Synchronic stratum-specific rates of application reflect diachronic change: morphosyntactic conditioning of variation in English /l/-darkening

Danielle Turton

doi:10.2218/pihph.1.2016.1697

Abstract

Phonological processes that exhibit morphosyntactic sensitivity can provide evidence of historical processes which have ascended through the grammar over time. English /l/-darkening shows such effects. Although syllable-based accounts state that light [l] occurs in onsets (e.g. light) and dark [ɫ] in codas (e.g. dull), several studies report overapplication of darkening to onset /l/ in certain morphosyntactically defined positions: e.g. word-finally in phrases such as heal it, and stem-finally before a suffix in words such as heal-ing. Although many phonological theories attempt to account for such opacity, they cannot adequately account for the potential variability in application alongside this.The present paper explores these ideas through modelling data on /l/- darkening in English taken from Hayes’s (2000) Optimality Theoretic study. It is argued that a combined Stochastic Stratal OT approach to the data is an improvement over a parallel stochastic model (e.g. Boersma & Hayes 2001) because it avoids fixed innate constraint rankings, which are required to prevent the prediction of impossible grammars. Moreover, it is shown that observations about the diachronic life cycle of phonological processes enable us to deduce quantitative predictions about rates: should apply with lower frequency in smaller morphosyntactic domains.

Highlights

Since the advent of Optimality Theory (Prince & Smolensky 1993; OT), numerous methods have been devised to describe phonological variation within a constraint-based framework (Anttila 1997, 2007; Coetzee 2004; Coetzee & Pater 2011)
One notable advantage of Stochastic OT is its association with the Gradual Learning Algorithm (GLA)
This paper explores the possibility of combining Stochastic OT with a different theory of the morphosyntax-phonology interface: Stratal OT (Bermúdez-Otero 1999, 2011, Forthcoming; Kiparsky 2000)

Summary

Introduction

Since the advent of Optimality Theory (Prince & Smolensky 1993; OT), numerous methods have been devised to describe phonological variation within a constraint-based framework (Anttila 1997, 2007; Coetzee 2004; Coetzee & Pater 2011). Hayes demonstrated that the process of /l/-darkening in English is morphosyntactically conditioned, yielding higher frequencies of dark [ɫ] in complex heal-ing than in monomorphemic Hayley Such alternations raise challenges for the study of variation as, in addition to a model of variable processes, they require a theory of the morphosyntax-phonology interface. In some dialects of English the process has been found to overapply when /l/ surfaces in the onset, yielding dark [ɫ] word- inally in phrases such as heal it, and stem- inally before a suf ix in words such as heal-ing (Jensen 1993; Olive et al 1993; Carter 2003; Bermúdez-Otero 2007; Turton 2014a,b).1 These instances of opaque overapplication demonstrate that /l/-darkening is sensitive to morphosyntactic structure, a fact which Boersma & Hayes (2001) seek to incorporate into their model In some dialects of English the process has been found to overapply when /l/ surfaces in the onset, yielding dark [ɫ] word- inally in phrases such as heal it, and stem- inally before a suf ix in words such as heal-ing (Jensen 1993; Olive et al 1993; Carter 2003; Bermúdez-Otero 2007; Turton 2014a,b). These instances of opaque overapplication demonstrate that /l/-darkening is sensitive to morphosyntactic structure, a fact which Boersma & Hayes (2001) seek to incorporate into their model

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Conclusion