Bennett and DelBusso (2017) Typological consequences of ABCD constraint forms

Direct link: http://roa.rutgers.edu/content/article/files/1619_bennett_1.pdf

ROA: 1307
Title: Typological consequences of ABCD constraint forms
Authors: William Bennett, Natalie DelBusso
Comment: To appear in proceedings of NELS 2016
Length: 14 pp.
Abstract: Much recent work on consonant (dis)harmony uses the theory of Agreement-by-Correspondence (‘ABC’, with ‘D’ for dissimilation). While proposals within this theory share several key components, variations have proliferated in the literature (Rose & Walker 2004, Hansson 2010, 2014, Gallagher & Coon 2009, McCarthy 2010, Bennett 2013/2015, Shih & Inkelas 2014, Inkelas & Shih 2014, Walker 2015, McMullin 2016, etc.), resulting in numerous formulations of CON, based on different ideas of the possible central ABCD constraint types and definitions.

 

In this paper, we analyze a set of systems using different logical combinations of distinct versions of two main ABCD constraint types, CORR and CC.ID. The typologies of these systems are analyzed both extensionally (in terms of the languages predicted) and intensionally (the rankings that produce these languages). The former connects to the empirical predictions generated by the different ABCD theories. The latter connects to the theoretical mechanisms responsible for those predictions, allowing us to compare not just the outputs, but the theories themselves and the reasons for their converging or diverging typological predictions. We show that the same set of extensional languages is produced by all systems in which some correspondence constraint type is restricted, such that failing its precondition allows for vacuous satisfaction. It is not crucial which constraint type bears this restriction, but that it be instantiated in the system as a whole.

Type: Paper/tech report
Keywords: Formal analysis, Typology, Property theory, Agreement-by-correspondence, dissimilation