Glide-high vowel alternations at the syntax-phonology interface (original) (raw)

This paper investigates the glide-high vowel alternations at the syntax-phonology interface in Amazigh (Berber) language, specifically focusing on Tashlhiyt. It challenges traditional phonological analyses that attribute these alternations solely to syllabic structures and argues for a morpho-syntactic explanation based on the phase impenetrability condition. The study reveals that high vocoids surface as vowels or glides depending on their syntactic environment and proposes that j-epenthesis is employed to resolve hiatus occurrences in specific morpho-phonemic contexts.