1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910455310803321

Titolo

Strength relations in phonology [[electronic resource] /] / edited by Kuniya Nasukawa, Phillip Backley

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Berlin ; ; New York, : Mouton de Gruyter, 2009

ISBN

1-282-18807-0

9786612188077

3-11-021859-3

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (408 p.)

Collana

Studies in generative grammar ; ; 103

Classificazione

ET 200

Altri autori (Persone)

NasukawaKuniya <1967->

BackleyPhillip

Disciplina

414

Soggetti

Grammar, Comparative and general - Phonology

Mutation (Phonetics)

Electronic books.

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Description based upon print version of record.

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Nota di contenuto

Frontmatter -- Contents -- Contributors -- Introduction -- Part I: Segmental strength -- Why final obstruent devoicing is weakening -- Headship as melodic strength -- Transparency in nasal harmony and the limits of reductionism -- Developmental shifts in phonological strength relations -- Strength relations and first language acquisition -- Modelling initial weakenings -- Part II: Prosodic strength -- Against rhymal adjuncts: the syllabic affiliation of English postvocalic consonants -- Defining initial strength in clusterless languages in Strict CV -- Strength relations between consonants: a syllable-basedOT approach -- The phonological structure of the Limburg tonal accents -- Projection of licensing potency from a phonological expression -- Backmatter

Sommario/riassunto

This collection of papers focuses on the general theme of phonological strength, bringing together current work being undertaken in a variety of leading theoretical frameworks. Its aim is to show how referring directly to strength relations can facilitate explanation in different parts of the phonological grammar. The papers introduce illuminating data from a wide range of languages including English, Dutch, German,



Greek, Japanese, Bambara, Yuhup, Nivkh, Sesotho and other Bantu systems, demonstrating how strength differences are central to the analysis of phonological patterning not only in well-documented cases of segmental asymmetry but also in other areas of description including language acquisition, pitch accent patterns and tonal phenomena. All of the contributors agree on the need for a phonological (as opposed to a phonetic) approach to the question of strength differences, and show how a strength-based analysis may proceed in various theoretical models including Dependency Phonology, Government Phonology, Strict CV Phonology and Optimality Theory. Many of the papers develop a structural account of their data, in which strength relations are understood to reflect asymmetric licensing relations holding between units in representations. The volume provides a snapshot of current thinking on the question of strength in phonology. The range of language data and theoretical contexts it explores give a clear indication that phonological strength acts as a common thread to unite a range of apparently unrelated patterns and processes.