Positional Neutralization - Linguistics - University of California ...

Avoidance of length contrasts word-finally takes another form as well: the well-
known propensity for vowels in final syllables to evade a process known as Iambic
Lengthening (Hayes 1995, Hung 1994, Buckley 1998). Iambic lengthening is a process
whereby an underlying short vowel, if parsed into the strong position of an iamb, is
lengthened. Choctaw is often cited as exhibiting this pattern. Choctaw (Western
Muskogean, as given in Hung 1994, Hayes 1995 and Buckley 1998) parses words into
iambic feet, lengthening the vowels in the strong position of these:
(37) Final lengthening in Choctaw
habina (habi:)na 's/he receives a present'
ti-habina-li (tiha:)(bina:) li 'I receive a present from you'
pisa-li (pisa:)li 'I see'
ti-pisa (tipi:)sa 's/he sees you'
ti-pisa-ti-li (tipi:)(sati:)li 'I cause you to see'
tokwikili-ti-li (tok)(wiki:)(liti:)li 'I shine a light'
Final vowels, however, fail to lengthen in this position.
habina-li (habi:)(nali) 'I receive a present'
habina-ti (habi:)(nati) 's/he gives a present'
ti-habina (tiha:)(bina) 'you receive a present'
ti-habina-ti--li (tiha:)(bina:)(tili) 'I give you a present'
Choctaw, like the languages cited above, has no long vowels derived or otherwise
in final position (Buckley 1998 citing Nicklas 1975). For Hung, this state of affairs
results from the interaction of a constraint she calls Rhythm with a constraint mandating
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