Marginal contrasts and the Contrastivist Hypothesis

Daniel Currie Hall,Kathleen Currie Hall

doi:10.5334/gjgl.245

Abstract

The Contrastivist Hypothesis (CH; Hall 2007; Dresher 2009) holds that the only features that can be phonologically active in any language are those that serve to distinguish phonemes, which presupposes that phonemic status is categorical. Many researchers, however, demonstrate the existence of gradient relations. For instance, Hall (2009) quantifies these using the information-theoretic measure of entropy (unpredictability of distribution) and shows that a pair of sounds may have an entropy between 0 (totally predictable) and 1 (totally unpredictable).We argue that the existence of such intermediate degrees of contrastiveness does not make the CH untenable, but rather offers insight into contrastive hierarchies. The existence of a continuum does not preclude categorical distinctions: a categorical line can be drawn between zero entropy (entirely predictable, and thus by the CH phonologically inactive) and non-zero entropy (at least partially contrastive, and thus potentially phonologically active). But this does not mean that intermediate degrees of surface contrastiveness are entirely irrelevant to the CH; rather, we argue, they can shed light on how deeply ingrained a phonemic distinction is in the phonological system. As an example, we provide a case study from Pulaar [ATR] harmony, which has previously been claimed to be problematic for the CH. This article is part of the special collection: Marginal ContrastsNote: Correspondence can be addressed equally to Daniel Currie Hall (daniel.hall@utoronto.ca), Kathleen Currie Hall (kathleen.hall@ubc.ca).

Highlights

The Contrastivist Hypothesis (CH; Hall 2007; Dresher 2009) holds that the only features that can be phonologically active in any language are those that serve to distinguish the members of the underlying inventory—i.e., the phonemes—of that language from one another
We propose that it does not, and that marginal contrasts may offer insights into how contrastive hierarchies determined by the Successive Division Algorithm (SDA) change diachronically, and what it takes for learners to acquire them
The CH is about the information that may or must be present in underlying representations; Hall’s (2009) entropy measure quantifies contrastiveness in terms of unpredictability of distribution at any level for which independent evidence is available for representations

Summary

Introduction

The Contrastivist Hypothesis (CH; Hall 2007; Dresher 2009) holds that the only features that can be phonologically active in any language are those that serve to distinguish the members of the underlying inventory—i.e., the phonemes—of that language from one another. Many phonological processes appear to ignore non-contrastive features (see, for example, Kiparsky 1985; Calabrese 2005; and Dresher 2009, among many others); the CH, in its strongest version, predicts that this should always be the case In this context, the Successive Division Algorithm (SDA; Dresher et al 1994; Dresher 2009) has been proposed as a means specifying contrastive (and potentially active) features. Hall and Hall: Marginal contrasts and the Contrastivist Hypothesis different ways in which contrasts can be ‘marginal.’ In this paper, we explore the question of whether the existence of such intermediate degrees of contrastiveness makes the Contrastivist Hypothesis untenable, or even meaningless We propose that it does not, and that marginal contrasts may offer insights into how contrastive hierarchies determined by the SDA change diachronically, and what it takes for learners to acquire them.

The Contrastivist Hypothesis and the Successive Division Algorithm

Marginal contrasts and entropy

A solution

Conclusion