News & Events

(POSTPONED) Against abstract underlying representations: Evidence from Maga Rukai

Jennifer Kuo

Cornell University

Dewey 1101 Auditorium

THIS EVENT HAS BEEN POSTPONED TO NEXT SEMESTER

Analyses of morphophonemic alternations typically derive surface forms of a paradigm from a single Underlying Representation (UR). This approach assumes that learners are able to learn URs that deviate from surface forms. However, while earlier work in formal phonology tolerated highly abstract URs, a growing body of research, starting with Kiparsky (1968; 1973, et seq.), suggests that speakers prefer to learn more concrete URs that closely resemble surface forms. The Maga dialect of Rukai (Austronesian, Taiwan) is suited to addressing this question, because it has a so-called rhythmic syncope alternation that requires positing highly abstract URs. This talk looks at how the Maga syncope pattern has been restructured over time to probe at issues of representational abstractness. I use diachrony as a window into morphophonological learning; the idea is that acquisition errors can be adopted into speech communities, resulting in change over time. To preview results, I find that speakers have restructured the rhythmic syncope pattern in a way that removes the need for abstract URs, providing support for the idea that learners prefer concrete representations in morphophonological learning.