{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/157881"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/157881","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Constraints on vowel-zero alternations in Hungarian","abstract":"I analyze a large set of Hungarian nominal stems whose last vowel alternates with zero in certain contexts (Vago (1980), Siptár & Törkenczy (2000)): e.g. bokor [bokor], bokr-ok [bokr-ok]. I argue that the mechanism underlying these alternations is syncope, departing in this from earlier work (Vago (1980), Abondolo (1988), J. Jensen & Stong-Jensen (1988, 1989), Törkenczy (1995), Abrusán (2005)) which assumes epenthesis or metathesis. My research focuses on which stems fall into this closed group of vowel-zero alternating stems. I show that there is an interaction between phonological processes that repair phonotactically illicit consonant clusters – like voicing assimilation, gemination, affrication – and vowel-zero alternations. I present a proposal relying on underspecification that correctly predicts that these phonological processes block vowel-zero alternations. The grammar that generates this result includes a ranking schema where the constraint triggering syncope (referred to below as Syncope) is outranked not only by the Markedness constraints that define illicit CC-clusters in Hungarian but also by the faithfulness constraints that are normally violated in the repair of such clusters. The general ranking I will argue for is: (1) Markedness (*CC for various CCs) » Faithfulness to Cs » Syncope » Max V I also present results from a nonce word experiment, which confirms that Hungarian speakers are aware of the systematic restrictions my analysis characterizes. The broad significance of the work is to document a large-scale conspiracy (Kisseberth (1970)) whereby permissible CC clusters emerge in at least two ways: through direct action of repair processes (assimilation or merger of two Cs into one) and through blockage of the syncope process that could yield the inputs to such repairs.","abstract_html":"I analyze a large set of Hungarian nominal stems whose last vowel alternates with zero in certain contexts (Vago (1980), Siptár & Törkenczy (2000)): e.g. bokor [bokor], bokr-ok [bokr-ok]. I argue that the mechanism underlying these alternations is syncope, departing in this from earlier work (Vago (1980), Abondolo (1988), J. Jensen & Stong-Jensen (1988, 1989), Törkenczy (1995), Abrusán (2005)) which assumes epenthesis or metathesis. My research focuses on which stems fall into this closed group of vowel-zero alternating stems. I show that there is an interaction between phonological processes that repair phonotactically illicit consonant clusters – like voicing assimilation, gemination, affrication – and vowel-zero alternations. I present a proposal relying on underspecification that correctly predicts that these phonological processes block vowel-zero alternations. The grammar that generates this result includes a ranking schema where the constraint triggering syncope (referred to below as Syncope) is outranked not only by the Markedness constraints that define illicit CC-clusters in Hungarian but also by the faithfulness constraints that are normally violated in the repair of such clusters. The general ranking I will argue for is: (1) Markedness (*CC for various CCs) » Faithfulness to Cs » Syncope » Max V I also present results from a nonce word experiment, which confirms that Hungarian speakers are aware of the systematic restrictions my analysis characterizes. The broad significance of the work is to document a large-scale conspiracy (Kisseberth (1970)) whereby permissible CC clusters emerge in at least two ways: through direct action of repair processes (assimilation or merger of two Cs into one) and through blockage of the syncope process that could yield the inputs to such repairs.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Takács, Dóra Kata"],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":"Doctoral","degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Linguistics and Philosophy","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Albright, Adam","Steriade, Donca"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-09","date_published":"2024-09","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:22:31Z","subjects":[],"languages":[],"rights":["In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted","Copyright retained by author(s)"],"rights_urls":["https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/157881","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Albright, Adam","Steriade, Donca"]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. 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I argue that the mechanism underlying these alternations is syncope, departing in this from earlier work (Vago (1980), Abondolo (1988), J. Jensen & Stong-Jensen (1988, 1989), Törkenczy (1995), Abrusán (2005)) which assumes epenthesis or metathesis. My research focuses on which stems fall into this closed group of vowel-zero alternating stems. I show that there is an interaction between phonological processes that repair phonotactically illicit consonant clusters – like voicing assimilation, gemination, affrication – and vowel-zero alternations. I present a proposal relying on underspecification that correctly predicts that these phonological processes block vowel-zero alternations. The grammar that generates this result includes a ranking schema where the constraint triggering syncope (referred to below as Syncope) is outranked not only by the Markedness constraints that define illicit CC-clusters in Hungarian but also by the faithfulness constraints that are normally violated in the repair of such clusters. The general ranking I will argue for is: (1) Markedness (*CC for various CCs) » Faithfulness to Cs » Syncope » Max V I also present results from a nonce word experiment, which confirms that Hungarian speakers are aware of the systematic restrictions my analysis characterizes. The broad significance of the work is to document a large-scale conspiracy (Kisseberth (1970)) whereby permissible CC clusters emerge in at least two ways: through direct action of repair processes (assimilation or merger of two Cs into one) and through blockage of the syncope process that could yield the inputs to such repairs."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Constraints on vowel-zero alternations in Hungarian"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Albright, Adam","Steriade, Donca"],"dc:contributor.department":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Linguistics and Philosophy"],"dc:creator":["Takács, Dóra Kata"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2024-12-18T18:18:19Z"],"dc:date.available":["2024-12-18T18:18:19Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2024-09"],"dc:description.abstract":["I analyze a large set of Hungarian nominal stems whose last vowel alternates with zero in certain contexts (Vago (1980), Siptár & Törkenczy (2000)): e.g. bokor [bokor], bokr-ok [bokr-ok]. I argue that the mechanism underlying these alternations is syncope, departing in this from earlier work (Vago (1980), Abondolo (1988), J. Jensen & Stong-Jensen (1988, 1989), Törkenczy (1995), Abrusán (2005)) which assumes epenthesis or metathesis. My research focuses on which stems fall into this closed group of vowel-zero alternating stems. I show that there is an interaction between phonological processes that repair phonotactically illicit consonant clusters – like voicing assimilation, gemination, affrication – and vowel-zero alternations. I present a proposal relying on underspecification that correctly predicts that these phonological processes block vowel-zero alternations. The grammar that generates this result includes a ranking schema where the constraint triggering syncope (referred to below as Syncope) is outranked not only by the Markedness constraints that define illicit CC-clusters in Hungarian but also by the faithfulness constraints that are normally violated in the repair of such clusters. The general ranking I will argue for is: (1) Markedness (*CC for various CCs) » Faithfulness to Cs » Syncope » Max V I also present results from a nonce word experiment, which confirms that Hungarian speakers are aware of the systematic restrictions my analysis characterizes. The broad significance of the work is to document a large-scale conspiracy (Kisseberth (1970)) whereby permissible CC clusters emerge in at least two ways: through direct action of repair processes (assimilation or merger of two Cs into one) and through blockage of the syncope process that could yield the inputs to such repairs."],"dc:description.degree":["Ph.D."],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/157881"],"dc:publisher":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"],"dc:rights":["In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted","Copyright retained by author(s)"],"dc:rights.uri":["https://rightsstatements.org/page/InC-EDU/1.0/"],"dc:title":["Constraints on vowel-zero alternations in Hungarian"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Doctoral","Doctor of Philosophy"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:22:31Z"}