An argument that the word order of a given language is largely predictable from independently observable facts about its phonology and morphology.
Languages differ in the types of overt movement they ...display. For example, some languages (including English) require subjects to move to a preverbal position, while others (including Italian) allow subjects to remain postverbal. In its current form, Minimalism offers no real answer to the question of why these different types of movements are distributed among languages as they are. In Contiguity Theory, Norvin Richards argues that there are universal conditions on morphology and phonology, particularly in how the prosodic structures of language can be built, and that these universal structures interact with language-specific properties of phonology and morphology. He argues that the grammar begins the construction of phonological structure earlier in the derivation than previously thought, and that the distribution of overt movement operations is largely determined by the grammar's efforts to construct this structure. Rather than appealing to diacritic features, the explanations will generally be rooted in observable phenomena.
Richards posits a different kind of relation between syntax and morphology than is usually found in Minimalism. According to his Contiguity Theory, if we know, for example, what inflectional morphology is attached to the verb in a given language, and what the rules are for where stress is placed in the verb, then we will know where the verb goes in the sentence. Ultimately, the goal is to construct a theory in which a complete description of the phonology and morphology of a given language is also a description of its syntax.
This book covers the historical development of the English phonological system from its earliest reconstructed and recorded forms to its most recent variations.
Evolutionary Phonology is a theory of sound patterns which synthesizes results in historical linguistics, phonetics and phonological theory. In this book, Juliette Blevins explores the nature of ...sounds patterns and sound change in human language over the past 7000–8000 years, the time depth for which the comparative method is reasonably reliable. This book presents an approach to the problem of how genetically unrelated languages, from families as far apart as Native American, Australian Aboriginal, Austronesian and Indo-European, can often show similar sound patterns, and also tackles the converse problem of why there are notable exceptions to most of the patterns that are often regarded as universal tendencies or constraints. It argues that in both cases, a formal model of sound change that integrates phonetic variation and patterns of misperception can account for attested sound systems without reference to markedness or naturalness within the synchronic grammar.
La liaison et l’élision en français sont deux phénomènes phonologiques largement décrits en phonologie, et, plus largement, par les grammairiens, les sociolinguistes, les chercheurs en acquisition, ...etc. Ces phénomènes peuvent être traités simultanément puisque tous deux correspondent à une modification phonologique à la frontière entre deux mots en raison des propriétés des mots en question et de leur relation syntaxique. Dans cet article, nous nous proposons de présenter quelques cas particuliers de non liaison ou de non élision connus pour certains, et peu ou pas abordés dans la littérature, pour d’autres. Citons par exemple l’absence possible d’élision devant les lettres (ex :
le L majuscule
) ou devant les chiffres (ex :
un onze de France
), devant certaines couleurs (ex :
le ’orange de ta veste
), devant des noms propres (ex :
le Onfray d’aujourd’hui
), et devant des sigles (
le FMI
). La phonologie ne traite pas ces derniers cas. En faisant appel à des traitements sémantico-syntaxiques, nous proposons que la présence d’une position syntaxique vide entre les deux mots (
la couleur orange de ta veste
) bloque la réalisation de la liaison ou de l’élision. L’absence de la liaison ou de l’élision au lieu d’être vue comme une exception inexplicable à un phénomène attendu, ne serait que la manifestation en phonologie d’une barrière syntaxique séparant des éléments linéairement contigus. Cette hypothèse largement illustrée dans l’article permet de faire se rejoindre phonologie et syntaxe.
About some exceptions to the rules of liaison and elision
Liaison and elision in French are two phonological phenomena widely described in phonology and, more broadly, by grammarians, sociolinguists, acquisition researchers, etc. These phenomena can be treated simultaneously since both correspond to a phonological modification at the boundary between two words due to their properties and their syntactic relationship. In this paper, we propose to present some special cases of non-liaison or non-elision known or no literature coverage for others. Let us quote for example the possible absence of elision in front of letters (e.g.
le L majuscule
) or numbers (e.g.
un onze de France
), in front of certain colors (e.g.
the orange of your jacket
), in front of proper names (e.g.
le Onfray d’aujourd’hui
), and in front of acronyms (e.g.
le FMI
). Phonology does not deal with these last cases. Using semantic-syntactic treatments, we propose that the presence of an empty syntactic position between the two words (
la couleur orange de ta veste
) blocks the realization of the liaison or the elision. The absence of liaison or elision, instead of being seen as an inexplicable exception to an expected phenomenon, would be merely the manifestation in phonology of a syntactic barrier separating linearly contiguous elements. This hypothesis, widely illustrated in the article, allows us to bring phonology and syntax together.
Le français haïtien (FH), caractérisé par des normes endogènes issues du contact du français avec le créole haïtien (CH) – mais aussi, dans une certaine mesure, avec l’anglais et l’espagnol – et des ...spécificités locales diverses, est une variété de parler rancop one propre Haïti et di érente ien des égards des autres variétés de ran ais es spéci icités se mani estent au niveau le ico-sémanti ue, phonologique et, dans une moindre mesure, morphosyntaxique. À part Pompilus (1961) et Govain (2009, 2013) ui l’ont toute ois e leuré, l’aspect p onologi ue du FH n’est guère étudié C’est cet aspect phonologique dans sa dimension synchronique qui nous intéresse dans cette contribution qui décrit brièvement les spécificités du FH en dégageant les influences du CH. Parmi les éléments que nous traiterons, signalons, au niveau des consonnes : des réalisations spéci i ues de /ɲ/ et de /ʁ/, le maintien de /h/ dit aspiré, la (non-)réalisation des consonnes branchantes en coda inale u niveau des vo elles le maintien de l’opposition /e/ / / dans toutes les positions et de l’opposition / / / /, l’a sence de l’opposition /a/ /ɑ/, l’apparition selon le conte te d’articulation des glides /j/ ou /w/ (ou même d’un /ʁ/ dans des conte tes spécifiques) entre deux voyelles contiguës pour éviter le hiatus.
Phonological aspects of Haitian French: influence of Haitian Creole
. Haitian French (HF) is a variety of French speaking specific to Haiti and different in many ways from other varieties of French. characterized by endogenous norms which result from the contact of French with the Haitian Creole (HC) - but also, to a certain extent, with English and Spanish - and many local specificities. Its specificities can manifest at the lexico-semantic, phonological and, in a least measure, morphosyntactic aspects. Except for Pompilus (1961) and Govain (2009, 2013) who have approached it, the phonological aspect of HF is not much studied. This contribution is interested in this phonological aspect in its synchronic dimension. It briefly describes the specificities of HF while highlighting the influences of HC. Among the elements that we will deal with, we can point out, at the consonantal level: specific realizations o /ɲ/ and /ʁ/, t e use of /h/ said
aspirated
, the (non-)realization of branching consonants in final coda. At the level of vowels: maintaining the /e/ ~ / / opposition in all positions and the / / / / opposition, the absence of the /a/ /ɑ/ opposition, the appearance according to the context of articulation of the glides /j/ or /w/ (or even a /ʁ/ in speci ic conte ts) etween two contiguous vowels to avoid hiatus.
L’article présente le comportement de la liaison après les formes des verbes être et avoir chez 145 apprenants de FLE (0-B1) du corpus Pro²F, en l’occurrence des élèves entre 12 et 18 ans qui ...apprennent le français comme deuxième langue étrangère au collège-lycée. L’étude se base sur 979 sites potentiels de liaison en lecture et en parole spontanée. En comparaison, nous avons analysé l’input oral présenté à ces apprenants : les CDs audio de leur manuel (206 sites de liaison) ainsi qu’un corpus de parole de 12 enseignants de français en Autriche (37 sites de liaison). Les données suggèrent que la liaison résulte en partie de la reproduction de séquences mémorisées et en partie d’un processus phonologique productif. Contrairement aux natifs, l’input oral est plus pauvre et l’input écrit et l’instruction explicite se présentent dès le début en parallèle. Étant donnée la diversité de facteurs en jeu, nous préconisons des approches didactiques très variées. Nos résultats mènent à la conclusion qu’il serait avantageux de fournir aux apprenants une instruction explicite de la liaison en insistant sur les correspondances graphie-phonie, tout en privilégiant un maximum d’inputs « authentiques » (de locuteurs natifs).
The case of liaison after different forms of the verbs être and avoir in Austrian learner French.
This article examines the behaviour of liaison after different forms of être and avoir in the recordings of 145 Austrian high school students from years 3 to 8 (ages 12 to 18) learning French as an additional foreign language within the Pro²F project. The study is based on 979 contexts of potential liaison in a reading task and in spontaneous speech and on the possible oral input of the students: the audio material of their textbook (206 contexts of potential liaison) as well as recordings of 12 Austrian French teachers (37 contexts of potential liaison). The data suggest that liaisons in the student corpora result partly from the reproduction of memorized multiword sequences and partly from a productive phonological process. We have to bear in mind that the situation is different from L1 acquisition: By comparison oral input is under-represented, and goes hand in hand with orthographic input and explicit instruction right at the beginning of the acquisition. These factors affect the acquisition of liaison considerably. We therefore recommend a didactic approach that takes into account explicit instruction as well as grapheme-phoneme correspondences and a maximum of authentic oral input (of native speakers).
Elements, Government, and Licensing brings together new theoretical and empirical developments in phonology. It covers three principal domains of phonological representation: melody and segmental ...structure; tone, prosody and prosodic structure; and phonological relations, empty categories, and vowel-zero alternations. Theoretical topics covered include the formalisation of Element Theory, the hotly debated topic of structural recursion in phonology, and the empirical status of government. In addition, a wealth of new analyses and empirical evidence sheds new light on empty categories in phonology, the analysis of certain consonantal sequences, phonological and non-phonological alternation, the elemental composition of segments, and many more. Taking up long-standing empirical and theoretical issues informed by the Government Phonology and Element Theory, this book provides theoretical advances while also bringing to light new empirical evidence and analysis challenging previous generalisations. The insights offered here will be equally exciting for phonologists working on related issues inside and outside the Principles & Parameters programme, such as researchers working in Optimality Theory or classical rule-based phonology.
Building on recent work towards the reconstruction of Proto- and pre-Proto-Nivkh (Fortescue, 2016; Janhunen, 2016; Halm, 2017; Halm & Slater, 2018), we use internal reconstruction to investigate two ...developments (probably regular sound changes) of initial consonant clusters in pre-Proto-Nivkh, taking rigorously reconstructable Proto-Nivkh forms as our point of departure. These developments are: (1) the surface-level loss of an original manner contrast (perhaps plosive-versus-fricative) in oral obstruents in cluster-second position, leaving only a morphophonemic contrast (between obstruents which show a predictable plosive-fricative alternation under prefixation and those which remain fricatives invariantly) as its reflex; and much more tentatively, (2) the deletion of original palatal glides in syllable onsets originally containing any consonant cluster.
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