A Constraint-based Approach to Finnish CV Spoonerisms
| Nordic Journal of Linguistics | ||
| Publisher: | Taylor & Francis AS, part of the Taylor & Francis Group | |
| Issue: | Volume 22, Number 2 / October 17, 2000 | |
| Pages: | 111 - 135 | |
| URL: | Linking Options | |
| A Constraint-based Approach to Finnish CV Spoonerisms Heli Harrikari A1 Department of General Linguistics, University of Helsinki, FIN-00014 Finland Abstract: This paper provides a comprehensive Optimality Theoretic formalization of a Finnish language game. In opposition to earlier rule-based studies, the present analysis motivates the sometimes arbitrary-looking patterns of the game and brings together various phenomena under a unified set of universal constraints. The paper also demonstrates the close relationship between language games and natural languages by showing how the patterns of the game are analysable with the help of constraints of ordinary languages, or constraints that deviate only minimally from the original ones. The analysis of the game offers valuable external evidence for the phonology of Finnish with respect to the internal structure of long segments, vowel harmony, syllable markedness and the integrity of diphthongs. |