The Phoneticinterpretation in Phonology*

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The Phonetic Interpretation ofEmptyCategories in Phonology*

ONUMAHitomi

other hand, m2y allow empty nuclei to be phonetically 1. Introduction silent. In order ro suppress empry nuclei phonetically, In generative grammar, the notion efempry categories LicensinglGovernment-based Phonology (LGP: Kaye, has played an important role not only in synrax but also Lowenstarnm and Vergnaud (1990), Kzye (1995)) and in phonology. Phonoiogical empty categories were first Eiement Theory (ET: Harris (1994, 1997, 2005), Har- inrreduced in CV phonology (Clements and Keyser ris and Lindsey (2000) ) employ a principle called Prop- (1983)), where empry onsets were proposed to analyze er Government, wkich contTels the phonetic interpreta- the phenemenon of h-aspire in French, The notion of tion ofempty nuclei: an empty nucleus may be phoneti- empry ca[egories was rhereafter exrended ro nucleus posi- cally silent if it is properly gaverned by its fbllowing tions, as fbund in analyses ofvowel-zero alternations in melodically-fiiled nucleus (Kaye (1990), Harris varieus languages such as Moroccan Arabic (Kaye (1994)). Few p2pers discuss the difurence between (1990)), French (Chare[te (l991)), Polish (Guss- empty onsets and empty nuclel in terms of phonetic mann and Kaye (1993)), English (Harris (1994)) and anterpretability (c£ Nasukawa (2010)).

Japanese (Nasukawa (2005)). Analyses employing This paper argues that featureless nuclei, like empry empty nuclei are typically found in frameworks such as onsecs, may not be interpreted phoneticaily, Given this, LicensinglGovernrnent-based Phonology (Kaye, Lowen- we need to consider the phanoiogical representation of a stamm and Vergnaud (1990), Kaye (l995)), Element neutrai vowei which has been regarded as the phonetic

Theory (Harris (1994, 1997, 2005), Harris and Lindsey manifestation of an empty nucleus in LGP and ET. A

(2000)) and Strict CV Phonology (Lowenstarnmclaim to respond to this is found in Backley (2009,

(1996),Scheer(1998,2004)). 201 1) , where the vowel schwa in English is the phonetic Among the frarriewerks mentioned above, there is a manifesration ofa particular feature rathe,r than a fearure-

noteworthy diflhrence between empty onsets and empty less nucleus. Ana],yzing the alternation between full

nuclei in terms of the phonetic interpretabgity ef feature- vowels and schwa in English, we encounter the fact that

- less positions. It is generally assumed that the former rype low and mid vowels which include feature[mass] - of empty category could participare in some phonological (IAI) tend to alternate with schwa as compared with processes but not manifest itself phonetically; positions rhose high vowels which consist ofoniy [dip] (IIP or in the 12tter type (featureaess nuclei) may be phonetically [rump] (IUI), and it is claimed that English schwa is realized as a vowel. iin empty nucleus ls deemed !o be represented by not an empty nuclcus but the presenoe of realized as the most unmarked central vowel in a given asole [mass] (IAI). vocal space: for example, a in English (Charerte (1991), The present discussion does not rejecr the notion of Harris (2005)), ijn Cilungu (Bickmore (2007)) and empty categories immediately in phonological repre- w in Japanese (Nasukawa (20e5)).i The theory, on the sentation, since rhey are ciosely related to the prosodic structute with * principles such as Onset Licensing and I weuld like to thank Kuniya Nasukawa for his insightfu1 Inter-nuciear Licensing, as discussed in Harris (1994) commenes and suggestions, I am alse gfatefu1 to three anony- and Scheer (2004).2 Here, I conclude that an empty mous reviewers for their helpful cornmenrs, i Rather than utilizing the symbols1iand [] for referring to 2 speech sounds, this paper employs italicized letters in order to Harris and Gussmann (2eOZ) argue rhat the notion ofempty avoid implyi"g the notions of phoneme and alIephone. nucleus is representationaily inevitab!e in any theoty which [39](i45)

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nucleus, which is grammaticalSy iegitimate, cannot man- h-aspit6 words arc assumed to be lexically vowel-initial, ifest itself phonetically without any melodic properties and their phonoiogical behavior is analyzed by exploiting (Onuma (2011)), some arbitrary rules and ad hoc features such as [-context Given that feutureless nuclei are nor allowed to be Consonant Inscrtion] and [-context Consonant Eli-

realized, there no need to refer to phonetically is Proper sion] .Cicmentsand Keyser(l983), on the other hand, Government and the final-empty-nucleus parameter assume that the words exhibiting the process in questien (}{arris (1994, 1997)) that prescribe the interpretability begin wirh a silent consonant: a C-position which is of empty nuclei, Eliminating these principles achieves a associated with no element en the segmental tiet,

degree of theeretical restric[iveness and coherence since

they are principJes which typically refer te precedencc 2.2. Efnptynuclei

relarions between rather than to consonant sequences such (nuclear)positions, InMoroccan Arabic(MA), dependency relations in prosodic constltuents to whlch as kl behave like a hcteio-sy!labic constituent (since an

most other refer and the intervening vowel i appears principies in LGP ET. Under conditionally) , rather than a preseltt discusslon tltat an empty nudeus does not have genuine constituent (ense[) clustet (which is typicalty its corresponding phonetic exponcnce, we do not need to obscrved in languages such as English), In order to

assume linearity-sensitive princlples in order to explain acceunt fbr this, Kaye, Lowenstamm and Vergnaud phonological processes, (1990) and KaMe (].995) assume that an empty vowel This paper is organized as follows, Sectien 2 overviews (nilcleus) is present between the consonants comprising the notion of empty categories in phonolog}r. Section 3 the sequence (i.e, leen . In addition, they provide some shows how empry nuckei are phonetically z'ealized ln insightfut accounts for some phonologica1 procrsses sttch relation to the final-empty-nucleus parameter and Proper as vowel-zero alternations. The i-zero alternation in MA

Government. Sectlon 4 discusses diflhrences berween two is explained by assuming an in[eraction between empty

weakening processes: Proper Government for vocalic nuclei and the notion of Proper Government, Charette weakening and dependency relatlons for consonantal (i991) also employs cmpry nuclei and adopts ?toper lenition, and then exhibits some problematic aspects of Government in order to analyze the distribution ofschwa

the former, In Sec[ion 5, I ciaim that English schwa in French: a ban on a seqtience of two empty nuclei should be regarded as the phonetic realization ofa single (which are phonetically realizcd as two schwas) ar the IAI rather than an empry nueleus. Section 6 offers an level of nuclear projectien.

alternative analysis of vowel alternations in English and

French by referring to only' dependency relations helding 3. The phonedc interpretation of empty between prosodic constituents in order te achieve a de- nuclei gree oftheoretical restrictlveness, Finaly, Seczion 7 con-

cludes the discussion. Among the analyses mentioned above, there is a not-

able difference between empty ensets and empty nuclei

in terms of phonetic inrerprerability of featureless posi- 2. Empty categories in phonelegy tions. It is genetally assumed that the former type of 2.1. Emptyonsets empty categories could panicipate in phonologica1 pro- Phenelegical empty categorles were originally intro- cesses but not fnanifest itselfphonetically, while positions duc:d by Clements and Keyser (198S: 107-113) in in the latter type (melodically-empty nuclei) may be order to analyze words exhibiring h-aspir6. Such words phonetically reaiized as a vowel, Few papers discuss the phenetically begin with a vowel but phonologically be- diflerence between empty onsets and empty nuclei in haye as ifthey began with a censonarir. In the literatureterms of phonetic interpretabiliry (c£ Nasukawa (Tranel (1981)) before Clements and Keyser (1983), (2010)).

In LG? and ET, an empty nucleus is deemed to be

acceunts for phonological pattesns, ifid-ding Optimality realized as rhe most central vowet in a given vocal space: Theorv. fbr example, e in English (Charette (1991), Hartis

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The Phenetic Inte[pretation ef Empty Caiegorjes in Phono!ogy (i47) 4i 'tn (2005)), i Cilungu (Biclmo;e (2007)) and tu in The e-zero alternation in French is explained by gov- Japanese (Nasukawa (2005)). On rhe other hand, an erning relations between nuclei, as shown in (3), empry nucieus may aiso be phonetically silent. In order `devenir to supptess an empty nucleus phoneticdly, LG? and El[" (3) a, dovnir (to become)'

employ Empry Category Principle (Kaye (1990: S14)) , ?-tictnsed by PG which contrels phonetic interpreratiQn of empry nuclei: fu "vh C1dVlecIv c v, VLi2]r

an empty nucleus may be phonetically silent if it is p Ii T 11i [:osodically]-licensed by some constraints such as (l) and (2).3

`ensevelir b. dravfir (to bury)'

(1) Final-empty-nucleus paramcter (Harris (1994; P-licensedbyPG 162)) rf(-imyi C VI C1s%e C1v c vg cIr yth Finai-empty nucleus licensed} [OFF]/ON I Ii a li

A domain-final empty nucleus is p-licensed to be phonetically sRent if the setting of the ftnal-empry- In (3a), V2 is pheneticaby sRent since the pos!tion nuc2eus parameter in (1) is ON. Examp!es are found in meets all of the conditions in (2) ; V2 (proper govemee) languages such as English, Frencli and Luo. On rhe orher and V3 (proper governor) ar ¢ adjacent at rhe levcl of h2nd, if the setting of the parameter is OFF which nuclear projection; Vs stands to the right ofVh; and V3 is

indicates the default value, a final empty nucleus is not not itselfp-21censed. With respect to the relation between

prosodically licensed; consequently, the position must Vi and V2, they are adjacent in the nuclear projection, receive phonetic interpretation. This is observed in lan- but Vb fails to p-license its preceding position Vi since gtiages such as Zutu, Italian and Tclugu, ln which the Vli is p-lieensed by belng properly governed by Vs, As a central vowel in ihe relevant language usually serves as result, the vowel " is phenetically realized in [he initial the realization of the unticensed final empry nucleus vocalic position Vi. As for V4, ir is p-licensed to be silen[

(Archangeli (1984), Kaye (1990), Charette (1991), because of the ON setting of the final-empty-nucleus Harris (1994), Nasukawa (2005)). parameter in (1).

constraint restricts The in (2)also the phoneticinter- In the case of (3b), on the ether hand,rlteON se[ting pretabiliiy of emp[y nuclei. Languages (e.g, French and of the final-empry-nucleus parameter in (l) p-Iicenses English) which exhiblt vocalic s>rncope are often referred the final position Vs to be phonetically silent. Since V3 is to as examples. In French, fbr example, as mentioned p-Iicensed by V4, it receives no phonetic interpretation earlier, a vowel can only be suppressed if it is foIlowed by and fails to properly govern its preceding posltaon V2. As a vowel which is itselfnor p-lacensed, a result, V2 must be phonetically realircd as 2,

(2) Propef Government (Kaye (i990: S13), Harris 4. Proper Government and dependency re- (1994: l91)) lations a. a proper governor and its proper governee ate adjacent at the level ofnuclear projection, Up to this point, Proper Government provides the 5, aproper govemor stands to the right ef proper account fbr suppression (weakening) of the phonetic governee, and manifesrution ofempty nuctei. Note that Ptoper Govern- c, a proper governot is not itself p-iicensed, ment Eooks at only a particular tevel of categoricai projec- 3 rion, the level ofnuclear projection, rathet than the other Charette (l998: I70) ciaims tha: an empty nucieus feceives levels ofprojections, However, LGP and ET refer to any no phonetic interpretation iF it is p-licensed by yirtue of (i) kind of defined structural dependency in being within an onset-to-enset geverning domain and (ii) being prosedically magically p-licensed (typicarly for languages employing sC clus- ofder to expiain processes such as consonanral lenhion tets), (Harris (1994, 1997)), The target oflenition is deter-

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mined in terms of dependency relations in a given pro- domain and ether positions ate al1 dependents of the sodic structure. This makes contrast with vocalic wealcen- domain head. Among the dependents, the weakest posi-

ing which is often analyzed by sneans of Proper Govern- tion is the foot-internai onset C2 since it is zhe only ment funcrioning at the nuclear projection. indirect dependent (licensee) of the head nucleus Vi, In According [o Harris (l994), Engiish exhibits the lenition processes such as English t;tapping, single ele- eeec[s of As illustrated in V2 ProperGovernment. (4a), ment expressions such as r are typically assumed to be remains s,ilent be¢ ause it is p-licensed by being properly found, (As we wiii see in Section 6, the rap is considered

by the following Vs, govcrned to be the phonetic manifestatlon ofa sole element III as a result of suppressing the other elements (1?1 and IHI) `family' (4) a..fenefi which censist of t with III,) In LGP and ET, P-licensed by PG dependency relations are often im-

[!icen$ing,' mV, plied by referring to the term An example is below: Clf Vllee Clm C v] giyen Il `ci tt li -sttg (6)siti ty

iv-li--IN ...r-hs- Foot 'accident' b, mkstdont AiC, A, A.' AN syllabie VIISI C] V2 CI VI CI VI rifr Ii Li ii ti' SI Ci C V, cc v, .,

1 [[j ? ffO za ksi de fi t In (6), the first nucleus (Vi Q) which receives primary In (4b), V3 manifEsrs itselfas e since it is not p-licensed stress) is regarded as the ultimate head of a given do- by being properly governed by V4 which is itsell' p- main. The head nucleus directly Iicenses two consti- licensed domain-finally, Both of the examples iB (4) tuents: the preceding onset Ci (s) and the fina} nucleus exhibit Proper Government which refers to precedence V2 (i). The former relation forms a constituent often relations between nuclei rather than dependency reEa- called syllabie whiie the latter forms foet, ln the latter

tions in prosodic hierarchical s[ruc[ure, case, fiirthermore, the final nucleus with V2 licenses its VITith regaid to consonantaE processes, in accordance preceding enset Ci (D to ft)tm the other syliable. In this with Harris (1994), tLtapping (typically found in North configuration, the fbot-internal onset is cypically re-

a of consonarital takes weak AmericanEnglish), type lenition, garded as prosodically since it is the most dceply place in a foot-internal onset which is widely recognized embedded pesition in the licensing path; C2 is the only as prosodically weak (Harris and Kaye (1990), Harris position which is indirectly iicensed by the uitimate head 'I'he (1994, l997), Nasukawa (2005)), weakness of Vl. foot-internal onsets is formaliy described b'y thc de- Thus rhere are two diflbrent analyses for weakening pcndency relations in (S): precesses: Proper Government fer vocalic weakening and

dependency relations for consonantal weakening. Proper

Ccity'-stfi (5) stti Govemment and thc final-efnpty-fiucleus parameter in

fact fail to explain why a word-final empty nucleus FoorS}'table phoneticalty manifests itself as schwa in words such as

'kEemnie tcamera', 'socEfe Csofa' `arorna', and e"roume all Cl Vl C: Vl Vl[ls;C, V,l[ri llll of which are deemed ro end with an empty nucleus. As Slti.C, depicted in (7), we may have the eutput form *'kremer

`came:a' ft)r since the final empty nucleus V3 remains

The foot-initial syllable is prosodically strong and itself silenr by rhe requesr of the ON mode of the final- perceptually prominent. In such a configuration, as illus- empty-nucleus pararneter in Engli$h. However, s}nce the rrated in che above, Vi is tegarded as the head ofthe foot structure in C7) violates the parameter and is phonetical-

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The Phonetic Interpretation of Empty Categories in Phonology (i49) 43

'feeemara, an asymmetric relation expressed by ly interpteted as an additional explanation pression may show element over the other(s) . The must be provided,4 the predominance ofone tense yewel e and o, fbr instance, are represented as IA II *kmmer`camera' underlined), while the 1ax coun- (7) and LA!1(dominants ti'<---7 terpart as IA I[ and IA UI (ne predominant) respectively. In Backley (2009), the fo11owing r ¢ presentations are C1k Vl1ee V1m c, of the RP dialect. yb proposed as the short fu11 vowels (e) r (8) English shorr fu11 vowels ierertp o In the fo11owing part of this paper, I will only employ III L!1 the dependency-based analysis in order to analyze both IA !1 II ulIAI vocalic and consenantal weakening processes under a IA IA

single mechanisrn, and show an advantage ofdependency

relations over the Proper Government analysis. Befbre Schwa asasingle going into this in detail, the next section will discuss the 5.2. IAI literature ofLGP and ET Lowenstarnm proposition that, unlike Harris (1994, 2005) and others, In the (Kaye,

English schwa is not represented by an empry nucleus and Vergnaud(1990),Kaye (1995),Charette(1991), 2005), Harris and Lindscy but byasingLe element IAI, as Backlcy (2009, 2011) and Harris (1994, (1995, is considered as exceptional most Onuma (2011)S proposed. 2000)), schwa (the unmarked) in the English vocalic system, Its special

status is often captured by a vocalic cxpression which 5. RepresentingEnglishschwa contains no melodic maretial: in othcr words, it has no

significant information in 5.1. ElemcntTheory specification of phonologically rest its segmental srructure. In this approach (Anderson and In order to represent intrasegmental structuie, the Harris and Lindsey of this paper calls upon Element Theory (Harris and Ewen (1987),Harris (1994), Lowenstamm andVergnaud van Lind$ey (1995, 2000), Harris (2006), Nasukawa and (1995),Kaye, (1985), `elements] schwa ls represented by, for example, Backley (2008, 2011)) where rhree resonance derHulst(1988)),

`centrality `neutral `cold IAI ([mass] in terms of acoustic pattern), III ([dip]) component', element', vowel'

u[ilized and so forth, and IUI ([rump]) are for describing vowels; these three elements are independently interpretable and From the phonetic point of yiew, so-called vowel reduction is vicwed as a where a fiill vewel phonetically manifest themselves roughly as a, i and u process in uns[ressed tespecrively. alternateswith a reduced vowel position,

The elements can also combine to fbrm melodic com- that is to say, a case ef qualitative alternation, In LGP and ET, this altctnation is censidered to be a composi- pounds: [A I[ and :A UI, fbr example, rnay be phonetical- ly interpreted as 6 and o respectively. In addition to the tional interchange of elements. For example, Harris nuclei in his research and simple combination of elcments, seme compound ex- (2005) employs empry assumes that vowel reduction (to schwa) is suppression 4 181-182),the inrerpre- Accerding ro Harris (1994: phonetic of al1 elemenrs which belong in a nucle2r pesition. nuclcus isatrributed to whether the empti- tability of an empty Backley (2009, 2011) and Onuma (2011), on the ness ofa featureless nucleus is autosegmentally licensed or not, orher hand, claim that English schwa carries significant Fer example, the empty state of the final featu[eless nucleus in `Dinah' information in its representation in the same way as other duinp is autosegmentatly licensed and phonetically in- vowcls. This is depicted in (9) where schwa is repre- terpreted as schwa while the emptiness of the posltion in ques- element `dine' sented by a single IAI. tion in deine is not licensed. S In thc framewerk of Particle Phonoleg)r, Onuma (2el1)

daims that English schwa is the phonetic manifestation of a sole aperture particle lal,

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English 'v (9) schwa e erA"e na:iveNnativity ['neltlv] [ne'tlvoti] v ov"we progress-vprogresslve tv J ['PrQLtgres] [pre'greslv] [Ai

e On the other hand, there are some cases which show

no vowel alternation wiih e, as shown below: Onuma (2011) maintains that vowels that contain IAI alternate with schwa but thosc vewels which consist of (12)a. only or are diMcult to alternate with IIIIUF schwa. The Verb-NounlAdjective pairs fo11owing exampies display a typical vowel reduction to i;'vi decrcase [di'kri:slvN'['di:kri:s]N schwa. regress [rligres]vN['ri:gres]N b. AMxation

(10) Verb-NounlAdjectlve palrs u:tvu beauty"'beau[ician ['bj!L/ti]-v[bjy'tifbn] a. Short vowels (rwv wood'vHollywood ['wud]A-['holiwud] e-va frequent [fu'kw!nt]vA"['fti:kwgnt]Adj

segmentaddicttraversesubjectsuspectrmgnt] [seg vrv ['segment] N In contrast to (10) and (11), in (12a) the vowel i: arve [o'dikt]vrv['Eedikt]N corresponding to its alternant i by no means includes IAI; vAv insteadi: [trg'v3:s]["trpev3:s]NtAdj has asingle element III. In (12b), the vowet u: rtrs-e [sgb'd3ekt]vN['sAbd3tkr]NiAdjalso has no element IAI. Traditionally, vowel reduction

[sg'spekt] vrv ['sAspekt] NtAdj has been merely treated as vocalic alternation with a oA'e compound [kgm"paund]v'v difflerent segment e, In fact, unreduced vowels mutually

["k7i]mpaund] NiAdj relate te the reduced vowel in terms of representation. ebject [gb'd3ekt]v-v ['Dbd3ektlN This suggesis the predictability of the quality of reduced

reflexes: a segment never alternates with another segment

b.Long vowels/diphthongs which has entirely diderent melodic composition. For

3;'ve survey [se'vel]vN['s3:vel]N vowel v consisting instance, the of IAI and IUI regularly [pg'fekt] ['p3:fikt] reduces a, not perfect vrv N,Adj to to i, and the vowel i: consisting of III aiAva digest [dQ'd3est] v"v ['daid3est] N never alternates with ". This shows that the alternation

oufva [prgg'rcs]vAv N attributed to the melodic progress ['prgLtgres] with " is composition ofa given prorest [prg'test] vN ['ptgLtrest] N segment. In the model which tegards e as the phonetic realiza- Noticethat the vowels corresponding to their alter- tion ef a single iAl, in contrast to a elassic ET literature nant a include in rheir IAI elemental cotnposition. The (Harris (1994, 2005)) just illustrated in the above, I same is true for the examples illustrated below, assume that an empry nucleus is phonetically silent. This is consistent with the phonetic interpretation of empty Aflrixation (11) onset which is typicalIy considered to be unpronounce-

a. Short vowels able (Clements and Keyser (1983), Charette (1991), e've academic'vacademy Harris (1994)). [ekg'demik] "' [o'kmdomi] Erva magic'vrnagician ['mped3ik]'v[mg'd3ijbn] 6. An alternative analysis ofyowel alterna- rt'va productAvprocluction 'v tions ['prDdgkt] [pro'dAL{Jbn]

6.1. Vbwel-schwa alternations in English

b, Diphthongs Assuming that English schwa is the phonetic man-

ai"'a admiretvadmiration ifestation of a single element an empty nucleus) IAI(not , 'v [ed'mg/o] [eedmo'Teijbn] this section presents an account of vowei alternations

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Tlte Phonetic Inte[pretation of Empty Categories in Phonolog}r (rsi) 45

itisindirectly involving schwa without referring to Proper Government is considered to be prosodically weak since Vi rhe head licensor) of rhe and the final-empty-nucleus parameter. In the licensedby , (ultimate - in C2 is framework ofLGP and ET, the notion ofdependency domain, Because of this prosodic strength, t other hand,t offo'tvgtofl which asymmetric relations between phonolo- rypically lenired to f. On the prescribes [photography' - in is not subject to consonantal gical categories plays an important role not only for (ISb) since it is the which is directly licensed melody but also prosody. In prosody, dependency rela- lenition position of the The same tions are fbund between constituents while melody shows by the ultimate head domain(foot). to the fbund between dependency relations between eiemenrs within a seg- explanation applies phenomenon `academy' `academic' as in ment. In this way, in a phonological represenration, every evaredomi and a]ke'demik unit must be involved in dependency relations (Harris(14). (1994)), Such dependency relations between prosodic consti- (14)a, `academy'->aferenami ruents, which are often described by the notion afeeedomi `licensing], ts ----- are essential in explalning phonologicalphe- I N Foot nomena such as consonantal lenition; in particular licens- ACi A A AC4 Vl C2 V2 C3 Vs V411mi ing relations between nuclei derermine the context where 1 1111 -tapping takes As discussed in Section 4, ihe placc, e k ee Ie process is often observed in the foot-internal onset which' / itisin- f is typically regarded as prosodically weak since directly licensed by the head of a given domain, This is `academic' depicted by using an English word ltbut2grof b. mkodlemJfe

`photograph' Foot (in which Elements 1?I and IHI stand for A A Ai" A, ACs stopness and noiselvoicelessness, respectively) as fo11ows, C, VE C, V, C, V, C4 V4 Vs1k i11 111- ee k e Ieml (13)a.fouragrof`photog ?d raph'-)foofagrof

i - Foot l - A･'Cl AaCl AC3 AC4 I claim that vocalic weakcning should be analyzcd in VlINfou Vl V, V4[f the same fbshion. As illustrated in (14a),a so-called LlIo/1r Fx l `weak' gtX vowel a belongs to the nucleus Vs which is re- fbot garded as prosodically weak since it is licensed ar the level by its preceding nucleus V2, the head ofthe domain, As a result, only a single element can be Licensed to

`photography' lexically b. forng,oj9 appear in the position, Given IAI and III are ---a specified in V3 in (14a) as in (14b), we may assume Foot tti-- that being suppressed, only (phonetically inter- A A A AC4 III iAi V3 V4L[fi C, V, C, Vh Cs preted as a) remains intact, 111iN l In (14b), on the other hand, concarenating a root- foIDg re i-ic' `academy' suMx -fk with the word n varedomi ? level H brings about stress shift, and makes another 1exical repre-

t sentation eeke 2fevak. In this represenration, e in Vs is the

head oF rhe word-domain and also the nucleus of the

In (13a), the nucleus Vi (ou which receives the fbot-initial syllable. In such a position, vocalic weakening a is never found since it is the ultimate head ofthe domain primary stress) and its fo11owing nucleus V2 (a) form foot, where the fbrmer licenses the latter which further and is viewed as being in the prosodically strong posirion, licenses its preceding onser C2. In this configuration, C2

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6.2. The schwa-zero alternatien in English occur. English exhibiis a further phenomenon concerning

schwa: the a-zero alternation. Strength relations between 6.3. The schwa-zero alternation in French censtituents are also involved prosodic in the process. As In this subsection, I claim that the e-zcro aiternation

already discussed in Section 4, English shows the efllect of in French may also be analyzed in terms of dependency Proper Governmenr, and it giyes an account of the relations between nuclei, According to Charette (1991: a-zero alternation. For example, the alternation between 146), it is assumed that a French word contains a right- `family' and tlZemets Li2emU involves e-suppression/dele- dominant binary foot. It consists of the rightmost nuc- tion which iscaused by the request of Proper Govern- Leus (which is melodically fi11ed) and its preceding nuc- men[. In this process, e in the penultimate empty nucleus leus, is phonetically suppressed since the empty nucleus is Though French has a head-final fbot, Iike English, the properly governed b}x the wQrd-final fiiled nuc]eus (i). e-zero alternation in French may bc accounzed fbr by The afbrementioned dependency-based analysis, on seeing dependency relations at the foot level. In words the other hand, straightforwardly [appeler `soulever captures the phe- such as ap (e)le (to call)i and sul(e) ve 'def(a) `definite', 'sep nomena in ', question, such as nat (a) (to lift up) the positions in which the a-zero alternation Eseparate' 'ijii]?(n)`chocolate', rat and lat They would be takes place are prosodically weak since thcy ate licensed

more simply explained by dependency relations at the by the fbllowing fi11ed nucleus which is the head of the

level of foot than by Proper Government. domain,

(15)a. (16)

"dcfinite' def(e)nat `appeler a. ap(e)le (to cal1)' ir--s is J...t Foot -x Foot brss,," AN AC A let- c V, b(t-'X,C b(t-'XC C v} vl11neC V41t b`t-"X V, 1[11 V2 C V3 defK ] 11 11 o a le p ,,,( e

[separatei b. sep (a) rat

-s--..- `soulever b. sul(e) ve iift uP)' / N Foot (to A A br'-xcv AC i... -ssAs C Vi C V, V41t Foot 1[1re le. [1 le v'-XC b`ft-'XC seP/ VI V, C g1e e lisu 1[1 1 ,K' v e c. gfofe(e) lot` r--"-A. t'chocolate] Foot A'C AC AC In addition, the words mentioned in Section 3 could V,litr C v, V311le V4It reanalyzed without Proper 11 be Government as fbllows.

v k .pt,t e (17)a･

dovnirtdevcnir (to become)'

t.-.- All examples in exhibit 's (15) the e-zero alternation le' Foot AC A A (" which takes place in V2. In terms of prosodic strength, Vi11deC V, C VS C V4 the position V2 is typically regarded as weak since the [ 111 is the nucleus position licensed by preceding at the foot v nir level, In such positions, weakening processes seem to

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Eensevelir Theory, b. cisavlir (to bury)' Backley, Phillip (2011) An introdlictian to Efement Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh. rt-JfiLs Foot A A Ak A AC Bickrnore, Lee S. (2007) crlvngu lleonoLrgT, Center for the C V, V V, C V, C V, VsFr Study of Language ancl Information, Stanford, CA. 1ll 1 11 Charerte, Monik (1991) Cbndlitiens on llhonokzgicat Govem- ase v li ment, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

"Empty Charette, Monik (l998) and Pseudo-Empty Categor- In both examples in (17), the final empty nucleus can- ies,'' SonS U}brking llapers in Linguisties and Phonetias 8, not be the ofa foot, and rhe nucleus is head penultimate 167-176.

the head of a foot wirh its preceding nucleus Clements, George N. and SamuelJ. Keyser (1983) CVIIeoneL V2 in (antepenultimate nueleus) . Each nucleus of (17a) qgy: a Genenetive T)beorv efthe byilable, MIT Press, Carn- and Vs in (17b) is prosodically weak because it is bridge, MA, "Polish

licensed by its fo11owing nucleus at the foot level. Gussmann, Edmund and jonathanD. Kaye (1993) No[es ftom a Dubrovnik Cafe," Sat4S li}brkiag Rupers in

Lingvetstics and Reonen'ef 3, 427-462.

7. Conclusien Hartis, John (1994) Eigish Seund Stnictzare, Blackwell, Ox- ford. In this I have argued that the most unmarked paper, "Licensing Harris, John (1997) Inheritance: an Integtated vewel schwa is the phonetic manifestation of feature Theoty of Neutralizaiion," RbonoklgyJ 14, 315-370. nucleus, and claimed [mass] (IAI) r2ther than an empty `'Vowel Harris, John (2005) Reduction as Informarion Loss," that an empty nucleus cannot manifest itselfphonetically HleadLeeoal Efemenes, Epecij7cation and Cbntrastivity, ed. by without any melodic As a resutt, we do not properties. Philip Carr, Jacques Durand and Colin J. Ewen, 119- and the need to refer to Proper Governrnent final-empty- 132, John Benjamins, Amsterdam, '[The nucleus paramerer (Harris (1994, 1997)) that control Harris, John (2006) Phonology ef Being Understood: Litlgua116, 1483- the interpretability of empty nuclei. In place of these Further Ptrguments against Sonority," 1494. principles (which rypically refer to precedence relations "Word-final Harris, and Edmund Gussmann (2002) between nuclei rather than dependency relations), this John Onsets," UCIL ZIF2)rking 1kpers in Linguistics 14, 1-42, paper analyzed phonological ptocesses such as vowel- "A Harris, John and Jonathan D. Kaye (199e) Tale of Two schwa alternations in English and schwa-zero alternations Cities: London Glottaling and New York City Tapping," in English and French by referring to only dependency The Li,rguistic Review 7, 251-274. relations holding between phonological categories in ['The Harris, John arid Geoff Lindsey (199S) Eiements of order to achieve a degree oftheoretical testrictiveness. Phonologica1 Reprcsentation," Fhonders of 1)honotig: Further reseatch will required to analyze other be types Atoms, Strt{ctures, Derivatiozas, ed, by Jacques Durand and in languages such as of vowel-zero alte[narion found Francis Katarnba, 34-79, Longman, Harlow, Essex. `'Vowel Moroccan Arabic and to investigate whether other rypes Harris, John and Geoff Lindscy (200e) Patterns in 2eonoiigcat Kitowthr(ge: Cbnceptual of weakcning processes can be analyzed according to the Mind and Sound," and Empirical Bsues, ed. by Noel Burton-Reberts, Philip same dependency-based mechanism of prosody-melody Carr and Gerry Docherty, 185-205, Oxfbrd University mteractlon. Press, Oxford.

"The Hulst, Harry van der (1988) Geometry of Vosvel Fea- References tures," Eeatures, Slegnenmt Structztre and Hlzrmoay 1?roces- Anderson, John M. and Colin J. Ewen C1987) Principfes of ses, ed, by Harry van der Hulst and Norval Smith, 77- Dependency 1?honoipgy, Cambridge Universiry Press, Carn- 126, Foris, Dordrecht, bridge. "`Coda' Kaye, Jonathan D. (1990) Licensing" PhonoL7gy 7, Archangeli, Diana (1984) [inderspecijScation in }'2tweiimani Phe- 301-33e, notklgT and derphoillg7, Doctoral dissertarion, MIT, Pub- "Derivations Kaye, Jonathan D. (1995) and Interfaces," eon- lished by Garland Press, New York, 1988. tiess Atoms, Sttuctures, Denfvdtions, ed, by "Element ofReonotagy: Backley, Philrip (2009) Thcory and the Structure of Jacques Durand and Francis Katamba, 289-3S2, Long- English Vowels," Ms,, Tohoku Gakuin University. rnan, Harlow, Essex.

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48 (is4) ONUMA Hitomi

D., Kaye, Jonathan Jean Lowenstarnm and Jean-Roger Verg- Korea. "The naud "Afllrication (1985) Internal Structure of Phonological Nasukawa, Kuniya and PhilLip Bacldey (2008) as a

Elements: a Theory ofCharm and Government,'iRhonolo- Perft)rmance Devicc," llhonokLgicat Stziefies 1 1, 35-46.

`'Thc gy narboofe 2, 305-328, Nasukawa, Kuniya and Phillip Backley (201 1) Intcrnal

`r] Kaye, D., Lowenstarnm and Jonathan Jean Jean-Roger Verg- Structure of in Japanese,'] llhonetbgiutl Smde'es 14, 27- "Constituent naud (1990) Structure and Government ln 34.Onuma, 1thonotig "English Phono]ogy," 7, 193-231, Hiromi (2011) Schwa in Partlcle Phonolo- Lowenstamm, "CV Jean (1996) as the Only Syllable Type," gy," Tbhafeu 44, 15-38, Tohoku Gakuin University, Sen- Cleerrent 7}end; in Menotagy, Mbdets and Mlethodts, ed. by dai.

"A Jacques Durand and Bernard Laks, 419-441, ESRI, Sal- Schecr, Tebias (1998) Unified Model of Proper Govern-

ford, ManchesteF. ment," 7he Linguistic Revietv 15, 41-67. Nasukawa, Kuniya A Uhdied4mproach to IVIxsafity and (2005) Scheer, Tobias (2004) A Laterzit 7heoo, of2eonotagy VloL 1: Vbiciag,Mouton de Gruyter, Berlin. iW}at is CVCg dind IVhy Shouid ft Be.', Mouton de Gruy- "Eliminating Nasukawa, Kuniya (2010) Precedence Relations ter, Berlin.

ftom Phenology," MziveiTal Greimmar and ind?vidual Tranel, Bernard (1981) thncreteness in thnemtive RhonoklgT: Languages,Me 2010 Seeul intemaationat CbTgi7rence on Evidence.fiPont F}ench, University ofCalifbrnia Press, Ber- Liqgwisn'es (SJCOL-2010), Hankookmunhwasa, Seoul, keley, CA.

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