The architecture of the English lexicon

This study provides an analysis of stress assignment and vowel alternation in the Latinate vocabulary of English, using the mechanisms of Optimality Theory to express the entire phonology, including lexical information, through the medium of the constraint hierarchy. Generative solutions depend crucially upon the underlying lexical forms which feed the grammar. A computational study of the English lexicon has been undertaken, identifying the distribution of stress, syllable weight and vowel length throughout the English lexicon. Forms have been classified on morphological and prosodic grounds, and comparative pattern frequencies have been calculated. This reveals a series of majority and minority patterns, each with significant distributions, rather than a large set of regular forms with a residue of exceptions. The majority patterns are enforced by prosodic constraints, while the minority stress patterns can also be accounted for, without recourse to unstructured exception marking, by proposing additional structure for their underlying forms. Such structure is restricted to constituents already found in the grammar. The distribution of vowel quantity in the data suggests that long vowels seen in alternating forms should be understood as resulting from a morphologically conditioned vowel lengthening. Reassessing these forms as underlyingly short accounts for both vowel alternation and certain otherwise inexplicable stress retractions. Previously exceptional forms, which failed to "shorten", are hence understandable as underlyingly long. Stress in morphologically complex forms is treated via subcategorization constraints, and all stress and vowel alternation patterns are accounted for with a single constraint hierarchy. To account for the now small residue of exceptional forms, such as suppletive stems or irregular allomorphs, a new conception of the lexicon within OT is proposed. Morpheme selection is understood to be governed by lexical selection constraints. While "regular" forms result from the interaction of generally applicable constraints, exceptions are enforced by high-ranking specific constraints, which take complex structures as arguments. The contrast between general and specific constraints can be used to explain competing trends within the lexicon, such as type vs. token frequency. This proposal moves the entire grammar into the realm of the constraint hierarchy, and allows for a principled evaluation metric.Ph.D.Alcántara, J. B. (1998). The architecture of the english lexicon. Thesis (Ph.D. -- Cornell University