John McCarthy | University of Massachusetts Amherst (original) (raw)

Papers by John McCarthy

Prosodic Morphology (McCarthy and Prince 1986 et seq.) is a theory of how morphological and phono... more Prosodic Morphology (McCarthy and Prince 1986 et seq.) is a theory of how morphological and phonological determinants of linguistic form interact with one another in a grammatical system. More specifically, it is a theory of how prosodic structure impinges on templatic and circumscriptional morphology, such as reduplication and infixation. There are three essential claims:

Abstract This work has circulated in manuscript form since October, 1986. Its basic contents were... more Abstract This work has circulated in manuscript form since October, 1986. Its basic contents were first presented at WCCFL 3 in spring, 1986 to an audience that was not devoid of convinced believers in the C and the V. It has been cited variously as McCarthy & Prince 1986, M&P forthcoming, and even (optimistically) M&P in press.

OT-Help.(Staubs et al.) is a Java-based open source software tool that aids research in fou... more OT-Help.(Staubs et al.) is a Java-based open source software tool that aids research in four variants of Optimality eory (OT; Prince & Smolensky/). From OT-Help., it inherits the ability to nd both constraint rankings, as in classic OT, and constraint weightings, as in Harmonic Grammar (HG; Legendre, Miyata & Smolensky a, b; see Smolensky & Legendre and Pater for overviews of subsequent research).

Assimilation as feature spreading is a central insight of autosegmental phonology (Goldsmith 1976... more Assimilation as feature spreading is a central insight of autosegmental phonology (Goldsmith 1976a, b). The idea is that assimilation involves increasing the temporal span of a tone or distinctive feature to encompass more than a single segment. For example, in Johore Malay, nasality spreads rightward affecting vowels and glides:

ory (Bem 1967, 1972) and other nonmotivational alternative explanations. Others have emphasized t... more ory (Bem 1967, 1972) and other nonmotivational alternative explanations. Others have emphasized the importance of the self-concept in cognitive dissonance, arguing that dissonance effects may depend on threats to one's self-concept and may be alleviated by procedures that affirm the self (eg, Steele 1988; Thibodeau and Aronson 1992).

This document contains handouts and transcripts (prepared from a contemporaneous tape recording) ... more This document contains handouts and transcripts (prepared from a contemporaneous tape recording) of two lectures presented at the OTS/HIL Workshop on Prosodic Morphology, held at the University of Utrecht, June 22–24, 1994. We are grateful to the participants in the Workshop and to the organizers, René Kager, Harry van der Hulst, and Wim Zonneveld.

Abstract An analysis of English Expletive Infixation (as in fan-fuckin-tastic) in terms of a metr... more Abstract An analysis of English Expletive Infixation (as in fan-fuckin-tastic) in terms of a metrical theory of prosody is presented. It is shown that the major environment for Expletive Infixation—immediately before a stressed syllable—follows from independently motivated characteristics of this theory. Further support for this metrical theory is adduced from infixation in words with dactylic stress alternation and with internal stress-neutral junctures, and from the subordination of stress in forms after infixation.

Abstract In the Gurage (Ethiopian Semitic) language Chaha, erstwhile phonological processes of pa... more Abstract In the Gurage (Ethiopian Semitic) language Chaha, erstwhile phonological processes of palatalization and labialization have been morphologized as part of the inflectional system. Specifically, under certain morphological conditions we find palatalization of a root-final velar or coronal obstruent, labialization of the rightmost labial or velar consonant in the root, or a conjunction of these two processes.

Abstract What OT constraint favors autosegmental spreading? Existing proposals for the pro-spread... more Abstract What OT constraint favors autosegmental spreading? Existing proposals for the pro-spreading markedness constraint make implausible typological predictions. This paper presents a new proposal that depends on Harmonic Serialism to avoid those unwanted predictions.

Abstract The thesis of this paper is that morphological templates have access to a richer variety... more Abstract The thesis of this paper is that morphological templates have access to a richer variety of categories than the CV tier. Although foot and syllable reduplication had been suggested previously, here I have shown the need for templates—conditions on the form of words of particular morphological types—that refer to syllables in modern Hebrew and to feet in Cupeño.

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, a... more Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www. jstor. org/page/info/about/policies/terms. jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use.

Abstract According to the P-Map, a phonological mapping is less faithful to the extent that there... more Abstract According to the P-Map, a phonological mapping is less faithful to the extent that there is more perceptual distance between its input and output. Although this idea is attractive, it cannot be implemented in the standard parallel version of Optimality Theory. This note explains why and shows how a derivational version of OT, Harmonic Serialism, can solve this problem.

Page 1. University of Massachusetts - Amherst From the SelectedWorks of John J.

Assimilation is a phonological process in which a segment changes to resemble its neighbors more ... more Assimilation is a phonological process in which a segment changes to resemble its neighbors more closely. In partial assimilation, the targeted segment takes on some, but not all, of the characteristics of the source segment. Total assimilation is the limiting case: the target becomes identical to the source. The antithesis of assimilation is dissimilation, discussed in another subentry in this entry.

The tense/lax vowel harmony system of Andaiusian Spanish has deservedly attracted considerable at... more The tense/lax vowel harmony system of Andaiusian Spanish has deservedly attracted considerable attention in the generative phonological literature (Clements 1980; Hooper 1976; Zubizarreta 1979). There has, however, been no comparable analysis of the far more complex and interesting harmony phenomena of Montañés Spanish. In Montañés we find, in addition to àn exceptionless tense/lax harmony, a concomitant fully-developed system of harmony along the high/mid parameter.

Page 1. University of Massachusetts - Amherst From the SelectedWorks of John J.