عنوان

Using Model Theory in Phonology: A Novel Characterization of Syllable Structure and Syllabification

Number

TL51372

.Language of Text, Soundtrack etc

انگلیسی

Title Proper

Using Model Theory in Phonology: A Novel Characterization of Syllable Structure and Syllabification

General Material Designation

[Thesis]

First Statement of Responsibility

Strother-Garcia, Kristina

Subsequent Statement of Responsibility

Heinz, Jeffrey

Name of Publisher, Distributor, etc.

University of Delaware

Date of Publication, Distribution, etc.

2019

Text of Note

183 p.

Dissertation or thesis details and type of degree

Ph.D.

Body granting the degree

University of Delaware

Text preceding or following the note

2019

Text of Note

This dissertation investigates the computational properties of syllable-based phenomena using tools from Model Theory. Although the syllable has been studied by linguists for over a century, the computational complexity of syllable well-formedness and syllabification processes has not yet been investigated. After introducing the necessary formalisms from Model Theory, I present three main findings. First, I show that three types of syllable structure representations from the literature are notationally equivalent, meaning we can `translate' between them very easily without loss of information. Second, I formalize syllable well-formedness patterns in Imdlawn Tashlhiyt Berber (ITB) and Moroccan Arabic (MA) as grammars of local, inviolable constraints. Third, I formalize syllabification processes in ITB and MA using Quantifier-Free logic, a weak logical language that can only make local computations. Taken together, these findings support the hypothesis---contrary to constraint-based paradigms which emphasize global optimization---that syllable-based phenomena are fundamentally local in nature.

Subject Term

Linguistics

Subject Term

Mathematics

Strother-Garcia, Kristina

Heinz, Jeffrey

University of Delaware

Electronic name

p

[Thesis]

276903

a

Y