Phonological Opacity and Unfaithful Mapping

Abstract

Kim, Jong-Kyoo. 2006. Phonological Opacity and Unfaithful Mapping. The Linguistic Association of Korea Journal, 14(2), 241-267. The cases of phonological opacity where a non-surface-apparent intermediate form plays a decisive role in deriving a correct output form raises a serious problem in non-serial mechanism of Optimality-theoretic (OT, henceforth) approaches. In two-level system of OT operating only with underlying inputs and surface-true outputs, such an existence of intermediate form originated from derivational system is an unwanted component of phonology that should not be accepted. The present study analyzes the phonological opacity problem in Korean phonology deriving from the interaction between the process of consonant simplification and the process of tensification can in OT framework, especially based on the mechanisms of candidate-to-candidate faithfulness and unfaithful mapping. In order to handle the opacity problem in non-serial OT framework, Sympathy Theory directly resorts to the elaboration of the component CON by positing a constraint with special property, which might be a well-expected move in constraint-based phonology. By the crucial role of the sympathetic constraint in the system of constraint interaction, the influence of a non-surface-apparent, failed candidate on the actual output form, which is the main source of phonological opacity, can be captured in a parallel fashion. As a consequence, the need of intermediate representation no longer exists in phonology, upon which the rule-based approaches are heavily dependent. Phonological opacity is a simple reflection of candidate- to-candidate faithfulness relation.