A Computational Phonology of Russian [Paperback]

Peter A. Chew (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1581121784 | ISBN-13: 978-1581121780 | Publication Date: March 15, 2003

This dissertation provides a coherent, synchronic, broad-coverage, generative phonology of Russian. I test the grammar empirically in a number of ways to determine its goodness of fit to Russian. In taking this approach, I aim to avoid making untested (or even incoherent) generalizations based on only a handful of examples. In most cases, the tests show that there are exceptions to the theory, but at least we know what the exceptions are, a baseline is set against which future theories can be measured, and in most cases the percentage of exceptional cases is reduced to below 5%. The principal theoretical outcomes of the work are as follows. First, I show that all of the phonological or morphophonological processes reviewed can be described by a grammar no more powerful than context-free. Secondly, I exploit probabilistic constraints in the syllable structure grammar to explain why constraints on word-marginal onsets and codas are weaker than on word-internal onsets and codas. I argue that the features [+/- initial] and [+/- final], and extraprosodicity, are unnecessary for this purpose.

Product Details

• Paperback: 428 pages
• Publisher: Dissertation.Com. (March 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581121784
• ISBN-13: 978-1581121780
• Product Dimensions: 9.5 x 7.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,834,264 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)