Representation and the Computation of Long Distance Tone Processes

This paper shows how enhancing the representation, while fixing the logical power of computation, provides a better characterization of the computationally complex tone processes, the unbounded circumembient (UC) processes noted in Jardine (2016). Using Autosegmental Representations, we define tone-TBU associations as quantifier-free least fixed point transductions, which allow us to extend the notion of subsequentiality to the otherwise non subsequential UC processes.

Non-iterativity, Icy Targets, and the Need for Non-linear Representations in Feature Spreading

Vowel and vowel-consonant harmonies have been central to much linguistic theorizing over the last century. One prevailing theme in this work is the need for non-linear representations. Clements (1981) and Jurgec (2011) argue for the superiority of non-linear representations for the analysis of unbounded and bounded feature spreading, respectively. This paper modifies and extends the metrical analysis in Jurgec (2011) to provide an Optimality Theoretic account for three bounded harmonies, rounding harmony in Central Crimean Tatar, as well as ATR harmony in Bangla and Iny. In all of these patterns, a vowel undergoes harmony but does not further propagate the harmonic feature. The metrical analysis is then compared to analyses employing string-based and autosegmental representations

A Computational Account of Tone Sandhi Interaction

This paper presents a computational account of three tone sandhi rules in Tianjin Chinese that have received a lot of attention in the literature due to the seemingly complex way in which they interact. Two of the rules apply right-to-left while the third applies left-to-right, making it difficult for both rule- and constraint-based formalisms to account for the interaction in a unified way. In the computational framework advocated for in this paper, the apparent difference in directionality of the three rules amounts to a subtle difference in computational classification: the left-to-right rule has the property of input strict locality (ISL) while the right-to-left rules share the property of output strict locality (OSL). However, the fact that the direction of rules with the ISL property doesn't actually matter, a unified account becomes possible in that all three rules can be modeled as a single input-output strictly local function