Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 January 2014
This article investigates soft labial conspiracy in Kurpian, a dialect of Polish that has not been discussed in the generative literature to date. The conspiracy involves four processes: decomposition, simplification, depalatalization, and vowel retraction. These processes are united by the goal to eliminate palatalized labials from the surface representation. The article argues against bidirectional IDENT constraints and for the tenet of Derivational/Stratal OT that analysis must proceed in steps. The evidence comes from the nature of decomposition and from the fact that depalatalization constitutes a Duke-of-York derivation.
I would like to thank the three Journal of Linguistics referees for discussion and criticism, which led to considerable improvement of both the content and the presentation of my analysis. However, let me add that the responsibility for this article is solely mine. I would also like to thank my Kurpian consultants, especially Tadeusz Grec, Stanisław Sieruta and Henryk Gadomski as well as Apolonia Cis, Leszek Czyż, Michalina Dębowska, Irena Górska, Stefania Górska, Mirosław Grzyb, Czesława Kaczyńska, Alina Kulesza, Henryk Kulesza, Celina Kopeć, Danuta Kostewicz, Krystyna Koziatek, Grażyna Magdzińska, Hanna Małż, Krystyna Mróz, Marianna Piórkowska, Stefania Prusaczyk, Marianna Staśkiewicz, and Lucyna Ścibek.