The contrastive hierarchy in phonology 2009 Dresher.pdf - CUNY ...

for example, the underlying vowel system of Yowlumne Yokuts (formerly
Yawelmani: Kuroda 1967, Newman 1944), a Penutian language of California. The
underlying vowels can be represented as /i, u, a, o/, and their phonological
patterning suggests that they are characterized in terms of the features [round]
and [high], as in (5.27).
(5.27) Yowlumne vowels
–round +round
i u +high
a o –high
Because the epenthetic vowel is /i/, Archangeli (1984: 75) chooses to
specify [–high] and [+round] underlyingly, as in (5.28). The representations in
(5.28) limit the underlying vowel feature specifications to [–high] and [+round].
(5.28) Yowlumne vowels (Archangeli 1984: 75–76)
a. Underlying specifications
i a o u b. Complement rules
high – – i. [ ] [+high]
round + + ii. [ ] [–round]
Yowlumne has a rule of rounding harmony whereby an i changes to u
when a u stands in the preceding syllable, and a changes to o following a
preceding o. That is, the rule of rounding harmony is limited to affect vowels in
the same height class. Archangeli (1984:79) formulates it as a spreading rule as
shown in (5.29).
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