Consonant–vowel interactions in Serbian: Features, representations and constraint interactions

This paper provides a representational and constraint-based analysis of the segment inventory and consonant–vowel interactions of Standard Serbian. It shows that the phonological and morpho-phonological patterns of this language pose several challenges to the more traditional feature theories, which assume that consonants and vowels use (for the most part) different features. To capture all the Serbian facts (including velar fronting, velar palatalization, iotization and lateral vocalization), I make use of the Parallel Structures Model of feature geometry and Optimality Theory. The advantage of using the Parallel Structures Model is that it representationally captures quite complex consonant–vowel and place-manner alternations using a limited set of privative features applicable to both consonants and vowels. OT is employed to explain the inventory, the morphological specificity of the consonant–vowel interactions, and the context specificity of lateral vocalization, as well as other “soft constraint” effects. However, this analysis differs from most constraint-based approaches in assuming segment-internal representations, providing an explicit mechanism to explain the inventory (including justifying particular feature specifications), and providing a unified account of both the inventory and phonological process facts.