Debrecen08

Interface stress systems: Representation, evolution and acquisition

Anthi Revithiadou

This course aims at acquainting the students with a branch of phonological systems (e.g. English, Greek, Russian, Persian, various Salish languages, and so on) in which stress assignment is not purely phonological but rather hinges on the interference of a cluster of factors, which are primarily morphosyntactic in nature. We will review some of these systems and account for their ‘less transparent’ or ‘deviant’ phonological behavior on the basis of various interface models that have been proposed in the literature (e.g. Alderete’s (1999, 2001, 2002) Anti-Faithfulness theory, Revithiadou’s (1999, 2007) Head-based theory, Kahnemuyipour’s (2003) Phrasal Phonology account, and so on). We will also explore the relation of tone with stress, with special emphasis on the diachronic development of stress systems from tonal ones and the consequences of such an evolutionary path for the nature and dynamics of the mental representation of lexically-specified stress. We will also investigate the effects of language interference on reshaping ‘deviant’ phonological behavior and recasting it into more regular phonological patterns. More specifically, we will examine the contact-induced systems of Asia Minor Greek, in which the lexically-imprinted stress subsided under the influence of the predictable (i.e. rightmost) Turkish stress rule. The course will be completed with a discussion of issues pertaining to the acquisition of interface stress systems both in first and second language acquisition.

Materials for this class will be posted at here.

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