LINGUIST List 18.2088
Tue Jul 10 2007
Diss: Phonetics/Phonology: Linebaugh: 'Phonetic Grounding and Phono...'
Editor for this issue: Hunter Lockwood
<hunterlinguistlist.org>
Directory
1. gary
linebaugh,
Phonetic Grounding and Phonology: Vowel backness harmony and vowel height harmony
Message 1: Phonetic Grounding and Phonology: Vowel backness harmony and vowel height harmony
Date: 10-Jul-2007
From: gary linebaugh <linebauguiuc.edu>
Subject: Phonetic Grounding and Phonology: Vowel backness harmony and vowel height harmony
Institution: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Program: Department of Linguistics
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2007
Author: Gary Linebaugh
Dissertation Title: Phonetic Grounding and Phonology: Vowel backness harmony and vowel height harmony
Linguistic Field(s):
Phonetics
Phonology
Dissertation Director:
Jennifer Cole
Dissertation Abstract:
Many common phonological patterns are grounded in phonetic processes. Inthis dissertation, I argue that the phonetic principles ease ofarticulation and vowel-to-vowel (V-V) coarticulation are factors in thedevelopment of vowel harmony. Listeners fail to compensate for theunintended variation introduced by V-V coarticulation and the naturaltendency to reduce effort, and as a result, pronunciation norms arechanged. Experiments described in this dissertation reveal that the effectsof these factors are asymmetrical with respect to influences on vowelbackness harmony (VBH) and vowel height harmony (VHH). VBH facilitatesspeech production in a way that VHH does not, and variation introduced byvowel-to-vowel coarticulation is highly systematic with respect to theeffects on F2, but less systematic in terms of the effects on F1. Theasymmetry in the experimental findings is matched by typologicalasymmetries between VBH and VHH. VBH is a robust and pervasive type ofharmony, while VHH is more constrained. The consistency in the experimentalfindings and typological observations lead me to conclude that vowelharmony is shaped by the phonetic factors ease of articulation and V-Vcoarticulation.
I further conclude that the difference between VBH and VHH indicates thatphonological approaches that model vowel harmony as spreading or agreementof features are inadequate. Within those models, there is no predictionthat VBH and VHH should be fundamentally different. Typological patterns ofharmony are influenced by phonetic processes of speech. It is not necessaryto assume phonological patterns are shaped by innate features or innateconstraints. It is possible that features and constraints exert influencein the shaping of phonological patterns, but such influence is redundant.Occam's Razor suggests there is no need to rely on features and constraintswhen it comes to explaining patterns that are explicable through referenceto phonetics.
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