Retroflex suffixation in Beijing dialect

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to explore the phonological opacity of the retroflex suffixation in Beijing Dialect. The retroflex suffixation contains a series of phonetic variables in the main syllable and a phonological opacity. With respect to the former analysis of a phonological approach, there arises variable issues in divergence, including the underlying form of the retroflex suffix, the underlying forms of the vowels and the opaque process of retroflex suffixation. In the beginning of this paper, there consists of a re-analysis of the underlying forms of the vowels and a template of re-syllabification. Then a bold assumption will be proposed, that is, due to the endless arguments of what retroflex suffix is indeed, the retroflex suffix may be an independent consonant, a floating feature attaching to the stem or a monosyllable merging into the main syllable. Given the hypothesis of the underlying form of the retroflex suffix is a consonant, the Parallel Structure of Feature Geometry is adopted here as a tool. All the concerning stem and retroflex suffix will be specified with feature analysis. Since the classic OT fails to account for the phonological opacity in Beijing dialect due to its surface-oriented nature. In this paper, I exert means of Local Conjunction, which is proper in solving the feature bindings. After that, given the hypothesis of the underlying form of the retroflex suffix is a floating feature or a retroflex vowel, I apply OT-CC to account for it. Furthermore, I modify the retroflex suffix with a PSM structure and then give a derivation account for the opacity in retroflex suffixation. With analyzing this issue, I hope the idea for retroflex suffixation in Mandarin will be extended to cover other issues in other dialects or other languages.