In this dissertation I examine partial vowel assimilations, where more than one but less than all vowel features pattern together in a phonological rule. The result of this dissertation research is the 'Height Node Geometry'. The particular innovation this geometry makes is to group the height features ( (high) and (low)) under a separate Height Node, as opposed to having the height features report to the Dorsal Node or the Place Node. Motivation for the Height Node Geometry comes from analyses of several phonological processes. First, removing the height features from under the Dorsal Node and the Place Node facilitates a more natural explanation for reduplication in the Petit Diboum dialect of Fe?fe?-Bamileke. Second, placing the height features above the Place Node but still directly or indirectly under the Supralaryngeal Node provides an account for Tunica partial translaryngeal harmony. Finally, vowel harmony in Ewe involves spreading of (+high) and (+low) in the same environment, arguing for a simpler rule of node spread; hence, I propose that the height features stem from a separate Height Node, instead of directly to the Supralaryngeal Node.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:arizona.edu/oai:arizona.openrepository.com:10150/185697 |
| Date | January 1991 |
| Creators | Wiswall, Wendy Jeanne |
| Contributors | Archangeli, Diana B., Hammond, Michael, Demers, Richard |
| Publisher | The University of Arizona. |
| Source Sets | University of Arizona |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text, Dissertation-Reproduction (electronic) |
| Rights | Copyright © is held by the author. Digital access to this material is made possible by the University Libraries, University of Arizona. Further transmission, reproduction or presentation (such as public display or performance) of protected items is prohibited except with permission of the author. |
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