Lexical Phonology and Optimality Theory: An Analysis of Russian

Rosemary Plapp

     This thesis addresses the major phonological issues in Russian, describes the relevant data, and provides a discussion of the rules that produce these data, seen from a derivational point of view. Such controversial points as: the phonemic status of barred i, the underlying nature of softness in consonants, the nature of yers and the forces which vocalize them, the levels of analysis which produce mutation in one environment and retraction in another, the mutation vs. the softening of velars, and the dynamics of voice assimilation in Russian, are all covered. We then review recent analyses of some of these same data as analyzed within an Optimality Theory (OT) framework. We conclude that OT is particularly successful at motivating vowel and consonant inventories, describing prosodically conditioned phenomena such as yer vocalization, and analyzing non-cyclic phenomena such as voice spread. Some of the problems we find in the recent analyses are lessened by the admission of two levels of evaluation within OT, as in cross-boundary processes as in prefixal yer vocalization. Finally, however, there are phenomena in Russian which only a derivational, e.g., Lexical Phonology, analysis describes adequately as yet. These include cyclic suffixization, the various types of palatalization, and the effects of non-surfacing yers. It is clear that there is adequate material for much future research, attempting to frame the particular problems of Russian phonology in Optimality Theory.

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Revised January 17, 2001.