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Locality and globality in phonological variation

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Abstract

This paper explores the consequences of Harmonic Serialism (HS), a derivational variant of OT, for local and global phonological variation. Variation is local when each locus within a single form may vary independently, as in French schwa deletion. Variation is global when all loci within a single form must covary, as in labial (de)voicing in Warao. Within the framework of Optimality Theory (OT) with parallel evaluation, only global variation is predicted to exist. In this paper, I  show how implementing a multiple-rankings theory of phonological variation within HS accounts for both local and global variation.

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  1. Department of Linguistics, 226 South College, University of Massachusetts, 150 Hicks Way, Amherst, MA, 01003, USA

    Wendell A. Kimper

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Correspondence to Wendell A. Kimper.

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This research was supported by grant BCS-0813829 from the National Science Foundation to the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

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Kimper, W.A. Locality and globality in phonological variation. Nat Lang Linguist Theory 29, 423–465 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11049-011-9129-1

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