A lateral theory of phonology 2, Direct interface and one-channel translation : a non-diacritic theory of the morphosyntax-phonology interface

Following up on the Guide to Morphosyntax-Phonology Interface Theories (2011), written from a theory-neutral point of view, this book lays out the author s approach to the representational side of the interface. The main insight is that diacritics such as hash-marks or prosodic constituents do not qualify in a modular environment. The alternative is that only syllabic space, i.e. CV units, can be carriers of morpho-syntactic information. This idea is worked out in detailed case studies of a number of languages in the framework of CVCV (or strict CV), which makes the book the 2nd volume of A Lateral Theory of Phonology (2004)." Table of contents – detail 8 Abbreviations used 25 Table of graphic illustrations 28 Editorial note 29 Foreword. What the book is about, and how to use it 32 Introduction 36 1. Scope of the book: the identity and management of objects that carry morpho-syntactic information in phonology 36 2. Deforestation: the lateral project, no trees in phonology and hence the issue with Prosodic Phonology 40 Part One. Desiderata for a non-diacritic theory of the (representational side of) the interface 48 1. What representational communication with phonology is about 48 2. Modularity and its consequence, translation 56 3. The output of translation 98 4. How the output of translation is inserted into phonological representations 134 Part Two. Direct Interface and just one channel 146 1. Direct Interface 146 2. Just one channel: translation goes through a lexical access 158 Part Three. Behaviour and predictions of CVCV in the environment defined 178 1. CVCV and non-diacritic translation 178 2. The initial CV: predictions 218 3. The initial CV in external sandhi 234 4. Restrictions on word-initial clusters: literally anything goes in Slavic and Greek 282 Appendix. Initial Sonorant-Obstruent clusters in 13 Slavic languages 322 References 336 Subject index 370 Language index 406 Following up on the Guide to Morphosyntax-Phonology Interface Theories (2011), written from a theory-neutral point of view, this book lays out the author's approach to the representational side of the interface. The book is thus about how information is transmitted to phonology when an object is inserted into phonological representations (as opposed to the derivational means, i.e. phase theory today). The idea of Direct Interface is that diacritics such as hash-marks in SPE or prosodic constituency since the early 80s, which mediate between morpho-syntax and phonology, are illegal in a modular environment where computational systems can only process domain-specific vocabulary. Direct Interface instead holds that only truly phonological vocabulary can carry morpho-syntactic information. It is shown that of all representational objects only syllabic space qualifies. Couched in CVCV (or strict CV), i.e. Government Phonology, this insight is then applied in detailed case studies of Belarusian, Corsican, Greek and the exhaustive lexical inventory of sonorant-obstruent-initial words in 13 Slavic languages,. In this sense, the book is the 2nd volume of A Lateral Theory of Phonology (2004).