ATR Harmony in Karimojong: Justification for a Stratal Optimality Theory

Diane Lesley-Neuman

Abstract for paper presented at
Annual Conference on African Linguistics (ACAL)
Eugene, OR
April 6-9, 2006

Karimojong verbs show a bi-directional root-based ATR harmony as well as dominant leftward suffix-based processes from TAM markers and irregular suffixes. Vowels from the harmony set are transparent to harmony when part of pronominal prefixes and of an apparently grammaticalizing frequentive infix. Stratal Optimality Theory accounts for transparency in Karimojong, in that affixation of the pronominal prefix and the frequentive infix occur on levels in which harmony does not apply. Specification and underspecification of affixes and positional faithfulness (Beckman, 1997) explain the complex spreading behavior, and lexically specified floating features account for harmony in irregular verb forms in an alignment-based hierarchy. Non-serial OT and headed spans are alternative analytical strategies that cannot account for the variety in Karimojong verb output forms.

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Diane Lesley-Neuman is a graduate student in the Department of Linguistics at the University of Colorado. She can be reached at lesleyne@colorado.edu.

Colorado Research in Linguistics - Volume 19, Issue 1 - June 2006