2022.05.14 10:56
Hong,
Sung-Hoon. 2022. From linguistic scales to constraints: Fixed-rank vs.
stringency-related constraints. Studies in Phonetics, Phonology
and Morphology 28.1. 111-139. This paper examines how we should convert linguistic scales into
constraints. Linguistic scales designate implicational universals, which have
been represented in terms of fixed-rank (FR) or stringency-related (SR)
constraints in Optimality Theory. Centering on the syllabification of English
word-medial consonants, in which the hierarchical sonority values of onset and
coda consonants play a significant role, this paper constructs two weighted
constraint grammars, one with FR constraints and the other with SR constraints,
and compares the goodness of fit of the two grammar models by measuring error
rates (Mean Absolute Error and Root Mean Square Error) and the coefficient of
determination (R2). The results show that the SR constraint
model, which is simpler than the FR model (since it does not need fixed
rankings), is lower in error rates and better addresses observed variance, and
thus provides a better fit for the given data than the FR model. (Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Professor)
Keywords: linguistic scales, sonority, goodness of fit, Noisy Exponential Harmonic Grammar, syllabification, Root Mean Square Error, R2
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