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The unmarked fixed segmentism in Chinese reduplication
Case for base-reduplicant correspondence
- Source: International Journal of Chinese Linguistics, Volume 11, Issue 2, Dec 2024, p. 168 - 189
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- 30 Nov 2023
- 20 Jun 2024
- 05 Dec 2024
Abstract
Abstract
Reduplication often involves fixed segmentism, which includes invariant segments, tones, or features that are not copied from the base. This paper focuses on phonologically unmarked fixed segmentism in the Chinese language and argues for base-reduplicant correspondence in reduplication. We examine three types of fixed segmentism, including the onset /l/, the nucleus /i/ or /ə/, and the coda /ʔ/ or /ŋ/. After surveying the data, we argue that these segments have a phonological basis falling under the Optimality Theory (OT) rubric of the emergence of the unmarked (TETU). We argue that while fixed segmentism of this phonological type poses challenges to OT analyses, such as Morphological Doubling Theory (MDT), which do not acknowledge the distinction between the base and the reduplicant and their correspondence, it can be accounted for within correspondence theory, given that the base and reduplicant have an asymmetrical phonological relation to the input.