Aspect Splits As Contextual Faithfulness
Ellen Woolford
http://people.umass.edu/ellenw/
abstract:
This paper focuses
on three examples of aspect splits, wherein a particular Case, agreement form,
or preposition is restricted, to or prohibited in, the perfective aspect. In
Hindi and related languages, ergative Case is restricted to the perfective
aspect. This split provides evidence for contextual (positional) faithfulness
when its effect is viewed in combination with a second split in Nepali which
expands the distribution of ergative Case into some imperfective contexts. The
second example of an aspect split has nothing to do with ergativity. In Palauan,
preposition insertion is prohibited in the perfective aspect. This can be
accounted for with either DEP-perfective (P) or *P/perfective. This Palauan
split is interesting because it involves an aspect driven choice between two
possible ‘repairs’ to a phenomenon in clauses that resembles coda conditions or
onset faithfulness in syllables. The third example of an aspect split, in
Yucatec Maya and related languages, involves a prohibition against using one
agreement series (Set A) in the perfective aspect. Because agreement is not
present in the input to syntax, either a contextually restricted DEP constraint
or markedness constraint will do, but the context can only be perfective (not
imperfective). Thus, all three aspect splits can be analyzed as contextual
faithfulness, but only one must be; and the context of an aspect split appears
to be restricted to perfective (rather than imperfective).
Download the paper: (19 pgs PDF) August 2007
Aspect Splits As Contextual Faithfulness