Research

Ohio State Dissertations in Linguistics (OSDL)

No Ju Kim (1997)

The Optimality Theoretic Account of Tones, Segments, and their Interaction in North Kyungsang Korean

Advisor: Odden

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Abstract:

This thesis undertakes a correspondence theoretic investigation into tone, segments, and their interaction in North Kyungsang Korean. This thesis places emphasis on the following issues: (i) a default H for tone, (ii) prosodic stem (P-stem) for tone and segments, and (iii) C-command for phrasing. A group of roots has no H in UR. A default H is assigned to the final syllable of a toneless root if it is heavy, or otherwise to the penult. Recognition of this default H renders a convincing account of the following: (i) tone in loan words, (ii) a unique tone pattern in roots longer than three syllables, (iii) words exhibiting dual tone patterns, (iv) quantity-sensitivity in tone shift and assignment, and (v) asymmetry in the number of words for possible tone patterns. A prosodic unit, P-stem, is recognized not only for this dialect but for all the other dialects of Korean. A morphological stem (M-stem) corres- ponds to a prosodic stem (P-stem) unless a mismatch is compelled by other constraints. One mismatch between the right edges of an M-stem and a P-stem is driven by syllabification. If an M-stem ending with a consonant is followed by a vowel-initial suffix, the M-stem-final consonant is syllabified as the onset of the following syllable. There is a tendency for the edge of a P-stem to be aligned with the edge of a syllable. Due to this, the syllable constructed across an M-stem boundary is incorporated into the P-stem, resulting in a mismatch between the right edges of a P-stem and an M-stem. Recognition of this mismatch explains four seemingly-unrelated phenomena: (i) two types of shortening, (ii) compensatory lengthening, and (iii) blockage of tone shift. The C-command constraint plays a major role in mapping morphosyntactic units to prosodic phrases (P-phrases) with focus or without focus. Dealing with a wide range of syntactic configurations including recursion, embedding, and coordination, it is shown that the mapping, called phrasing, is regulated by a set of constraints. Compounds (composed of more than two words) and modified compounds are organized into a number of P-phrases. Focus also affects phrasing of sentences. The constraint C-command has a focal role in the analysis of all these constructions with focus or without focus.

[Note: the PDF file available at the link above is incomplete.]