15.77, Diss: Morphology/Phonology: Boudlal: 'Constraint...'

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LINGUIST List:  Vol-15-77. Wed Jan 14 2004. ISSN: 1068-4875.

Subject: 15.77, Diss: Morphology/Phonology: Boudlal: 'Constraint...'

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1)
Date:  Mon, 22 Dec 2003 19:11:57 -0500 (EST)
From:  aboudlal at eudoramail.com
Subject:   Constraint Interaction in the Phonology and Morphology...

-------------------------------- Message 1 -------------------------------

Date:  Mon, 22 Dec 2003 19:11:57 -0500 (EST)
From:  aboudlal at eudoramail.com
Subject:   Constraint Interaction in the Phonology and Morphology...

Institution: Mohammed V University
Program: Linguistics
Dissertation Status: Completed
Degree Date: 2001

Author: Abdelaziz Boudlal

Dissertation Title: Constraint Interaction in the Phonology and
Morphology of Casablanca Moroccan Arabic

Linguistic Field: Phonology, Morphology

Dissertation Director 1: Abderrafi Benhallam
Dissertation Director 2: Elisabeth Selkirk

Dissertation Abstract:

(Editor note: Schwa is represented by @, following the SAMPA
convention)

The objective of this dissertation is to account for some aspects of
the prosodic phonology and morphology of Casablanca Moroccan Arabic
within the framework of Optimality Theory as conceived in Prince and
Smolensky (1993) and McCarthy and Prince (1993a) and developed in the
Correspondence model of McCarthy and Prince (1995, 1999) and other
related works.

It is shown that a division must be established between two types of
syllables: a major syllable whose nucleus is one a schwa or one of the
full vowels [i, u, a], and a minor syllable which consists solely of a
moraic consonant. Granting a moraic status to this consonant is
allowed for the purpose of achieving the foot binarity requiring,
especially in nonderived trisegmental words on the pattern CCV, CC at C
or C at CC, where the first consonant of the initial cluster and the
second consonant of the final cluster form minor syllables on their
own. The fact that the schwa is epenthesized before the final
consonant of nonderived trisegmental verbs, adjectives and a class of
nouns follows from the requirement that the right edge of the stem be
aligned with a prominent syllable, which corresponds to a major
syllable. The nominal class showing the C at CC pattern is shown to abide
by markedness constraints favoring schwa syllables with a higher
sonority coda. The dissertation also offers an adequate analysis of
the problematic cases of cyclic schwa syllabification in terms of a
subset of output-output constraints, one of which demanding
phonological identity between a derived form and its
morphologically-related base form.

The theoretical framework herein conceptualized gives a
straightforward answer to the puzzling stress system of the language
which shows both trochaic and iambic feet. In particular, it is argued
that in both isolation words, where the foot is trochaic and context
words, where the foot is iambic, the location of stress and
consequently the foot types that emerge depend on the hierarchical
organization of prosodic words into phonological phrases. A unitary
account of the stress system is offered to the effect that both
trochaic and iambic feet occur in the language. Trochaic feet surface
as optimal when the word is in isolation (i.e. when it is a
phonological phrase); iambic feet arise when the word is in context .

The dissertation also argues that morphological classes such as the
causative, the passive participle and the diminutive are governed by a
prosodic constraint requiring that their output be an iambic foot. The
causative form, which has previously been analyzed as involving
prosodic circumscription, is now reanalyzed as a case of partial
reduplication which can be accounted for by constraints demanding
correspondence between the base and its reduplicant. In particular it
is shown the constraint calling for an iamb consisting of a sequence
of two light syllables takes priority over the constraint on the base
and reduplicant identity and therefore block total reduplication. The
passive participle and the diminutive are two instances that resort to
augmentation to achieve an iambic foot type. In the case of the
passive participle, it is argued that the prefinal vowel that appears
in certain classes of non derived verbs is the result of the
constraint requiring that the output conform to an iambic foot
consisting of a sequence of light and heavy syllables. In case where
augmentation would lead to the violation of higher-ranked constraints,
the optimal foot that emerges consists of a sequence of two light
syllables. In the case of the diminutive, if augmentation applies, it
is for the sole purpose of achieving a light-light foot. Augmentation
itself takes tow different forms: either by the addition of schwa
syllables to words that are masculine, or by the suffixation of the
femininþ morpheme to words which are inherently feminine.

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