Targeting underspecified segments: a formal analysis of feature-changing and feature-filling rules

Alan Bale ^[1] ; Maxime Papillon ^[1] ; Charles Reiss ^[1]
1. [1] Concordia University
  
  Concordia University
  
  Canadá
Localización: Lingua: International review of general linguistics, ISSN 0024-3841, Nº 148, 2014, págs. 240-253
Idioma: inglés
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Resumen
- In this paper, we discuss how the difference between feature-changing and feature-filling processes has not been adequately addressed in rule-based, derivational phonology. We explore two different theories of these processes. One theory analyzes feature-changing in two steps—set subtraction and then set unification. Another analyzes feature-changing in one step—a function that alters the polarity of features. We argue that empirical evidence favours the two-step over the one-step process. In particular, the two-step process provides an account for the lack of rules that target specified segments independently of underspecified segments (so-called by-passing rules). It also explains why there are no attested examples of purely phonological rules that switch the polarity of certain features (e.g., changing /t/ and /d/ to [d] and [t] respectively).