Parallelism and planes in optimality theory: Evidence from afar

Abstract

In this dissertation I show that the representations in Optimality Theory must be extended to allow multiple planes. The variable-position affixes in Afar occur as either prefixes or suffixes depending on the initial segment of the verb root. If the root begins with (i), (e(e)), (o(o)) or (u), the affix is a prefix (e.g., t-okm-e# (2-eat-perf) 'You (sg.) ate'); if it begins with (a) or a consonant, the affix is a suffix (e.g., rab-t-e# (die-2-perf) 'You died'). Additionally, plural not only appears as a prefix or a suffix, but when a suffix it can either precede or follow aspect (rab-n-e# (die-pl-perf) 'I died' vs. rab-e-n# (die-perf-pl) 'They died'). A parallel model in Optimality Theory is unable to account for the different order of affixes in forms such as rab-n-e# vs. rab-e-n#. The Multiplanar Model, which posits that output representations consist not only of a word plane but also an affix plane is able to account for this data. The representations for the two forms are: (y-e-n), (rab-e-n) and (n-e), (rab-n-e). In the first case, plural is specified as the rightmost morpheme by morphological constraints. Even though /y/, the third person marker, cannot surface on the word plane, it satisfies scONSET on the affix plane. This contrasts with the second case, where scONSET, being higher ranked than scPLURAL (scR), requires that plural occurs to the left of aspect to fill the onset position on the affix plane. I then show a serial monoplanar model can also account for this data. Finally, I compare the serial and multiplanar models, arguing that phonological evidence supports the Multiplanar Model.