Dissertation - Michael Becker

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSWorking on this dissertation was probably the longest and worst fun I’ve ever had. Itwas an enriching and humbling endeavor, which I only accomplished thanks to help fromeverybody I know.First and foremost, to my committee chair, John J. McCarthy. I am yet to discoverthe bounds of his intellect, his patience, and his kindness. I feel greatly privileged to becounted among his many students. As for the other members of my committee, I thank LynFrazier for ruthlessly constructive criticism that helped make my work infinitely better. JoePater has been greatly influential in my interest in exceptions and variation, and I thankhim for repeatedly amazing me with his ability to say the one sentence that untangles muchconfusion. I thank Lisa Selkirk for taking me on long journeys, showing me the worldthat lies beyond the Turkish possessive suffix, and helping me see the broader implicationsof my proposals. I thank Adam Albright for many long and deeply thought-provokingconversations. I tried to learn from Adam as much as I could. I thank Shmuel Bolozky forsharing his expertise and vast knowledge of Hebrew, and for giving me the opportunity tomake an old dream of teaching Hebrew come true.Beyond my committee, I thank John Kingston for saving my hide on multipleoccasions. Thanks also to my other teachers at UMass, Kyle Johnson, Angelika Kratzer,Barbara Partee, Chris Potts, Peggy Speas, and Ellen Woolford. I thank my fellow monkeys,Kathryn Flack and Shigeto Kawahara, and the other UMass phonologists, Tim Beechey,Angela Carpenter, Della Chambless, Andries Coetzee, Emily Elfner, Ben Gelbart, MariaGouskova, Karen Jesney, Mike Key, Wendell Kimper, Kathryn Pruitt, Takahito Shinya,Anne-Michelle Tessier, Adam Werle, and Matt Wolf for being the best thing about being aUMass student, for duck, for hugs, and for tea. Among the many others who made UMassv