Morphology and Phonology
The
UiL-OTS morphology and phonology group
Program
| Activities |
Dissertations | Downloadable papers |
Fourth
Utrecht Biannual Phonology Workshop
Program
This research group focuses on the study of sounds and sound structure (phonology)
and that of complex words and their structure (morphology). It shares with
the research group of Syntax and Semantics its fundamentally generative
approach to linguistic investigation. Thus, research deals with the two
sides of the same coin: the 'learnability problem' and the 'power of the
grammar' problem. These discussion areas can be rephrased as the following
observations: all languages are basically the same in spite of superficially
almost endless variation; and all children take basically take basically the
same approach towards their language (make mistakes within a predefinable
range), in spite of the widely differing end states (adult grammars). The
explanation is assumed to lie in Universal Grammar.
From this perspective, given a current state of theorising, the group
investigates languages (some of them deeply and individually, others part of
the typologically widest possible range) with a view to a generally
perceived theoretical problem area of a phonological and/or a morphological
nature, and analyses are proposed (usually by considering alternatives)
which conform to the usual generative methodological conditions: they reach
the level of descriptive adequacy, i.e. cover the relevant facts, and strive
for the level of explanatory adequacy, i.e. reduce the number of possible
human languages, and seem learnable. This approach includes direct studies
of the process of first language acquisition, which can be considered
methodologically complex but theoretically rewarding.
The research group consciously joins two international trends: one away from
rule-grammars towards a theoretical approach in which the notions of
constraint, constraint-interaction, and conflict are given a central
position; the other towards research into interface problems, i.e. that of
the mutual interaction between phonology and morphology, and their
interaction with syntax (and semantics) on the one hand, and phonetics on
the other.
Specific areas of interest include those of Prosodic Morphology; stress,
accent, and syllable structure; affix stacking; and thematic structure. It
is the groups cautious wish to expand the focus of its field of
investigation into satellite areas. Potential targets are the study of sign
language, that of second language acquisition, the metrical analysis of
poetry, and the study of phenomena from aphasia.
There are two research groups: Phonology Morphology
The research objectives coincide with the research foreseen in the research
programme
Language in Use, more particularly the research group Prosody.
Activities
workshops |
guests | projects
- Prosodic Morphology. On June 22-24, 1994, an international workshop on Prosodic Morphology took place at UiL-OTS, featuring invited speakers Larry Hyman, Sharon Inkelas, Junko Itô, John McCarthy, Armin Mester, and Alan Prince. Later workshops were devoted to:
- Prosodic and Phrasal Phonology (2-3 July, 1996), with invited speakers Aditi Lahiri, Marina Nespor, and Elisabeth Selkirk.
- Typology and Acquisition in Phonology (11-12 June, 1998), with invited speakers Bruce Hayes and Joe Pater.
-
Typology in Phonology. (22-23 June, 2000) featuring invited
speakers Ellen Broselow and Paul Kiparsky.
Other workshops
- Sign language symposium. An UiL-OTS mini-symposium on Sign Linguistics was held on March 7, 2000. Speakers: Susanne Glück (JWG Universität Frankfurt AM), Roland Pfau (JWG Universität Frankfurt AM), Ingeborg van Gijn (UvA), Inge Zwitserlood (UiL OTS), Wim Emmerik (NSDSK), and Igor de Kort (UvA).
Biannual Utrecht Phonology Workshops
Guest researchers
- Fixing Priorities: Constraints in Phonological Acquisition. In cooperation with Joe Pater (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), members of our research group are preparing a volume on constraints in phonological acquisition, to be published by Cambridge University Press.
- A Morphological Database for Dutch. The purpose of this project is to develop a database which specifies the combinatorial possibilities of Dutch morphemes.
A choice of current projects
- Nine Elenbaas, A Unified Account of Binary and Ternary Stress: Considerations from Sentani and Finnish. (Defense: 5 February, 1999.)
- Juliette Waals, An Experimental View of the Dutch Syllable. (Defense: 29 January, 1999.)
- Astrid Holtman, A Generative Theory of Rhyme: An Optimality Approach. (Defense: November 1996.)
- Janet Grijzenhout, Irish Consonant Mutation and Phonological Theory. (Defense: 2 June, 1995.)
- Dominique Nouveau, Language Acquisition, Metrical Theory, and Optimality: A Study of Dutch Word Stress. (Defense: 30 September, 1994.)
- Jan Don, Morphological Conversion. (Defense: 28 May, 1993.)
- Jan Nijen Twilhaar, Generative Fonologie en de Studie van Oostnederlandse Dialecten. (Defense: 30 March, 1990.)
- Ellis Visch, A Metrical Theory of Rhythmic Stress Phenomena. (Defense: 17 November, 1989.)
- Rene Kager, A Metrical Theory of Stress and Destressing in English and Dutch. (Defense: 15 September, 1989.)
- Elenbaas, Nine, and René Kager (1999), "Ternary rhythm and the lapse constraint", Phonology 16.3, 273-329 [ rtf | pdf].
- Kager, René (1999), "Surface opacity of metrical structure in optimality theory", in B. Hermans & M. van Oostendorp (eds.), The Derivational Residue in Phonological Optimality Theory, 207-245. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. [rtf | pdf].
- Kager, René & Wim Zonneveld (1999a), "Introduction", in R. Kager, H. van der Hulst & W. Zonneveld (eds.), The Prosody-Morphology Interface, 1-38. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. [rtf | pdf].
- Kager, René & Wim Zonneveld (1999b), "Introduction", in R. Kager & W. Zonneveld (eds.), Phrasal Phonology, 1-34. Nijmegen: Nijmegen University Press. [rtf | pdf].
