Phonology Circle on Monday, October 28, will have two practice presentations for the upcoming AMP conference:
Time: Monday, October 28 5pm-7pm
Location: 32-D831
Speaker #1: Bingzi Yu (MIT)
Title: Learners’ generalization of alternation patterns from ambiguous data
Abstract: A key question in the study of phonological acquisition is how learners acquire a pattern from data compatible with multiple possible generalizations. For example, the phonotactic data {[pita], [bida], [fisa], [viza]}, regarding consonant harmony, is consistent with the following generalizations:a simple Voicing harmony generalization: [? voi][? voi]a simple Continuancy harmony generalization: [? cont][? cont]a complex Voicing+Continuancy harmony generalization: [? voi, ? cont][? voi, ? cont]Durvasula and Liter (2020) investigated the acquisition of the above phonotactic pattern and found that learners preferred the simplest generalization and were able to keep track of multiple such generalizations, i.e., both (1) and (2). The current study employed the ALL paradigm to examine how learners generalize when presented with ambiguous alternation data. We found that participants acquired only a single simplest generalization, which diverges from the results of phonotactic learning but aligns with the simplicity bias.
Speaker #2: Alma Frischoff (MIT) and Ezer Rasin (MIT and Tel Aviv University)
Title: Unattested opaque interactions are Input Strictly Local
Abstract: Input Strictly Local (ISL) Maps have been proposed by Chandlee (2014) as a function class that is claimed to properly characterize the notion of process locality in phonology. Chandlee, Heinz, and Jardine (2018) have extended this claim from individual processes to process interaction, showing that a range of attested (local) opaque interactions belong to the ISL class. They conclude that in terms of their typological predictions, ISL maps compare favorably to rule-based and constraint-based theories of opaque interactions. We contribute to the evaluation of the ISL class by showing that opaque interactions that have been argued to be unattested mutual counterfeeding and mutual counterbleeding are also ISL. We conclude that while ISL maps may provide a useful characterization of the locality of individual processes, as proposed by Chandlee (2014), they are lacking as a model of process interaction because of their over-reliance on the input.