Multiple opacity in Eastern Regional French

Several processes collaborate in Eastern Regional French to create a case of multiple overapplication which challenges current treatments of opacity. Their interaction has not been discussed in the literature. All processes – lengthening, devoicing and epenthesis – are clearly synchronic, productive, and apply beyond the level of phonetic implementation. An OT-CC analysis is presented which explains in detail how valid candidate chains are constituted, why the valid chains not leading to the winner are eliminated, and how precedence constraints account for opacity.

Published online: 25 November 2010
https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.315.09mon