Linguistics 110 Zhang/Öztürk/Quinn

Class 11 (10/28/02)

The Organization of Grammar, Briefly

(1) Does syntax also set up environments for phonology?

a. in Buffalo e. in the subway
b. on Park St. f. ten things
c. one fish, two fish g. on Causeway St.
d. can violets grow here? h. on Garden St.

(2) Componential organization

Component: a rule system of language largely independent of other components.

Conjectured components: syntactic, semantic, derivational morphology, inflectional

morphology, phonological, phonetic.

I. Derivational morphology: extracts words from the lexicon:

/bIl/N ‘name’
/lid/V ‘go before’
/kçl/V ‘...’
/Iz/V,Aux ‘copula’
etc.

Forms new words with morphological rules.

II. Syntax: concatenates words to form sentences; also assigns morphological

features, e.g., [ddZ¡mp][Verb, +3rd person, -plural, +present] (semantic component assigns the
meaning)

III. Inflectional morphology: creates inflected forms of the words (example:

[ddZ¡mp][Verb, +3rd person, -plural, +present] → [[ddZ¡mp]z])

IV. Phonology: phonological rules apply in order to derive phonetic form

V. Phonetics: converts phonological representations to articulatory and perceptual

representations

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 Neutralization

(3) Some Japanese verb paradigms ([u] = [µB])

negative volitional present past
a. Sin-anai Sin-itai Sin-u Sin-da ‘die’
b. in-anai in-itai in-u in-da ‘go back’ (archaic Japanese)

c. sum-anai sum-itai sum-u sun-da ‘live’

d. jom-anai jom-itai jom-u jon-da ‘read’
e. kam-anai kam-itai kam-u kan-da ‘bite, chew’
f. um-anai um-itai um-u un-da ‘produce (as of children)’
g. tanom-anai tanom-itai tanom-u tanon-da ‘ask’

(4) Testimony of one native speaker: The neutralizing direction

Linguist: “Let’s set up a scenario, with the idea of imagining a word that is true, real
Japanese, but just happens to be a word you don’t know. Imagine that we go out to
the countryside near Tokyo, and find an elderly farmer who remembers all the old
traditional ways. He shows you a particular method of irrigating the fields, uses the
word for this, as it happens, in the negative form. The word is [tamanai]. Later you
return to Tokyo, and want to use this verb in the past tense, in talking to others about
your visit. How do you say the past tense of [tamanai]?’
Consultant:
Linguist: “Let’s continue the scenario. The farmer shows you a particular way of
putting a bell on a cow. In the negative, this is [tananai]. What is the past?”
Consultant:

(5) The anti-neutralizing direction

Linguist: [same scenario] “… The farmer shows you a particular method of
preparing seeds for planting, and uses the word for this, as it happens, in the past
tense. The word is [kinda]. Later you return to Tokyo, and want to use this verb in
the present tense, in talking to others about your visit. How do you say the present
tense of [kinda]?’
Both consultants:
Linguist: “Would [kimu] also be ok?
Both consultants:

(6) How should the consultants’ testimony be interpreted?

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(7) Neutralization
Defn: the realization of two different phonemes as the same phone in the same
environment.

m n

[n]

(8) Some further encouraging Japanese data

[hoN] ‘book’
[hommo] ‘book-too’
[honda] ‘is book’
[honda] ‘famous brand of automobile’
[honni] ‘in book’
[hoNka] ‘book?’
[hoj)ja] ‘bookstore’
[how)wa] ‘book-topic’

(9) A commonplace scenario for neutralization

• Language L has a certain phonological contrast, but this contrast can only be
realized in a limited contexts (e.g., Japanese nasal place contrast can only be
realized before a V).
• The morphology of L provides the environment that permits the contrast, but only
some of the time.
• Therefore the contrast is neutralized when the morphology does not provide the
crucial environment.

(10) Data on English Flapping

a. data [»deIR´] b. detain [di»teIn]
throttle [»T®ARl`] Sawtelle [sç»tEl]
butter [»b√R´’] deter [di»tŒ’]
ditty [»dIRi] petition [p´»tIS´n]
notify [»noUR´«faI] rotisserie [®oU»tIs´®i]

c. vanity [»vQn´Ri, »vQn´ti]

marital [»me®´Rl`, »me®´tl`]
inheritance [In»he®´R´ns, In»he®´t´ns]
Sheraton [»Se®´R´n, »Se®´t´n]

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(11) Further Flapping Data
a. Ida [»aIR´] b. reduce [®´»dus]
idle [»aIRl`] Adelle [´»dEl]
rudder [»®√R´’] predict [p®´»dIkt]
Daddy [»dQRi] reduction [®´»d√kS´n]
edify [»ER´«faI] idolatry [aI»dAl´tri]

c. parody [»pe®´Ri, »pe®´di]

comedy [»kAm´Ri, »kAm´di]
precedence [»p®Es´R´ns, »p®Es´d´ns]
Sheridan [»SE®´R´n, »SE®´d´n]

(12) Alternations from Flapping

write [»®aIt] writing [»®aIRIN]
ride [»®aId] riding [»®aIRIN]
white [»waIt] whiter [»waIR´’]
wide [»waId] wider [»waIR´’]
lout [»laUt] loutish [»laURIS]
loud [»laUd] loudish [»laURIS]

POLISH VOWEL ALTERNATIONS

(13) Class I examples1

[sveteR] ‘sweater’ [svetR-ˆ] ‘sweater-nom. pl.’
[vjadeR] ‘pail-gen. pl.’ [vjadR-o] ‘pail-nom. sg.’
[meandeR] ‘meander’ [meandR-a] ‘meander-gen. sg.’
[RobeR] ‘rubber’ [RobR-em] ‘rubber-instr. sg.’
[bimbeR] ‘moonshine’ [bimbR-u] ‘moonshine-gen. sg.’
[vihaisteR] ‘thingummy’ [vihaistR-a] ‘thingummy-gen. sg.’
[sen] ‘dream’ [sn-u] ‘dream-gen. sg.’
[len] ‘flax’ [ln-u] ‘flax-gen. sg.’
[mex] ‘moss’ [mx-u] ‘moss-gen. sg.’
[tew] ‘background-gen.pl.’ [tw-o] ‘background-nom. sg.’

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All unaffixed forms are nominative singulars.

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(14) Class II examples
[kRateR] ‘crater’ [kRateR-ˆ] ‘crater-nom. pl.’
[lideR] ‘leader’ [lideR-a] ‘leader-gen. sg.’
[oRdeR] ‘order’ [oRdeR-u] ‘order-gen. sg.’
[vapje¯] ‘limestone’ [vapje¯-a] ‘limestone-gen. sg.’
[teRen] ‘terrain’ [teRen-u] ‘terrain-gen. sg.’
[t˛enj] ‘shadow’ [t˛enj-a] ‘shadow-gen. sg.’
[kRet] ‘mole’ [kRet-a] ‘mole-gen. sg.’
[SmeR] ‘rustle’ [SmeR-u] ‘rustle-gen. sg.’
[bjes] ‘devil’ [bjes-a] ‘devil-gen. sg.’

(15) Polish: Socratic queries

• From the data given so far, epenthesis or deletion?
• Is the underlying form the isolation form?
• What is the neutralizing rule?

(16) What’s the procedure that we followed for Polish?

a) Split up root and affixes: [sveteR] ~ [svetR-ˆ], [krateR-ˆ], [sen] ~ [sn-u], [t˛enj] ~
[t˛enj-a]
b) Locate all allomorphs of roots and/or affixes: [sveteR] ~ [svetR], [krateR], [sen]
~ [sn], [t˛enj]. (Affixes don’t alternate.)
c) Determine which segments alternate: [e] ~ ∅.
d) Hypothesize underlying forms (consider multiple hypothesis where useful).
e) The “Two Hypothesis Method”: if A alternates with B, consider deriving B from
underlying A, and A from underlying B: either ∅ → e, or e → ∅
f) Reconstruct underlying representations by stringing together underlying forms,
following the rules of the morphology: if insertion, these are /svetR/, /svetR-ˆ/,
/krateR/, /krateR-ˆ/, /sn/, /sn-u/, /t˛enj/, /t˛enj-a/. Where no alternation, assume
“what you hear is what you get.” Where alternation, go by the hypothesis you
are working with.
g) Figure out rules and environments. If necessary, sort environments in the same
way one does for allophonics problems.