Comparing vowel hiatus resolution in ciNsenga and chiShona: An Optimality Theory analysis: A reply to Galen Sibanda

Maxwell Kadenge,Silvester Ron Simango

doi:10.5842/48-0-695

Abstract

In our article (Kadenge and Simango 2014), we set out to present an Optimality Theory (henceforth OT) analysis of intralinguistic and interlinguistic variation of vowel hiatus resolution in ciNsenga and chiShona. We note the variation between ciNsenga and chiShona with respect to how vowel hiatus is resolved in the verbal domain – specifically when the verb stem is V-initial: ciNsenga tolerates hiatus in those contexts whereas chiShona repairs the hiatus through the insertion of a glide (spreading). We account for these facts by proposing that ALIGN (ROOTVERB, L,σ,L) outranks both ONSET and ALIGNL-PSTEM in ciNsenga whereas in chiShona ONSET and ALIGNL-PSTEM outrank ALIGN (ROOTVERB, L,σ,L). We argue that it is the difference in the ranking of these constraints that gives rise to this interlinguistic variation.

Highlights

We demonstrate in the article that different morphosyntactic domains trigger different repair strategies
We wish to underscore the fact that one of the goals of phonological theory is to account for variation that normally manifests itself via allomorphy, which belongs to morphology
6 Kadenge and Simango this article; it remains an open question as to whether phonology should draw from phonetics, which in itself is the implementation of phonological rules

Summary

Introduction

We demonstrate in the article that different morphosyntactic domains trigger different repair strategies (see inter alia Myers 1987, Mudzingwa 2010, Mudzingwa and Kadenge 2011, Simango and Kadenge 2014, Downing and Kadenge 2015 for related discussion). There is the suggestion that the article could have drawn on solutions from other branches of linguistics such as phonetics, morphology and diachronic findings. We wish to underscore the fact that one of the goals of phonological theory is to account for variation that normally manifests itself via allomorphy, which belongs to morphology.

Results

Conclusion