Moras or Skeletal Units? A Question of Parametric Variation

Ca alan Wo king Pape s in Linguis ics (CWPL) 1991: 149-165 Uni e si a Au hnoma de Ba celona - MORAS OR SKELETAL UNITS? A QUESTION OF PARAMETRIC VARIATION Ma ia-Rosa Llo e Uni e si a Au 6noma de Ba celona One majo issue ha is being add essed in ecen phonological esea ch is whe he he phonological ep esen a ion has o ecognize he exis ence o mo as o skele ai uni s as p imi i es. The p esen pape a gues ha bo h app oaches a e no necessa ily mu ually exclusi e, since he e exis s he possibili y ha some phonological p ocesses ha e o e e o bo h phonologicai en i ies in o de o accoun o all he ac s o a language. In ac , bis dicho omy w ongly appea ed by acing Hayes' (1989) mo aic heo y wi h o he heo ies o syllable s uc u e. Howe e , i one akes in o amun ha nei he he skele on can be dis ega ded no syllable weigh is always a phonological a iable, a new o de ing o phonological p imi i es can be sugges ed, which does no cmespond o al ema i e p osodic heo ies bu e lec s he pa ame ic a ia ion ha languages show be ween mo aic and syllablic s uc u e. 1. In oduc ion. One majo con ibu ion o non-linea phonology o he gene al phonological heo y has been he in oduc ion o he skele on (McCa hy 1979) as an in e media e le el be ween syllabic cons i uen s and melodic segmen s. (1) O O R ( = syllable A I O =onse N C R = ~hp N = nucbw I i i " X 7 7 X = skele sl uni ) g a 1 a [gal The independence o his le el wi h espec o he o he s plays an impo an ole in he desc ip ion o some segmen s (long owels, gemina e consonan s, complex segmen s) as well as in he jus i ica ion o ce ain phonological p ocesses ( o al assimila ions, compensa o y leng henings, eduplica ions). Fo example, he ep esen a ion o long segmen s as wo skele al uni s associa ed wi h he same melody cap u es and sa is ac o ily exp esses he ambiguous beha io o long owels and consonan s, which some imes ac as i hey we e wo segmen s while o he s as i hey we e a single en i y. In he Cushi ic O omo language, o ins ance, phonological p ocesses ha a ec quan i y, such as epen hesis, ea long consonan s as a sequence o wo segmen s: he epen he ic owel [i], which is inse ed o a oid iconsonan ic sequences, occu s a e wo he e ogeneous consonan s (2a) as well as a e a gemina e consonan (2b). (2) a. a g+na -> a gina ' we see' gon + a -> gon i a 'you (sing.) ado n' b.kenn+na -> kennina 'we gi e' mudd+ a -> muddi a 'you p ess' XX X X XX XX X X XXX II /+ II-II~~III k e n na ke n i n a [kennina] Howe e , p ocesses ha in ol e melodic changes, such as labializa ion, ea long segmen s as a single en i y: [w] sp eads i s labial cha ac e is ic o a p eceding owel, whe he his is sho (3a) o long (3b). (3) a. ilbiisaw+na -> ilbiisowna -> ilbiiso na 'we a e simple' b. lakkaaw+na -> lakkoowna -> lakkoo na ("lakkao na) 'we coun ' II /VI+II-II I II- 1 a k a wna la k O yna XX X X X XXXX .I LAB The p esence o a skele al ie is also p o ed h ough he analysis o phonological p ocesses such as compensa o y leng henings. In La in, o ins ance, dele ion o /s/ be o e an e io sono an s en ails leng hening o a p eceding owel (4). I one assumes he exis ence o a skele al ie , compensa o y leng hening can be uni e sally jus i ied as a sp eading p ocess ha epai s ill- o med s uc u es esul ing om he appea ance o emp y X posi ions, which o hen ise could no be inco po a ed in o he p osodic s uc u e. (4) *kasnus -> kaanus 'g ay' * kosmis -> koomis 'cou eous' XXXXXX XXXXXX XXX XXX ka snu s ka nus ka nus [kaanw] Al hough he p e ious da a seem o adequa ely jus i y he p esence o a skele on, du ing he las decade an al e na i e p osodic ep esen a ion has been p oposed (Hayes 1989, among o he s), acco ding o which he skele al uni s (X) and he syllabic cons i uen s (O, R, N, C) a e eplaceú by mo as (5). Using his app oach, mo as do no me ely ep esen a segmen (as X did) bu play wo di e en oles: hey coun as phonological posi ions (i.e. hey a e phonological p imi i es) and also ep esen he con as be ween ligh (o monomo aic) and hea y syllables. The de ende s o such an app oach ega d his heo y as supe io o he one ha claims he exis ence o a skele on and syllabic s uc u e, because mo aic ep esen a ion does no only cap u e he duali y o some segmen s (e.g. long segmen s) bu jus i ies he phonological p ocesses ha in ol e syllable weigh (e.g. compensa o y leng hening) be e han p e ious app oaches. Fo exa nple, mo aic heo y explici ely cap u es he c oss-linguis ic gene aliza ion ha only segmen s dele eú in coda posi ion igge leng hening o an adjacen segmen . Thus, in La in dele ion o /s/ en ailed compensa o y leng hening in coda posi ion (4 and 6a) bu no wo d-ini ially (6b), because in his posi ion /s/ does no ha e mo aic alue. No e ha in o de ha he heo y ha assigns skele al posi ions o all he segmen s accoun s o he da a in (6b), one has o idiosync a ically s ipula e ha melodies only sp ead o syllable- inal emp y posi ions, so ha he emp y wo d-ini ial X posi ion is no illed by sp eading bu dele ed h ough con en ion because o i s s anded cha ac e (6b'). In mo aic heo y, howe e , his is independen ly mo i a ed because only syllable- inal consonan s make hei syllable hea y, i.e. hey ha e mo aic alue. (6) a. *kasnus -> kaanus 'g ay' * kosmis -> koomis 'cou eous' b. *snu us -> nu us 'daugh e -in-law' sme eo -> me e0 'I dese e' C . b' O n + A P " N N A c X XXXX IIIIY XXXX X I s n u u s 0 n u u s 9 1111 I 1 As a consequence o his eanalysis o he p osodic s uc u e, wo al e na i e p osodic heo ies a e p esen ed nowadays in he li e a u e: he heo y o syllable s uc u e , whose p imi i es a e he skele al uni s (X), he syllabic cons i uen s (O, R, N, C), and he syllables (O), and he mo aic heo y , which eplaces he skele al uni s and he syllabic cons i uen s by mo as (p). (7) P osodic heo ies: a. Theo y o syllable s uc u e (X; O, R, N, C; O) b. Mo aic heo y (p; O) The aim o his pape is o p o e ha bo h heo ies a e no necessa ily mu ually exclusi e bu hei di e ences co espond o some kind o pa ame ic a ia ion ha languages show. In gene al, he dis inc ion es ablished by mo aic heo y be ween ligh and hea y syllables u ns ou o be c ucial (i.e. phonologically ele an ) o languages ha show a phonemic con as be ween sho and long owels, as i was al eady poin ed ou by T oube zkoy (1939).1 Howe e , syllable weigh is no a phonological a iable in languages wi hou phonemic owel leng h. In hese languages, ins ead, he in e na1 s uc u e o he syllabic cons i uen s becomes ele an . The a icle is o ganized as ollows. We i s p o ide da a o suppo he claim ha he dicho omy p esen ed in (7) does no ma ch he eal ac s o he languages. Sec ion 2 jus i ies he le el o skele al ep esen a ion e en in languages wi h well-mo i a ed mo aic s uc u es while sec ion 3 shows ha he ole o he skele on can no be aken o e by melodic s uc u e ei he . 154 Wi h his done, we sugges a new o de ing o phonological p imi i es om which he pa ame ic a ia ion ha languages show can be conec ly es ablished (sec ion 4). 2. Skele on and Mo as. Hayes (1989) claims ha skele al uni s a e empi ically unnecessa y because compensa o y leng hening does no ake place sys ema ically whene e a segmen dele es lea ing an emp y p osodic posi ion behind, bu only comes along in ce ain posi ions, which ,no acciden ally, always ha e mo aic alue.2 In O omo, howe e , he e exis s a case o compensa o y leng hening ha can only be jus i ied wi h he p esence o he skele ~n.~ O omo shows a phonemic con as be ween sho and long owels and, hus, syllable weigh unc ions as a phonological a iable. The language ea s CV and CVC syllables as monomo aic o ligh , while CVV and CVVC syllables a e ea ed as hea y o bimo aic.4 (8) O om: Ligh o monomo aic syllables: [CVIp, [CVCIp Hea y o bimo aic syllables: [CVIp [VIp, [CVIp [VCIp This di ision be ween he wo di e en ypes o syllables u ns ou o be c ucial, o ins ance, o jus i y he beha io o such syllables in ela ion o he gene al cons ain ha he language shows on he syllable s uc u e o he wo ds, namely O omo does no allow long owels in wo successi e syllables unless he second is also wo d- inal. I conca ena ion o mo phs pu s oge he syllables wi h long owels (9a), he owel o he second syllable obliga o ily sho ens. This cons ain , howe e , does no conce n CVC syllables (9b). (9) a. gaal+oo a -> gaa 1 o a 'camels' (c . nam+oo a -> na moo a 'men') a caal+oom- -> a caa 10 m- 'be kind' (c . ko?+oom- -> ko ?oo m- 'be busy') b. a d+oo a -> a doo a 'ho ses' lugn+oom- -> lug noo m- 'be cowa d' Wi h hese p ecisions es ablished on he weigh o he O omo syllables, le us now look a he peculia compensa o y leng hening p ocess ha he language shows. O omo has a dele ion p ocess ha e ases he melodic con en o a glo al consonan (i.e. glo al s op /?/ and implosi e lc I) in s yllable- inal posi ion. This dele ion en ails leng hening o he p eceding owel ( 10). Acco ding o Hayes' mo aic heo y, his kind o dele ion should no yield compensa o y leng hening because he dele ed glo al consonan does no lea e an emp y mo a behlnd (10a). (Remembe ha in O omo inal consonan s do no add weigh o he syllable, i.e. hey ha e no mo aic alue.) Howe e , he da a p o e ha such leng hening occu s, which can only be jus i ied by he p esence o a skele on (10b). (10) ec +na -> eena 'we wish' a?+ a -> aa a 'you push' b. XXXXX XXXXX XX XXX ec a e a e 1 a [ ee a] Since O omo seems o equi e he p esence o a skele on, one could hink ha he language does no need o e e o i s mo aic s uc u e bu , ins ead, i s syllable s uc u e would unc ion as a phonological a iable. We will nex show, howe e , ha syllable s uc u es a e unable o accoun o he O omo ac s. This will p o e ha in O omo, as in any language wi h phonemic owel leng h, syllable weigh is a phonological a iable, which is be e exp essed h ough mo aic ep esen a ion. I we assume ha O omo has he syllable s uc u e shown in (1 l), we co ec ly cap u e he O omo syllable di ision be ween ligh CV(C) and hea y CVV(C) syllables: he hyme o ligh syllables consis s only o nucleus while he hyme o hea y syllables consis s o nucleus and coda. Howe e , he ep esen a ion o (1 1) canno jus i y he compensa o y leng hening p ocess (CL) ha he language shows, because he dele ed inal consonan occupies a posi ion di e en om ha occupied by he second pa o a long owel, na nely he o me is included wi hin he nucleus while he la e cons i u es he coda, and he e is no eason o claim ha he language has wo di e en ypes o long owels. ligh syiiables ka- syllables The syllable s uc u es ep esen ed in (12) and (13) a e also un enable o O omo. In his case he compensa o y leng hening p ocess can be adequa ely ep esen ed because he owel leng hened as a consequence o he dele ion o a inal consonan esul s in a long owel wi h he same s uc u e o unde lying long owels (i.e. a complex nucleus in (12) o a b anching hyme in (13)). No e, howe e , ha in hese cases he di ision be ween ligh and hea y syllables is inco ec ly es ablished. A i s e sion o his pape was p esen ed a he Pnme Coloquio de G amA ica Gene a i a held a Mi a lo es de la Sie a, Mad id, Spain, 20-22 Ma ch 1991. The wo k bene i ed om a Pos doc o al Resea ch G an and he PB 89-0344 C.1.C.Y .T. G an . No es 1 See Newman (1972) o a gene al s a emen on he impo ance o he syllable weigh concep . 2 See he p e ious La in example in (6). 3 The ollowing O omo da a a e aken om Llo e (1988). 4 No e ha O omo con as s wi h La in in ea ing CVC syllables as ligh . 5 The e a e only wo excep ions, which ha e o be lexically ma ked: (i) k1i i '+ii -> k'i i ' ii (*k i i ' 'ii) 'chisel' ( ' = ejec i e o glo alized ) (ii) hiik+ii -> hiik ii (*hiikkii) 'ex ension' 6 This phenomenon is adi ionally e e ed o as liaison . 7 The o he p osodic heo ies a e segmen al in he sense ha he numbe o p osodic segmen s in ui i ely w esponds o he numbe o melodic segmen s. Re e ences Clemen s, Geo ge N. and Jay Keyse (1983) CV Phonology , M.I.T. P ess, Ca nb idge, Massachuse s. Hayes, B uce (1989) "Compensa o y Leng hening in Mo aic Phonology", Linguis ic Znqui y , 20, 253-306. Hyman, La y (1985) A Theo y o Phonological Weigh , Fo is Publica ions, Do d ech . I 6, Junko (1989) "A P osodic Theo y o Epen hesis", NLLT ,7, 217-59. Kaye, Jona han D. and Jean Lowens amm (1984) "De la syllabici é" in F. Dell, D. Hi s , and J .-R. Ve gnaud (eds.) Fome sono e du langage: s uc u e des ep ésen a ions en phonologie , He mann, Pa is. Llo e , Ma ia-Rosa (1988) Gemina ion and Vowel Leng h in O omo Mo phophonology , Ph.D. disse a ion, Indiana Uni e si y, Blooming on, Indiana. McCa hy, John (1979) Fo mal P oblems in Semi ic Phonology and Mo phology , IULC, Blooming on, Indiana. McCa hy, John and Alan P ince ( o hcoming) P osodic Mo phology , M.I.T. P ess, Ca nb idge, Massachuse s. Newman, Pau1 (1972) "Syllable Weigh as a Phonological Va iable", S udies in Apican Linguis ics ,3,301-23. T oube zkoy, N. S. (193911967) P incipes de phonologie , Klincksieck, Pa is. UAB Depa amenl de Filologia Ca alana 081 93 Bella ema (Ba celona)