n c e t h e c l a u s e s

"except i n t h e p a s t t e n s e and p a s t p a r t i c i p l e u and "except when an u n s t r e s s e d vowel f o l l o w s " merely p o i n t o u t f a c t s which a r e c o n p l e t e l y p r e d i c t a b l e f r )m t h e rules of t h e

language a n d t h e o t h e r i n f o r m a t i o n i n t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of t h e morpheme: t h e s e a l r e a d y imply t h a t t h e vowel i n

t h e p a s t t e n s e w i l l be low and t h a t t h e f i n a l consonant w i l l be voiced b e f o r e an u n s t r e s s e d vowel. - -

But h e r e a d i f f i c u l t y a r i s e s . So far, I have been t r e a t i n g t h e I n f o r m a t i o n c o n t a i n e d i n t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n as If I t were a s e t of s t a t e m e n t s about t h e morpheme. If I omit t h e c l a u s e "except when an l m s t r e s s e d vowel

f o l l o w s " from t h e s t a t e m e n t i n q u e s t i o n , I end up with t h e s t a t e m e n t t h a t t h e final segment i s "a d e n t a l s t o p which i s v o i c e l e s s " ; however, t h a t s t a t e m e n t i s f a l s e . s i n c e t h e s e g m e n t I n q u e s t i o n i s o f t e n voiced. But any q u a l i f i c a t i o n which might be added s o as t o y i e l d a t r u e s t a t e m e n t would be-.equivalent t o t h e redundant clause which, by t h e c r i t e r i o n of non-redundant d i c t i o n a r y

e n t r i e s g i v e n above, .must be o m i t t e d from t h e r e p r e s e n t a - t i o n . The s i m p l e s t way o u t of t h i s d l l e m a i s t o c o n s i d e r t h e I n f o r m a t i o n i n t h e r e p r e s e n t a t i o n n o t a s a s e t o f s t a t e m e n t s b u t r a t h e r as a s e t or' a b s t r a c t marks. I n s t e a d of making a s t a t e m e n t about t h e v a i c e l e s s n e s s of t h e f i n a l segment of " s p i t " , I w i l l simply r e p r e s e n t t h e morpheme as h a v i n g a f i n a l segment wit'? t h e a b s t r a c t roark [- v o i c e d ) . When a d e n t a l s t o p l a f o l l o ~ r e d by an u n s t r e s s e d vowel, t h e p h o n e t i c r e a l i z a t i o n \ f i l l be voiced r e g a r d l e s s of whether

t h e s y n t a c t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n c o n t a i n e d t h e a b s t r a c t mark

I-

v o i c e d ] .

The a b s t r a c t marks which I have j u s t i n t r o d u c e d a r e h o r n as " c l a s s if i c a t o r y I ' e a t u r e spec i f l c a t i o n s " . hey

' 5

!

i n d i c a t e n o t that t h e c o r r e s p o n d i n g Jakobsonian f e a t u r e

3

",,:j

d

must be p r e s e n t p h o n e t i c a l l y , but merely t h a t i t w i l l be

-$

.

!i p r e s e n t u n l e s s some o t h e r c o n d i t i o n c a u s e s i t n o t t o be I : b

4

,:t p r e s e n t . The r e s u l t i n g r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of " s p i t 'I t h u s

.I

_{c o n t a i n s some items of i n f o r m a t i o n which r e l a t e t o t h e}

a

1

.

,1 morpheme as a whole ( t h a t i t i s an i n t r a n s i t i v e verb,

's , #

, ;j t h a t i t may take a d i r e c t i o n a l complement, t h a t i3 forms d 4 the p a s t t e n s e by a b l a u t ) aiid o t h e r i t e m s m i c h r e f e r t o 'j ! ? i n d i v i d u a l segments of t h e p h o n e t i c r e a l i z a t i c n of t h e ' t i 9

' a morpheme; t h e s e l a t % e r items can be d i s p l a y e d as a m a t r i x $' 9 j of v a l u e s (+ o r - ) f o r t n e c l a s s i f i c a t g r y f e a t u r e s , s a y , d . ? - ( s ) ( p ) (1) ( t ) < c consonantal

+

+

-

+ h $3

4

obs t r u e s t

+

+

4 4 '! _grave

₊

- -

'1

t compact

-

i 1 d i f f u s e

+

t e n s e

-

.!

i 1.2.3 The r u l e s of the p h o n o l o g i c a l component

1:

',I

i

Suppose f o r t h e moment t h a t a l l morphemes are indeed

;i r e p r e s e n t e d a c c o r d i n g t o the above scheme: a c l a s s i f i c a t o r y

$3

1

m a t r i x of f e a t u r e s p e c i f i a a t i o n s p l u s some i n f o r m a t i o n

I .i

;a

r e l a t i n g t o t h e morpheme as a whole. The r u l e s which

. i i c o n v e r t Vne s y n t a c t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s of u t t e r a n c e s i n t o

l :j

terms of t1iese two kinds of f e a t u r e s ("segment f e a t u r e s t t

a n d "morpheme features") and s y n t a c t i c c a t e g o r i e s and J u n c t u r e s , of which more w i l l be s a i d l a t e r , The e f f e c t of t h e i n d i v i d u a l r u l e s must t h u s be t o add o r change f e a t u r e s p e c i f i o a t i o n s and p o s s i b l y a l s o t o add, d e l e t e , o r r e a r r a n g e e n t i r e segments, Note t h a t f o r a r u l e Y ; which performs o p e r a t i o n s of any of t h e s e t y p e s , t h e

o u t p u t i s an o b j e c t of t h e same type as t h e i n p u t , namely a matrix of f e a t u r e s p e c l f i c a t i o n o ,

To a p p r e c i a t e t h e consequences of t h i s f a c t , i t i s worthwhile t o c o n s i d e r t h e impl.ications of t h e c o n t r a r y

1 s i t u a t i o n , namely t h a t of a d e s c r i p t i o n which does n o t

, *\

use f e a t u r e s b u t r a t h e r t r e a t s t h e i t e m s involved (phones, phonemes, moqhophonemes) as i n d i v i s i b l e a l p h a b e t i c

symbols; this l a t t e r p o s i t i o n i s , of c o a r s e , s h a r e d by a g r e a t many American l i n g u i s t s . A d e s c r i p t i o n i n such

terms i n v o l v e s s e v e r a l l e v e l s of r e p r e s e n t a t i o n a a d s e t s of r u l e s f o r c o n v e r t i n g from one l e v e l of r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i n t o a n o t h e r ( s a y , f o r c o n v e r t i n g a phonemic r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i n t o a p h o n e t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n o r a morphophonemic r e p r e s e n t a t i o n i n t o a phonemic r e p r e s e n t a t i o n ) , The i n p u t and o u t p u t of t h e s e r u l e s w i l l t h e n be o b j e c t s of d i f f e r e n t t y p e s , s a y , s t r i n g s of phonemes as i n p u t and strings of phones as o u t p u t ,

Note not t h a t t h e r e a r e b a s i c a l l y two ways i n which r u l e s c a n apply : s e q u e n t i a l o r simultaneous. In s e q u e n t i a l

i.: . . .J a p p l i c a t i o n , an i n p u t s t r i n g

9

(say, a s t r i n g of phoneags) w i l l be converted i n t o an o u t p u t s t r i n g

y]

( s a y , a s t r i n g of phones) through s e v e r a l i n t e r m e d i a t e s t a g e s : f i r s t some r u l e will r e p l a c e some element of

9

by something, t h u s y i e l d i n g a new string

(PI

; t h e n some r u l e

w i l l

r e p l a c e some element of

q ,

by some t h i n g , thus y i e l d i n g a new s t r i n g

($2,

etc., u n t i l some c o n d i t i o n i s reached which i s

s t s p u l a t e d t o t e r m i n a t e t h e p r o c e s s (one p o s s i b l e convention

i s that t h e p r o c e s s t e r m i n a t e s whenever t'nere a r e no more

.

r u l e s which would be a p p l i c a b l e t o t h e s$fkzg, i n which c a s e the r u l e s me s a i d t o be -. r w d s m s e q u e n t i a l ; a n o t h e r p o s s i b l e convention i s .that %he r u l e s a r e a s s i g n e d a f i x e d o r d e r , t h a t t h e y apply i n p r e c i s e l y t h a t o r d e r , and that

+he p r o c e s s ' t e r m i n a t e s when t h e end of t h e l i s t of r u l e s i s reached, in which c a s e t h e r u l e s a r e s a i d t o be ordered). I n simultaneous a p p l i c a t i o n , t h e r e a r e no i n t e r m e d i a t e s t a g e s ; t h e r u l e s i n v o l v e only i t e m s p r e s e n t i n t h e i n p u t s t r i n g ( r a t h e r t h a n a l s o i t e m s c r e a t e d by o t h e r r u l e s , as i s p o s s i b l e t h e s e q u e n t i a l c a s e ) m d simultaneously r e p l a c e each i t e m tn t h e i n p u t s t r i n g by t h e corresponding p i e c e of t h e ou-ut s t r i n g .

In t h e work of most American l i n g u i s t s , s e q u e n t i a l a p p l i c a t i o n of r u l e s , whether random o r o r d e r e d , i s excluded, s i n c e i t v i o l a t e s t h e p r o h i b i t i o n a g a i n s t one

type of "mixing l e v e l s " by allowing r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s which

a r e , say, p a r t morphophanemic and p a r t phonemic, o r p a r t phonemic and p a r t p h o n e t i c o 5 They t h u s r e q u i r e t h e i r r u l e s t o apply simultaneously, 6

However, i n a d e s c r i p t i o n where a segment i s t r e a t e d a s a s e t of f e a t u r e s r a t h e r t h a n as an i n d i v i s i b l e

a l p h a b d i c i t e m , t h e r u l e s could p e r f e c t l y w e l l apply s e q u e n t i a l l y , s i n c e (as pointed o u t above) i n t h i s c a s e t h e i n p u t and output of say rule a r e o b j e c t s of the same type. Let me a t t h e o u t s e t exclude t h e possibl&ity of r u l e s i n terns of phonolokical f e a t u r e s being random

.h

s e q u e n t i a l , While t h e r e a r e p a r t s of a grammar which i t

i s n a t u r a l t o d e s c r i b e w i t h a s e t of random s e q u e n t i a l r u l e s (egg.

,'

the "combination r u l e s " of p, 10, where one

0

-

-

05) There i s another q u i t e u n r e l a t e d meaning t o We term

"mixing of l e v e l s " , which r e l a t e s n o t t o t h e form of a

grammar b u t t o the "discovery procedure " used in a r r i v i n g b t i t , namely t h e u s e of "higher l e v e l 1 ' information i n d e c i d i n g how t o analyse t h i n g s on a

"lower l e v e l

".

6, Many l i n g u i s t & speak n o t of " r u l e e " b u t of " s t a t e - ments". However, s i n c e a s t a t e m e n t o f , say,

"h/

has

t h e allophone

tph],

b e f o r e vowels

"

i s c l e a r l y e q u i v a l e n t t o a A l e I1/p/ -$

rph]

i n env. Vowel

",

I can j u s t a s w e l l speak of r u l e s .

simply imbeds s e n t e n c e s and l e x i c a l i t e n s i n t o s u i t a b l e vacant s l o t s u n t i l t h e r e a r e no more s l o t s l e f t t o f i l l ) , i t I s unreasonable t o e x p e c t t h e r u l e s of t h e p h o n o l o g i c a l component t o be random s e q u e n t i a l , s i n c e t h e u n d e r l y i n g r e p r e s e n t a t i o n of an u t t e r a n c e d e t e r m i n e s ' i t s p h o n e t i c form almost u n i q u e l y ( t h e correspondence i s non-unique only i n c a s e s o f phoftological free v a r i a t i o n ) , so t h a t t h e o n l y freedom which can be expected i n t h e applllcation of t h e r u l e s i s the o p t i o n of e i t h e r applyfng or n o t

applying a c e r t a i n s m a l l number o f r u l e s , I thus conclude t h a t khe r u l e s of the p h o n o l o g i c a l component must a p p l y

either simultaneously o r i n a f i x e d o r d e r ,

A g r e a t saving i n t h e complexity 0% t h e r u l e s and a

g r e a t i n c r e a s e i n t h e i n s i g h t which t h e y p r o v i d e i n t o t h e workings of t h e language is o b t a i n e d i f t h e rules a r e assumed t o be o r d e r e d r a t h e r than ~ i m u l t a a e o u s . ~ One

r e a s o n wh.$~this i s t h e c a s e i s provided by a c o n s i d e r a t i o n of any morphophonemic p r o c e s s which a p p l i e s t o i t e m s

which can undergo m y of a variety of o t h e r p r o c e s s e s . Unless t h e r u l e s a r e o r d e r e d , t h e r u l e s in question w i l l have t o be complicated by t h e a d d i t i o n of s i d e c l a u s e s which c o v e r a l l c a s e s where more than one of t h e r u l e s a p p l i e s . A grammar of Russian w i t h o r d e r e d r u l e s woulL, - 0

f o r example, c o n t a i n t h e two r u l e s :

1 , F i n a l /1/ i s d e l e t e d & t e r a v e l a r consonant,

2. Final obs trments become v o i c e l e s s .

which wou3d apply i n p r e c i s e l y that o r d e r ( n o t e t h e p a s t

V V

t e n s e forms gok

=

z e g & 1 'he burned', z g l a

=

$eeg & 1 L a 'she burned'), In a grammar w i t h simultaneous r u l e s , r u l e 2 would have t o be modified t o r e a d :

2'. An o b s t r u e n t becomes v o i c e l e s s i f i t i s f i n a l o r i s followed by f i n a l

/I/.

There i s a l s o a r e g r e s s i v e a s s i m i l a t i o n of v o i c i n g of o b s t r u e n t s which o p e r a t e s even a c r o s s word b c u n d a r i e s :

I

v ' V

zog b i 'were he t o burn' ( b u t zok 1,i 'whether h e b u r n e d t ) ,

The grammar w i t h o r d e r e d r u l e s would simply have rules 1 m d 2 followed by t h e r u l e

3, An o b s ~ . m e n t assumes t h e v o i c i n g of an immediately Sollowing obs t r u e n t .

( r u l e 2 c o n v e r t s gog#bi and %oog#l,i into zok#bi and

w

Z O ~ # I . , i ; ~ m r . ~ ~ - g ~ ' ~ * ~ ~ e o s .thenhagmiir:. S ~ Q O gog#bi

b u t l e a v e s the l a t t e r unchanged s i n c e /1/ i s n o t an o b s t m - e n t ) , However, t o t & e c a r e of this phenomenon, a grammar

-

w i t h simultaneous r u l e s would have t o modify r u l e s 2 and

3 to read:

2". An o b s t r u e n t becomes v o f c e l e s s i f i t i s e i t h e r f i n a l o r followed by f i n a l /I/, p r o v i d e d i n a d d i t i o n that i t is n o t followed immediately by a voiced o b s t r u e n t ,

3". An o b s t s u e n t assumes t h e v o i c i n g of an o b s t r u e n t which e i t h e r f o l l o w s i t immediately o r i s s e p a r a t e d from

i t by word-f i n a l /l/,

A s more and more r u l e s are added, t h e q u a l i f i c a O i o n s which w ~ u l d have t o be added t o the r u l e s a l r e a d y p r e s e n t would c o n t i n u e t o grow i n t h i s f a s h i o n , and the grammar

would c o n t a i n some r u l e s which would c o n t a i n p i e c e s of every o t h e r i n t h e

assume h e n c e f o r t h t h a t t h e rules of t h e p h o n o l o g i c a l component w i l l apply s e q u e n t i a l l y and In a f i x e d o r d e r , 1.2,4 The r e l a t i o n . between f e a t u r e s p e c i f i c a t i o n s i n the lexicon and t h o s e . i n p h o n e t i c r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s

I arrive.d a t the underl.ying r e p r e s e n t a t i o n which I a s s i g n e d t o I t s p i t

"

through t h e "discovery procedure

"

of f i r s t w r i t i r l g

as

item-and-arrangement d e s c r i p t i o n and t h e n omi t t i n g p r e d i c t a b l e i n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t a l t e r n a a t s .

Consequently, the feature s p e c i f i c a t i o n s which appear in

t h e . d i c t i o n a r y r e p r e s e n t a t i o n a r e p h y s i c a l l y m a n i f e s t e d i n

one o r more of the a l t e m a n t p h o n e t i c s h a p e s of t h e

-

morpheme; indeed, I i n e f f e c t p i c k e d one p a r t i c u l a r

a l t e r n a n t as b a s i c and showed that all the o t h e r a l t e r n m t s can b e p r e d i c t e d from it. However, i t w a s p u r e l y f o r t u i t o u s that t h e above d i s c o v e r y p r o c e d u r e y f e l d e d a useful

u n d e r l y l n g form. I t i s o f t e n t h e c a s e t h a t ' t h e a p p r o p r i a t e u n d e r l y l n g form f o r a morpheme n o t o n l y does n o t correspond

1

&a

..

s p e c i f i c a t i o n s which a r e n e v e r m a n i f e s t e d p h o n e t i c a l l y ,

' 3

,J

, - r

-i' as, f o r example, i n t h e d~Mhp%&*--~gited i n E a l l e [2$ of a

-:4

d

_a

Rgssian d i a l e c t i n which c e r t a i n vowels which a r e always

4 .I! + 4 m m i f e s t e d p h o n e t i c a l l y as low must be r e p r e s e n t e d i n .

.f

* > f d i c t i o n a r y e n t r i e s as mid. I n c l a s s i c a l phonemics, t h i s

$

I&&.sa.$s has a 5-vowel system: / i s €

,

a, 3

,

u/. There is

< 4

.ti

a p r o c e s s of vowel r e d u c t i o n which a f f e c t s t h e p r e t o n i c

. -4 2 s. 7 - v o ~ ~ e l as f 01101~s: i f t h e s t r e s s e d vowel is /a/, t h e n t h e , $ < 4 - L

.$ p r e t o n i c vowel i s /i/; if t h e s t r e s s e d vowel i s /i/ o r /u/,

. .

"?$

, I

I then t h e p r e t o n i c vowel i s /a/; wards i n which t h e s t r e s s e d

i '

-4

, .>

:.j _. vowel i s

/&/

o r / 3 i f a l l into two c l a s s e s : i n one c l a s s

i :, 4

: t h e piw@en&& vowel i s /a/ and i n t h e o t h e r i t i s /I./,

i

-'I

Hallets solutiopl i s t o r p p r e s e n t t h e /€/ and /9/ f o r which

,: ii

: i: t h e p r e t o n i c ' vowel is /a/ n o t as /F/ and /3/ b u t as /e/

: 3 3

!

and /o/, s o t h a t t h e u n d e r l y i n g f o m s w i l l . have a 7-vowel

; 3

.I

system, llhe vowel r e d u c t i o n r u l e i s t h e n slmply a

d

3

d i s s z m i l a t i o n of vowel h e i g h t : t h e p r e t o n i c vowel becomes

;

/i/ b e f o r e a low vowel (/€, a, 3 /) and /a/ b e f o r e a non-low

'4

vowel (/i, e , o , u/). A l a t e r rule c o a l e s c e s /e/ w i t h

/€/

:i

f and /o/ w i t h /3/. This s o l u t i o n could n o t have been

i 9 _{o b t a i n e d by t h e d i s c o v e r y p r o c e d u r e given e a r l i e r of w r i t i n g}

a

9 .$ , e 4 an item-and-arrangement d e s c r i p t i o n and t h e n o m i t t i n g a l l +{

I redundant information, s i n c e i n t h e i tem-and-arrangement

1

However, t b e r e I s no mason t o r e s t r i c t l i n g u i s t i c

d e s c r i p t i o n s t o those which a r e yieldeG by a f i x e d

discovery procedure. I f o l l o w ~homsky' i n holdlng t h a t

t l ~ e proper goal f o r a linguistic theory is n o t t r o v i d e

+

a procedure f o r convertlng d a t a i n t o

the

grammar of t h e

language, but r a t h e r t o provide a f o m n l c h a r a c t e r i z a t i o n

of t i e n o t i o n of

.

a grammar of t h e language p l u s a way of

e v a l u a t i n g gramnars which allows one t o c h o o ~ e between

the p o s s i b l e s o l u t i o n s , For the - moment I w i l l accept as

-

a

grammar of tha l a n a a g e , iae., as a candidate f o r

-&

grammar of t h e language, any s e t o f r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s of

morphemes and system oP r u l e s f o r converting underlying

r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s i n t o phonetic form which i s of the same

f o r a a l n a t u r e as t h e systems d i s c u s s e d so f a r , namely i n

-

/

S y n t a c t i c S t r u c t u r e s , ch. 6. Bote a l s o Hockett's

remark "It is p o s s i b l e t o be an adherent of t h e God's-

t r u t h d o c t r i n e i n l i n g u i s t i c s , and none the l e s s t o

be convinced t h a t t h e s e a r c h f o r some one " c o r r e c t "

s e t of procedures f o r phonemicizatlon, a p p l i c a b l e t o

any and every languafe, i s chimerical. This i s tile

c u r r e n t p o s i t i o n or' the p r e s e n t w r i t e r " ( C , F. Eockett,

"Short and Lon,% S y l l a b l e n u c l e i " , I n t . ~ o u r n a l o f

vowels ) (

[+

c n t ] )

,

6, Gravi-ty, which opposes d e n t a l and p a l a t a l consonavlts

' r ~

([t] and [c], which a r e [- g r v l ) t o v e l a r and l a b i a l consonants ([k] and Cp], which a r e

[+

grv]) and f r o n t vowels (which a r e [- g r v ] ) t o back vowels ([+ g r v J )

,

7. C m p a c t n e s s , which opposes v e l a r and p a l a t a l consonants ([+ cmp]) t o d e n t a l and l a b i a l consonants

( C -

cmp]) and low vowels ([+ cmp] ) t o non-low vowels

(L--

cmp3).

8, D i f f u s e n e s s , whlch opposes high vowels ([+ d i f ] ) t o non-high vowels ([- d i f

1)

j f o r consonants, d i f f u s e means t h e same as non-compact.

9. Voicing, which opposes segments pronounced w i t h v i b r a t i n g v o c a l c o r d s ([+ v o i c e ] ) t o t h o s e pronounced w i t h o u t ( [ - v o i c e ] ) ,

10, Sharpness, which opposes p a l a t a l i z e d segments

([+ s h p ] ) t o n o n - p a l a t a l i z e d ([- s h p ] ) ,

11. F l a t n e s s , which opposes segments w i t h a secondary c o n s t r i c t i o n a t t h e p e r i p h e r y of t h e o r a l c a v i t y (i.e., e i t h e r l a b i a l i z e d o r segments, which a r e

[+

f l t ] ) t o t h o s e w i t h o u t ([- f l t ] ) .

12, S t r i d e n c y , which opposes segments w i t h h i g h t u r b u l e n c e of t h e e p p i r a t o r y a i r t o t h o s e w i t h o u t (e.g,,

I f ] i s [+ s t r ] b u t

[fl

i s [- s t r ] ; a f f r i c a t e s a r e

[+

s t r ] ] a d t h e corresponding s i m p l e s t o p s a r e [- s t r j ) .

It is to be n o t e d f f r s t of a l l t h a t these f e a t u r e s a r e binary, i.e., t h a t i n t h e s y s t e m a t f c phoneO3.c matrix

each segment w i l l be s p e c i f i e d w i t h a v a l u e of e i t h e r

+

o r

-

f o r each of t h e s e f e a t u r e s , a n d secondly, t h a t t h e y

L*

a r e r e l a t i v e : they s p e c i f y an o p p o s i t i o n a l o n g a dimension r a t h e r than

an

a b s o l u t e v a l u e on t h a t dimension, s o %ha%

9

f o r example, t h e ''f r o n t r ' member sf one p a i r of vowels which d i f f e r o n l y on t h e front/baclc dimension ( g r a v i t y ) could v e r y w e l l be as far back as t h e "baclc" member of m o t h = p a i r .

1.3.2 How r u l e s o p e r a t e ; blaslks,

Above I made tlie demand; t h a t t h e d i c t i ~ n a r y e n t r y of a morpheme c o n t a i n no redundant i n f o r m a t i o n ; s a c h

i n f o r m a t i o n would be o m i t t e d from t h e d i o t i o n a r y e n t r i e s of t h e r e l e v a n t morphemes and t h e n f i l l e d ia by rules. The d i c t i o n a r y r e p r e s e n t a t i o n s c o n S t r u c t e d a c c o r d i n g t o t h i s demand w i l l t h e n i n v o l v e m a t r i c e s of f e a t u r e s p e c i f i c a t i o n s which w i l l c o n t a i n not only p l u s e s and minuses b u t a l s o blaulks. Suppose f o r a moment, however, t h a t t h e r e a r e no blanlrs a d c o n s i d e r t h e problem of d e c i d i n g which s e g e n t s a r u l e a p p l i e s to. A t y p i c a l r u l e might b e , s a y ,

[+

-

O b s l

-3

[+ v o i c e ] i n env.

+

cns

grv- [+ voc~-

e-

c n s ~ ,

which could be t r a n s l a t e d i n t o words as 'I a non-grave

o b s t r u e n t becomes voiced when preceded by a c o n s o n a n t a l

v o c a l i c segment ( a l i q u i d ) and f o l l o w e d by a-non-consonantal segment". In the body of t h i s d i s s e r t a t i o n , p h o n o l o g i c a l r u l e s w i l l be w r i t t e n i n t h i s format. However, f o r t h e

purposes of the discussion here, i t w i l l simplify things . i f the m l e Is r e w r i t t e n i n t h e form

+

cns

+

obs

C+

voc1r-

v

,

IC-

c n s l

t

[-I= voice]

'

+ obs][- cns] w i l l be c a l l e d t h e a n a l y s i s The l i n e

C+

voc

1r,

g,

of the r u l e , To determine what segments of an u t t e r a n c e t h i s r u l e applies t o , one examines a l l 3-segment Long

pieces of the u t t e r a n c e , If such a. piece contains the a n a l y s i s of the r u l e , i n t h e sense t h a t i t s f i r s t segment contains the f e a t u r e s p e c i f i c a t i o n s [

+

₊

cns

V O C

1,

the second

contains [ +

-

Obs

1

,

and t h e t h i r d contains

1-9

cns], then. t h e

grv

r u l e w i . 1 1 apply and make t h e second segment

c+

voiced] (regardless of what o t h e r f e a t u r e s p e c i f i c a t i o n s the

segments might contain). The 3-segment pieces t o which the r u l e does

not

apply w i l l be ( s t i l l under t h e assumption that t h e r e a r e n o blanks p r e s e n t ) those which a r e d i s t i n c t from the a n a l y s i s i n the sense of having a

+

somewhere where t h e a n a l y s i s has a

-

o r having a

-

somewhere where the a n a l y s i s has a

+.

For example, i f one were given the matrix 1 2 3 4 5 cns

- + + - -

voc + + - - I = - O ~ S

--

-

+

- -

grv - I = - - - + -.

the r u l e would n o t apply t o t h e piece 123, s i n c e segment 1 contains [- cns] where the a n a l y s i s c a l l s for [+ ens]; i t

would a p p l y t o the p i e c e 234, which c o n t a i n s a11 the

f e a t u r e s p e c i f i c a t i o n s of t h e a n a l y s i s , and segment 3

would t h u s become

[+

voiced]; i t would n o t apply t o t h e

piece 345, s i n c e 3 c o n t a i n s [- voc] where t h e a n a l y s i s c & l s f o r

[+

voc], A 3-segment p i e c e w i l l e i t h e r c o n t a i n t h e a n a l y s i s o r be d i s t i n c t from it. If t h e former, t h e r u l e a p p l i e s ; i f t h e l a t t e r , i t does n o t apply.

Now l e t u s s r e t u r n $0 t h e r e a l s i t u a t i o n i n which a

feature m a t r i x may Wvolve b l a n k s , Here t h e s i t u a t i o n c c a l d a r i s e t h a t a p i e c e of an u t t e r a n c e n e i t h e r contained n o r was d i s t i n c t from t h e a n a l y s i s . For example, ia t h e

matrix 1 2 3 4 5 cns

-

I V O C

+ + - + -

obs - + - , grv

+

-

+

t h e p i e c e 234 n e i t h e r c o n t a i n s n o r i s d i s t i n c t from t h e a n a l y s i s , s i n c e 2 i s unmarked f o r c o n s b n a n t a l n e s s w h i l e a l l -the o t h e r f e a t u r e s p e c i f i c a t i o n s named _{i n} t h e mkalysis a r e p r e s e n t . What happens i n t h i s c a s e ? Should t h e r u l e apply on t h e gzounds that t h e p i e c e 234 i s n o n - d i s t i n c t from thk a n a l y s i s o r should it f a i l t o apply on t h e grounds t h a t t h e p i e c e does n o t c o n t a i n the a n a l y s i s ? One c o u l d , of c o u r s e , i n t r o d u c e a c o n v e n t i o n t h a t a r u l e a p p l i e s t o a l l p i e c e s which are n o n - d i s t i n c t from f ts ' a n a l y s i s o r t h a t a r u l e o n l y a p p l i e s t o t h o s e p i e c e s which c o n t a i n its

a n a l y s i s ; however, e i t h e r convention c a n l e a d t o

u n d e s i r & l e r e s u l t s , as i s shown by t h e f o l l o w i n g example c o n s t r u c t e d by T. M, L i e - t n e r . Suppose t h a t t h e r e a r e

t h r e e segments I, 11, and I11 and t h r e e f e a t u r e s A , 2, and

C, f o r which I i s marked

[+

A], I1 i s marked [- A], 111 i s

unmarked f o r A, and a l l t h r e e segments a r e m a r k e d f o r B and C, and t h a t t h e r e i s a s e t of r u l e s

!These rules would c o n v e r t the i n i t i a l m a t r i x I I1 111

A

+

-

B C

i n t o I I1 111 i f t h e c o n v e n t i o n were adopted that

A +

-

B

-

.+

I

C +

- -

a r u l e a p p l i e s t o a i l p i e c e s n o n - d i s t b c t from i t s a n a l y s i s

armd i n t o I I1 I11 i f t h e c o n v e n t i o n were adopted t h a t a

A +

-

B - 4- 3.

C.+

-

+

.rule only a p p l i e s t o t h o s e p i e c e s which c o n t a i n t h e

a n a l y s i s of t h e r u l e . In e i t h e r c a s e , t h e r e s u l t i n g f e a t u r e s p e c i f i c a t i o n s f o r I , 11, I11 a r e now mutually d i s t i n c t , i r e , , f o r a,ny two of them t h e r e w i l l be a f e a t u r e f o r which one i s 'marked e and- the o % h e r

-

, But t h i s me-ms t h a t the s i n g l e "binary1' f e a t u r e A would have been used t o

r e p r e s e n t

- - -

a 3-way c o n t r a s t , i , e . , t h e b l a n k f o r f e a t u r e A

9