This projects explores a novel cyclic optimization theory that explains recurring problems in the morpho-phonology of tone.
The goal of this project is to develop a new take on tonal morphophonology combining stratal phonology (Kiparsky 2015, Bermudez-Otero 2018, Trommer 2011) with the recently developed theory of Gradient Symbolic Representations (Smolensky & Goldrick 2016, Zimmermann 2019). In this novel „Harmonic Layer Theory“, tones can get incrementally stronger or weaker by every cycle of optimization. The same tone can hence react differently to identical tonotactic problems in larger morphological domains since it has a different activation at this level and constraints are hence violated differently. Our hypothesis is that Harmonic Layer Theory allows for principled solutions to four persistent empirical problems tone poses for morphological and phonological theories: 1) global rules and strata straddling (Hyman 1993), 2) inter-stratal conspiracies (Myers 1991, 1997), 3) competition of overwriting patterns (Hyman 2013), and 4) tonal attraction phenomena (Trommer 2019).
Data for the project will be drawn from African languages which exhibit complex word-internal morphologies, and intricate systems of tonal phonology which are both crucial to the project. Our focus is on three groups of African languages — Bantu, West-African and Nilo-Saharan — which show a particular richness in the relevant phenomena.
Fiebig, Nadja; Fenger, Paula; Tebay, Sören E. & Weisser, Philipp.
Syntactic height impacts prosodic size: An argument for cyclic prosodification.
Proceedings of NELS 55. 2025. (to appear) [URL]
Tebay, Sören E.
Igbo phrasal overwriting as tonal circumclitics
Linguistische Arbeits Berichte. Leipzig University. 2024. (to appear) [URL].
Trommer, Jochen.
The stratal structure of Kuria morphological tone.
Phonology 39. 2022. pp. 679–723.
Trommer, Jochen.
The concatenative structure of tonal overwriting.
Linguistic Inquiry 55. 2023. [doi]
Trommer, Jochen.
Stratal phonology.
Ms. Leipzig University. 2025. [pdf]
Trommer, Jochen.
Gestalt Contours, Polarity and Construction-specific Phonology in Gaahmg.
Phonological Data and Analysis. (to appeara)
Trommer, Jochen.
Strata. In Cambridge Handbook of Phonology, Cambridge University Press. (to appearb)
Trommer, Jochen & Gleim, Daniel.
Syllable-counting tone allomorphy in Bari. Ms. Universität Leipzig. 2025. [URL]
Zimmermann, Eva.
Non-concatenative morphology. In E. B. Peter Ackema, Sabrina Bendjaballah and A. Fábregas (eds).
The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Morphology. Wiley Blackwell. 2023
Zimmermann, Eva.
Cooperation at the morpho-phonology interface: An argument for phonological locality.
Proceedings of WCCFL. 2023. (to appear)
Tebay, Sören.
Opacity as shared activity in Kere phrasal tone.
2023. Leipzig University.
Tebay, Sören.
Against the Watershed in Phonology.
2023. Universität Leipzig.
Tebay, Sören E.
Phrase-level opacity as shared activity in Kere.
2025. Leipzig University. submitted [pdf]
Tebay, Sören E.; Trommer, J. & Zimmermann, E.
The OCP across languages: An argument for Harmonic Layer Theory.
Ms. 2025. Leipzig University. [URL]
Trommer, Jochen.
Ngizim Verb Tone.
2023. Leipzig University.
Trommer, J. & Zimmermann, E.
Anticyclic Mutation.
Ms. 2024. Leipzig University. submitted [URL]
Zimmermann, Eva.
Special repairs at an intermediate layer: Interstratal differences and look-ahead in Kashaya.
2023. Leipzig University.
Zimmermann, Eva.
A typology of OCP-resolutions across morphological domains: An argument for Harmonic Layer Theory.
2024. Leipzig University.
Zimmermann, Eva.
The fate of tone-less TBU's in Zacatepec Chatino across morphological layers.
2024. Leipzig University. submitted