A UNIFIED ACCOUNT OF PLACE ASSIMILATION AND DELETION

Abstract

In the standard Positional Faithfulness approach, different sets of Markedenss and Faithfulness constraints are employed to analyze asymmetric patterns of consonant place assimilation and consonant deletion. It is thus assumed that place assimilation and deletion are fundamentally separate processes, and any common patterns observed in the two processes will be considered accidental. However, the present study shows that several same (or at least very similar) positional/segmental asymmetries can be observed in patterns of both place assimilation and deletion. In addition, place assimilation and deletion often co-occur in the same language. Based on such commonalities between place assimilation and deletion, we claim that the two processes are not fundamentally distinct processes. Place assimilation and deletion occur for an identical purpose, and their positional/segmental asymmetric patterns should be governed by the same mechanism. We provide a unified formal account for patterns of place assimilation and deletion within the framework of Phonetically-Based Optimality-Theoretic approach (Steriade 1993, 1995; Jun 1995, to appear; Flemming 1995; Kirchner 1998; Boersma 1998; and others). In the proposed mechanism, the same set of Markedness and Faithfulness constraints are adopted for the analyses of the occurrences of place assimilation and deletion as well as their positional/segmental asymmetries.