Rule Ordering: Korean Vowel Harmony and vowel hiatus rules

KOREAN VOWEL HARMONY AND VOWEL CONTRACTIONS
Here is the phonemic vowel system of Korean as I interpret it. Some of the symbols here
are not the ones used in standard works on Korean, but they are the vowels that I hear.
Front Unrounded Non-Front Unrounded Back Rounded
High i ɨ u
Mid e o
Low a ɔ
(a) VOWEL HARMONY: Korean has a suffix consisting of a vowel that is added to verbs in
certain contexts. It is usualy called the infinitive. The infinitive suffix has two alternants
that are governed by a rule called VOWEL HARMONY. 1 Below are verbs in the form they
take in dictionary entries, with a suffix –ta, and in the “polite” present tense form, in
which the infinitive suffix shows up together with another suffix, –jo, a “polite” suffix,
used, for example, with casual acquaintances. 2
Dictionary form Present tense polite
1. kilta kilɔjo ‘be long’
2. ipta ipɔjo ‘wear (clothes)’
(I couldn’t find a suitable verb with the vowel /e/.)
3. sɨlta sɨlɔjo ‘wither’
4. ɨlpʰta ɨlpʰɔjo ‘recite’
5. kamta kamajo ‘wash’
6. patta patajo ‘get, receive’
7. mukta mukɔjo ‘get old, get stale’
8. ulta ulɔjo ‘cry’
9. nolta nolajo ‘play’
10. t͡ʃoẗ͡ʃ
ʰta t͡ʃoẗ͡ʃʰajo
‘follow’
11. mɔkta mɔkɔjo ‘eat’
12. ɔpsta ɔpsɔjo ‘not exist’
Write a VOWEL HARMONY rule accounting for the vowel alternation in the infinitive suffix
of the “present tense” of the verb. SUGGESTION: The alternation is specific to the
infinitive. Moreover, it is difficult to formulate the alternation in terms of features. Write
your rule this way:
VOWEL HARMONY: [+syllabic]INFINITIVE a / environment
ɔ elsewhere
1 Strictly speaking, this is an incorrect use of the term “vowel harmony”. Better would be “VOWEL
AGREEMENT”. In a language that exhibits true “vowel harmony”, (i) vowels fall into two distinct groups
(say, [+round] vowels and [-round] vowels), and (ii) all vowels in a word must come from one group or the
other. Examples of languages with true vowel harmony systems are Turkish, Finnish, Avatime, and many
others. Korean has neither of the properties (i) or (ii), but here, we will retain the traditional term VOWEL
HARMONY.
2 The data here is in a sort of “compromise” phonemic form. Some allophonic alternations are not shown.
In particular, voicing of lax stops between sonorants (vowels and/or sonorant consonants) is not shown, nor
is an alternation between [ɽ] syllable initial vs. [l] syllable final. There is also a rule that automatically
tensifies stops after other obstruents, e.g. /ipta/ [ipt͡ta] ‘wear clothes’. This tensification is not shown.
1

Korean Vowel Harmony and Vowel Contractions 2
VOWEL HARMONY: [+syllabic]INFINITIVE a / […a ~ oC0]ROOT___
ɔ elsewhere (after root vowels other than /a, o/)
It turns out to be possible to formulate VOWEL HARMONY using features, though I feel like
this is sort of a trick that accidentally works. We assume (1) the classification of vowels
at the beginning of this problem and (2) that the infinitive is underlying /ɔ/.
!
! +syllabic$
+syllabic$
#
#
VOWEL HARMONY:
+back &
-high &
# +low & [-round] / […#
+back & C0 ]ROOT [___]INFINITIVE
#
" # +round % &
!low &
" # -!round % &
That is, the infinitive suffix /ɔ/ [a] where the last root vowel is a non-high back vowel
that has oppositive features for [low] and [round]: /a/ is [+low, -round], /o/ is [-low,
+round].
(b) Verbs ending in vowels other than /ɨ/: The verbs in 13-25 end in vowels other than
/ɨ/.
13. t͡tɔneta t͡tɔnejo ‘scoop out’
14. neta nejo ‘submit, hand in’
15. mannata mannajo ‘meet’
16. t͡tɔnata t͡tɔnajo ‘leave, depart’
17. kata kajo ‘go’
18. sɔta sɔjo ‘come to a stop, stand’
19. kɔnnɔta kɔnnɔjo ‘cross’
20. tanita tanjɔjo ‘attend’
21. t͡ʃʰita t͡ʃʰjɔjo ‘strike, hit’
22. nanuta nanwɔjo ‘divide, separate’
23. t͡ʃuta t͡ʃwɔjo ‘give’
24. ota wajo ‘come’
25. pota pwajo ‘see, look at’
Write rules to account for the outcome of verb roots that end in vowels when the
infinitive suffix is added. Using the VOWEL HARMONY rule from (a), account for
alternation in the infinitive suffix. You may need to order your rules!
! $
"# -high
Condition: Does not apply after /o/ (see items #24-25). 3
INFINITIVE SUFFIX ELISION: [+syllabic] Ø / [… +syllabic
Elide the infinite suffix after non-high vowels other than /o/.
%& ]ROOT[___]INFINITIVE
3 Generative phonology in the Sound Pattern of English tradition had various formalisms to incorporate
such conditions into the rules themselves. In this case, we could add [, ] to the root vowel
matrix. This means, “If the vowel is [-low], it must also be [-round].” This thus excludes /o/ but retains /e/
(and, of course, /a/ and /ɔ/ because they are [+low]).

Korean Vowel Harmony and Vowel Contractions 3
! +syllabic$
#
GLIDE FORMATION:
-low &
# !back & [-syllabic] / […___]ROOT[ [+syllabic] ]INFINITIVE
" # !round % &
Change a root-final non-high vowel to the corresponding glide (/i/ [j], /u, o/ [w])
before the infinitive suffix. The features [αback, αround] are needed to exclude /ɨ/--see
next dataset below. We need to order this rule after INFINITIVE SUFFIX ELISION so that it
won’t apply to /e/. We could avoid imposition of ordering by adding []
to GLIDE FORMATION. That is, “if the target vowel is [-high] it must be [+round].”
VOWEL HARMONY must be ordered before GLIDE FORMATION:
INPUT / t͡ʃu-ɔ-jo /
‘gives’
Rules:
VOWEL HARMONY
GLIDE FORMATION
t͡ʃu-ɔ-jo
t͡ʃw-ɔ-jo
INPUT / po-ɔ-jo /
‘sees’
Rules:
VOWEL HARMONY
GLIDE FORMATION
po-a-jo
pw-a-jo
OUTPUT [ t͡ʃwɔjo ] OUTPUT [ pwajo ]
If GLIDE FORMATION had applied first, the root vowel distinction /u/ vs. /o/ would have
been neutralized to [w], and VOWEL HARMONY, as formulated, would have given
*[pwɔjo] for ‘sees’.
(c) Verbs ending in /ɨ/: The verbs in 26-33 end in the vowel /ɨ/.
26. kip͡pɨta kip͡pɔjo ‘be happy’
27. jep͡pɨta jep͡pɔjo ‘be pretty’
28. t͡ʃamkɨta t͡ʃamkajo ‘lock’
29. pap͡pɨta pap͡pajo ‘be busy’
30. apʰɨta apʰajo ‘be sick’
31. kopʰɨta kopʰajo ‘be hungry’
32. kʰɨta kʰɔjo ‘grow’
33. s͡sɨta s͡sɔjo ‘use; write’
Compare also the fate of root final /ɨ/ of #28 in the passive t͡ʃamkita ‘be locked’ and of #32 in the
causative kʰiuta ‘make (something) grow’, which add an –i- suffix to the verb root.
Assuming that the “dictionary forms” on the left (minus the suffix –ta) represent the base
form, write a rule or rules to account for the form that the verb takes in the present tense
forms. Using the VOWEL HARMONY rule from (a), account for alternation in the infinitive
suffix. As in (b), you may need to order your rules!
! +syllabic$
#
/ɨ/ ЕLISION:
+high &
# +back & Ø / ___[ SUFFIX [+syllabic]
" # -round % &
Elide /ɨ/ before another vowel. This rule probably applies before any suffix beginning
with a vowel, but it would not apply across word boundaries.

Korean Vowel Harmony and Vowel Contractions 4
NOTE! In items #26-31, VOWEL HARMONY looks at the vowel inside the root, not the
final vowl of the verb, which is /ɨ/, a vowel that would trigger [ɨ] as its infinitive vowel
form. We must therefore get rid of the /ɨ/ before applying VOWEL HARMONY. Items #32-
33, on the other hand, have only /ɨ/ as their root vowel. Nonetheless, we can safely apply
/ɨ/ ELISION to these words. If we accept the account of VOWEL HARMONY suggested here,
where the infinitive suffix is underlying /ɔ/, this underlying vowel will surface in items
like #32-33 because at the time VOWEL HARMONY would apply, these roots will have no
vowel and hence will not trigger the VOWEL HARMONY rule at all.
We thus have four rules, ordered as following:
INFINITIVE SUFFIX ELISION (this rule is possibly unordered)
/ɨ/ ЕLISION
VOWEL HARMONY
GLIDE FORMATION
Here are derivations of selected verbs:
UNDERLYING /nol-ɔ-jo/
9. play
Rules:
INF. SUFFIX ELISION
/ɨ/ ELISION
VOWEL HARMONY
GLIDE FORMATION
--------
--------
nol-a-jo
-------
/ne-ɔ-jo/
14. submit
ne-jo
-------
-------
-------
/po-ɔ-jo/
25. see
--------
--------
po-a-jo
pw-a-jo
/kop h ɨ-ɔ-jo/
31. be hungry
--------
kop h -ɔ-jo
kop h -a-jo
--------
/k h ɨ-ɔ-jo/
32. grow
-------
k h -ɔ-jo
(k h -ɔ-jo)
-------
OUTPUT [nolajo] [nejo] [pwajo] [kop h ajo] [k h ɔjo]