Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-23T13:35:43.628Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Moro voicelessness dissimilation and binary [voice] *

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 December 2017

Wm. G. Bennett  and
Sharon Rose
Wm. G. Bennett*
Affiliation:
University of Calgary and Rhodes University
Sharon Rose*
Affiliation:
University of California, San Diego
*
E-mail: william.bennett@ucalgary.ca, rose@ling.ucsd.edu.
E-mail: william.bennett@ucalgary.ca, rose@ling.ucsd.edu.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This paper reports on a pattern of voicelessness dissimilation in the Kordofanian language Moro. Voiceless stops and affricates become voiced before a voiceless obstruent in a transvocalic configuration. The dissimilation is robust, and productive across morphological contexts. Phonetically, voicing in Moro is realised as a difference between prevoicing and short-lag voice onset time. This makes [voice] the most realistic featural characterisation; using another feature like [spread glottis] in lieu of [–voice] doesn't explain the contrast. Consequently, dissimilation of voicelessness in Moro is strong evidence that [voice] is a binary feature, and that […voice] may be phonologically active despite being ‘unmarked’. We show that when [–voice] is admitted, the Moro pattern is straightforwardly analysed on a par with other cases of dissimilation. Our analysis uses the theory of surface correspondence, which carries no crucial assumptions about markedness; other theories of dissimilation are considered in an online supplement.

Type
Articles
Information
Phonology , Volume 34 , Issue 3 , December 2017 , pp. 473 - 505
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

*

For helpful feedback and discussion, we thank the audience at OCP in Leiden/Amsterdam, Marc Garellek and the Phonology anonymous reviewers, associate editor and editors. This work was supported by the American Philosophical Society, the Rhodes University Research Committee and NSF grant BCS-0745973 ‘Moro Language Project’ (Rose). We also gratefully acknowledge the Moro speakers, Ikhlas Elahmer, Elyasir Julima and Angelo Naser. Authors’ names are in alphabetical order.

References

REFERENCES

Alderete, John (1997). Dissimilation as local conjunction. NELS 27. 17–31.Google Scholar
Alderete, John & Frisch, Stefan A. (2007). Dissimilation in grammar and the lexicon. In de Lacy, Paul (ed.) The Cambridge handbook of phonology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 379–398.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Avery, Peter (1996). The representation of voicing contrasts. PhD dissertation, University of Toronto.Google Scholar
Avery, Peter (1997). Voicing assimilation and the specification of [voice]. Toronto Working Papers in Linguistics 16. 21–35.Google Scholar
Avery, Peter & Idsardi, William J. (2001). Laryngeal dimensions, completion and enhancement. In Hall (2001). 41–70.Google Scholar
Backley, Phillip (2011). An introduction to Element Theory. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Beckman, Jill, Helgason, Pétur, McMurray, Bob & Ringen, Catherine (2011). Rate effects on Swedish VOT: evidence for phonological overspecification. JPh 39. 39–49.Google Scholar
Beckman, Jill, Jessen, Michael & Ringen, Catherine (2013). Empirical evidence for laryngeal features: aspirating vs. true voice languages. JL 49. 259–284.Google Scholar
Bennett, Wm. G. (2015). The phonology of consonants: harmony, dissimilation, and correspondence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Black, Keith & Black, Betty (1971). The Moro language grammar and dictionary. Khartoum: Sudan Research Unit.Google Scholar
Brown, Jason (2016). Laryngeal assimilation, markedness and typology. Phonology 33. 393–423.Google Scholar
Bye, Patrik (2011). Dissimilation. In van Oostendorp, Marc, Ewen, Colin J., Hume, Elizabeth & Rice, Keren (eds.) The Blackwell companion to phonology. Malden, Mass.: Wiley-Blackwell. 1408–1433.Google Scholar
Cho, Taehong & Ladefoged, Peter (1999). Variation and universals in VOT: evidence from 18 languages. JPh 27. 207–229.Google Scholar
Cho, Young-mee Yu (1990). A typology of voicing assimilation. WCCFL 9. 141–155.Google Scholar
Clements, G. N. (2001). Representational economy in constraint-based phonology. In Hall (2001). 71–146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clements, G. N. (2003). Feature economy in sound systems. Phonology 20. 287–333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coetzee, Andries W. (2014). Grammatical change through lexical accumulation: voicing cooccurrence restrictions in Afrikaans. Lg 90. 693–721.Google Scholar
Coetzee, Andries W. & Pater, Joe (2008). Weighted constraints and gradient restrictions on place co-occurrence in Muna and Arabic. NLLT 26. 289–337.Google Scholar
Davy, J. I. M. & Nurse, Derek (1982). Synchronic versions of Dahl's Law: the multiple applications of a phonological dissimilation law. Journal of African Languages and Linguistics 4. 157–195.Google Scholar
Downing, Laura J. (1998). On the prosodic misalignment of onsetless syllables. NLLT 16. 1–52.Google Scholar
de Lacy, Paul (2006). Markedness: reduction and preservation in phonology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Faytak, Matthew (2014). Dissimilation by surface correspondence in Aghem velarized diphthongs. In Kingston, John, Moore-Cantwell, Claire, Pater, Joe & Staubs, Robert (eds.) Proceedings of the 2013 Meeting on Phonology. http://dx.doi.org/10.3765/amp.v1i1.52.Google Scholar
Flack, Kathryn (2009). Constraints on onsets and codas of words and phrases. Phonology 26. 269–302.Google Scholar
Francis, Alexander L., Ciocca, Valter & Ching Yu, Jojo Man (2002). Accuracy and variability of acoustic measures of voicing onset. JASA 113. 1025–1032.Google Scholar
Frisch, Stefan A. (2004). Language processing and segmental OCP effects. In Hayes, Bruce, Kirchner, Robert & Steriade, Donca (eds.) Phonetically based phonology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. 346–371.Google Scholar
Frisch, Stefan A., Pierrehumbert, Janet B. & Broe, Michael B. (2004). Similarity avoidance and the OCP. NLLT 22. 179–228.Google Scholar
Gallagher, Gillian (2010a). Perceptual distinctness and long-distance laryngeal restrictions. Phonology 27. 435–480.Google Scholar
Gallagher, Gillian (2010b). The perceptual basis of long-distance laryngeal restrictions. PhD dissertation, MIT.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallagher, Gillian (2011). Acoustic and articulatory features in phonology – the case for [long VOT]. The Linguistic Review 28. 281–313.Google Scholar
Gibbard, George, Rohde, Hannah & Rose, Sharon (2009). Moro noun class morphology. In Matondo, Masangu, Laughlin, Fiona Mc & Potsdam, Eric (eds.) Selected Proceedings of the 38th Annual Conference on African Linguistics. Somerville, Mass.: Cascadilla. 106–117.Google Scholar
Hall, T. Alan (ed.) (2001). Distinctive feature theory. Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hansson, Gunnar Ólafur (2010). Consonant harmony: long-distance interaction in phonology. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Honeybone, Patrick (2005). Diachronic evidence in segmental phonology: the case of obstruent laryngeal specifications. In van Oostendorp, Marc & van de Weijer, Jeroen (eds.) The internal organization of phonological segments. Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter. 317–351.Google Scholar
Inkelas, Sharon & Shih, Stephanie S. (2013). ABC+Q: contour segments and tones in (sub)segmental Agreement by Correspondence. Paper presented at the 18th Manchester Phonology Meeting. Handout available (August 2017) at http://www.linguistics.berkeley.edu/~stephsus/InkelasShih-mfm2013.pdf.Google Scholar
Ito, Junko & Mester, Armin (1998). Markedness and word structure: OCP effects in Japanese. Ms, University of California, Santa Cruz. Available as ROA-255 from the Rutgers Optimality Archive.Google Scholar
Iverson, Gregory K. & Salmons, Joseph C. (1995). Aspiration and laryngeal representation in Germanic. Phonology 12. 369–396.Google Scholar
Iverson, Gregory K. & Salmons, Joseph C. (1999). Glottal spreading bias in Germanic. Linguistische Berichte 178. 135–151.Google Scholar
Iverson, Gregory K. & Salmons, Joseph C. (2003). Laryngeal enhancement in early Germanic. Phonology 20. 43–74.Google Scholar
Jenks, Peter (2013). Noun phrases in Moro. In Schadeberg, Thilo C. & Blench, Roger M. (eds.) Nuba mountain language studies. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe. 57–82.Google Scholar
Jurgec, Peter (2011). Feature spreading 2.0: a unified theory of assimilation. PhD dissertation, University of Tromsø.Google Scholar
Keating, Patricia A. (1984). Phonetic and phonological representation of stop consonant voicing. Lg 60. 286–319.Google Scholar
Kent, Roland G. (1936). Assimilation and dissimilation. Lg 12. 245–258.Google Scholar
Kingston, John & Diehl, Randy L. (1994). Phonetic knowledge. Lg 70. 419–454.Google Scholar
Kingston, John, Lahiri, Aditi & Diehl, Randy L. (2011). On [–voice]. Ms, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Oxford University & University of Texas at Austin.Google Scholar
Kiparsky, Paul (1982). From cyclic to lexical phonology. In van der Hulst, Harry & Smith, Norval (eds.) The structure of phonological representations. Part 1. Dordrecht: Foris. 131–175.Google Scholar
Krämer, Martin (2000). Voicing alternations and underlying representations: the case of Breton. Lingua 110. 639–663.Google Scholar
Krämer, Martin (2001). Yucatec Maya vowel alternations: harmony as syntagmatic identity. Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft 20. 175–217.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krämer, Martin (2003). Vowel harmony and Correspondence Theory. Berlin & New York: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Lombardi, Linda (1991). Laryngeal features and laryngeal neutralization. PhD dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Published 1994, New York: Garland.Google Scholar
Lombardi, Linda (1995). Dahl's law and privative [voice]. LI 26. 365–372.Google Scholar
Lombardi, Linda (1999). Positional faithfulness and voicing assimilation in Optimality Theory. NLLT 17. 267–302.Google Scholar
McCarthy, John J. (1986). OCP effects: gemination and antigemination. LI 17. 207–263.Google Scholar
Meinhof, Carl (1932). Introduction to the phonology of the Bantu languages, being the English version of ‘Grundriß einer Lautlehre der Bantusprachen’. Translated, revised and enlarged by van Warmelo, N. J.. Berlin: Reimer & Vohsen.Google Scholar
Mester, Armin & Itô, Junko (1989). Feature predictability and underspecification: palatal prosody in Japanese mimetics. Lg 65. 258–293.Google Scholar
Myers, Scott (1997). OCP effects in Optimality Theory. NLLT 15. 847–892.Google Scholar
Noguchi, Masaki (2014). Dorsal harmony and dissimilation in Mayan languages. UC Berkeley Phonology Lab Annual Report: ABC Conference Archive. Available (August 2017) at http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/phonlab/documents/2014/ABCC/Noguchi.pdf.Google Scholar
Ohala, John J. (1981). The listener as a source of sound change. In Masek, C. S., Hendrick, R. A. & Miller, M. F. (eds.) Papers from the parasession on language and behavior. Chicago: Chicago Linguistic Society. 178–203.Google Scholar
Ohala, John J. & Riordan, Carol J. (1979). Passive vocal tract enlargement during voiced stops. In Wolf, Jared J. & Klatt, Dennis H. (eds.) Speech communication papers presented at the 97th Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America. Melville, NY: Acoustical Society of America. 89–92.Google Scholar
Petrova, Olga, Plapp, Rosemary, Ringen, Catherine & Szentgyörgyi, Szilárd (2006). Voice and aspiration: evidence from Russian, Hungarian, German, Swedish, and Turkish. The Linguistic Review 23. 1–35.Google Scholar
Pierrehumbert, Janet B. (1993). Dissimilarity in the Arabic verbal roots. NELS 23. 367–381.Google Scholar
Quint, Nicolas (2009). The phonology of Koalib: a Kordofanian language of the Nuba mountains (Sudan) . Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.Google Scholar
Rice, Keren & Avery, Peter (1990). On the representation of voice. NELS 20. 428–442.Google Scholar
Ritchart, Amanda & Rose, Sharon (2015). Schwas in Moro vowel harmony. In Kramer, Ruth, Zsiga, Elizabeth C. & Boyer, One Tlale (eds.) Selected proceedings of the 44th Annual Conference on African Linguistics. Somerville, Mass.: Cascadilla. 231–242.Google Scholar
Ritchart, Amanda & Rose, Sharon (2017). Moro vowel harmony: implications for transparency and representations. Phonology 34. 163–200.Google Scholar
Roberts, Philip J. (2014). The curious incident of the Latin liquids. UC Berkeley Phonology Lab Annual Report: ABC Conference Archive. Available (August 2017) at http://linguistics.berkeley.edu/phonlab/documents/2014/ABCC/Roberts.pdf.Google Scholar
Rose, Sharon (2000). Rethinking geminates, long-distance geminates, and the OCP. LI 31. 85–122.Google Scholar
Rose, Sharon & Walker, Rachel (2004). A typology of consonant agreement as correspondence. Lg 80. 475–531.Google Scholar
Schadeberg, Thilo C. (1981). A survey of Kordofanian . Vol. 1: The Heiban group. Hamburg: Buske.Google Scholar
Schadeberg, Thilo C. (1999). Katupha's Law in Makhuwa. In Hombert, Jean-Marie & Hyman, Larry M. (eds.) Bantu historical linguistics: theoretical and empirical perspectives. Stanford: CSLI. 379–394.Google Scholar
Shih, Stephanie S. & Inkelas, Sharon (2014). A subsegmental correspondence approach to contour tone (dis)harmony patterns. In John Kingston, Claire Moore-Cantwell, Joe Pater & Robert Staubs (eds.) Proceedings of the 2013 Meeting on Phonology. http://dx.doi.org/10.3765/amp.v1i1.22.Google Scholar
Suzuki, Keiichiro (1998). A typological investigation of dissimilation. PhD dissertation, University of Arizona.Google Scholar
Tang, Katrina E. (2008). The phonology and phonetics of consonant–tone interaction. PhD dissertation, University of California, Los Angeles.Google Scholar
Uffmann, Christian (2013). Set the controls for the heart of the alternation: Dahl's Law in Kitharaka. Nordlyd 40. 323–337.Google Scholar
Vanderelst, John (2016). A grammar of Dagik: a Kordofanian language of Sudan. Cologne: Rüdiger Köppe.Google Scholar
Walker, Rachel (2000). Long-distance consonantal identity effects. WCCFL 19. 532–545.Google Scholar
Westbury, John R. & Keating, Patricia A. (1986). On the naturalness of stop consonant voicing. JL 22. 145–166.Google Scholar
Wetzels, W. Leo & Mascaró, Joan (2001). The typology of voicing and devoicing. Lg 77. 207–244.Google Scholar
Yip, Moira (1988). The Obligatory Contour Principle and phonological rules: a loss of identity. LI 19. 65–100.Google Scholar
Yu, Alan C. L. (2004). Explaining final obstruent voicing in Lezgian: phonetics and history. Lg 80. 73–97.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: PDF

Bennett and Rose supplementary material

Appendices A-B

Download Bennett and Rose supplementary material(PDF)
PDF 722.4 KB