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

and contradicts the intuition, shared by every analysis of this language, that
Yowlumne vowels are divided on the basis of rounding, not backness. 17
(8.40) Yowlumne contrastive specifications by (8.36)
i u a ç
low – – + +
back – +
round – +
8.6.3. Systematic and accidental gaps
In Calabrese’s approach, designation of a feature as noncontrastive depends on
the markedness statements. Calabrese (2005: 443–449) argues that this
dependence allows for an account of the famous problem in Russian voicing
assimilation, whereby the obstruents /x, ts, tS/ pattern with the other
contrastively voiceless obstruents, though they have no voiced (minimal)
counterparts. Calabrese (2005: 445–446) observes that this would be a problem if
contrast were based only on ‘the structural arrangement of the system’ (that is, in
terms of minimal pairs), because these segments should be designated as
noncontrastive for voicing, though they pattern at though they are contrastively
[–voiced].
However, Calabrese argues that his procedure for assigning
noncontrastive features will not designate these phonemes as noncontrastive.
17 Calabrese could still capture rounding harmony, but he would have to characterize it as
targeting all features, not just contrastive features.
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