Prosodic constraints in the lexicon of Polish: The case

Prosodic constraints in the lexicon of Polish: The case of Derived Imperfectives1 GRAZYNA ROWICKA AND JEROEN VAN DE WEIJER

This paper deals with a class of derived verbs in Polish which are intriguing from a phonological point of view. Specifically, we present a reanalysis of the allomorphy patterns induced by Derived Imperfective formation. These patterns have been subject to a number of interpretations in the literature, but none of the proposals so far has been fully convincing. Our aim is to show that these phenomena can be accounted for if prosodic structure is taken into account. We will propose that the alternations involved in Derived Imperfective formation are triggered by a prosodic minimality constraint, operative in the Polish lexicon. This analysis lends support to the idea that part of prosodic structure, in this case that at the foot level, is built in the lexicon (cf. Inkelas 1989). In a language such as Polish no relevant data in this respect may come from the area of stress, since stress is assigned postlexically (see Rubach and Booij 1985). To our knowledge, the present study provides the first piece of evidence in favor of lexical foot formation in Polish. The results also bear on the prosodic status of vowels alternating with zero. They suggest that such vowels are irrelevant for lexical foot formation. The present analysis renders many intricacies of previous approaches to the problem of Derived Imperfectives superfluous. There is no need to list all allomorphs in the lexicon and relate them by means of a purely descriptive morpholexical rule, as has been proposed by Spencer (1986). The processes involved do not motivate special assumptions about the interaction between We would like to thank Geert Booij, Bozena Cetnarowska, Harry van der Hülst, Haike Jacobs, Trond Kirkeby-Garstad, Frank van der Leeuw, Marina Nespor, Sharon Peperkamp, Krisztina Polgärdi, Henk Proeme and an anonymous reviewer for The Linguistic Review for their comments on an earlier draft. The usual disclaimers apply. Grazyna Rowicka wishes to thank the TEMPUS organization of the Commission of the European Communities which enabled her to carry out part of the research for this article at the Holland Institute of Generative Linguistics (HIL).

The Linguistic Review 11 (1994), 049-076

0167-6318/94/0011 -0049 © Walter de Gruyter

50

G. Rowicka and J. van de Weijer

morphology and phonology, such as the phonology-to-morphology loop proposed by Szpyra (1989). No lexical marking as to which words undergo the alternations in question is necessary either (cf. Szpyra 1992: note 24). We will demonstrate that the allomorphy patterns can be accounted for on regular assumptions about non-linear representations of phonological segments and within a standard model of phonology-morphology interaction. Moreover, a straightforward inventory of underlying vowel representations suffices to describe the vocalic changes. This paper is organized as follows: first we present some morphological and phonological preliminaries necessary for an understanding of the various alternations dealt with in this paper (section 1). The phenomena involved in the Derived Imperfective formation will be described in detail in section 2. We will discuss yer surfacing in section 2.1, nasal vowel decomposition in section 2.2 and other alternations in section 2.3. At several points we will compare aspects of our analysis to earlier ones. Finally we will consider the theoretical implications of the solution proposed in this paper (section 3). 1. Morphological and phonological preliminaries 1.1. The morphology of verb stems in Polish Verb stems in Polish consist of a root, which expresses the semantic core, and a verbalizing suffix, which determines the derivational and inflectional paradigm of the verb. Together, the root and the verbalizing suffix are referred to as the stem. This is shown in (1): (1)

[root + verbalizing suffix]stem

Most verbalizing suffixes contain a vowel. Some verbs, however, take a zero verbalizing suffix, so that in these verbs the root is isomorphic with the stem. The Derived Imperfective suffixes belong to the class of derivational suffixes. These kinds of suffixes tend to truncate verbalizing suffixes (cf. Laskowski 1975 and Grzegorczykowa 1979). Thus, the form which undergoes Derived Imperfective suffixation is the stem, as given in (1), but its truncated verbalizing suffix no longer shows up in the Derived Imperfective verbs. The last consonant of the stem often displays the effects of y-Palatalization, also called lotation. It has been generally assumed in the literature that after truncation some verbalizing suffixes leave behind a trace in the form of the glide /j/ which palatalizes the preceding consonant and then deletes (cf. Gussmann 1980: 50; Rubach 1984: 77; Szpyra 1989: 101; Bethin 1992: 101 ff.). This phenomenon will not be dealt with as such in this paper, although its effects are visible in some forms.

Derived Imperfectives in Polish 51 1.2.

Vocalic phonology: Representations

Some of the rules that we will discuss affect the Place specifications of vowels. For the representation of Place in vowels we adopt a Dependency Phonology approach (Anderson and Ewen 1987). The representations of vowels assumed here are the same as those proposed in Rowicka and van de Weijer (1992). In this approach, the vowel system of Polish, which has six short vowels, can be represented as in (2): (2)

lil

Id

/a/

lot

/u/

/y/

χ

χ

χ

χ

χ

χ

timing tier

V

V

V

V

V

V

root

I

I

/\I

A

where

I A/\U IU

A

melodic tier

I = Frontness A = Lowness U = Roundness

The representations of I'll with an I element, Id as a combination of the elements A and I, etc., follow straightforwardly from the assumptions of Dependency Phonology. As far as /y/ is concerned, we argue that it has no phonological Place specification and only receives language-specific phonetic interpretation.2 The representation of /y/ as an empty vowel in (2) diverges from most nonlinear analyses of Polish, and therefore deserves more discussion. Szpyra (1992) argues that the unspecified vowel of Polish should be Id since this is the quality of the epenthetic vowel. There is no reason to believe, however, that the epenthetic vowel and the unspecified vowel must be the same (cf. Hualde 1991). In the case of Polish, there are non-trivial arguments in favor of treating /y/ as the unspecified vowel. Such a postulate is phonetically well-motivated since the schwa-like /y/ lacks properties like frontness, lowness and rounding. It is also the sound which speakers of Polish generally use to fill "hesitation gaps". Phonologically, /y/ and III are largely in complementary distribution: /y/ appears after non-palatalized consonants and I'll appears after palatalized ones. When following a nonpalatalized coronal, I'll is retracted to /y/ (cf. Gussmann 1980: 23, as well as Gussmann 1992a). In other words, /y/ functions as I'll devoid of its palatalizing feature. Under the Dependency Phonology framework adopted here, the

2.

The IP A symbol for Polish [y] is [*].

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palatalizing feature is I, which is at the same time the only Place specification of the vowel l\l (cf. the representations above). In the present study, we find more phonological evidence for the representation of lyl as lacking a Place specification. Such an assumption allows a straightforward account of the alternations in the Derived Imperfective involving lyl. Apart from the vowels in (2), Polish has two nasal vowels, spelled £ and a. These are pronounced as mid vowels [e] and [o], respectively, followed by a back nasal glide [iq] (cf. 3a). Before a stop consonant, the glide is hardened into a consonant homorganic with the stop (3b). For example:3 (3)

a. b.

ges was ch§tny zab

g[eujs] w[oujs] ch[ent]ny z[omp]

'goose' 'moustache' 'willing' 'tooth'

The front and the back nasal vowels alternate with each other in a large number of words, most productively in verb forms (cf. Bethin 1989). We therefore assume that, with the exception of some lexicalized forms, both allophones of the nasal vowels derive from one underlying representation and their actual phonetic value depends on the phonological context. We adopt the view argued for in Rowicka and van de Weijer (1992) that nasal vowels are underlying units, namely short diphthongs with two root nodes attached to one skeletal position. We return to their behavior and phonological representation in section 2.2 of this paper. Examples in this paper are partly given in their orthographic form and partly transcribed. For the transcription of oral vowels we will follow the orthography of Polish. Nasal vowels will be transcribed as [e] and [o], respectively. Where spelling is used, ι before another vowel indicates that the preceding consonant is palatalized; it is not the vowel /i/. The vowel spelled o is pronounced the same as w. Consonants will be transcribed according to the Slavist tradition, rather than to that of the International Phonetic Association (IPA). Again, the symbols used will be close to Polish spelling, except for two-letter graphemes. These will be replaced by symbols consisting of single letters, for the sake of clarity. Below we clarify the use of symbols: (i) Spelling Transcription c, dz [c 3] alveolar affricates cz, dz [δ 3] post-alveolar affricates sz, z/rz [§ z] post-alveolar fricatives c, dz [c 3] prepalatal affricates s, z [s* z] prepalatal fricatives ή [ή] prepalatal nasal ch/h [x] velar fricative w [v] labiodental fricative 1 [1] labial-velar glide (IPA [w]) The apostrophe following a consonant indicates that it has secondary palatalization. Moreover, we use slashes to mark underlying representations and brackets for phonetic transcription.

Derived Imperfectives in Polish

53

2. Derived Imperfective allomorphy patterns The Derived Imperfective (DI) in Polish is formed by attaching one of two suffixes, ywaj or aj, to a verb stem. In (4) we give some straightforward examples. In (a) the suffix is ywaj, and in (b) it is aj: (4)

a.

b.

Perfective zapisac wyrownac zarobic rzucic

Derived Imperfective zapisywac wyrownywac zarabiac rzucac

'to 'to 'to 'to

write down' flatten' earn' throw'

An infinitive like zapisac (4a) is composed as follows (where "=" marks the prefixal juncture and "+" marks the suffixal junctures): (5)

[ [za]prefix = [pis]root + [a]verb suff ]stem + [c]inf

The Derived Imperfective suffix is placed immediately after the stem, with the subsequent truncation of the verbalizing suffix [a]. The Derived Imperfective stem that is created in this way may enter further derivational or inflectional processes, for example form a Derived Imperfective infinitive zapisywac. In the (b) forms in (4) the /j/ of the suffix aj is not visible, because it is deleted by an independently motivated rule before a consonant, which here is the infinitival suffix (cf. Gussmann 1980: 47).4 Hence, Imperfectives may be recognized as such by the vowel before the infinitival suffix c, and/or by the vocalic changes in the stem. The meaning of the Derived Imperfective infinitives is roughly 'to perform an action repeatedly, without necessarily finishing it'. It is possible to form Derived Imperfectives productively from most verbs, predominantly from prefixed perfective verbs. The use of the first Derived Imperfective suffix, ywaj, is most common with verbs which end in a verbalizing suffix consisting of or containing the vowel a (that is a, aj or owa). The phonology of this kind of suffixation is fairly straightforward. In what follows we will concentrate on the allomorphy patterns induced by the other Derived Imperfective suffix, aj. There are three kinds of phenomena that deserve attention when the latter suffix is attached. First, a vowel may surface to break up a consonantal cluster in the stem. This has been attributed to Derived Imperfective yer surfacing, but previous accounts are problematical for several reasons. In section 2.1 we propose a reanalysis which takes into account prosodic factors. The second allomorphy pattern concerns nasal vowel decomposition. Nasal vowels break up

The /j/ turns up in the Derived Imperfective imperative as well as in some person forms, for instance, zarabiaj 'earn-iMP', rzucaj 'throw-IMF', and zarabiajg. 'they earn', rzucajg. 'they throw'.

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into the oral vowel [y] or [i] and a nasal consonant, although there is no stop consonant following (section 2.2). Thirdly, certain vowel quality changes take place (section 2.3). Examples of these three allomorphy patterns are given in (6a-c) below (square brackets contain the stems): (6) a. b. c.

Perfective ze[rv]ac wy[g'ö]c za[gnes]c

Derived Imperfective z[ryv]ac 'to tear off wy[g'in]ac 'tobend' za[gnat]ac 'to knead*

In what follows we leave out of consideration the effects of various palatalization rules since these do not bear essentially on the main issues. For present purposes, we adopt Gussmann's (1992a) analysis of palatalization (cf. note 7 below). 2.1.

Yer surfacing

The first phenomenon examined here is yer surfacing. Yers are vowels alternating with phonetic zero.5 Vowel-zero alternations occur in words of all lexical categories, derived as well as underived. Yer surfacing is normally conditioned by the presence of another yer in the immediately following syllable. The process has been accounted for by the rule of Lower (see Gussmann 1980; Rubach 1984; Spencer 1986; Piotrowski, Roca and Spencer 1992; Szpyra 1992; among others). The phonetic form of the output of the rule is the vowel [e]. If the yer is not followed by another yer, it is deleted. In sen 'sleep' in (7) below, for instance, the stem vowel is a yer. According to the standard analysis it surfaces because there is another yer word-finally, namely the case ending that marks nominative singular in masculine nouns. The "zero" ending triggers the rule of Lower in the case of the stem vowel, but cannot surface itself. In genitive singular snu, on the other hand, the case marker contains a full vowel and the stem yer does not surface. In the sample derivations below "X" stands for an underlying yer: (7)

Nominative sXn-fX e 0 [sen]

Genitive sXn+u 0 [snu]

word formation rules yer surfacing yer deletion output

It has been shown in Gussmann (1980) that the emergence of the vowel in alternating forms is largely unpredictable and therefore the vowel-zero alternations cannot be accounted for by a rule of epenthesis. Following Gussmann, most researchers assume that yers must be present in underlying representation. For different proposals see, for instance, Gorecka (1988), Czaykowska-Higgins (1988), Piotrowski (1992a).


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The presence of another yer following, then, is a prerequisite for regular yer surfacing. This is not, however, what we find in Derived Imperfectives. Consider the examples in (8), where the right-hand column contains the Derived Imperfective equivalents of the verbs on the left. The brackets contain the roots: (8) a.

b.

Perfective

Derived Imperfective

wy[rv]ac we[tk]n&c ode[t\]n(ic ze[br]ac ze[dz]ec

wy[ryv]ac w[tyk]ac od[dyx]ac z[b'er]0c zßerjac wy[cer]ac

'to 'to 'to 'to 'to 'to

extract' stick in' breathe' gather' tear off wipe off

In (8) the verbal stems containing underlying yers are suffixed with the Derived Imperfective suffix aj, and the yers emerge. Note that the structural description of the Lower rule is not satisfied: the vowel following the yers in the stems is the /a/ of the Derived Imperfective suffix, and not another yer. Moreover, the phonetic shape of the surfacing yers is not regularly [e], as when Lower applies, but [y] (8a). In those cases where the vowel is [e] (8b), the yer is invariably followed by r. As [yr] (or [ir]) sequences are not found morpheme-internally in the native vocabulary of Polish, the lowering of [y] to [e] can be put down to the operation of an independently motivated rule (see Gussmann 1980: 82f., Szpyra 1989: 106). These facts indicate that it is not the Lower rule which accounts for the surfacing of yers in the Derived Imperfective forms above.6 The reason why they should surface must be sought elsewhere. All the examples in (8) involve prefixed verbs in which prefixes themselves may be subject to alternation (for example ze - z). Such alternations can be shown to be due to some prosodic well-formedness constraints (see Rowicka 1994a). However, for the purposes of the present discussion prefixes are irrelevant. As argued by, among others, Rubach (1984) and Szpyra (1989), prefixes and their host stems regularly constitute separate phonological domains. For instance, word-level Palatal Assimilation applies in [£p']/ 'he sleeps' from [sp]ac 'to sleep' across an intervening yer (cf. sypiac 'to sleep-Di'). However, it does not take place between the prefix and the Derived Imperfective stem in [s=p']£rac 'to wash off and [s=p']w#c 'to bind' (Rowicka 1994b). Consider also the following related words:

The evidence that Derived Imperfective alternations involve yer surfacing comes from related nouns: yers which surface as [y] in Derived Imperfective verbs turn up as [e] in nouns due to Lower. For instance, compare: zamknqo 'to lock' and zamykac 'idem-Di' versus zamek 'lock'; odetchngc 'to inhale' and oddychac 'idem-Di' versus oddech 'breath'.

56 (9)

G. Rowicka and J. van de Weijer Perfective [t\]nac

Derived Imperfective [dyx]ac w=[dyx]ac z=[dyx]ac wy=[dyx]ac od=[dyx]ac po=od=[dyx]ac na=w=[dyx]ac

'to breathe' 'to breathe in' 'to die' 'to breathe out' 'to inhale' 'to inhale-iTERATiVE' 'to breathe HI-ITERATIVE'

The examples above show that the presence or the shape of the prefix has no influence on the alternations in the Derived Imperfective stem itself. Let us briefly discuss previous approaches to the problem of vowel surfacing in Derived Imperfective stems. In early generative studies (such as Gussmann 1980 and Rubach 1984), it has been proposed that the vowel inventory of Polish contains an underlying opposition between "lax" and "tense" vowels. Lax vowels cannot surface unless they are tensed, so that the opposition is absolutely neutralized on the surface. Yers are analysed as lax high vowels represented as ill or III? Lower simultaneously tenses and lowers such vowels in appropriate contexts. In the linear approach of Gussmann (1980) the lower expansion of the rule also deletes all non-tensed yers. On the other hand, yer surfacing in Derived Imperfective forms is accounted for by means of a separate, morphologically conditioned Derived Imperfective Tensing rule. The result of this rule is [y] or [i]. Derived Imperfective Tensing has been formulated in such a way as to account for a number of other vocalic Derived Imperfective-specific alternations (that is those in (6b, c) above). Within the Lexical Phonology approach of Rubach (1984) there are three rules that affect yers. The cyclic rule of Lower applies whenever its structural description is met, that is, before another yer. Derived Imperfective Tensing is triggered by Derived Imperfective aj suffixation and affects all lax vowels in a Derived Imperfective form (unless they have been tensed by Lower on a previous cycle). Postlexically, a separate rule of Yer Deletion affects non-tensed yers.

A distinction has thus been made between the palatalizing and the non-palatalizing yer. However, as has been argued by Gussmann (1992a), palatalization of consonants in Polish is largely independent of the quality of the following vowel and is therefore best accounted for by means of a floating feature. This makes it possible to dispense with abstract underlying distinctions between otherwise identical vowels which only seem to differ in terms of their palatalization-inducing property (for example palatalizing versus non-palatalizing e). Accordingly, we assume in the present paper that there is only one kind of yer. A similar view is expressed, for instance, by Bethin (1992) and Szpyra (1992). Under the Dependency Phonology framework adopted here the palatalizing autosegment of Gussmann's proposal would be represented as the floating element I.


57

Both the noncyclic approach and the Lexical Phonology model can successfully account for a number of examples. Consider, for instance, the following sample derivation cast in a noncyclic framework. (10)

wyrywac 'to extract-Di' [[[vy = [r?v + a]]γ + aj]DI + c]v 0 y —— 0 [vyryvac]

word formation rules verbalizing suffix truncation Derived Imperfective Tensing Lower j-deletion

However, as noted by Nykiel-Herbert (1984), this analysis incorrectly predicts that yers should surface in all Derived Imperfective forms. In some denominal and deadjectival verbs there is evidence for underlying yers, but Derived Imperfective Tensing fails to cause any of the yers to emerge. Consider the examples in (11) (see also Szpyra 1989: 106): (11)

u=skrzy[d\]+i+c u=skrzy[a\]+aj+g, cf. skrzy[del]

'to provide with wings' 'to provide with wings-Di 3PL 'wings-GEN-PL'

(*uskrzydylac)

z=wa[lc]+y+c z=wa[\c]+aj+0 cf. wa[\ec]ny

'to fight' 'to fight-Di 3PL' 'brave'

(*zwaliczac)

At the same time, the other Derived-Imperfective-specific vocalic alternations do occur, for example, the change from /o/ to /a/ (cf. [6c] above and section 2.3 below), as shown in the following examples: (12)

wy=k[o]ncz+y+c wy=k[a]ncz+aj+g, cf. koni[e]c

'to finish off 'idem-Di 3PL' 'end'

(*wykaniczaince the vowel /o/ is underlyingly specified as [+labial], after lowering it must >e unrounded by a redundancy rule: [+low] -> [-lab]. No such operation is lecessary under the Dependency Phonology account we have proposed above. Moreover, Rubach's solution only applies to /o/. In fact, no mention is made of he alternations involving Id. The analysis offered in this paper predicts that both b/ and Id should be susceptible to this change. The framework adopted here üso provides a plausible solution why in certain contexts Id remains unaffected. Let us now turn to the prosodic context in which the Derived Imperfective vowel alternations described in this section occur. The examples given in (25) and (26) above suggest that Derived Imperfective Melodic Structure Simplification affects the vowel immediately preceding the Derived Imperfective suffix. However, Nykiel-Herbert (1984) and Szpyra (1989) point out that this is not always the case. As observed in section 2.1, there may be a nonsurfacing yer between the vowel in question and the Derived Imperfective suffix. Some examples of such cases have been given in (13) above. Consider also the deadjectival verbs below, which contain the suffix -n-. This suffix begins with a (non-surfacing) yer. (33)

Perfective

Derived Imperfective

umocnic

umacniac

upodobnic

upodabniac

odwodnic

odwadniac

zdrobnic

zdrabniac

'to strengthen' (cf. mocny 'strong') 'to make similar' (cf. podobny 'similar') 'to drain' (cf. wodny 'water-ADj') 'to diminutivize' (cf. drobny 'tiny')

The existence of such forms constitute a grave problem for a traditional linear account, and is one of the reasons why Szpyra (1989) suggested the loop solution. She claims that the rule of Derived Imperfective Tensing is free to apply to /o/ after the intervening yers have been deleted on the previous cycle. It has already been shown (see section 2.1 above) that the loop proposal does not find support in the phonology of Derived Imperfectives. Rubach's "floating matrix" analysis does not face such a problem, since underlying yers are not represented in the skeleton and are therefore disregarded by rules making reference to this tier. However, "floating matrix" studies of Polish have not offered a complete account of Derived Imperfective-specific phenomena, in particular of the absence of yer surfacing in verbs such as those in (33). In section 2.1 we have postulated a constraint on the prosodic structure of Derived Imperfective stems. We have demonstrated that various "repair strategies", namely yer surfacing and nasal vowel decomposition, are applied to create the required binary foot at the right edge of the stem. Observe that the

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vocalic changes described in this section take place in the same (prosodic) circumstances as yer surfacing and nasal vowel decomposition. They all occur in the penultimate syllable of a Derived Imperfective stem, that is the head syllable of the foot template given in (16). Thus, Derived Imperfective Melodic Structure Simplification may be viewed as a process which increases the prominence of the head syllable. This provides additional evidence for the role of prosodic factors in Derived Imperfective-specific phenomena.19 An interesting issue concerning Derived Imperfective Melodic Structure Simplification is that changes of this kind usually tend to occur in metrically weak positions. In Russian, for example, non-stressed vowels neutralize toward the basic /a i u/ triangle, while in stressed position a wider range of vowel qualities is permitted (see Dresher and van der Hülst 1993 for a formal account). In the Polish case, however, it is the foot head that is strengthened through simplification. Even though less common, such a strategy may not be surprising if heads should be as distinct as possible. It is important to note that the prosodic position which is the locus of both the Derived Imperfective prosodic minimality constraint and Derived Imperfective Melodic Structure Simplification may be accurately specified only at the lexical 19. For the sake of completeness it should be added that in some cases the Derived Imperfective change of /o/ to /a/ may also affect other vowels /o/ in the stem. Such forms are usually regarded as incorrect by normative grammarians. Below we give some forms which are allowed by the normative dictionary of Doroszewski and Kurkowska (1980): (i)

Perfective Derived Imperfective o+sw[o]b[o]dz+i+t o+sw[o]b[a]dz+a+c or o+sw[a]b[a]dz+a+c 'to liberate' o+sz[o]t[o]m+i+c o+sz[o]t[a]mi+a+c or o+sz[a]t[a]mi+a+o 'to daze' wy+nar[o]d[o]w+i+o wy+nar[o]d[a]wi+a+o or wy+nar[a]d[a]wi+a+o 'to denationalize' u+sp[o]k[o]+i+o u+sp[o]k[a]j+a+c or u+sp[a]k[a]j+a+