ABSTRACT
In Chapters 3 and 4, we have presented two views on the specification of underlying segments: a full specification account (see 3.3, 3-4) and a partial specification account exemplified by archisegmental representations which has been argued to be more adequate. In this section we turn to a recent development in this area - the notion of underspecification as developed by Archangeli (1984). It will be recalled that, if full specification is accepted, a value for every feature has to be entered into a phonological matrix. Thus, given an inventory of vowels such as /i e a o u/ and assuming, contrary to facts, that the total set of distinctive features was {high, low, back, round, voice}, the matrix for such a vowel system would be:
+
+
+
+ + +
oritsequivalentinmarkednessterms(cf3-4).Bycontrast,a partialspecificationapproachwoulddifferintworespects:(a) somepredictablefeatureswouldbeleftoutanditwouldbe assumedthatthemissingvalueswouldbefilledinbyredundancy rules;(b)theremightbethepossibilitythatthecontrastbetween twophonemeswassuspendedinsomecontextleadingtothe postulationofarchiphonemes.SupposethatlanguageXwhich hasthevowelsystemaboveneutralizestheoppositionbetween /i/and/e/attheendofwords.Inadditiontotheaboveset,say thatwepositarchiphoneme/I/whichrepresentsthesuspension ofthe/i/-/e/contrastandissimplyanon-backvowel.Language Xmightthereforehaveaninventorysuchas:
Allvowelswouldberedundantlyspecifiedas[+voice]:[round] doesnotneedtobespecifiedeithersinceitispredictablebythe followingstatements:
/I/issimplyspecifiedas[-back]and,assumingthatitisrealized as/e/inthecontextofneutralization,arealizationrulewould beaddedtothephonologysaying:
[3c][-back]---->[-high,-low]/__# Underspecificationtheory,likepartialspecificationtheory,starts fromtheassumptionthatunderlyingspecificationsshouldbeas streamlinedaspossibleandthatredundanciesshouldbe extractedfromunderlyingentriesnotonlyfordistinctivefeatures butforallotheraspectsofphonologicalrepresentations.Archangeli(1984:50)formulatesthefollowingprinciple:
formalsimplicityattheunderlyinglevel.Atthebasisofthis approachliesaninterest,notsolelyinneutralizationsasinstructuralistphonemics,butalsoinasymmetricalsegments(or
feature-values)inlanguages.Taketheexampleofvowel harmonysystems.Theyoftencontainsegmentswhichbehave differentlyfromalltheothersegmentsofthelanguageinbeing 'opaque'- thatis,theyblockthespreadofafeature-value.(This notionofopacitywillbeillustratedin7.1.5.)OnepossibleexplanationintermsofUTisthefollowing:vowelswhichtriggerthe spreadofafeature-valueareobviouslyspecifiedunderlyinglyfor thefeature-valuewhichisspreading;vowelswhichinheritthe harmonizingfeature-valueareunspecifiedforthatfeature-value; opaquevowelsareexceptionallyspecifiedunderlyinglyforthe oppositevalueoftheharmonizingfeature-valueandsoblock spread.
