Chapter 15
Exercises:
1. Describe the constraints on coda consonants in Selayarese (a language of Indonesia). OK to state
them informally. (Piggott, G. L. 1999. At the right edge of words. The Linguistic Review 16;2: 143- 185.)
sambaŋ
to trip
lampa
to go
ʔondaŋ
invite
benteŋ
pole
taŋgoŋ
guarantee
laŋkasa
tall
sappo
missing front teeth
battu
come
tukkaŋ
walking stick
kassi
sour
rammaŋ
cloud
bannaŋ
thread
ballo
beautiful
laʔba
lack of salt
taʔmuri
smile
taʔdoʔdoʔ
be sleepy
sahalaʔna
his/her profit
taʔgaraŋ
get stained
seŋre
one
seŋla
saddle
2. Take a poll of ten or more friends: How many syllables in words like "oil," "film," "Carl," "hour"? (Mix
in some uncontroversial words as well.) Do your find any disagreement or hesitation?
3. Here are some more English words to practice on. Transcribe each word into IPA. Draw sonority
profiles, and syllable structure trees (both onset-nucleus-coda and mora-based) for each.
practice
vengeful
cataclysmic
misanthropic
condescendingly
corruption
conversation
prescriptivist
boundary
forcefulness
4. Choose the correct syllabification, and explain why each alternative is incorrect. What principle is
violated in each case?
correction
[kə.rɛk.ʃən] vs. [kər. ɛk. ʃən] vs.
[kə.rɛ.kʃən]
contemplate
[kɑn.tɛmp.let] vs. [kɑn.tɛm.plet]
relate
[rə.let] vs. [rəl.et]
hamburger
[hæ.mbə.rgər] vs.
[hæɛm.bər.gər]
fulcrum
[fʊ.lkrəm] vs. [fʊl.krəm] vs.
[fʊlk.rəm] vs. [fʊlkr. əm]
5. Assume the constraints and constraint rankings shown in the tableau. Fill in the constraint violations,
and indicate the winner, to determine how to say "Merry Christmas" in Setswana.
meri krismas
*COMPLEXONSET
MAX
NOCODA
DEP
meri krismas
meri kismas
meri kirismas
meri kirisimasi
6. This exercise prompts you to a more complete analysis of the Yowlumne epenthesis data presented
in Chapter 15. (As noted there, the data is orginally from Stanley Newman, 1944, Yokuts Language of
California, cited in Kenstowicz 1994, Generative Phonology, and many other publications.)
future
dubitative
gerundive
nonfuture
gloss
paʔt - en
lihm - en
logw - en
ʔugn - on
paʔt - al
lihm - al
logw - ol
ʔugn - al
paʔit - mi
lihim - mi
logiw - mi
ʔugun - mu
paʔit - hin
lihim - hin
logiw - hin
ʔugun - hun
fight
run
pulverize
drink
All verb roots are underlyingly of the form CVCC, but they sometimes surface with an epenthetic
vowel, CVCvC, as in the gerundive and nonfuture forms shown here. For the purposes of the
exercise, you may ignore differences in vowel quality, which are determined by vowel harmony.
1.
Draw syllable structure trees for [ʔugnal] and [ʔugunmu], assuming the standard set of
syllable-structure constraints.
2. Write an SPE rule for the epenthesis alternation.
Now, consider an OT analysis:
3. What Faithfulness constraint is violated by epenthesis?
4. What (syllable-based) Markedness constraint seems to be driving the alternation?
(Hint: what would be wrong with the faithful parse [ʔugnmu], for example)
5. List one or two other repairs that might have been possible.
6. Provide tableaux that shows the correct input-output pairs for [ʔugnal] and [ʔugunmu].
Be sure to include in your tableaux the faithful parse, the winner, and at least two
plausible losers.