Vowel harmony in Jordanian Arabic : a dependent tier ordering analysis

Abstract EN

The paper discusses vowel harmony found in bisyllabic words in jordian Aratic.

It is argucd that the correct analysis requires the Jordanian Arabic vowels to be represented underlyingly with a separate tie for the feature [ batk ] that is der.endent on a head tier for the feature [ high] dircctly linked to the core tier.

This representation makes possible the interpretation of the vowel larmony facts is Jordanian Arabic as diirect consequences of general principles of phonological theory such as the obligatory contour Principle and the Tie Conflation Principle.

It is conc- luded that the Jordanian Arabic data provide interesting support for a dependent tier ordering analysis of vowel harmony along the lines deve- loped in Mester ( 1986 ).