The obligatory contour principle (frequently abbreviated OCP) is a hypothesis in autosegmental phonology that states that (certain) consecutive identical features are banned in underlying representations. The OCP is most frequently cited when discussing the tones of tonal languages (stating for example that the same morpheme may not have two underlying high tones), but it has also been applied to other aspects of phonology. The principle is part of the larger notion of horror aequi, that language users generally avoid repetition of identical linguistic structures.
A commonly held conception within phonology is that no morpheme is allowed to contain two consecutive high tones. If two consecutive high tones appear within a single morpheme, then some rule must have applied (Odden 1986). Maybe one of the surface high-tone vowels was underlyingly high-toned, while the other was underlyingly toneless. Then, since all vowels must have tone at the surface (in this hypothetical language), the high tone of the one vowel spreads onto the other. Alternatively, one (or both) of the vowels may have started out low-toned and become high-toned due to the application of some rule; or perhaps there was a low tone between the two high tones that got deleted at some point. Regardless, the OCP claims that there can not have been two consecutive high tones (nor two consecutive low tones, etc.) in the underlying representation of the morpheme, i.e. in the morpheme's lexical entry.
Historyedit
The locus classicus of the OCP is Leben (1973), in which it was formulated as a morpheme-structure constraint precluding sequences of identical tones from underlying representations. In autosegmental phonology (Goldsmith 1976), with articulated conceptions about associations between featural melodies and skeletal units (i.e. CV phonology, see McCarthy 1979, McCarthy 1981, Steriade 1982, Clements & Keyser 1983), moraic phonology (Hyman 1985, Hayes 1989), the OCP was considered to be relevant to adjacent singly linked melodies but not to doubly linked melodies. The OCP in this "rules and constraints" era was no longer simply a constraint on underlying forms, but also began to play a role in the course of a phonologicalderivation. McCarthy (1986) proposed that the OCP can actively block the application of or repair the output of phonological rules, while in Yip (1988), Moira Yip attempted to extend the role of the OCP to trigger the application of rules as well. However, there was also a strong opposition to the OCP as a formal constraint in phonological theory, headed by David Odden. Odden (1986) showed that, contrary to the contemporaneous assumption that constraints were inviolable, an examination of African tonal systems reveals many apparent surface violations of the OCP. A lively debate continued between John McCarthy and Odden for several years, with each adding an extra "anti-" to the title of the previous article of the other - e.g. "Anti anti-gemination and the OCP" (Odden 1988), a reply to (McCarthy 1986).
Debateedit
In optimality theory (OT) (Prince & Smolensky 2004), the OCP has been again redefined as a violable constraint. Yet many issues as to its precise formal character remain: locality - what is the domain of the OCP (i.e. strict adjacency, etc.) and how is the domain represented in the theory; near-identical sequences - many languages show an OCP-like resistance to sequences of segments that differ in just one distinctive feature; there is a question of this being the effect of the OCP, or possibly some other constraint. If the latter, then there is the question of how this constraint formally relates to the OCP; status as an OT constraint - if the OCP is a single constraint, or the local self-conjunction of markedness constraints (Alderete 1997). These and other issues related to the OCP continue to be debated in phonological theory.
Alderete, John (1997), "Dissimilation as local conjunction", in K. Kusumoto (ed.), Proceedings of North East Linguistic Society 27(PDF), Amherst: Graduate Linguistic Student Association, pp. 17–31.
Clements, George N; Keyser, S. J. (1983), CV Phonology, Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press.
Goldsmith, John (1976), Autosegmental Phonology. PhD dissertation, MIT.
Goldsmith, John (1984), Meeussen's Rule. In Aronoff, M. & Oehrle, R (eds.), Language Sound Structure, Cambridge, Massachusetts, MIT.
Hayes, Bruce (1989), "Compensatory lengthening in moraic phonology", Linguistic Inquiry, 20: 253–306. Scanned 2MB Searchable 5MB
Hyman, Larry M. (1985), A theory of phonological weight, Dordrecht: Foris
Leben, William (1973), Suprasegmental Phonology. PhD dissertation, MIT. Distributed by Indiana University Linguistics Club.
McCarthy, John J (1979), (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-08-30. PhD dissertation, MIT.
McCarthy, John J (1981), (PDF), Linguistic Inquiry, 12: 373–418, archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-04.
McCarthy, John J (1986), (PDF), Linguistic Inquiry, 17: 207–263, archived from the original (PDF) on 2006-09-04.
Odden, David (1986), "On the role of the Obligatory Contour Principle in phonological theory", Language, 62: 353–383, doi:10.2307/414677.
Odden, David (1988), "Anti anti-gemination and the OCP", Linguistic Inquiry, 19: 451–475.
Prince, Alan; Smolensky, Paul (2004), Optimality Theory: Constraint Interaction in Generative Grammar(PDF), Malden, MA and Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
Steriade, Donca (1982), Greek prosodies and the nature of syllabification. PhD dissertation, MIT.
Yip, Moira (1988), "The Obligatory Contour Principle and phonological rules: a loss of identity", Linguistic Inquiry: 65–100.
External linksedit
Obligatory Contour Principle
IDEALS Obligatory contour principle effects and violations: The case of Setswana verbal tone
January 01, 1970
obligatory, contour, principle, obligatory, contour, principle, frequently, abbreviated, hypothesis, autosegmental, phonology, that, states, that, certain, consecutive, identical, features, banned, underlying, representations, most, frequently, cited, when, di. The obligatory contour principle frequently abbreviated OCP is a hypothesis in autosegmental phonology that states that certain consecutive identical features are banned in underlying representations The OCP is most frequently cited when discussing the tones of tonal languages stating for example that the same morpheme may not have two underlying high tones but it has also been applied to other aspects of phonology The principle is part of the larger notion of horror aequi that language users generally avoid repetition of identical linguistic structures Contents 1 Background considerations 2 History 3 Debate 4 Meeussen s rule 5 References 6 External linksBackground considerations editA commonly held conception within phonology is that no morpheme is allowed to contain two consecutive high tones If two consecutive high tones appear within a single morpheme then some rule must have applied Odden 1986 Maybe one of the surface high tone vowels was underlyingly high toned while the other was underlyingly toneless Then since all vowels must have tone at the surface in this hypothetical language the high tone of the one vowel spreads onto the other Alternatively one or both of the vowels may have started out low toned and become high toned due to the application of some rule or perhaps there was a low tone between the two high tones that got deleted at some point Regardless the OCP claims that there can not have been two consecutive high tones nor two consecutive low tones etc in the underlying representation of the morpheme i e in the morpheme s lexical entry History editThe locus classicus of the OCP is Leben 1973 in which it was formulated as a morpheme structure constraint precluding sequences of identical tones from underlying representations In autosegmental phonology Goldsmith 1976 with articulated conceptions about associations between featural melodies and skeletal units i e CV phonology see McCarthy 1979 McCarthy 1981 Steriade 1982 Clements amp Keyser 1983 moraic phonology Hyman 1985 Hayes 1989 the OCP was considered to be relevant to adjacent singly linked melodies but not to doubly linked melodies The OCP in this rules and constraints era was no longer simply a constraint on underlying forms but also began to play a role in the course of a phonological derivation McCarthy 1986 proposed that the OCP can actively block the application of or repair the output of phonological rules while in Yip 1988 Moira Yip attempted to extend the role of the OCP to trigger the application of rules as well However there was also a strong opposition to the OCP as a formal constraint in phonological theory headed by David Odden Odden 1986 showed that contrary to the contemporaneous assumption that constraints were inviolable an examination of African tonal systems reveals many apparent surface violations of the OCP A lively debate continued between John McCarthy and Odden for several years with each adding an extra anti to the title of the previous article of the other e g Anti anti gemination and the OCP Odden 1988 a reply to McCarthy 1986 Debate editIn optimality theory OT Prince amp Smolensky 2004 the OCP has been again redefined as a violable constraint Yet many issues as to its precise formal character remain locality what is the domain of the OCP i e strict adjacency etc and how is the domain represented in the theory near identical sequences many languages show an OCP like resistance to sequences of segments that differ in just one distinctive feature there is a question of this being the effect of the OCP or possibly some other constraint If the latter then there is the question of how this constraint formally relates to the OCP status as an OT constraint if the OCP is a single constraint or the local self conjunction of markedness constraints Alderete 1997 These and other issues related to the OCP continue to be debated in phonological theory Meeussen s rule editA particular instance of the OCP is Meeussen s rule Goldsmith 1984 named after the Belgian Bantu specialist A E Meeussen which has been used to explain how a sequence HH tones becomes HL in various Bantu languages References editAlderete John 1997 Dissimilation as local conjunction in K Kusumoto ed Proceedings of North East Linguistic Society 27 PDF Amherst Graduate Linguistic Student Association pp 17 31 Clements George N Keyser S J 1983 CV Phonology Cambridge Massachusetts MIT Press Goldsmith John 1976 Autosegmental Phonology PhD dissertation MIT Goldsmith John 1984 Meeussen s Rule In Aronoff M amp Oehrle R eds Language Sound Structure Cambridge Massachusetts MIT Hayes Bruce 1989 Compensatory lengthening in moraic phonology Linguistic Inquiry 20 253 306 Scanned 2MB Searchable 5MB Hyman Larry M 1985 A theory of phonological weight Dordrecht Foris Leben William 1973 Suprasegmental Phonology PhD dissertation MIT Distributed by Indiana University Linguistics Club McCarthy John J 1979 Formal problems in Semitic phonology and morphology PDF archived from the original PDF on 2006 08 30 PhD dissertation MIT McCarthy John J 1981 A prosodic theory of non concatenative morphology PDF Linguistic Inquiry 12 373 418 archived from the original PDF on 2006 09 04 McCarthy John J 1986 OCP effects Gemination and antigemination PDF Linguistic Inquiry 17 207 263 archived from the original PDF on 2006 09 04 Odden David 1986 On the role of the Obligatory Contour Principle in phonological theory Language 62 353 383 doi 10 2307 414677 Odden David 1988 Anti anti gemination and the OCP Linguistic Inquiry 19 451 475 Prince Alan Smolensky Paul 2004 Optimality Theory Constraint Interaction in Generative Grammar PDF Malden MA and Oxford UK Blackwell Steriade Donca 1982 Greek prosodies and the nature of syllabification PhD dissertation MIT Yip Moira 1988 The Obligatory Contour Principle and phonological rules a loss of identity Linguistic Inquiry 65 100 External links editObligatory Contour Principle Inherent variability and the obligatory contour principle IDEALS Obligatory contour principle effects and violations The case of Setswana verbal tone Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Obligatory contour principle amp oldid 1194976396, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
