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THE PROSODIC PHONOLOGY of CENTRAL KURDISH Twana Saadi

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THE PROSODIC PHONOLOGY of CENTRAL KURDISH Twana Saadi THE PROSODIC PHONOLOGY OF CENTRAL KURDISH Twana Saadi Hamid Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Linguistics) School of English Literature, Language and Linguistics Newcastle University 2015 Abstract This thesis investigates the prosodic structure of Central Kurdish; a language whose phonology and prosody is poorly studied. Within the framework of Optimality Theory, rhythmic categories (mora, syllable and foot) and prosody-morphology interface category (Prosodic Word) of the language is addressed. The thesis also includes comparing the prosodic units (below phonological phrase) with the parametric variation for each constituent. This study fills the gap in the work of the prosodic system of Central Kurdish and on its phonology as such. Based on the data, the thesis also assesses the conflicting sub-theories of prosodic phonology: the view which sees phonological representation as a hierarchical organisation of units of which the higher prosodic units are defined in terms of lower ones against a different view which argues against constituency in phonology. Being theoretical in nature, the researcher’s intuition as a native speaker of the language under study is used for the description of the data. The validity of the data is being supported and cross-examined by the descriptive literature on the language. As it is described as the best method for interpreting prosodic phonology, Optimality Theory is used as the framework to analyse the data. The supporting evidence for each prosodic constituent is drawn from the (morpho)phonological processes that use the categories as the domain of their application. As the research question investigated covers a broad area in the prosody of Central Kurdish, the findings were wide-ranging and multi-layered. First, it was found that sequences of speech sounds are organised into constituents, which serve as the domain of certain phonological processes. Each prosodic constituent consists of at least a constituent of the lower constituent. Similar to syntactic categories, it was shown that prosodic categories (above syllable and foot) can be recursive and parsing can be non- exhaustive. Mora, though not a prosodic constituent within the prosodic hierarchy, can be sensitive to certain morphological processes and insensitive to phonological processes, i.e. sensitivity of processes can be a process-specific rather than language- specific. The significance of the findings of this thesis is twofold. First, it is the first analytical prosodic study of Central Kurdish. Second, which is theoretical, Prosodic structure, at least for Prosodic Word, matches a syntactic constituent. ii Declaration The material contained within this thesis has not previously been submitted for a degree at Newcastle University or any other university. Signed Twana Saadi Hamid Date 2015 iii What fetters the mind and benumbs the spirit is ever the dogged acceptance of absolutes. EDWARD SAPIR 1924 iv Acknowledgements I am grateful to my thesis advisors S.J. Hannahs and Maggie Tallerman. S.J. in particular was a source of constant help and encouragement. He always boosted my confidence and gave credit to my half-boiled ideas; his meticulous reading to the drafts of this thesis improved its style and the coherence to a great extent. In addition to my supervisors, The Department of Linguistics at Newcastle University has been my intellectual home for the last four years where I was given training and taught linguistics. Special thanks to Geoff Poole, Joel Wallenberg and Maggie Tallerman for teaching me Generative Syntax and for Martha Young-Scholten for her insightful teaching of L2 Phonology. Thank you also to Gerard Docherty, Ghada Khattab and Jalal-eddin Al-Tamimi for their training in Socio-phonetics and Phonetics. However, it was S.J.’s Phonological Theory Modules that attracted me and sparked my interest in Phonological theory and Prosodic structure in particular. I would also like to thank my fellow Kurdish colleagues in the Post Graduate suite (Rebeen, Rebwar, Sameera and Zana) for lending me their intuition as a native speaker of the language and being good friends. Special thanks go to Nancy Hall for invaluable comments on my data on the status of epenthetic vowel in Central Kurdish. Her comments inspired me and cleared my vague account and contradictory conclusion on the status of the vowel. I am also grateful to Mike Gordon for answering my question on Prosodic Inconsistency and his referral to a good article on the topic. Finally, I record my acknowledgement to my family. What I could possibly say? I gave all the time and attention they deserve to thinking on and writing this thesis. To them, this thesis is dedicated. v List of Abbreviations C: Consonant CG: Clitic group CK: Central Kurdish CL: Compensatory Lengthening Fnc: Function word OT: Optimality Theory PWG: The Prosodic Word Group QI: quantity insensitive QS: quantity sensitive SLH: Strict Layer Hypothesis SPMH: The Syntax Prosody Mapping Hypothesis V: Vowel μ: Mora σ: Syllable F: Foot ω: Prosodic Word φ: Phonological Phrase ι: Intonational Phrase ʋ: Utterance §: section indicator vi Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................ ii Acknowledgements .......................................................................................................... v List of Abbreviations ..................................................................................................... vi Table of Contents .......................................................................................................... vii Chapter One Introduction ............................................................................................ 1 1.1 Research Problem, Aims and Objectives ............................................................. 1 1.2 Language and dialect under study ....................................................................... 5 1.3 Methodology ........................................................................................................ 8 1.4 A Brief Review of Literature on CK Phonemes .................................................. 9 1.5 Consonants ......................................................................................................... 11 1.5.1 Stops ...................................................................................................... 14 1.5.2 Affricates ............................................................................................... 15 1.5.3 Fricatives ............................................................................................... 16 1.5.4 Nasals .................................................................................................... 20 1.5.5 Rhotics ................................................................................................... 21 1.5.6 Approximants ........................................................................................ 23 1.6 Vowels ............................................................................................................... 26 1.6.1 Vowel Length ........................................................................................ 29 1.6.2 The Epenthetic Vowel ........................................................................... 32 Part I Rhythmic Categories ...................................................................................... 37 Chapter Two Mora and Prosodic Inconsistency in CK........................................... 38 2.1 Constituency of the Mora .................................................................................. 38 2.2 Syllable Weight: An Introduction ...................................................................... 39 2.3 Formal Representation of Weight ...................................................................... 40 2.4 A Review of Standard Syllable Weight ............................................................. 44 2.5 Quantity-Insensitive Behaviour ......................................................................... 47 2.5.1 Eurhythmic Stress Pattern ..................................................................... 48 2.5.2 Syllable Types: Numbers and Freedom of Distribution ........................ 49 2.6 Quantity-Sensitive Behaviour ............................................................................ 51 2.6.1 Contrastive Vowel Length and Geminate Consonants .......................... 51 2.6.2 Minimal Word ....................................................................................... 54 vii 2.6.3 Compensatory Lengthening .................................................................. 57 2.7 The Weight of the Epenthetic Vowel ................................................................ 64 Chapter Three The Syllable as a Prosodic Constituent........................................... 74 3.1 Introduction ........................................................................................................ 74 3.2 Derivation and Constituency of Syllable ........................................................... 75 3.2.1 Derivation of Syllables: Where do Syllables Come from? ................... 75 3.2.2 The Syllable as a Constituent ................................................................ 78 3.3 Syllable-Based Phonological Processes............................................................
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