Vocalic labialization in Baghdadi Arabic: Representation and computation

•Gives a detailed examination of [i]∼[u] complementary distribution in Baghdadi.•Analyzes the process autosegmentally as assimilation of multiple place features.•Proposes that place features can spread from a consonantal to a vocalic node.•Advocates that C-place features spread in a strictly local fashion (no skipping).•Provides an OT analysis that is intertwined with the representational analysis.

This paper concentrates on morphological categories in Baghdadi Arabic where the appearance of a short high vowel [u] or [i] is predictable, i.e. a process of vocalic labialization. The process is contingent upon the presence of an underlying /i/ or an unspecified (e.g. epenthetic) vowel, and it is triggered either by one labial-velar glide or by the collective influence of neighboring labial and emphatic/velar/uvular consonants. The consequence is that surface [u] in this language is analyzed as having both [labial] and [dorsal] features under a vocalic node. This treatment raises a number of theoretical questions regarding cross-category C-to-V assimilation effects and locality in spreading. I provide detailed and closely-intertwined representational and computational accounts of the pattern that address these important theoretical issues.