Positional Weight Constraints in Optimality Theory

1 Introduction

Certain prosodic positions such as word-initial syllables and the root are inherently stronger than others. The strength of these positions is manifested in several ways, including, among others, the attraction of stress (see, e.g., Hyman 1977 on initial stress, Alderete 2001 on root stress), segmental fortition processes (Zoll 1998, de Lacy 2001, Smith 2000, 2002), the ability to license a richer array of phonological contrasts than other positions, and resistance to deletion or lenition phenomena that threaten to eliminate contrasts (see, e.g., Steriade 1995, Casali 1997, Beckman 1999, Lombardi 2001).

Two types of analyses of positional strength have emerged in the Optimality Theory literature. One approach assumes a series of positionally defined faithfulness constraints ensuring preservation of contrasts in strong environments (e.g., Casali 1997, Steriade 1997, Beckman 1999, Lombardi 2001). Another approach invokes positional markedness constraints to capture segmental fortition processes and distributional asymmetries between strong and weak positions (Zoll 1998, de Lacy 2001, Smith 2000, 2002). As the latter works show, positional faithfulness cannot explain cases in which contrasts neutralize in strong positions. For example, prominent positions are often targeted by segmental fortition processes that neutralize underlying contrasts (e.g., restrictions against high sonority onsets, onset epenthesis, vowel lengthening). These fortition processes cannot be attributed to positional faithfulness since they reflect decreased rather than increased faithfulness in the positions targeted by positional faithfulness constraints. An approach employing positional markedness constraints, on the other hand, successfully attributes fortition to constraints requiring increased prominence in strong positions.

This squib presents evidence for a novel family of positional markedness constraints singling out two of the prominent positions identified in the literature: word-initial syllables and syllables in the root. It is shown that Weight-by-Position Adjunction (Hayes 1989) in certain languages preferentially applies in these psycholinguistically prominent positions, which play an important role in speech processing (see Smith 2002 for an overview). The asymmetric application of WEIGHT-BY-POSITION (WBYP) attracts stress to CVC syllables in prominent positions but not to CVC in other less prominent environments. Moreover, it is shown that positional faithfulness constraints are ill equipped to handle positional weight effects, since positional weight does not crucially rely on input-output correspondence relations. Furthermore, unlike cases of nonpositional but variable CVC weight of the type discussed by Rosenthall and van der Hulst (1999) and Morén (2000), true positional weight cannot be attributed to opportunistic application of WBYP triggered by other highly ranked metrical constraints.

Evidence from two languages in support of positional WBYP constraints is presented. Tamil (section 2) and Hupa (section 3) provide evidence for positional WBYP constraints targeting word-initial syllables and root-initial syllables, respectively. The proposed positional WBYP constraint is couched within Smith's (2002) larger theory of positional markedness constraints in section 4. In section 5, two alternative proposals to positional WBYP are considered and ultimately rejected: the first relies on a variant species of positional markedness constraints requiring that word-initial and root syllables be heavy, while the second assumes positional faithfulness constraints.

2 Tamil

Evidence for a positional WBYP constraint referring to word-initial syllables comes from Tamil, a Dravidian language whose phonology is described by Christdas (1988, 1996). According to Christdas (1996), stress falls on the first syllable (1a) unless the first is CV and the second is CVV, in which case stress is pen initial (1b).¹

(1) Tamil stress (examples from Christdas 1996)

1. a. rattirij → [ráttiri] 'night'
   palakaram → [páləxar] 'snacks'
   ompat → [ómbədƜ] 'nine'
   νajal → [νájəl] 'field'
   rupaj → [rúνa] 'rupee'
   sandekam → [sándex] 'mother'
   kaaij → [káai] 'field'

2. b. palaν → [pəlá] 'jack fruit'
   puraν → [pƜá] 'pigeon'
   pramaj → [pámə] 'envy'
   paratij → [pərá→di] 'complaint'

The most difficult aspect of the Tamil stress system to explain is the difference in weight between initial and noninitial syllables. In particular, one must account for the fact that initial CVC attracts stress away from peninitial CVV, and that initial CV takes stress over peninitial CVC. Initial CV does not...