Allomorphy in Optimality Theory: Polish Iotation

This article discusses iotation, a process that has been analyzed in generative phonology as a palatalization rule. We argue that optimality theory predicts the treatment of this process in terms of allomorphy, which in fact is desirable for a synchronic analysis. The consequence is that, with regar...

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Veröffentlicht in:Language (Baltimore) 2001-03, Vol.77 (1), p.26-60
Hauptverfasser: Rubach, Jerzy, Booij, Geert E.
Format: Artikel
Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:This article discusses iotation, a process that has been analyzed in generative phonology as a palatalization rule. We argue that optimality theory predicts the treatment of this process in terms of allomorphy, which in fact is desirable for a synchronic analysis. The consequence is that, with regard to iotation effects, the task of phonology is to account for the distribution of allomorphs rather than to derive them from a single underlying representation. While, as a result of diachronic changes, the allomorphs are arbitrary, their distribution is not. It follows from the interaction of universal phonological and morphological constraints, and from the considerations of segment markedness.
ISSN:0097-8507
1535-0665
1535-0665
DOI:10.1353/lan.2001.0038