Positional Neutralization - Linguistics - University of California ...

of the new vowel. In the case of positional neutralization, however, the presence of the
higher-ranked positional faithfulness constraint (Ident[hi]/σ) mandates faithful realization
of the feature [hi] specifically in stressed syllables, and has the effect of allowing input
mid vowels located therein alone to surface, while all in all other cases they are barred
from the output representation. This is illustrated below in the tableau in (2) 1 .
(2) No mid vowels in unstressed syllables - Positional Faithfulness
/CeCé/ Ident[hi]/σ@ *Mid Ident[hi]
! CiCé * *
CeCé **!
CiCí *! **
(1b) on the other hand is a system of positional markedness constraints of the type
proposed in Zoll 1997 which accomplishes the same banishment of mid vowels from
unstressed syllables. In this system, a general markedness constraint against mid vowels
is outranked by a general faithfulness constraint for the feature [hi]. The higher-ranking
positional markedness constraint *MidV/unstressed σ, however, has the effect of leaving
intact only input mid vowels located in stressed syllables.
1 Additional constraints necessary to ensure raising rather than lowering of unstressed mid vowels are not
shown. Specifically, Ident[lo] would have to outrank Ident[hi] to make a change of [-hi] to [+hi] more
acceptable than the analogous alteration for [lo]
8