A faithfulness conspiracy
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Ashley W. Farris-Trimble
Abstract
Children frequently reduce marked target structures to unmarked outputs. However, multiple reduction strategies are often available, and pinpointing a principle that unifies them can be difficult. This paper examines several markedness-reducing processes in Amahl’s developing phonology (Smith 1973), showing that seemingly unrelated repairs actually had a coherent objective: to avoid the accumulation of multiple repairs. This finding is significant on two levels: first, the pattern challenges analyses that rely on ranked constraints, in which violations cannot accumulate across constraints; second, it appears that multiple phonological processes (unfaithful by definition) conspire to preserve faithfulness. This pattern is defined as a faithfulness conspiracy, and the concept is fleshed out with other examples from Amahl’s development as well as cases from fully-developed languages.
Abstract
Children frequently reduce marked target structures to unmarked outputs. However, multiple reduction strategies are often available, and pinpointing a principle that unifies them can be difficult. This paper examines several markedness-reducing processes in Amahl’s developing phonology (Smith 1973), showing that seemingly unrelated repairs actually had a coherent objective: to avoid the accumulation of multiple repairs. This finding is significant on two levels: first, the pattern challenges analyses that rely on ranked constraints, in which violations cannot accumulate across constraints; second, it appears that multiple phonological processes (unfaithful by definition) conspire to preserve faithfulness. This pattern is defined as a faithfulness conspiracy, and the concept is fleshed out with other examples from Amahl’s development as well as cases from fully-developed languages.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword and tabula gratulatoria vii
- Introduction 1
-
Section 1. Representations and contrast
- Prosodic Licensing and the development of phonological and morphological representations 11
- Covert contrast in the acquisition of second language phonology 25
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Section 2. Sources of individual differences in phonological acquisition
- Sibling rivalry 53
- Abstracting phonological generalizations 71
- Rapid phonological coding and working memory dynamics in children with cochlear implants 91
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Section 3. Cross-linguistic approaches to phonological acquisition
- What guides children’s acquisition of #sC clusters? 115
- The role of phonological context in children’s overt marking of ‘-s’ in two dialects of American English 133
- German settlement varieties in Kansas 155
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Section 4. Theoretical advances in the field
- The role of onsets in primary and secondary stress patterns 175
- A faithfulness conspiracy 199
- Superadditivity and limitations on syllable complexity in Bambara words 223
- Author index 249
- Subject index 253
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword and tabula gratulatoria vii
- Introduction 1
-
Section 1. Representations and contrast
- Prosodic Licensing and the development of phonological and morphological representations 11
- Covert contrast in the acquisition of second language phonology 25
-
Section 2. Sources of individual differences in phonological acquisition
- Sibling rivalry 53
- Abstracting phonological generalizations 71
- Rapid phonological coding and working memory dynamics in children with cochlear implants 91
-
Section 3. Cross-linguistic approaches to phonological acquisition
- What guides children’s acquisition of #sC clusters? 115
- The role of phonological context in children’s overt marking of ‘-s’ in two dialects of American English 133
- German settlement varieties in Kansas 155
-
Section 4. Theoretical advances in the field
- The role of onsets in primary and secondary stress patterns 175
- A faithfulness conspiracy 199
- Superadditivity and limitations on syllable complexity in Bambara words 223
- Author index 249
- Subject index 253
