ARE STRICT CYCLE EFFECTS DERIVABLE?

Abstract

The chapter proposes to eliminate the strict cycle condition, arguing that derived environment effects result from the application of structure-building rules to underspecified representations. Derived environment effects, in which a rule fails to apply in non-derived environments that otherwise satisfy its structural description, are generally attributed to the strict cycle condition. The derived environment condition on pre-coronal laminalization (PCL) is predicted by the strict cycle condition, as it applies only when its environment is satisfied as the result of morphological composition. But it cannot be derived from constraints on underlying feature specification because, on analysis of sibilant harmony, at the point at which PCL applies, both the sibilants that undergo PCL and those that fail to undergo PCL are unspecified for the feature as a result of the prior application of distributed delinking. It therefore appears to be impossible to derive strict cycle effects in all cases from underspecification.