Phonology of consonant-vowel interaction with special reference to Korean and Dependency Phonology

This dissertation is a search for a more satisfactory explanation for various consonant-vowel interaction phenomena. The theoretical framework best suited for this purpose is judged to be Dependency Phonology (Anderson and Ewen 1987). Dependency Phonology assumes that a dependency relation holds in every module of grammar, i.e. from the internal structure of a segment to syntactic structure.In the first chapter, two current representational systems, i.e. Underspecification and Feature Geometry, are reviewed and it is shown that these frameworks are not quite adequate in explaining the consonant-vowel interaction phenomena.In Chapter 2, I present some basic principles and representations of DP. To improve the representation of phonological rules, I adopt a theory of underspecification and a convention of spreading. The former is done by removing the articulatory gesture and the latter, by spreading components instead of features. In the final section, a syllable structure of Korean in the DP framework is suggested.In Chapter 3, four phonological processes which involve consonant-vowel interaction are explored. They are Palatalization, Labialization, Umlaut, and Consonant and Vowel Harmony. It is shown that the DP model is better than Feature Geometry in dealing with these phenomena since in DP, consonants and vowels share common components which are suitable for representing consonant-vowel interaction phenomena.In Chapter 4, I deal with Korean word structure and some phonological rules which are sensitive to a dependency relation between morphemes. I examine Intervocalic Voicing and Tensification. It turns out that Tensification is more specific in the sense that if a certain condition is met then it applies, and if the condition is not met then voicing takes place. Tensification in relative clause is also closely examined and it is claimed that the seemingly same surface structure (V+ilN) has two different underlying structures: that of a relative clause and a sub-compound. Only in the latter case, Tensification takes place. Finally, Causative/Passive construction and allomorphy are investigated. It is claimed that it has the mutual-governed structure and /-ki/ is the underlying form of the variant.Finally, Chapter 5 is a concluding chapter that summarizes and discusses some theoretical implications of this study.U of I OnlyETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permissio