Indicadores de la creatividad

PP differs from ET and DP in a number of respects. But of primary interest to us is the potential way in which schwa, and the mid low and low vowels can be represented. In

The cold vowel of ET is equivalent to neither the centrality component nor the categorial gesture. It does however have properties in common with both. @ like {lal} is regarded as a basic prime (a point I shall return to below) and both are concerned with central vowels. @ has the pervasiveness of the categorial gesture, but there is a sense in which @ is more pervasive than (IVI} in that (IVI} is present in all segments except voiceless stops, whereas @ is present in all segments.

chapter 1 we saw that the exact interpretation of the particles is system dependent. Recall from chapter 1 (section 1.1.1.2) that Schane (1984:132) states that

"The central series of vowels requires special comment. A single occurrence of the aperture particle stands for [a] in those languages with only one central vowel. For languages with both [ a ] and [a] it is the form er that is represented by

one occurrence of the aperture particle, whereas the latter would have two. Hence the interpretation o f particles (eg whether a represents [ a ] or [a]) is

system-dependent. "

This strongly suggests that in a system with /a/ and /a/, schwa is represented by A and /a/ by AA (this is the interpretation assumed by Kaze 1991). Following this line of

reasoning, in a system such as RP with /o/, / a / and /a/, these vowels will have the

following representations:

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/a/ A /a/ A /ay A A A

A

Additional support for this interpretation comes from the division of the vowels according to which glides they give rise to. If schwa in English is characterised in line with Schane's comments on central vowels, then we can achieve a straightforward pairing of schwa with A.'^^

Since Kaze (1991) and Broadbent (1992, 1994a, b) Schane has published his 1995 paper in which he comments, for the first time, on schwa. In footnote 1, Schane comments that in "Languages with [a] and no [i] have the schwa vowel as the null-particle set." (Schane 1995:605). However in Footnote 19 (page 607) he comments "For languages with [a a] (but without [i]) the schwa vowel will generally be without any aperture particle." The use of the word "generally" suggests that Schwa may be

represented by A. The evidence discussed in this chapter suggests that English is such a system. At first glance Schane's reference to the null-particle set suggests that PP also has four basic primes and is therefore subject to the same criticisms levelled against DP and ET. However, this so-called null set does not have the same role in the system. On Schane's approach it represents high central vowels

In the light of Schane's representation of central vowels, consider the Gadsup and Quechua systems once again.

(64) Gadsup Quechua

/i/ I U /u/ /!/ I U lu l

Isl A /n/ A

Given Schane's proposals for central vowels, Gadsup's central vowel [3] and Quechua's

[n] will both be represented by a single occurrence of A On this system-dependent approach, then, the problem encountered using Dependency phonology and ET of selecting from the four basic vowel components a three vowel system has become a non­ issue. Furthermore, four vowel systems such as Margi, Pashto and Kwakiutl, which have two central vowels, can be accounted for without assuming a fourth prime.

(65) i u I U

9 A

n A

A

The two central vowels will be accounted for with A [a] and AA for [n]. If we consider WY, which has one central vowel: schwa, the WY vowel system will be represented in PP as follows:

only; it has no combinatorial role with A I U and it is described as highly marked. This latter point makes his comments on schwa all the more bizarre since schwa is a highly unmarked vowel.

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/i/ I /u/ U

/I/IA -’® /u /U A

/e/ lA /o/ UA /e/ lA A /a/ A /o/ UAA

/a/ lAAA /d/ UAA a

If schwa were to be taken as null, then this system would permit the tonality particles I and U to occur in combination or in isolation, whereas A would only occur in

combination. This goes against the idea that vowel systems employ the three basic primes and that any combinations build in markedness.

In his (1995) paper Schane comments on the nature of particle combinations in footnote 1 (page 605). He states

"Within a set there is no ordering of particles. Hence {ia} and (ai) both represent [e]. In dependency phonology...,which also makes use of unary vowel

components, hierarchic ordering plays a role: lil dominating lal representing a higher mid vowel; lal dominating lil, a lower mid. In particle phonology, vowels o f lower height have additional occurrences of the lal particle."

Although Schane insists that particles do not enter into "hierarchic ordering" when his system is compared with DP, or ET for that matter, it becomes clear that in a seven vowel system with [e] and [s] {ia} indicates a dominance of I and (iaa) a dominance of A. In other words these two representations can be shown to be equivalent to (li—>al) and

(la—>ilj respectively. In chapter 4 , 1 shall return to the question of expressing asymmetry in Particle Phonology in more detail. For now, we can assume that when two or more particles combine, A will be the dominant force in that combination provided it is

Note that I d and iii have the same particle representation. Schane (1984b) argues that support for

represented more than once in the segment. Given this assumption, we have a

representation which captures the fact that the low-mid and low vowels are A-headed. Furthermore, schwa can be equated with A and so, when the head o f the mid-low or low vowels spreads into a following empty onset the result will be a schwa. A spreading is now compatible to I spreading and Ü spreading. So, PP can implement OF in a

straightforward way and it does so because it provides a better vowel representation than that assumed in Broadbent (1991).^^

2.7. Summary

In this chapter we have considered a new account of linking and intrusive r in English, and this was first proposed in Broadbent (1991). The main idea is that r-sandhi is a manifestation of Glide Formation, a process which occurs as a hiatus breaker. We have considered the implementation of GF in three theories: ET, EG and PP. GF provides a naturalization of the r-sandhi problem. It is an extremely simple proposal and this should be reflected in any adequate theory of segmental representation. ET fails to implement GF because the representation of vowels is such that the vowels can not be correctly divided into the three glide-forming classes. Furthermore, ET was unable to establish a relationship between /r/ and what is widely assumed to be its cognate vowel schwa. EG fared much better. In section 2.4 I argued that it was possible to implement GF in EG. However, the process was not as simple as EG restrictions on spreading would lead us to expect. Since the feature approach did not provide a suitable representation for the glide

Although schwa alternates with r in English, it is [a] that is related to r in many other languages.

Given the adoption of Schane's particle phonology and in particular his use of A we are able to account for this variation among languages.

forming vowels, I returned to particle theories and considered the representation of schwa in ET and DP. I argued that the problem with the representation of vowels using this type of approach was the presence of a centrality particle and that this lay at the heart of our inability to express GF using ET or DP. In section 2.6, we saw that Schane's Particle Phonology (PP), which lacks a centrality component, was able to equate schwa with A and capture the mid-low and low vowels as a class so that GF can therefore be straightforwardly expressed as the spread of I, U, A heads.