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International Journal of Chinese Linguistics
Vol. 11:2 (2024) ► pp.168–189

The unmarked fixed segmentism in Chinese reduplication

Case for base-reduplicant correspondence

 | Tianjin Normal University
Reduplication often involves fixed segmentism, which includes invariant segments, tones, or features that are not copied from the base. This paper focuses on phonologically unmarked fixed segmentism in the Chinese language and argues for base-reduplicant correspondence in reduplication. We examine three types of fixed segmentism, including the onset /l/, the nucleus /i/ or /ə/, and the coda /ʔ/ or /ŋ/. After surveying the data, we argue that these segments have a phonological basis falling under the Optimality Theory (OT) rubric of the emergence of the unmarked (TETU). We argue that while fixed segmentism of this phonological type poses challenges to OT analyses, such as Morphological Doubling Theory (MDT), which do not acknowledge the distinction between the base and the reduplicant and their correspondence, it can be accounted for within correspondence theory, given that the base and reduplicant have an asymmetrical phonological relation to the input.
Keywords: reduplication, fixed segmentism, optimality theory, base-reduplicant correspondence, morphological doubling theory
Article outline
  • 1.Introduction
  • 2.Data on the unmarked fixed segmentism
    • 2.1Onset /l/
    • 2.2Nucleus /i/ or /ə/
    • 2.3Coda /ʔ/ or /ŋ/
    • 2.4L-insertion words
  • 3.The choice of phonologically unmarked segments
  • 4.Issues raised about Yip’s (2001) analysis
  • 5.Challenges to MDT approach
  • 6.Analysis of the unmarked fixed segmentism in correspondence theory
  • 7.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 5 December 2024
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/ijchl.00028.yin
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