here - Linguistic Society of America

Jurgen Klausenburger (University of Washington) Session 74Can linguistics use a shave from Ockham’s razor?This paper holds that Ockham’s Razor, the principle of parsimony, must be applied in conjunction with an “Anti-Razor,” alsoproposed by Ockham (and others). The Razor considers the absence of an entity as unmarked, while the Anti-Razor sees thepresence of that entity as unmarked. For theory building in linguistics, both principles are required. They interact not to supply auniversal metric of parsimony, but rather create conditions in which such a metric becomes conceivable. Such a state equates to a“claim of parsimony,” not parsimony itself: It aims to prevent not to be able to prevent the positing of unnecessary entitiesPeter Klecha (University of Chicago) Session 34Modifiers of modal auxiliaries and scalar modalityThis poster examines modifiers of modal auxiliaries, like easily. [9](1) That vase (very) easily could have fallen. [7]The effect of easily is to "strengthen" the possibility denoted by could. Moreover it is gradable. [16]I argue that easily is a modifier of the modal base (MB) of the modal, which combines with the MB via a generalized predicatemodification rule, restricting the MB to just the worlds whose stereotypicality exceeds a certain standard, which is contextuallydetermined in the case of the positive (Kennedy 2007). This contextual variability allows for relativization of the standard to thecontent of the MB. [66]Rachel Klippenstein (The Ohio State University) Session 34Phonetically and syntactically based analogy in the development of verbal betterSentences like He better not go show a modal-like verb better reanalyzed from the adverb better. The construction He’d better godoes not offer the ambiguity needed for syntactic reanalysis, since after (ha)d, better if verbal would be an infinitive, which isimpossible for modals. However, the phonetic form [hidbɛtəəɹɡoʊ] is plausibly reanalyized phonetically as [hibɛtəəɹɡoʊ], withno phonemic representation of had; the phonetic reanalysis then provides the material for a syntactic analysis without had. Thus,here, phonetic reanalysis is the driving force behind syntactic reanalysis. The negation-contracted form betn’t shows anotherinstance of phonetically-based reanalysis.Sarah Knee (Memorial University) Session 34Vowel devocalization in Northern East CreeDerived clusters in Northern East (NE) Cree are traditionally assumed to result from the deletion of an intervening vowel. Ipropose, rather, that they arise from vowel devocalization, a process involving gradient vowel shortening or weakening. First, Idemonstrate the compelling similarity between the process leading to derived clusters in NE Cree and vowel devocalization innon-Algonquian languages. Second, I show that consonants in NE Cree derived clusters display phonetic lengthening, one of thephonetic correlates accompanying vowel devocalization. I suggest that the gestures of these lengthened consonants overlap thevowel to the point that it is not perceived.Jean-Pierre Koenig (University at Buffalo) Session 103Karin Michelson (University at Buffalo)How complex can the paradigm for a single position class be?Iroquoian languages are known for the complexity of their pronominal prefixes. But, what makes the pronominal prefix system sounusually complex? We compare the kind of complexity it exhibits, which we call paradigmatic complexity to the better studiedsyntagmatic complexity. First, the prefixes require a large set of exponence rules for a single “position class.” Second,underspecification and (rules of) referral reduce the number of rules, but increase the semantic ambiguity of verb forms. Third,across the five inflectional classes, allomorphy is partly conditioned by the initial stem-initial sound, which results in a large set ofparsing ambiguities.Mary Kohn (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) Session 55Charlie Farrington (University of Oregon)‘Girls say I sound country’: correlating African American metalinguistic awareness with vowel productionWe analyze the speech of 22 African Americans from Piedmont, North Carolina, using self-defined language descriptions toexplore the relationship between linguistic use and linguistic self-awareness. Speakers were asked questions that focused onmetalinguistic awareness, including whether they speak a non-standard dialect. Results indicate that speakers who self-describe as169