This article examines the various realizations of the Italian definite article and concludes, against all previous accounts of this phenomenon, that neither the singular nor the plural realizations constitute a case of allomorphy stricto sensu. Significantly extending Larsen's (1998) analysis, the paper argues that all of the realizations of the definite article, including the problematic [i] and [ʎi], share a single underlying representation. It is proposed that the definite article is associated with a template with separate sites for definiteness and φ-features. It is further argued that [ʎ] is not a primitive entity in Italian; rather, it emerges from a very specific configuration in which /i/ and /l/ are conjoined and followed by a second realized vowel /i/. The templatic and segmental decompositions yield a morphologically unified analysis in which all of the realizations of the definite article are based on a single lexical representation followed by the application of regular phonology.

International audienceWe discuss the grammatical conditions that can be imposed between segmental content (features) and syllable structure (positions) and how a representational preference can influence diachronic development. The discussion centers on the co-distribution of two properties: occlusivity and bipositionality. The first is the phonological feature that induces occlusivity and reduces amplitude (|ʔ| that we will refer to as Edge(*)), the second is the autosegmental structural property of belonging to multiple positions (C.C). Edge(*) and bipositionality have a universal affinity but they are not reducible to each other. Instead, the inherent diachronic tendency to preserve Edge(*) in bipositional structures becomes grammaticalised through licensing conditions that dictate the alignment of the two properties. This can be expressed bidirectionally forming two major language types. Type A has the condition stated from the featural perspective (Edge(*) must be found in C.C). While, Type B comes from the other direction (C.C must contain Edge(*)). Crucially, the same structure is diachronically stable: (Edge(*)-C.C). What varies is the distribution of those properties elsewhere (given the direction of licensing condition). Type A excludes Edge(*) from {#__,V_V}, while Type B excludes C.Cs without Edge(*). Although there is variation on this point, there is a UG component, because there are no anti-Type A/B languages where Edge(*) repels bipositionality

Galician presents an intriguing case of opaque phonologically-conditioned definite article allomorphy (PCA). Though Galician features in the general literature on PCA (Nevins 2011), there is a surprising lack of synchronic theoretical discussion of this specific pattern. The data appears to require allomorph selection arranged in a system of Priority (Mascaró 2005; Bonet et al. 2003; 2007). The pattern involves opaque segment ‘deletion’ and resyllabification, where segment deletion counterbleeds allomorph insertion along with morphologically-specific segmental changes. A Strict CV representational reanalysis is proposed in which there is no true allomorphy (no selection between competing underlying morphemes). All the forms are generated from a single underlying form, thereby undercutting PRIORITY.

This paper continues the effort that began in (Scheer, Tobias & Peter Szigetvari. 2005. Unified representations for stress and the syllable. Phonology 22(1). 37–75.) to present a compelling alternative to moraic accounts of stress systems, framed in the theory of Strict CV (Lowenstamm, Jean. 1996. CV as the only syllable type. In Jacques Durand & Bernard Laks (eds.), Current trends in phonology models and methods, 419–442. European Studies Research Institute, University of Salford.). We have chosen stress in Palestinian Arabic, a stronghold of moraic theory, to be the empirical basis of the paper. It is a complex system, involving syllable structure and stress assignment, quantity sensitivity and syllabically-determined stress shift. Moreover, its analysis requires the deployment of a great deal of the theoretical machinery that has been (independently) developed in moraic stress theory. These phenomena, although recurrent cross-linguistically, remained outside the scope of Scheer and Szigetvari’s work. The present paper provides an account of these patterns using the innovative grid-based notion of weight incorporation (Ulfsbjorninn, Shanti. 2014. A Field Theory of Stress: the role of empty nuclei in stress systems. SOAS – University of London, PhD Dissertation.). The analysis is also brought to bear on Cairene Arabic, which is shown to differ from Palestinian in a single parameter setting. Significant independent support is provided by the extension of the analysis to the phenomenon of vowel shortening (both metrical and final), whose distribution and motivation are shown to follow in a straightforward manner from the general account. The paper also improves on previous analyses of meter in Strict CV, as for the first time in Strict CV metrics, a computational component is explicitly formalized. We conclude with a comparison to a moraic analysis of the phenomena discussed, and argue on principled grounds that the Strict CV account is a worthy competitor to such an analysis. Like its predecessor from 2005, the present account recognizes only one unit relevant for meter: the nucleus. No appeal is made to moras, syllables, feet or extrametricality.

This paper begins by presenting and strengthening the labial-velar hypothesis with a novel interpretation of the allophonic distributions of labials and velars in Lusoga (Hyman 2017). The labial-velar hypothesis is an Element Theory proposal that labial (Lab) and dorsal (Dors) consonants are marked by same ‘dark’ place feature |U| (akin to Jakobson & Halle’s (1956) grave). According to this hypothesis, the only difference between Lab and Dors members of any class (say stops) is that Lab is the headed manifestation of |U|, while Dors is the headless version of the same element (Backley & Nasukawa 2009). This, hypothesis however, leads to the strange statement that labial-velar segments such as the labial-velar ‘double’-stop (KP), which would appear to be headless and headed at the same time. What follows is an exploration of the term ‘headedness’ in phonology. Building on the positives of previous approaches, and pairing back the assumptions to the first principles of combination (Merge), I come up with a novel theory of headedness and segment-internal structure: Bare Element Geometry (BEG). The labial-velar hypothesis in light of BEG will then be applied to KP. In order to obtain the right representation for labial-velar ‘double’-stops (KP), it is necessary to precisely understand KP’s distribution and behaviour. Especially because I will reveal some previously unappreciated facts about these segments. In opposition to the classical literature (and all previous accounts known to me), I will conclude that KP is composed of two ordered root nodes, each with a separate place feature. This is based on a detailed typological study and phonological interpretation of attested and unattested nasal + KP assimilation patterns, as well as a novel interpretation of some obscure nasalization facts of KP in Guere (Western Kru). This conclusion that KP has two ordered root nodes is what allows BEG’s model of headedness to interpret a feature as simultaneously headed and headless in different parts of a segment. Moreover, it correctly predicts Cahill (1999)’s empirical observation that KP is universally headed by Labial.