Novedad bibliográfica: F. Martínez y A. Morales, eds. 1998. Issues in the Phonology and Morphology of the Major Iberian Languages.

[Carlos Subirats Rüggeberg]

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Mar Cruz <mcruz at lingua.fil.ub.es>, UB
Emma Martinell <martinell at lingua.fil.ub.es>, UB
_____________________________________________________

               Novedad bibliográfica

    Fernando Martínez-Gil y Alfonso Morales-Front, eds.
1998. Issues in the Phonology and  Morphology of the Major
Iberian Languages. Washington D.C.: Georgetown University
Press. 694 pages. Price US $72.00, ISBN: 087840-647-6
(hard cover only).
_____________________________________________________

                   Resumen

   Recent years have witnessed an increase in the number
of studies devoted to the study of the phonology and
morphology of the Iberian languages. The present volume
brings together for the first time a collection of studies
on the four major languages of the Iberian Peninsula:
Basque, Catalan, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish.

   This book addresses a variety of issues dealing with
the phonology and morphology of these languages. These
problems are representative of the kind of phenomena that
is now-a-days the center of debate in this productive area
of research. Among other topics, the volume addresses
apocope, epenthesis, intonation, distribution of rhotics,
focus, depalatalization, the imperative paradigm,
palatalization, pluralization, prosody, spirantization,
stress assignment, and phonological variability. Among
them, the analysis of stress assignment is predominant;
not surprinsingly so, since the study of this topic has
occupied a central place in generative studies to the
phonology of these languages in the last two decades.

   The volume contains contributions by well-known
scholars specializing in one or more of the targeted
languages. Their contributions appear in the book in the
following order:

   Gorka Elordieta analyzes the intonational structure of
Lekeitio Basque, following the framework developed by
Beckman and Pierrehumbert (1986) and Pierrehumbert and
Beckman (1988) for Japanese, Elordieta shows that in
Lekeitio Basque, as in Japanese, tones are grouped in
intonational units of different levels in a prosodic
hierarchy.

   José I. Hualde, demonstrates that the interaction
between the processes of Nasal Assimilation and
Palatalization in some Biscayan Basque varieties can be
better explained in a constraint-based approach than in a
rule-based approach. He discusses data that in a
rule-based analysis appears to require a complex order of
rules with a rule applying both before and after another
rule. Adopting instead a constraint-based approach, the
complexity of the analysis disappears. His claim is that
an analysis in terms of constraints is not only simpler
than a rule-based analysis, but also more satisfactory in
that it allows us to gain a better understanding of the
phenomenon.

   Eulàlia Bonet and Joan Mascaró present a new analysis
of the distribution of trills and flaps in the Iberian
Romance languages. The main claim in this article is that
syllabic structure and sonority play a crucial role.
Contrary to previous analyses, they assume that a flap in
intervocalic position (the contrasting position) is
exceptional and consequently must be marked in the
lexicon. Evidence coming from apheresis and hypochoristic
formation in Catalan is given to support the new approach
to the problem.

   Maria Rosa Lloret shows that sonorant dissimilation is
not as marginal as commonly assumed, and still synchronic.
Lloret also proves that these irregular data show a
limited range of variability. Consequently, sonorant
dissimilatory effects can be used as a source of evidence
bearing on feature organization. The analysis she proposes
for sonorant dissimilation favors a model where sonorant
features are hierarchically organized (Rice & Avery’s
1989). She also gives support to Yip’s (1990) proposal
according to which the rhotic is the unmarked sonorant, at
least in languages where /l/ and /r/ phonemically
contrast. Finally, she has to interpreted [lateral] as a
binary feature in order to capture the fact that liquids
act as a distinct class in sonorant dissimilation (cf.
Steriade 1987, 1995).

   Blanca Palmada argues for a phonological analysis of
Spirantization as Continuant Spreading and makes evident
the problems that any phonetic treatment would have to
face. Palmada discusses several phonological rules that
must apply after Spirantization and presents an OCP
related explanation of blocking effects. The consequences
of the existence of Continuant Spreading for Feature
Geometry are briefly explored. Examples are drawn from
Catalan, Basque, Portuguese and Spanish.

   Pilar Prieto examines the interaction of intonation and
syntax in Catalan. In an experiment with potentially
ambiguous sentences involving right- vs. left-branching
structures Prieto finds that variations in intonational
phrasing were used by Catalan speakers to disambiguate
left- from right-branching utterances, and, conversely, by
hearers to recognize them. She discusses how the
intonational facts described can be accounted for by a
strictly layered prosodic structure, which has recently
been questioned using Japanese data. She concludes that
both production and perceptual tests revealed that
phrasing decisions are only partially constrained by
syntactic structure and that other factors seem to play an
important role.

   Pep Serra presents an innovative analysis of the
Catalan stress system. His work draws from proposals such
as Hayes (1994), Idsardi (1992, 1993), McCarthy and Prince
(1990, 1993), and Prince and Smolensky (1993), showing
that the new theoretical assumptions allow a homogeneous
formulation of unmarked characteristics and special
lexical cases. Once more his conclusion is that Optimality
Theory has facilitated an explanation of the processes and
of the connections they maintain within a coherent
framework.

   Sonia Colina proposes an Optimality Theory (OT) account
of the processes traditionally known as epenthesis and
deletion in Galician. Her analysis shows that initial,
final, and plural epenthesis are related to deletion. In
word initial position, epenthesis is the result of the
ONSET SONORITY constraint being ranked higher than
faithfulness constraints and of the ranking MAX-IO »
B-DEP-IO. Epenthesis is the preferred solution in
word-final position due to the ranking of CODA COND,
*COMPLEX CODA » MAX-IO » B-DEP-IO, while deletion is a
better option word-medially due to the high ranking of the
constraint against inserting a mora inside the morpheme.
Colina's paper shows that OT is better equipped to explain
the Galician data than serial accounts.

   Fernando Martínez-Gil investigates two processes of
final vowel epenthesis in modern Galician. One of them,
optional epenthesis, is strongly conditioned by prosodic
factors. Martínez-Gil argues that the optional epenthesis
is the overt phonetic manifestation of a catalectic
syllable inserted in stress-final words in order to
satisfy the requirement that the dominant (final) foot
within the domain of the intonational phrase. The second
(obligatory) type of epenthesis is determined exclusively
by syllable structure: an epenthetic vowel to rescue
word-final prohibited consonant clusters. He concludes
that since Old Galician had a rule of apocope, and there
is strong evidence in favor of the epenthetic nature of
both the optional and the obligatory final vowel in modern
Galician, the language must have undergone a historical
process of rule inversion in the sense of Vennemann (1972)
since the Middle Ages.

   Ernesto d’Andrade considers stress in Brazilian and
European Portuguese. He presents a review of previous
works on the topic starting from the words and comments of
the early grammarians but making emphasis on a number o
studies from the last two decades. He compares Brazilian
and European Portuguese showing that, independently of the
phonetic cues that each variety of the language may
manifest, the stress system of Portuguese always obeys the
same principles and parameters.

   Sonia Frota proposes an analysis of the phonology of
Focus in European Portuguese (EP), using both the Prosodic
Hierarchy framework and the Intonational Phonology
framework. The analysis in Frota's contribution addresses
three main areas. She examines evidence for phonological
constituent structure, and shows that Focus does not
obligatorily change phonological phrasing. An account of
prominence assignment at phrasal level is put forward, and
neutral prominence and Focus prominence are argued to be
two distinct categories. Finally, the presence of Focus
prominence, in accordance with the general principles of
tune-text association, is shown to have consequences on
the phonology of intonation. The EP facts, together with
data on other languages, are taken to support a grouping
of languages into two major types: the morpho-syntactic
type, in which Focus has obligatory phrasing effects; and
the phonological type, in which stress and accent play the
crucial role as far as the phonology of Focus is
concerned.

   Alfonso Morales-Front and Eric D. Holt demonstrate
that, in spite of its surface array of manifestations,
Portuguese pluralization is systematic and unitary at its
root. Their central claim is that surface alternations
arise when morphological, and prosodic constraints enter
in conflict. Morphology requires the presence of the
plural morpheme /s/ and prosody requires the
well-formedness of syllabic and metrical constituents.
This conflict between morphology and prosody is resolved
at the expense of segmental faithfulness to the input
form.

   Wayne J. Redenbarger, examines the relation between the
putative shape of certain underlying verb and noun stems
in Portuguese and the set of WFR’s (Word Formation Rules)
and P-rules (Phonological Rules) which operates upon their
output. This rule interaction sheds light on the structure
of these components as well as providing new insights into
some morphological and phonological problems.

   Paloma García-Bellido investigates the relationship
between inherent and structural prominence in Spanish. Two
examples of structural prominence without inherent
prominence are discussed. The first case argues that
antepenultimate prominence found in the Spanish word is
the structural prominence provided by a ternary
lexicalized tonal template called in the article the
Accentual Phrase (AP). García-Bellido suggests that the AP
is a lexicalization of the same tonal sequence found
independently at a higher intonational level in other
languages (Pierrehumbert 1980) and in Spanish. The second
case argues that elements without inherent prominence such
as clitics in enclitic position are subject to an
Intermediate Phrase Edge prominence provided by the
Intonational structure. García-Bellido shows that the
intonational approach to Word and Phrase prominence in
Spanish plays a pivotal role in the understanding of the
relationship between structural and inherent prominence.

   Jorge M. Guitart interprets Caribbean coda variability
as an effect of uneven control by the speaker over
different modes of pronouncing coda consonants. He argues
that this variability entails conflicting evidence for the
learner. His proposal is that in order to account for the
conflicting data, speakers internalize at least three
separate phonological systems (lects), which are acquired
sequentially. The least marked lect (allowing no codas) is
acquired first and the most marked (allowing no coda
simplification) is acquired last. The sequential character
of acquisition explains why there is least control over
the most marked lect. The multilectal framework dispels
the problems that variability poses for both rule-based
and constraint-based approaches to the Caribbean Spanish
data.

   James W. Harris shows that the verb forms in Spanish
imperative sentences fail to correlate in syntax and
morphology: a distinctive syntactic behavior can be
identified which is not reflected consistently in verbal
morphology. In their inflected forms, fully regular verbs
exhibit only one uniquely imperative form in Iberian
dialects and none in general Latin American dialects; the
rest are homophonous with forms in indicative and
subjunctive paradigms. A motivated explanation of the
details of this discrepancy between syntax and morphology
is beyond the reach of purely syntactic accounts, and,
evidently, of familiar affix-based lexicalist
morphological theories. Harris argues that the theory of
Distributed Morphology provides the appropriate formal
grammatical mechanisms.

   John Lipski articulates an study of Spanish stress
within the framework of moraic phonology and parametrized
prosodic minimality. In Lipski's account, Spanish words
are analyzed as containing a single moraic trochee, which
is minimally bimoraic, but which can be trimoraic when a
coda consonant must be incorporated. His formulation
eliminates nearly all recourse to extrametricality.
Antepenultimate stress is derived via parametric variation
of prosodic minimality. In most Spanish trochees, the head
can be satisfied minimally by a single mora.
Proparoxytones are lexically marked for a bimoraic head,
thus requiring incorporation of the antepenultimate
syllable (and accounting for the impossibility of
antepenultimate stress in words with a heavy penult).
Finally, in a historical excursus, Lipski demonstrates
that modern Spanish stress assignment is not a direct
continuation of the (Classical) Latin Stress Rule.

   Carmen Pensado, argues that both synchronic
experimental evidence and the diachronic behavior of the
alternants {palatal nasal}~{alveolar nasal} and {palatal
lateral}~{alveolar lateral} suggest that coda
depalatalization never was a productive rule. Synchronic
variants are linked by their shared semantic content and
show only analogical semiproductivity. Furthermore,
morphophonologically opaque relationships in the lexicon
tend to be substituted by transparent ones. All this
suggests that, contrary to what is generally assumed,
phonological similarity may play a major role in the
organization of the mental lexicon.

   Iggy Roca provides an analysis of the stress system of
Spanish non-verbs. At the hub of the system is the
Three-Syllable Window, the major, inviolable
generalization. Other preferences, such as the tendency
for stem-final stress, and the tendency for
word-antepenultimate stress to be blocked by closed
penults and by certain consonants in the onset of the
final syllable, while violable, manifestly still play a
role in the system. In the analysis presented by Roca, the
major generalization is directly related to the
predecessor Latin algorithm, whereas the minor
generalizations are viewed as contextually-determined
accentual remnants of their Latin metrically-motivated
antecedents.

   Mario Saltarelli reexamines Spanish stress from the
broader comparative perspective of the evolution and
differentiation of prosody from early Latin to modern
Romance (specifically Spanish and Italian). He starts by
arguing that, under standard (bounded) metrical accounts
of accentuation, the alternating pattern of
imparisyllables found in Spanish falls outside the theory
and must perforce receive an "exceptional" treatment. In
this paper Saltarelli investigates  a closer
morphology-prosody mapping of Latin imparisyllables
requiring a less restrictive assumption. Given this as an
option, not only imparisyllabic stress falls in line with
a unified account, but a more accurate characterization of
its evolution and its comparative differentiation
suggesting a gradual trend toward a more lexicalized
system

   The present book brings new perspectives to classic
problems while opening new avenues of research. We expect
that this collection of articles will be of interest to
readers with some background on phonology and morphology,
and on Romance languages in general, or any of the Iberian
languages in specific. The theoretical framework in which
most of the analysis are casted is specially innovative.
This is a feature that will be of interest to readers with
some previous knowledge of classical issues in the
phonology and morphology of Iberian Languages, but would
like to find out how recent revolutions on theoretical
thinking have impacted these languages.


                     Índice
I.  Basque:
    1. Gorka Elordieta (University of Souther California):
"Accent, tone, and intonation in Lekeitio Basque"
    2. José I. Hualde (University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign): "Rules vs. constraints: palatalization
in Biscayan Basque and related phenomena"

II.  Catalan:
    3. Eulalia Bonet and Joan Mascaró (Universidad
Autónoma de Barcelona): "On the representation of
contrasting rhotics"

    4. María Rosa Lloret (Universitat de Barcelona):
"Consonant dissimilation in the Iberian Languages"

    5. Blanca Palmada (Universitat de Girona): "Continuant
spreading and feature organization"

    6. Pilar Prieto (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona):
"Prosodic manifestation of syntactic structure in Catalan"

    7. Pep Serra (Universitat de Girona): "Prosodic
structure and stress in Catalan"

III.  Galician:
    8. Sonia Colina (Indiana University): "Epenthesis and
deletion in Galician: an optimality-theoretic approach"
    9. Fernando Martínez-Gil (The Ohio State University):
"Word-final epenthesis in Galician"

IV.  Portuguese:
    10. Ernesto d'Andrade (Universidade de Lisboa): "Some
remarks about stress in Portuguese"
    11. Sónia Frota (Universidade de Lisboa): "On the
prosody and intonation of Focus in European Portuguese"
    12. Alfonso Morales-Front and Eric Holt (Georgetown
University): "The interplay of morphology, prosody, and
faithfulness in Portuguese pluralization"
    13. Wayne J. Redenbarger (The Ohio State University):
"Apocope and lenition in Portuguese"

V.  Spanish:
    14. Paloma García-Bellido (University of Oxford): The
interface between inherent and structural prominence in
Spanish
    15. Jorge Guitart (State University of New York at
Buffalo): "Variability, multilectalism, and the
organization of phonology in Caribbean Spanish dialects"
    16. James Harris (Massachusetts Institute of
Technology): "There is no imperative paradigm in
Spanish"
    17. John Lipski (University of New Mexico): "Spanish
word stress: the interaction of moras and   minimality"
    18. Carmen Pensado Ruíz (Universidad de Salamanca):
"On the Spanish depalatalization of /?/ and /?/ in rhymes"
    19. Iggy Roca (University of Essex): "On the role of
accent in stress systems: Spanish evidence"
    20. Mario Saltarelli (University of Southern
California): "Stress in Spanish and Latin: where
morphology meets prosody"


Información sobre los editores y la editorial:

   Fernando Martínez-Gil,
   Dept. of Spanish and Portuguese,
   The Ohio State University
   266 Cunz Hall, 1841 Millikin Rd,
   Columbus, OH. 43210-1229 (USA)
   E-mail: martinez-gil.1 at osu.edu

   Alfonso Morales-Front,
   Dept. of Spanish and Portuguese,
   Georgetown University
   P.O. BOX 571039
   Washington D.C. 20057-1039 (USA)
   E-mail: morales at gunet.georgetown.edu

   Georgetown University Press
   P.O. BOX 4866
   Hampden Station,
   Baltimore, MD. 21211 (USA)

Book orders by phone: 1-800-246-9606 (within US) or (410)
516-6995 (from 8:30 am to 5:00 pm, US Standard Eastern
Time).

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