An IBSP Description of Sanskrit /n/-Retroflexion
- Ayla Karakaş (Stony Brook University)
Abstract
Graf and Mayer (2018) analyze the process of Sanskrit /n/-retroflexion (nati) from a subregular perspective. They show that nati, which might be the most complex phenomenon in segmental phonology, belongs to the class of input-output tier-based strictly local languages (IO-TSL). However, the generative capacity and linguistic relevance of IO-TSL is still largely unclear compared to other recent classes like the interval-based strictly piecewise languages (IBSP: Graf, 2017, 2018). This paper shows that IBSP has a much harder time capturing nati than IO-TSL does, due to two major shortcomings: namely, the requirement of an upper bound on relevant segments, and a lack of descriptive succinctness.
Keywords: subregular, phonotactics, sanskrit, nati
How to Cite:
Karakaş, A., (2020) “An IBSP Description of Sanskrit /n/-Retroflexion”, Society for Computation in Linguistics 3(1), 160-169. doi: https://doi.org/10.7275/cjxt-x915
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