Three Correlates of the Typological Frequency of Quantity-Insensitive Stress Systems

We examine the typology of quantity-insensitive (QI) stress systems and ask to what extent an existing optimality theoretic model of QI stress can predict the observed typological frequencies of stress patterns. We find three significant correlates of pattern attestation and frequency: the trigram entropy of a pattern, the degree to which it is "confusable" with other patterns predicted by the model, and the number of constraint rankings that specify the pattern.

[1]  Sabine Zerbian.  The Cambridge Handbook of Phonology , 2008 .

[2]  Bruce Tesar,et al.  Learning phonotactic distributions , 2004 .

[3]  B. Hayes.  A metrical theory of stress rules , 1980 .

[4]  P. Smolensky,et al.  Optimality Theory: Constraint Interaction in Generative Grammar , 2004 .

[5]  B. Lindblom,et al.  Numerical Simulation of Vowel Quality Systems: The Role of Perceptual Contrast , 1972 .

[6]  Franklin C. Southworth,et al.  The origin and development of Bhojpuri , 1960 .

[7]  Bruce Tesar,et al.  Constraints in Phonological Acquisition: Learning phonotactic distributions , 2004 .

[8]  I. Good.  THE POPULATION FREQUENCIES OF SPECIES AND THE ESTIMATION OF POPULATION PARAMETERS , 1953 .

[9]  Jeffrey Heinz,et al.  Inductive learning of phonotactic patterns , 2007 .

[10]  Arto Anttila,et al.  Variation and Phonological Theory , 2008 .

[11]  A. Anttila.  Deriving Variation from Grammar , 1997 .

[12]  Jason Riggle.  Counting Rankings , 2010 .

[13]  B. Hayes.  Metrical Stress Theory: Principles and Case Studies , 1995 .

[14]  Jason Riggle,et al.  Exploring the typology of quantity-insensitive stress systems without gradient constraints , 2005 .

[15]  Ian Maddieson,et al.  Patterns of sounds , 1986 .

[16]  D. B. W. Birk.  The MalakMalak language, Daly River, Western Arnhem Land , 1976 .

[17]  Jason Alan Riggle,et al.  Generation, recognition, and learning in finite state optimality theory , 2004 .

[18]  Matthew Gordon,et al.  A Factorial Typology of Quantity-Insensitive Stress , 2002 .

[19]  Bart de Boer,et al.  Self-organization in vowel systems , 2000, J. Phonetics.

[20]  A. Anttila.  The Cambridge Handbook of Phonology: Variation and optionality , 2007 .

[21]  Ka Cormier,et al.  Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America , 2004 .

[22]  M. Halle,et al.  An essay on stress , 1987 .