Finnish OT Prosody
The analysis given in Finnish
OT Prosody is slightly flawed. It gives incorrect results for
inputs such as {kalasteleminen}
'fishing' and {järjestelmällisyydelläni}
'my
systemaciticy':
(ká.las).te.(lè.mi).nen
(jä́r.jes).tel.(mä̀l.li).syy.(dèl.lä).ni
The desired outputs are:
(ká.las).(tè.le).(mì.nen)
(jä́r.jes).(tèl.mäl).li.(sỳy.del).(lä̀.ni)
The problem lies with the StressToWeight constraint that requires
stressed syllables to be heavy. The two undeserving winners have fewer
violations of this constraint than the correct alternatives:
(ká*.las).te.(lè*.mi).nen
2 violations
(ká*.las).(tè*.le).(mì*.nen)
3 violations
(jä́r.jes).tel.(mä̀l.li).syy.(dèl.lä).ni
0 violations
(jä́r.jes).(tèl.mäl).li.(sỳy.del).(lä̀*.ni)
1 violation
The 1999 analysis of Finnish Prosody given by Nine
Elenbaas and René Karger ("Ternary rythm and the lapse
constraint," Phonology 16,
273-329) does not postulate a general StressToWeight constraint but
proposes a more specific restriction, *(L'H), that prohibits stress on
a light syllable if the following syllable is heavy.
The tasks for this assignment are:
1.
Formulate the *(L'H) constraint in finite-state terms, use it in place
of StressToWeight, and check the Elenbaas&Karger analysis with the
modified Finnish OT Prosody script. Are the results now correct?
2. If there results are not correct,
can you suggest other changes, new constraints, some reranking or
reformultation of existing constraints that would give the desired
output in the two cases above, of course, without getting something
else wrong?
Note that the non-OT analysis
has
no problem with these words provided that we consider a ternary foot
such
as (tèl.mäl.li) as
equivalent to a binary foot followed
by an extrametrical
syllable: (tèl.mäl).li.
(jä́r.jes).(tèl.mäl.li).(sỳy.del).(lä̀.ni).