This thesis aims to provide a principled account of the distribution of 'tense'/'lax', and 'high/low' vowels in vowel harmony systems. It is based on the principles and parameters of Government Phonology in which variation is accounted for by possible combinations of parameter settings. To explain variation in 'tense/lax' and high/low' distribution, I exploit the interaction of the parametric aspects of three universal mechanisms: Licensing Constraints, Head-licensing (both Kaye (1993b)), and the Complexity Condition (Harris (1990a)). The type of language data this thesis seeks to account for has received some attention in the phonological literature, in terms of other frameworks as well as Government Phonology. These treatments are evaluated here. Two of the three main tools employed are recent inclusions in Government Phonology. The role of Licensing Constraints as parameters on element distribution is explored in the context of the principles and parameters drawn on in this thesis. Licensing Constraints have certain repercussions for other aspects of the theory. These are explored in detail. Licensing Constraints interact with Head-Licensing, a principle explaining 'ATR' distribution. Additionally, I claim that some aspects of Head-Licensing are subject to parametric variation. The possible combinations of parameter settings are presented, illustrated with a variety of language data. The Complexity Condition is claimed to apply parametrically in processes taking place at the level of nuclear projection. As Head-Licensing occurs at this level, some languages are expected to enforce the Complexity Condition. I examine cases where this takes place, and the variety of strategies employed by languages for its maintenance. Finally, I explore how the interaction of Licensing Constraints, Head- Licensing and the Complexity Condition might provide a unified account of harmony processes traditionally described in terms of 'raising', 'lowering', '+ATR' and '- ATR'. I evaluate, and propose analyses of some cases from the literature.

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This dissertation focuses on vowel harmony in Maasai, an Eastern Nilotic language spoken in Kenya and Tanzania. The main goal of this dissertation is to determine whether an adequate account of the Maasai pattern of Advanced Tongue Root (ATR) harmony can be formulated in Optimality Theory. Ultimately it is seen that it can, relying on directional Maximal Licensing constraints Walker (2011). Maasai is a language with dominant-recessive harmony. There are two sets of vowels--ATR and non-ATR. A word can only include members of one vowel set; if there is an AT R vowel anywhere in a word, all vowels will be ATR in the output. The only exception to this is the non-ATR low vowel, which lacks an ATR counterpart. It is opaque--it does not harmonize and it blocks the spread of harmony if it is followed by an ATR vowel, but it harmonizes to [o] when preceded by an ATR vowel. All earlier analyses have been based on mainly one source, Tucker and Mpaayei (1955). To avoid using inaccurate or inaccurate data, the data analyzed in this thesis were collected from native speakers in Arusha, Tanzania. Earlier accounts have been based on impressionistic transcriptions. Acoustic analysis of the data were performed to explore the properties of the vowels. The height of the first formant was found to be the most robust acoustical cue to differentiate ATR and non-ATR vowels, though the height of the second formant has some use as a secondary cue. Like many previous studies of languages with an ATR contrast, in this study, it was found that the ATR vowels in Maasai have lower F1s than their non-ATR counterparts (Ladefoged 1964, Lindau et al. 1972, Lindau 1976, Jacobson 1980, Hess 1992, Maddieson and Gordon 1996, Fulop et al. 1998, Anderson 1999, 2007, Przezdziecki 2005, Gick et al. 2006, Starwalk 2008, Kang and Ko 2012). Guion (2004)'s acoustic analysis of Maasai, which showed that ATR and non-ATR vowels in minimal pairs or near minimal pairs differ in F1 was confirmed. Unlike previous research, vowels that have undergone harmony were also investigated. It was observed that not only does Maasai show an ATR/ non-ATR distinction, but that the harmony process is neutralizing. An ATR suffix will force a non-ATR root to harmonize, and an ATR root will force a non-ATR prefix to harmonize. The vowel that has undergone harmony to become ATR is not distinguishable from one is always ATR. It was also found that distance from the trigger (the ATR vowel that causes harmony) does not affect the harmony process. Maasai has been described as having one lexically ATR prefix which causes only less peripheral prefixes to harmonize (Tucker and Mpaayei 1955, Mol 1995, 1996). This claim was investigated, but no acoustic evidence was found to support the claim that there is an ATR prefix. Instead, it is suggested that the perception of the prefix as ATR arises from coarticulatory effects that are the result of the unique environment of the prefix. Acoustic analysis of prefixes preceding the putative ATR prefix were found to be non-ATR. Although previous OT analyses of Maasai have been either unduly complex, incapable of accounting for all the data or have dismissed elements of the harmony as morphological, the harmony system can be accounted for rather simply with two directional harmony constraints. Walker (2011) suggests that languages which appear to demonstrate one bidirectional harmony process might actually be the result of two unidirectional harmony processes. The analysis of Maasai presented her supports this suggestion. There are two directional Maximal Licensing constraints which are high-ranked there is another constraint that must be ranked between them to account for the asymmetric behavior of the low vowel.

From the early stage of Optimality Theory (OT) (Prince, Alan and Paul Smolensky (1993): Optimality Theory: Constraint Interaction in Generative Grammar. [ROA: 537-0802: http://roa.rutgers.edu], McCarthy, John J. and Alan Prince (1995). Faithfulness and reduplicative identity. In Jill Beckman, Laura W. Dickey and Suzanne Urbanczyk (eds.) Papers in Optimality Theory. Amherst, MA: GLSA. 249-384), a number of analyses have been proposed to account for vowel harmony in the OT framework. However, because of the diversity of the patterns attested cross-linguistically, no consensus has been reached with regard to the OT treatment of vowel harmony. This, in turn, raises the question whether OT is a viable phonological theory to account for vowel harmony; if a theory is viable, a uniform account of the diverse patterns of vowel harmony should be possible.The main purpose of this thesis is to discuss the application of five different OT approaches to vowel harmony, and to investigate which approach offers the most comprehensive coverage of the diverse vowel harmony patterns. Three approaches are the main focus: feature linking with SPREAD (Padgett, Jaye (2002). Feature classes in phonology. Language 78. 81-110), Agreement-By-Correspondence (ABC) (Walker, Rachel (2009). Similarity-sensitive blocking and transparency in Menominee. Paper presented at the 83rd Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America. San Francisco), and the Span Theory of harmony (McCarthy, John J. (2004). Headed spans and autosegmental spreading. [ROA: 685-0904: http://roa.rutgers.edu]). The applications of these approaches in the following languages are considered: backness and roundness harmony in Turkish and in Yakut (Turkic), and ATR harmony in Pulaar (Niger-Congo). It is demonstrated that both feature linking and ABC analyses are successful in offering a uniform account of the different types of harmony processes observed in these three languages. However, Span Theory turns out to be empirically inadequate when used in the analysis of Pulaar harmony. These results lead to the conclusion that there are two approaches within OT that can offer a uniform account of the vowel harmony processes. This also suggests that OT is viable as a phonological theory.

Esta tese investiga por meio da Teoria da Otimidade Estocástica (BOERSMA; HAYES, 2001) o processo de harmonia vocálica de altura (HVA), que envolve as vogais médias pretônicas /e, o/ e as torna [i, u] quando há uma vogal alta na sílaba seguinte, como em menino~minino, fortuna~furtuna. O estudo tem como motivação o fato de que a maior parte das pesquisas realizadas sobre HV em português brasileiro no dialeto gaúcho tiveram como foco uma análise na linha Laboviana da sociolinguística quantitativa (BISOL, 1981, SCHWINDT, 1995, 2002, CASAGRANDE, 2004, FERNANDES, 2014). Os dados empíricos desta pesquisa provêm da fala coletada por meio de entrevistas sociolinguísticas utilizadas no estudo de Fernandes (2014), que fazem parte do banco de dados VARSUL – Variação Linguística no Sul do Brasil, e pertencem a amostra chamada Jovens Escolarizados, com estudantes de 16 a 23 anos, de Porto Alegre. Os dados foram metodologicamente separados em 3 diferentes categorias, correspondentes ao tipo de vocábulo, devido à possibilidade da influência de fatores morfológicos na aplicação e/ou restrição da regra de HVA: Formas Nominais Não- Derivadas (FNND), Formas Nominais Derivadas (FND), e Formas Verbais (FV). Buscamos propor restrições de marcação ou fidelidade para tratar a HV como um processo envolvendo o traço de altura [+alto], com espraiamento regressivo, a fim de explicar propriedades que bloqueiem ou permitam o alçamento das vogais, com base nas proporções de pesquisas quantitativas que foram realizadas anteriormente.O estudo visou propor uma análise da harmonia vocálica com restrições universais para poder explanar padrões em foco nos dados, como homorganicidade e heterorganicidade da vogal-alvo e vogal-gatilho A análise também tornou possível uma observação analítica e particular dos dados, diferentemente dos estudos variacionistas prévios. As restrições universais e requisitos fonotáticos foram buscados no espírito da Teoria da Otimidade Clássica (TO, PRINCE; SMOLENSKY, [1993] 2004, MCCARTHY; PRINCE, 1995). Esta análise também se apoiou em restrições e traços de pesquisas anteriores de caráter similar sobre o tema (MATZENAUER; MIRANDA, 2003, LEE; OLIVEIRA, 2003, ALVES, 2011, BOHN, 2014, BATTISTI; FERNANDES 2017). Para representar e modelar a gramática da HVA variável utilizou-se o Gradual Learning Algorithm (GLA), de Boersma e Hayes (2001). A análise da HVA com ranking contínuo demonstrou a dominância das restrições License, Agree e de fidelidade. Arestrição que exige a homorganicidade está ranqueada com valores mais baixos na escala contínua para as FNND. A variabilidade está presente em todas as formas, sendo menos presente nas FV, e representa a existência de mais de um mapeamento inputoutput. Os resultados evidenciam que os falantes do dialeto gaúcho realizam HVA com mais frequência em uma sequência vocálica heterorgânica com uma vogal alta tônica contígua para formas nominais em geral, e com mais frequência em uma sequência vocálica homorgânica com vogal alta contígua para as formas verbais. A exigência de que a vogal-alvo deve ser seguida por uma vogal alta tônica é mais importante para formas nominais do que para verbos em geral.As análises estocásticas realizadas, que representam a gramática dos falantes do dialeto em questão, atestaram a natureza variável da HV, com proporções baixas de realização. A dominância de restrições foi demonstrada no ranking contínuo da TO Estocástica. Também foi possível realizar reflexões e direcionamentos para futuros estudos sobre o tema, como a influência de consoantes adjacentes à vogal alvo da harmonia. / This thesis investigates through Stochastic Optimality Theory the Height Vowel Harmony phenomenon (HVH), which raises the pretonic mid vowels /e, o/ to [i, u] when there is a high vowel in the next syllable, as in m[e]nino~minino ‘boy’, f[o]rtuna~f[u]rtuna ‘fortune’. The study is motivated by the fact that most research done on VH in Brazilian Portuguese in the Gaucho dialect focused on an analysis of the Labovian line of quantitative sociolinguistics (BISOL, 1981, SCHWINDT, 1995, 2002, CASAGRANDE, 2004, FERNANDES, 2014). The empirical data of this research are from naturally occurring speech collected through interviews used in the study of Fernandes (2014) and are part of the database VARSUL - Linguistic Variation in the South of Brazil, specifically the sample called Jovens Escolarizados, with students from 16 to 23 years old. The words of the sample were methodologically separated into 3 different categories, corresponding to the type of word, due to the possibility of the influence of morphological factors in the realization and/or restriction of the VH rule: Non-Derivational Nominal Words (NDNW), Derivational Nominal Words (DNW), Verb Class (VC). We sought to propose markedness and faithfulness constraints to treat VH as an analysis with the [+High] feature and regressive spreading, in order to explain properties that block or allow vowels to be raised or acquire the [high] feature, based on the proportions of previous quantitative researches. The objectives of the study aimed to propose an analysis of VH with universal constraints to be able to explain patterns in focus in the data, such as homorganicity and heterorganicity of the target-vowel and trigger-vowel The universal constraints and phonotatic requirements were chosen in the spirit of Classic Optimality Theory (OT, PRINCE; SMOLENSKY, 1993, 2004, MCCARTHY; PRINCE, 1995). This analysis is also based on constraints and features of previous similar studies on Brazilian Portuguese VH (MATZENAUER; MIRANDA, 2003, LEE; OLIVEIRA, 2003, ALVES, 2011, BOHN, 2014, BATTISTI; FERNANDES 2017). To represent and model the variable HVA grammar we used the Gradual Learning Algorithm (GLA), by Boersma and Hayes (2001). The HVA analysis with continuous ranking demonstrated the dominance of the License, Agree and faithfulness constraints families. The constraint that requires homorganicity is ranked with lower values in the continuous scale for the NDNW. The variability is present in all categories, being less present in the Verb Class, and represents the existence of more than one input-output mapping. The results show that speakers of the Gaucho dialect perform HVH more frequently in a heterorganic vowel sequence with a contiguous high tonic vowel for nominal words in general, and HVH is more frequent in a homorganic vowel sequence with contiguous high vowel for verbal words. The requirement that the targetvowel must be followed by a high tonic vowel is more important for nominal words than for verbs in general. The stochastic analyzes carried out, which represent the grammar of the speakers of the dialect in question, attested the variable nature of the HVH, which, with low proportions, demonstrated in the continuous ranking of the Stochastic OT the dominance of constraint families, and also provided reflections and directions for future studies on the subject, such as analysis of speech data using ultrasound and the role of consonants adjacent to the harmony target.

Esta tese investiga por meio da Teoria da Otimidade Estocástica (BOERSMA; HAYES, 2001) o processo de harmonia vocálica de altura (HVA), que envolve as vogais médias pretônicas /e, o/ e as torna [i, u] quando há uma vogal alta na sílaba seguinte, como em menino~minino, fortuna~furtuna. O estudo tem como motivação o fato de que a maior parte das pesquisas realizadas sobre HV em português brasileiro no dialeto gaúcho tiveram como foco uma análise na linha Laboviana da sociolinguística quantitativa (BISOL, 1981, SCHWINDT, 1995, 2002, CASAGRANDE, 2004, FERNANDES, 2014). Os dados empíricos desta pesquisa provêm da fala coletada por meio de entrevistas sociolinguísticas utilizadas no estudo de Fernandes (2014), que fazem parte do banco de dados VARSUL – Variação Linguística no Sul do Brasil, e pertencem a amostra chamada Jovens Escolarizados, com estudantes de 16 a 23 anos, de Porto Alegre. Os dados foram metodologicamente separados em 3 diferentes categorias, correspondentes ao tipo de vocábulo, devido à possibilidade da influência de fatores morfológicos na aplicação e/ou restrição da regra de HVA: Formas Nominais Não- Derivadas (FNND), Formas Nominais Derivadas (FND), e Formas Verbais (FV). Buscamos propor restrições de marcação ou fidelidade para tratar a HV como um processo envolvendo o traço de altura [+alto], com espraiamento regressivo, a fim de explicar propriedades que bloqueiem ou permitam o alçamento das vogais, com base nas proporções de pesquisas quantitativas que foram realizadas anteriormente.O estudo visou propor uma análise da harmonia vocálica com restrições universais para poder explanar padrões em foco nos dados, como homorganicidade e heterorganicidade da vogal-alvo e vogal-gatilho A análise também tornou possível uma observação analítica e particular dos dados, diferentemente dos estudos variacionistas prévios. As restrições universais e requisitos fonotáticos foram buscados no espírito da Teoria da Otimidade Clássica (TO, PRINCE; SMOLENSKY, [1993] 2004, MCCARTHY; PRINCE, 1995). Esta análise também se apoiou em restrições e traços de pesquisas anteriores de caráter similar sobre o tema (MATZENAUER; MIRANDA, 2003, LEE; OLIVEIRA, 2003, ALVES, 2011, BOHN, 2014, BATTISTI; FERNANDES 2017). Para representar e modelar a gramática da HVA variável utilizou-se o Gradual Learning Algorithm (GLA), de Boersma e Hayes (2001). A análise da HVA com ranking contínuo demonstrou a dominância das restrições License, Agree e de fidelidade. Arestrição que exige a homorganicidade está ranqueada com valores mais baixos na escala contínua para as FNND. A variabilidade está presente em todas as formas, sendo menos presente nas FV, e representa a existência de mais de um mapeamento inputoutput. Os resultados evidenciam que os falantes do dialeto gaúcho realizam HVA com mais frequência em uma sequência vocálica heterorgânica com uma vogal alta tônica contígua para formas nominais em geral, e com mais frequência em uma sequência vocálica homorgânica com vogal alta contígua para as formas verbais. A exigência de que a vogal-alvo deve ser seguida por uma vogal alta tônica é mais importante para formas nominais do que para verbos em geral.As análises estocásticas realizadas, que representam a gramática dos falantes do dialeto em questão, atestaram a natureza variável da HV, com proporções baixas de realização. A dominância de restrições foi demonstrada no ranking contínuo da TO Estocástica. Também foi possível realizar reflexões e direcionamentos para futuros estudos sobre o tema, como a influência de consoantes adjacentes à vogal alvo da harmonia. / This thesis investigates through Stochastic Optimality Theory the Height Vowel Harmony phenomenon (HVH), which raises the pretonic mid vowels /e, o/ to [i, u] when there is a high vowel in the next syllable, as in m[e]nino~minino ‘boy’, f[o]rtuna~f[u]rtuna ‘fortune’. The study is motivated by the fact that most research done on VH in Brazilian Portuguese in the Gaucho dialect focused on an analysis of the Labovian line of quantitative sociolinguistics (BISOL, 1981, SCHWINDT, 1995, 2002, CASAGRANDE, 2004, FERNANDES, 2014). The empirical data of this research are from naturally occurring speech collected through interviews used in the study of Fernandes (2014) and are part of the database VARSUL - Linguistic Variation in the South of Brazil, specifically the sample called Jovens Escolarizados, with students from 16 to 23 years old. The words of the sample were methodologically separated into 3 different categories, corresponding to the type of word, due to the possibility of the influence of morphological factors in the realization and/or restriction of the VH rule: Non-Derivational Nominal Words (NDNW), Derivational Nominal Words (DNW), Verb Class (VC). We sought to propose markedness and faithfulness constraints to treat VH as an analysis with the [+High] feature and regressive spreading, in order to explain properties that block or allow vowels to be raised or acquire the [high] feature, based on the proportions of previous quantitative researches. The objectives of the study aimed to propose an analysis of VH with universal constraints to be able to explain patterns in focus in the data, such as homorganicity and heterorganicity of the target-vowel and trigger-vowel The universal constraints and phonotatic requirements were chosen in the spirit of Classic Optimality Theory (OT, PRINCE; SMOLENSKY, 1993, 2004, MCCARTHY; PRINCE, 1995). This analysis is also based on constraints and features of previous similar studies on Brazilian Portuguese VH (MATZENAUER; MIRANDA, 2003, LEE; OLIVEIRA, 2003, ALVES, 2011, BOHN, 2014, BATTISTI; FERNANDES 2017). To represent and model the variable HVA grammar we used the Gradual Learning Algorithm (GLA), by Boersma and Hayes (2001). The HVA analysis with continuous ranking demonstrated the dominance of the License, Agree and faithfulness constraints families. The constraint that requires homorganicity is ranked with lower values in the continuous scale for the NDNW. The variability is present in all categories, being less present in the Verb Class, and represents the existence of more than one input-output mapping. The results show that speakers of the Gaucho dialect perform HVH more frequently in a heterorganic vowel sequence with a contiguous high tonic vowel for nominal words in general, and HVH is more frequent in a homorganic vowel sequence with contiguous high vowel for verbal words. The requirement that the targetvowel must be followed by a high tonic vowel is more important for nominal words than for verbs in general. The stochastic analyzes carried out, which represent the grammar of the speakers of the dialect in question, attested the variable nature of the HVH, which, with low proportions, demonstrated in the continuous ranking of the Stochastic OT the dominance of constraint families, and also provided reflections and directions for future studies on the subject, such as analysis of speech data using ultrasound and the role of consonants adjacent to the harmony target.

Esta tese investiga por meio da Teoria da Otimidade Estocástica (BOERSMA; HAYES, 2001) o processo de harmonia vocálica de altura (HVA), que envolve as vogais médias pretônicas /e, o/ e as torna [i, u] quando há uma vogal alta na sílaba seguinte, como em menino~minino, fortuna~furtuna. O estudo tem como motivação o fato de que a maior parte das pesquisas realizadas sobre HV em português brasileiro no dialeto gaúcho tiveram como foco uma análise na linha Laboviana da sociolinguística quantitativa (BISOL, 1981, SCHWINDT, 1995, 2002, CASAGRANDE, 2004, FERNANDES, 2014). Os dados empíricos desta pesquisa provêm da fala coletada por meio de entrevistas sociolinguísticas utilizadas no estudo de Fernandes (2014), que fazem parte do banco de dados VARSUL – Variação Linguística no Sul do Brasil, e pertencem a amostra chamada Jovens Escolarizados, com estudantes de 16 a 23 anos, de Porto Alegre. Os dados foram metodologicamente separados em 3 diferentes categorias, correspondentes ao tipo de vocábulo, devido à possibilidade da influência de fatores morfológicos na aplicação e/ou restrição da regra de HVA: Formas Nominais Não- Derivadas (FNND), Formas Nominais Derivadas (FND), e Formas Verbais (FV). Buscamos propor restrições de marcação ou fidelidade para tratar a HV como um processo envolvendo o traço de altura [+alto], com espraiamento regressivo, a fim de explicar propriedades que bloqueiem ou permitam o alçamento das vogais, com base nas proporções de pesquisas quantitativas que foram realizadas anteriormente.O estudo visou propor uma análise da harmonia vocálica com restrições universais para poder explanar padrões em foco nos dados, como homorganicidade e heterorganicidade da vogal-alvo e vogal-gatilho A análise também tornou possível uma observação analítica e particular dos dados, diferentemente dos estudos variacionistas prévios. As restrições universais e requisitos fonotáticos foram buscados no espírito da Teoria da Otimidade Clássica (TO, PRINCE; SMOLENSKY, [1993] 2004, MCCARTHY; PRINCE, 1995). Esta análise também se apoiou em restrições e traços de pesquisas anteriores de caráter similar sobre o tema (MATZENAUER; MIRANDA, 2003, LEE; OLIVEIRA, 2003, ALVES, 2011, BOHN, 2014, BATTISTI; FERNANDES 2017). Para representar e modelar a gramática da HVA variável utilizou-se o Gradual Learning Algorithm (GLA), de Boersma e Hayes (2001). A análise da HVA com ranking contínuo demonstrou a dominância das restrições License, Agree e de fidelidade. Arestrição que exige a homorganicidade está ranqueada com valores mais baixos na escala contínua para as FNND. A variabilidade está presente em todas as formas, sendo menos presente nas FV, e representa a existência de mais de um mapeamento inputoutput. Os resultados evidenciam que os falantes do dialeto gaúcho realizam HVA com mais frequência em uma sequência vocálica heterorgânica com uma vogal alta tônica contígua para formas nominais em geral, e com mais frequência em uma sequência vocálica homorgânica com vogal alta contígua para as formas verbais. A exigência de que a vogal-alvo deve ser seguida por uma vogal alta tônica é mais importante para formas nominais do que para verbos em geral.As análises estocásticas realizadas, que representam a gramática dos falantes do dialeto em questão, atestaram a natureza variável da HV, com proporções baixas de realização. A dominância de restrições foi demonstrada no ranking contínuo da TO Estocástica. Também foi possível realizar reflexões e direcionamentos para futuros estudos sobre o tema, como a influência de consoantes adjacentes à vogal alvo da harmonia. / This thesis investigates through Stochastic Optimality Theory the Height Vowel Harmony phenomenon (HVH), which raises the pretonic mid vowels /e, o/ to [i, u] when there is a high vowel in the next syllable, as in m[e]nino~minino ‘boy’, f[o]rtuna~f[u]rtuna ‘fortune’. The study is motivated by the fact that most research done on VH in Brazilian Portuguese in the Gaucho dialect focused on an analysis of the Labovian line of quantitative sociolinguistics (BISOL, 1981, SCHWINDT, 1995, 2002, CASAGRANDE, 2004, FERNANDES, 2014). The empirical data of this research are from naturally occurring speech collected through interviews used in the study of Fernandes (2014) and are part of the database VARSUL - Linguistic Variation in the South of Brazil, specifically the sample called Jovens Escolarizados, with students from 16 to 23 years old. The words of the sample were methodologically separated into 3 different categories, corresponding to the type of word, due to the possibility of the influence of morphological factors in the realization and/or restriction of the VH rule: Non-Derivational Nominal Words (NDNW), Derivational Nominal Words (DNW), Verb Class (VC). We sought to propose markedness and faithfulness constraints to treat VH as an analysis with the [+High] feature and regressive spreading, in order to explain properties that block or allow vowels to be raised or acquire the [high] feature, based on the proportions of previous quantitative researches. The objectives of the study aimed to propose an analysis of VH with universal constraints to be able to explain patterns in focus in the data, such as homorganicity and heterorganicity of the target-vowel and trigger-vowel The universal constraints and phonotatic requirements were chosen in the spirit of Classic Optimality Theory (OT, PRINCE; SMOLENSKY, 1993, 2004, MCCARTHY; PRINCE, 1995). This analysis is also based on constraints and features of previous similar studies on Brazilian Portuguese VH (MATZENAUER; MIRANDA, 2003, LEE; OLIVEIRA, 2003, ALVES, 2011, BOHN, 2014, BATTISTI; FERNANDES 2017). To represent and model the variable HVA grammar we used the Gradual Learning Algorithm (GLA), by Boersma and Hayes (2001). The HVA analysis with continuous ranking demonstrated the dominance of the License, Agree and faithfulness constraints families. The constraint that requires homorganicity is ranked with lower values in the continuous scale for the NDNW. The variability is present in all categories, being less present in the Verb Class, and represents the existence of more than one input-output mapping. The results show that speakers of the Gaucho dialect perform HVH more frequently in a heterorganic vowel sequence with a contiguous high tonic vowel for nominal words in general, and HVH is more frequent in a homorganic vowel sequence with contiguous high vowel for verbal words. The requirement that the targetvowel must be followed by a high tonic vowel is more important for nominal words than for verbs in general. The stochastic analyzes carried out, which represent the grammar of the speakers of the dialect in question, attested the variable nature of the HVH, which, with low proportions, demonstrated in the continuous ranking of the Stochastic OT the dominance of constraint families, and also provided reflections and directions for future studies on the subject, such as analysis of speech data using ultrasound and the role of consonants adjacent to the harmony target.

Previous research on speakers' abilities to track non-adjacent dependencies (e.g., vowels or consonants that co-occur across syllables) in artificial grammar learning (AGL) tasks has shown that the acquisition of these patterns is extremely difficult (e.g. Newport&Aslin 2004; Gómez 2002; Bonatti, PenÞa, Nespor&Mehler 2005). One assumption made in this literature is that all speakers of all languages should be capable of tracking these patterns even when the native language of those speakers contains no such non-adjacent dependencies. This dissertation questions this assumption by testing whether native Khalkha Mongolian speakers attend to and track the frequency of vowel patterns and harmonic class size in their language. It also tests their ability to acquire non-adjacent vocalic dependencies in AGL tasks.Because Khalkha displays [ATR] vowel harmony (Svantesson, Tsendina, Karlsson&Franzén 2005) which restricts vowel co-occurrences, it was hypothesized that Khalkha speakers are biased towards attending to the frequency and form with which these vowel patterns occur. The results of three experiments indicated that Khalkha speakers both attend to and track the frequency with which vowel patterns occur. These results also indicate that Khalkha speakers build abstract categories based on the relative token numbers of [+ATR] and [-ATR]harmonic spans.Khalkha speakers were further tested in three experiments which focused on speakers' ability to acquire novel non-adjacent vocalic dependencies in AGL tasks. The results indicated that participants successfully acquired vocalic dependencies (both harmonic and disharmonic) in all three experiments. These results indicate that Khalkha speakers' attention is biased towards vowels, regardless of harmonic status of the item.Collectively, these results highlight the role of language-specific phonology in the ways that speakers abstract and utilize phonological information. The special status of harmonic vowel patterns and harmonic class size are new variables with which to conduct future research on vowel harmonic languages and with vowel harmonic language speakers. The effects of language-specific phonology on speech perception and lexical access must be considered a crucial aspect in future psycholinguistic research, particularly in regards to the aspects of language toward which speakers attend.

<p>ATR, advanced tongue root, is a phonological feature among vowels. As vowels assimilate to share the same value of that feature, they display ATR harmony. This is a common phenomenon among many African languages. ATR harmony is examined in this paper as manifested across morpheme boundaries wihin nouns in a Surmic language of Ethiopia called Bale. The data presented was collected at a workshop on ATR harmony held by SIL International in Mizan Teferi, Ethiopia, 2009. The vowel system in Bale displays a nine vowel inventory with a feature dominance of [+ATR] vowels which spread their feature both leftward and rightward to recessive [–ATR] vowels. The [+ATR] dominance is also present as a floating feature without any phonological material. The vowel /a/ is analysed as a neutral vowel, co-occuring with both [+ATR] and [–ATR] vowels within roots.</p>

This dissertation is an acoustic description of the phonemic inventory of Nez Perce [nez], a Penutian language of the United States. Acoustic work has been conducted on the consonants of Nez Perce, but no acoustic work has been conducted on the vowels or vowel harmony system. This work begins with an overview of the dissertation, language situation, and previous research. Following the introduction are chapters on ejectives and plain obstruents, plain and glottalized sonorants, vowels, vowel harmony, and the conclusion. Nez Perce has both plain and ejective stop series, a plain and ejective affricate series, and a plain fricative series. I examine these segments for acoustic correlates comparing them to previous research, other languages and current theory. The ejectives are described with f0, intensity, jitter, burst amplitude and VOT. I discuss fricatives in terms of spectra, duration, formant transitions, and moments. The timing and realization of glottalization on glottalized and plain sonorants is investigated. Segments are measured for duration and are visually and aurally inspected for variation of glottalization, realized using pitch, laryngealization, glottal stops, or a combination of these features. It is nearly always realized on the sonorant rather than before or after. Vowels are plotted and compared to previous phonological descriptions. The inventory is /i, æ, a, o, u/ rather than the canonical five-vowel system, leading to the description of the inventory as having a “gap” and not maximally contrastive. I suggest that if Nez Perce vowels are considered using a shifted axis then the vowels are maximally contrastive. The non-canonical vowel inventory leads to two seeming unrelated vowel harmony sets: dominant, /i, a, o/, and recessive, /i, æ, u/. The proposed shifted axis view becomes important for reanalyzing the vowel harmony to reconcile these unusual sets. Previous analyses have described Nez Perce vowel harmony as based on advanced tongue root (ATR). I investigated Nez Perce vowels for ATR acoustic correlates; however, the results provide evidence both supporting and not supporting an ATR analysis. I propose an alternate analysis for the vowel harmony based on the principle of maximal contrast, evidenced by the shifted axis model.