Phonological Government Research Articles

Word-stress and the distribution of consonant clusters in English

Empty categories have been around in linguistics for a long time already. In particular, Strict CV-Phonology promotes a strictly alternating CV skeleton where members of a traditional consonant cluster enclose an empty vocalic position, while the two consecutive vocalic positions of a long vowel or a diphthong flank an empty consonantal position. Although the concept of empty skeletal positions might seem strange at first blush, its importance can be likened to the importance of the concept of zero in mathematics. This also means that traditional consonant clusters are just surface manifestations of underlying CVCV sequences. The aim of this paper is to seek a principled account for the distribution of different types of vocalic positions and consonant clusters by promoting the algorithm put forward in Csides (2008). It seems that this algorithm treats the distribution of different types of consonant clusters and the distribution of stressed versus unstressed vocalic positions in a unified manner. In order to be able to grasp the parallel between stress-related issues and the distribution of different types of consonant clusters, we must part with some of the basic tenets of standard Government Phonology and Strict CV. Contrary to mainstream assumptions, I wish to maintain bidirectional government in Phonology, cf. Csides (2008). It is important to emphasize that unidirectional theories have been promoted mainly in the phonological literature. Scheer (2004), Szigetvári (1999) and many others assume that government in phonology is strictly right-to-left, an idea that probably originates in the concepts of Proper Government (PG) of standard GP. Rowicka (1999), however, assumes that government proceeds in the opposite direction, i.e., it is left-to-right. Csides (2008) resolves this conflict by proposing that government goes in both directions but in a principled manner. Another novel, non-mainstream proposal of Csides (2008) is also maintained in the present framework, namely that government can target empty and contentful skeletal positions alike.

Government in Phonology

Government in Phonology

Representation of turbulent sounds in German: a government approach

The unfolding discussion will focus on the internal representation of turbulent sounds in the phonology of German as well as pinpoint the special status of the prime defining the quality of turbulence. It will also be argued that this prime is capable of entering into special types of licensing relations, which results in specific phonetic manifestations of forms. We shall compare the effects of two processes attested in German: consonant degemination and spirantisation with a view to revealing the role of the turbulence-defining element in the two operations. Furthermore, our attention will be focused on the workings of the Obligatory Contour Principle which, as will be shown below, exerts decisive impact on prime interplay and consequently the phonetic realization of sounds and words. We shall see that segmental identity is contingent on the languagespecific interpretation of inter-element bonds.
 
 Aware of the importance of prime autonomy in determining the manifestation of sounds, let us start with a brief outline of the fundamental segment structure principles offered by the theory of Phonological Government.

A strict CV approach to consonant lenition: bidirectional government in English phonology

This paper develops the notion of licensed proper government in phonology and addresses the issue of why there is no consonant lenition word-initially in English and in a host of other languages. This task is carried out through a case study of the distribution of flapped versus aspirated /t/ in General American (GA). The focus is directed towards the structural aspects of lenition, and, in particular, those environments where there is an absence of lenition. I show how the machinery of bidirectional government allows us to draw a clear-cut distinction between governing relations established in the lexicon and those established post-lexically. In order to account for the distribution of flapped, glottal and aspirated allophones of /t/, I will make reference to two factors: lack of licence to govern, and the idea that a consonantal position cannot be licensed and governed simultaneously by the same vocalic position.

Universal grammar and syntax/phonology parallelisms

I consider a set of putative parallels, often said to be given by UG, between phonology and (what is typically taken to constitute) syntax. These include the claim that syllable structure and sentence structure exhibit serious linguistic parallels [Pierrehumbert, J., 1990. Phonological and phonetic representation. Journal of Phonetics 19, 375–394; Durand, J., 1995. Universalism in phonology: atoms, structures and derivation. In: Durand, J., Katamba, F. (Eds.), Frontiers of Phonology. Longman, London, pp. 267–288; Carstairs-McCarthy, A., 1999. The Origins of Complex Language: an Inquiry into the Evolutionary Beginnings of Sentences, Syllables and Truth. Oxford University Press, Oxford]; the claim that featural composition of phonological and syntactic objects is a specifically linguistic phenomenon, constituting a significant, specifically linguistic, parallelism between such objects; the claim that phonological constituents, like syntactic constituents, may be recursive; the claim that phonological heads are genuinely parallel to syntactic heads (and, relatedly, that phonological objects also contain specifiers, modifiers and complements: [Anderson, 2006; van der Hulst, H., 2000. Modularity and modality in phonology. In: Burton-Roberts, N., Carr, P., Docherty, G.J. (Eds.), Phonological Knowledge: Conceptual and Empirical Issues. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 207–243]); and the claim [Charette, M., 1991. Conditions on Phonological Government. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge] that the notion c-command plays a role in both syntax and phonology. We counter all of these claims. We also argue that the notion ‘movement’ as appealed to in syntactic analysis has no analogue in phonology. We then set these arguments in the context of a more general discussion of the nature of universality and the relationship between phonological knowledge and (allegedly) innate linguistic knowledge.

‘I blame the government’

There are many competing theories of phonology, each seeking to best explain the range of phonological processes and types of segmental inventories which are attested in the languages of the world. This paper seeks to investigate the claims and assumptions of one such theory: ‘Government Phonology’. The starting point for discussion is Shohei Yoshida’s monograph Phonological Government in Japanese, in which the author endeavours to apply the theory to a range of phonological and morphophonological data from Japanese. Certain of Yoshida’s specific claims are discussed, but the aim of this piece is wider than a simple review. The chief theoretical concepts used in the theory are introduced and critically discussed, and various connections to other theories of phonology in particular and language in general are investigated.

Shohei Yoshida,Phonological government in Japanese (Faculty of Asian Studies Monographs. New series; no. 20). Canberra: Australian National University, 1996. Pp. ix+196.

<b>Shohei Yoshida,</b><i>Phonological government in Japanese</i> (Faculty of Asian Studies Monographs. New series; no. 20). Canberra: Australian National University, 1996. Pp. ix+196.

Conditions on Phonological Government

Preface Introduction 1. A theory of government in phonology 2. The 'e-muet' in French 3. Earlier treatments of schwa 4. An analysis of schwa in terms of government 5. Licence to govern 6. Word-final empty nuclei 7. Compounds and phrases 8. The alternation between schwa/zero and [e] 9. Miscellaneous issues Conclusion Notes References Index.

On government in phonology

An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. Please use the Get access link above for information on how to access this content.

Segmental complexity and phonological government

In this article, I explore a class of phonological reduction phenomena which highlight the role of segmental complexity in phonological government. I discuss a condition on phonological representations which requires that a segment occupying a governed position be no more complex than its governor, where complexity is straightforwardly calculated in terms of the number of elements of which a segment is composed. More generally, the present enterprise is to be seen as part of a wider programme in which reduction phenomena, including those traditionally referred to as lenition, are examined for the light they shed on the internal structure of consonants.

Constituent structure and government in phonology

Our aim in this paper is to address certain empirical and conceptual issues in the theory of Universal Phonology. Specifically, we will formulate a number of proposals aimed at characterising the notion ‘possible syllable' and ‘possible word'. The principles we will lay out follow from what we see as a unified theory of phonological government.The introduction of the notion of multi-levelled representations, as well as the recognition of constituent structure organisation in phonology, has allowed for a shift from mainly segment-internal, paradigmatic considerations to the study of syntagmatic relations holding between phonological units. What is now required is nothing less than a syntax of phonological expressions.

GOVERNMENT IN PHONOLOGY. The Case of Moroccan Arabic

GOVERNMENT IN PHONOLOGY. The Case of Moroccan Arabic