| ROA: | 77 |
|---|---|
| Title: | Constraining High Tone Spans in Ekegusii Verbal Tonology |
| Authors: | Lee S. Bickmore |
| Comment: | |
| Length: | 65 |
| Abstract: | Constraining High Tone Spans in Ekegusii Verbal Tonology Lee S. Bickmore SUNY Albany lb527@cnsunix.albany.edu Ekegusii, a Kenyan Bantu language, exhibits a complex array of tonal patterns in the finite verbal system including bounded High displacement, bounded High spreading , and unbounded High spreading, each of which are 'blocked' from applying in certain configurations. Working within Optimality Theory, I show that the surface tonal patterns result from a delicate interplay between the productivity of various tonal processes and the avoidance of certain tonal structures. Several theoretical proposals are made in the areas of: 1) constraint sensitivity to lexical strata, 2) tone & accent interaction in OT, 3) bounded spreading as "minimal misalignment", and 4) underspecification of the edge parameter in an ALIGN constraint. ::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: |
| Type: | Paper/tech report |
| Area/Keywords: | |
| Article: | Version 1 |