A Perceptually Grounded OT Analysis of Stress-Dependent Harmony

Abstract

Stress-dependent harmony (SDH) systems are systems in which an unstressed vowel must agree with the stressed vowel of the word in terms of one or more harmonic feature(s). In this paper, I provide cross -linguistic support for the notion of SDH. I then provide an Optimality Theoretic analysis of the SDH of Old Norwegian. In addition to providing a core analysis that accounts for the SDH in several typologically distinct languages, I provide external support for my analysis with experimental studies that phonetically ground the constraint driving the harmony. In exploring the phonetic basis of SDH, I am drawing on a rich history of inquiry into the relationship between phonetics and phonology. Two methodological approaches can be distinguished: constraining phonological analyses via phonetic grounding through formal modeling of phonological phenomena (e.g. Archangeli and Pulleyblank 1994, Beckman 1998, Hayes 1996, Kaun 1996, Myers 1996, Padgett 1998, Steriade 1997), and experimental approaches that seek to explain phonology systems by providing grounding via empirical studies (Busa and Ohala 1997, Cohn 1990, De Jong et al. 1993, Doran 1998, Fowler 1981, Guion 1996, Hura et al. 1992, Keating 1985, Kohler 1990, Myers 1998, Pierrehumbert 1980). These approaches have the same goal: to place constraints on phonological analyses such that they have external explanations lying outside of the formal theory being used to capture the phonological pattern under scrutiny. Using both formal and experimental methods of phonetic grounding provides a more complete analysis of the relationship between phonetics and phonology.