Computational Implementation of Underspecification Theories: Kiswahili Example

The differences between Radical Underspecification theory (RUT) and Contrastive Underspecification theory (CUT) have been discussed in the literature (for example Archangeli 1988, Mester and Ito 1989, Dikken and Hulst 1988) comparing various aspects of these theories. This dissertation presents a discussion of a computational implementation of these competing theories. The test case of the Kiswahili phoneme set was given as an example. The computer program, PUCA (Phonological Underspecification Computationally Assisted), implemented in HyperCard 2.0 on the Macintosh computer, provides the user of the program with the opportunity to enter any language's phoneme set and then experiment with different underspecifications of that set, altering the feature set as desired.

Name thesis:degree_name

Ph.D.

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Linguistics

Grantor

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Year dc:date

2014

Author dc:creator

• Evans, Dorothy Eaton

Contributors dc:contributor

• Cheng, Chin-Chuan

• Language, Linguistics

Identifier

(UMI)AAI9236455

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/72155