[PLing] Phonology of Yiddish & morphology of the Semitic root: Two talks by Noam Faust (Paris 8)

[Markus Poechtrager]

Dear all,

I would like to invite you all for two talks by Dr. Noam Faust 
(Université Paris VIII Vincennes/Saint-Denis) on

(1) the phonology of Central Yiddish and
(2) the morphology of the Semitic root.

Details and abstracts below.

Looking forward to seeing many of you,
Markus Pöchtrager



(1) Nasalization and drawl in Central Yiddish
(Joint work with Guillaume Enguehard)

In Central Yiddish, long vowels and diphthongs nasalize before a final 
/n/, which itself disappears (/ʃpjoon/ => [ʃpjõõ] 'spy', [ʃpjoonən] 
'spies', cf. /ton/ => [tɔn]). In addition, such vowels also undergo 
drawl when they occur stressed and before a coronal consonant preceding 
a pause (/hooz/ => [hoowəz] 'rabbit', cf. [hoozənə] 'of rabbit'). Final 
vowels are all long: /bluu/ => [bluu] and do not undergo drawl. However, 
if the final vowel is nasalized, it does undergo drawl: [ʦũũə̃] 'tooth'. 
In this talk, I will show that the distribution of both nasalization and 
drawl follow from certain assumptions of Strict CV (Lowenstamm 1996, 
Scheer 2004).


Monday, 5 Nov 2019
15:15—16:45
Department of Linguistics, Hs 1
9., Sensengasse 3a



(2) Three reasons to root for the Semitic root

Semitic verbal forms are traditionally analyzed as decomposable into a 
discontinuous, mostly consonantal root  and a "template" (e.g. √χ,ʃ,v + 
QiTuL = [χiʃuv] 'calculation' in Modern Hebrew). This idea has 
nevertheless been repeatedly challenged by several linguists, most 
notably Outi Bat-E. In this talk, I present three new arguments in favor 
of roots. The first, from the South-Arabian language Mehri, shows that 
roots and templates can be differentially targeted by an assimilatory 
process; the second argument shows how in two varieties of Neo-Aramaic, 
speakers need only store consonantal sequences, as other aspects of the 
realization follow from these sequences; and the third argument shows 
how similar ellements in the root may undergo a dissimilatory process 
"above" non-root elements.


Tuesday, 6 Nov 2019
11:30–13:00
Department of Linguistics, SR 3
9., Sensengasse 3a



-- 
Mag. Dr. Markus A. Pöchtrager
Institut für Sprachwissenschaft / Department of Linguistics
Universität Wien / University of Vienna