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Against Synchronic Chain Shifting

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Against Synchronic Chain Shifting Against Synchronic Chain Shifting Nicholas Charles Neasom Department of Linguistics University College London Thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy UCL September 2016 1 2 Declaration I confirm that the work presented in this thesis is my own. Where information has been derived from other sources, I confirm that this has been indicated in the thesis. Nicholas Neasom 3 4 Abstract In a synchronic chain shift, some underlying form /A/ is realized on the surface as a distinct surface form [B]. Simultaneously, underlying instances of /B/ are realized as a further distinct form [C]. This has traditionally been viewed as problematic; if /B/ cannot surface faithfully, then underlying /A/ should map to [C]. I argue that the A à B à C nature of synchronic chain shifts is not genuinely problematic. There is nothing substantive uniting the class of processes that exhibit an A à B à C mapping. I begin by showing that whilst there are several theories that model synchronic chain shifting, there is no genuine consensus on how the term is to be defined. I compare chain shifts in synchrony to shifts in diachrony and acquisition, concluding that in both cases there are few genuine similarities. Next, I present a detailed survey of putative synchronic chain shifts. Building on a collection compiled by Elliott Moreton (2004a), I revise and update information on existing entries and add new examples. Using examples from the survey as case studies, I argue that there are no coherent groups of shifts above the level of the segment. Furthermore, whilst there are coherent classes of processes at the level of the segment, the forces that motivate them are indifferent to whether they result in a chain shift. Finally, I present the results of a pilot Artificial Grammar Learning experiment. The experiment gives no reason to suppose that chain shifts are any more or less learnable than similar, non- chain shift patterns. I conclude that there is nothing uniting the set of putative synchronic chain shifts. If we are to treat these effects as genuinely synchronic, effects featuring A à B à C mappings are better explained using more general principles of the phonological grammar. 5 6 Acknowledgements As I understand it, a PhD is essentially an accrual of debts. These debts may be financial, emotional, or spiritual in nature. I acknowledge some of my more prominent creditors here as a promissory note for, or in lieu of, payment. Firstly, there is no way that I would have finished this thesis without John Harris. His invaluable guidance, wisdom, insight, and understanding have all been constants throughout these four years, and I am very grateful indeed for that. I am also grateful for all of the drinks. Next, I would like to thank Andrew Nevins for introducing me to the concept of chain shifting during an inspiring class back in 2011, and for all of his help, advice, and generosity since then. I would like to thank Jamie White as well, for many useful and stimulating discussions, particularly about the experimental side of phonology. I have been very lucky to be part of a PhD room filled with excellent people doing excellent work, and I will miss being a part of that. Some of these excellent people are Zoë Belk, Laura Aldridge, Florian Breit, Faith Chiu, Giulio Dulcinati, Elizabeth Eden, Patrick Elliott, Bruno Fernandes, Sam Green, Jiri Kaspar, Ya-Fang Lu, Johnny McIntosh, Emilia Molimpakis, Caterina Paolazzi, Lewis Pollock, Chao Sun, Irini Symeonidou, Gise Tomé, and Kevin Tang. I am sorry for being loud. There are also some friends outside the PhD room to whom I am particularly beholden. I am thankful to Dr and Mrs Hine, Rob and Beth, and Sam and Simon, for living with me either for more than twenty years, or at exceptionally close quarters. Your forebearance is much appreciated. My parents have also been an unfailing source of support and encouragement throughout this process in particular and my life in general, and I state here that I am very lucky to have them. I did not expect to spend part of my writing up year getting married twice, but that is what ended up happening and I am very glad it did. I want to thank Jill for her patience, for being a sounding board for some breathtakingly stupid ideas, and for all of the other wonderful things that she does and is. Finally, I point out here that this research was funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, to whom I am very grateful. 7 8 Table of contents Declaration ................................................................................................................... 3 Abstract ........................................................................................................................ 5 Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................... 7 Table of contents .......................................................................................................... 9 List of tables ............................................................................................................... 15 List of figures ............................................................................................................. 19 List of abbreviations ................................................................................................... 21 Chapter 1: Introduction .............................................................................................. 23 Chapter 2: Previous theoretical approaches to synchronic chain shifting .................. 29 2.1 Some shared ground, and some ground rules ........................................... 29 2.2 Rule-ordering ........................................................................................... 30 2.3 Scalar theories .......................................................................................... 32 2.3.1 n-ary rules .................................................................................. 33 2.3.2 Ternary scales: Gnanadesikan (1997) ....................................... 36 2.3.3 Abstract scales: Mortensen (2006) ............................................ 40 2.4 Local Conjunction .................................................................................... 43 2.5 Contrast Preservation ............................................................................... 45 2.6 Optimality Theory with Candidate Chains ............................................... 52 2.7 Summary .................................................................................................. 55 Chapter 3: Chain shifts: Synchrony vs. diachrony and acquisition ............................ 57 3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................. 57 3.2 Diachronic chain shifts ............................................................................. 57 3.2.1 How much should we be attempting to model? ........................ 58 3.2.2 The roots of synchronic chain shifting ...................................... 62 3.3 Shifts in L1 acquisition ............................................................................ 66 3.3.1 The reality of child chain shifts: Evidence from diary studies .. 68 3.3.2 More general concerns .............................................................. 72 3.4 Summary .................................................................................................. 78 Chapter 4: The limits of chain shifting, and a new chain shift corpus ....................... 81 9 4.1 Introduction ...............................................................................................81 4.2 The state of play ........................................................................................82 4.2.1 Moreton & Smolensky (2002) and Moreton (2004a) ................82 4.2.2 Other sources and entry criteria .................................................84 4.2.3 The Revised Corpus of Putative Synchronic Chain Shifts: A User’s Manual .................................................................................86 4.3 The Revised Corpus of Putative Synchronic Chain Shifts .......................91 A-Hmao ..............................................................................................91 Arabic (Bduul dialect) ........................................................................92 Arabic (Bedouin Hijazi dialect) 1 .......................................................93 Arabic (Bedouin Hijazi dialect) 2 .......................................................94 Arabic (Bedouin Hijazi dialect) 3 .......................................................95 Basaa ...................................................................................................96 Basque (Etxarri Navarrese dialect) .....................................................97 Bengali (Standard colloquial dialect) .................................................98 Catalan ................................................................................................99 Chemehuevi ......................................................................................100 Chuckchi ...........................................................................................101 Danish ...............................................................................................102 Dutch (Hellendoorn dialect) .............................................................103 English (African American Detroit dialect) .....................................104
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