Contexts for Epenthesis in Harmonic Serialism

Abstract

Harmonic Serialism (HS) (Prince and Smolensky, 1993/2004; McCarthy, 2000, 2008a,b) employs the constraint interaction mechanism of Parallel Optimality Theory (POT) (Prince and Smolensky, 1993/2004), but uses a restricted GEN in which only one operation may apply at a time. Because HS is more complex than either POT or serial rule-based frameworks (e.g. SPE), it should only be taken seriously as a phonological model if it produces a better match with typological data than either of these. This paper argues that it does. Specifically, while both parallel OT and rule-based frameworks produce as possible phonologies unattested systems in which segmental epenthesis resolves metrical markedness, HS rules out these systems while still producing attested epenthesis.

Documents:

Paper in Harmonic Grammar and Harmonic Serialism, a volume edited by John McCarthy and Joe Pater (2016)
Handout from the 19th Manchester Phonology Meeting (May, 2011)

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