This thesis presents an analysis of the phonological processes that affect contiguous nasal and obstruent segments. These phonological processes include voice, manner and place assimilation as well as deletion and coalescence. The goal of this thesis is to account for these seemingly disparate processes by introducing universal constraints on the representation of segments in non-linear phonology. Deriving these processes from the principles of a theory of representation is beneficial because such an analysis is not possible in a theory that appeals only to rules. The result is a theory of phonology with greater explanatory adequacy than a theory that relies on rules. / Chapter 1 contains a review of the history of the representation of segments and the representation of assimilation as well as a discussion of the theoretical assumptions used throughout the thesis. Chapter 2 contains a discussion of the phonological processes as they occur during the formation of prenasalized consonants. These processes are shown to be triggered by the representation of prenasalized consonants and a theory of underspecification. Chapter 3 proposes an analysis of the universal characteristics of nasal-obstruent place assimilation which is then extended to explain some universal properties of consonantal assimilation in general.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.59291 |
| Date | January 1989 |
| Creators | Rosenthall, Samuel |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Master of Arts (Department of Linguistics.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001067456, proquestno: AAIMM63502, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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