Syntax–Phonology Interface

Abstract

The bulk of evidence concerning the syntax–phonology interface shows an influence of syntax on phonology. The domain structure for sentence-level phonological and phonetic phenomena, which forms part of the surface phonological representation (PR) of the sentence, is defined through an interaction of two types of constraints: syntax–prosodic structure interface constraints, which call for certain properties of the surface syntactic representation of the sentence (PF) to be reflected in domain structure in PR, and prosodic structure markedness constraints, which call for the surface prosodic structure to display patterns of unmarked prosodic structure. The effects of prosodic markedness constraints argue against direct access theories, which see phonological phenomena as defined directly on the surface syntax. Distinguishing PF and PR raises the question whether PF is input to the phonological component, with PR the output, as in standard models of generative grammar, or whether there may be mutual influence. Current models of grammar would countenance effects in the other direction, with the possibility of phonological principles constraining the range of acceptable surface syntactic representations, and research is beginning to explore this area.