LINGUIST List 9.1225

Sat Sep 5 1998

Books: available for review: Phonology

Editor for this issue: Andrew Carnie <carnielinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Andrew Carnie, Available for Review: Phonology

The three books listed below are in the LINGUIST office and now
available for review. If you are interested in reviewing
a book (or leading a discussion of the book); please contact 
our book review editor, Andrew Carnie, at:

	carnielinguistlist.org

NOTE: Please include in your request message a brief statement about your
research interests, background, affiliation and other information that might
be valuable to help us select a suitable reviewer. Do not provide a
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PHONOLOGY:

James M. Scobbie; Autosegmental Representation in a Declarative
Constraint-Based Framework 0-8153-1949-0, cloth; 280 pages, $61;
Garland Publishing; Outstanding Dissertations in Linguistics

The book examines the formal characterization of multiple association
from the perspective of a declarative constraint-based phonological
framework. Both the autosegmental and constraint-based aspects of the
book are highly relevant to recent developments in phonological
theory, predating the current interest in constraint interaction and
optimization. Inspired by the empirical and formal success of
Unification-Based grammars, all phonological rules and representations
are interpreted as hard constraints on well-formedness.

In general then, constraints are simply conjoined, and faithfulness to
the lexical entry is obligatory. Alternations arise from
underspecification . The multiple sequenced tiers of Autosegmental
Phonology are shown to be redundant, and linear order is limited to
the root tier. Association is then defined as the inverse of dominance
within the feature geometry, so multiple association is co-dominance
of a feature by two roots. The No Crossing Constraint is not
applicable since non-root features are not on sequenced tiers, and
the Sharing Constraint is introduced instead as the key means of
forcing locality on co-dominance: it bans co-dominance by non-
adjacent roots. Thus, because features and association lines are
indestructible, the key Autosegmental properties of Integrity and
Inalterability are predicted to occur.

Long distance dependencies are then considered. From the perspective
of structural integrity, discontinuous geminates in planar
morphologies are more like fake geminates than true geminates, which
is predicted by the Sharing Constraint. Only a tiny amount of nontonal
data can be presented in favor of non-local multiple association which
feeds phonological rules: Chaha displays non-local inalterability
and Javanese, the opposite (side-effects). Thus the balance of
evidence is against a single mechanism uniting local and non-local
multiple association.

PHONOLOGY

Daniel Silverman; Phasing and Recoverability;
0-8153-2876-1, cloth; 256 pages, $56; Garland Publishing; Outstanding
Dissertations in Linguistics

This phonological study investigates the articulatory timing
("phasing") relationships that render acoustic cues optimally
recoverable by the listener, and the strong tendency for languages to
allow sub-optimal timing patterns only if they allow optimal ones. The
primary area of focus is the Otomanguean language group of Oaxaca,
Mexico and neighboring states, which possesses "laryngeally complex"
vowels, a typologically unusual pattern in which tone and non-modal
phonatory settings (breathiness, creakiness)cross-classify. The
laryngeally complex vowels of Jalapa Mazatec, Comaltepec, Chinantec,
and Copala Trique are studied in depth. Also explored are the phasing
relations between obstruents and laryngeals, and sonorants and
laryngeals, including phonological analyses from such diverse groups
as Mon-Khmer, Tibeto-Burman, and Nilotic, among others. Throughout the
investigation, findings from a number of relevant disciplines
aerodynamics, acoustics, audition are applied to the sound patterns in
an effort not only to describe them in phonetic detail, but also to
explain their phonological and typological behavior.

(Ph.D. dissertation, University of California-Los Angeles, 1995;
revised with new bibliography and index)

PHONOLOGY

Burquest, Donald A., author; PHONOLOGICAL ANALYSIS: A FUNCTIONAL 
 APPROACH; Pb; ISBN: 1-55671-067-4; x+314 pp., 1998, 2nd ed., $29.00. 
 Summer Institute of Linguistics.
 
 Human language is a remarkable phenomenon. Its study continues to be a 
 source of fascination and delight. Dr. Donald Burquest, professor of 
 linguistics at the University of Texas at Arlington, developed this 
 foundational textbook during years of helping students overcome the 
 feelings of dismay that new phonology students experience when 
 confronted by a mass of raw phonetic data. While working through the 
 material, the student is led through the steps of organizing data and 
 is introduced to particular theories for later in-depth 
 specialization. The author expands on the previous edition of this 
 text by adding introductions to Autosegmental Phonology and Metrical 
 Phonology. He has also included a series of problems at the end of 
 most chapters that provide an opportunity for the student to apply the 
 information in that chapter. This textbook is intended for use in an 
 upper division introductory course in phonology, preparing the student 
 to further study aspects of current theory.

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