Turkish Vowel Harmony

@cite{goksel-kerslake-2005} @cite{rose-walker-2011}

Turkish has a perfectly symmetric 2x2x2 vowel inventory and a two-dimensional vowel harmony system (@cite{goksel-kerslake-2005} Ch 3).

Vowel inventory

	Front		Back
	Unrounded	Rounded	Unrounded	Rounded
High	i	ü	ı	u
Non-high	e	ö	a	o

Two harmony dimensions

1. Palatal harmony ([±back]): the last vowel's [back] value spreads to all suffix vowels. Determines the twofold alternation A -> a/e.

2. Labial harmony ([±round]): the last vowel's [round] value spreads to [+high] suffix vowels only. Combined with palatal harmony, this yields the fourfold alternation I -> ı/i/u/ü.

Archiphonemic suffix vowels

Turkish grammars use capital letters for harmonizing suffix vowels:

• A alternates a/e (twofold: [back] only)
• I alternates ı/i/u/ü (fourfold: [back] + [round])

Examples with ev 'house' [front, unrounded]: Plural ev-ler (A -> e), Accusative ev-i (I -> i) Examples with göz 'eye' [front, rounded]: Plural göz-ler (A -> e), Accusative göz-ü (I -> ü) Examples with kol 'arm' [back, rounded]: Plural kol-lar (A -> a), Accusative kol-u (I -> u)

Harmony systems (@cite{rose-walker-2011})

Turkish VH decomposes into two HarmonySystem instances:

• palatalHarmony: [back] spreads to all suffix vowels (twofold A)
• labialHarmony: [round] spreads to high suffix vowels only (fourfold I)

def Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.i_vowel : Theories.Phonology.Segment

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def Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.ü_vowel : Theories.Phonology.Segment

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def Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.ı_vowel : Theories.Phonology.Segment

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def Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.u_vowel : Theories.Phonology.Segment

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def Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.e_vowel : Theories.Phonology.Segment

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def Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.ö_vowel : Theories.Phonology.Segment

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def Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.a_vowel : Theories.Phonology.Segment

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def Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.o_vowel : Theories.Phonology.Segment

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def Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.palatalHarmony : Theories.Phonology.Harmony.HarmonySystem

Palatal harmony: [back] spreads from the last stem vowel to all suffix vowels. Every vowel is both trigger and target; no transparency.

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def Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.labialHarmony : Theories.Phonology.Harmony.HarmonySystem

Labial harmony: [round] spreads from the last stem vowel to high suffix vowels only. Every vowel triggers; only [+high] vowels are targets.

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def Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.resolveA (back : Bool) : Theories.Phonology.Segment

Resolve archiphonemic A: twofold alternation a/e controlled by [back]. Used for plural -lAr, past -DI, future -(y)AcAK, etc.

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• Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.resolveA back = if back = true then Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.a_vowel else Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.e_vowel

def Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.resolveI : Bool → Bool → Theories.Phonology.Segment

Resolve archiphonemic I: fourfold alternation ı/i/u/ü controlled by [back] and [round]. Used for accusative -(y)I, progressive -Iyor, possessive -(I)m, etc.

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• Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.resolveI true false = Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.ı_vowel
• Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.resolveI false false = Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.i_vowel
• Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.resolveI true true = Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.u_vowel
• Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.resolveI false true = Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.ü_vowel

theorem Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.a_is_back : a_vowel.hasValue Theories.Phonology.Feature.back true = true

theorem Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.e_is_front : e_vowel.hasValue Theories.Phonology.Feature.back false = true

theorem Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.ö_is_front : ö_vowel.hasValue Theories.Phonology.Feature.back false = true

theorem Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.u_is_back : u_vowel.hasValue Theories.Phonology.Feature.back true = true

theorem Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.ü_is_round : ü_vowel.hasValue Theories.Phonology.Feature.round true = true

theorem Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.ı_is_unround : ı_vowel.hasValue Theories.Phonology.Feature.round false = true

theorem Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.i_is_high : i_vowel.hasValue Theories.Phonology.Feature.high true = true

theorem Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.a_is_low : a_vowel.hasValue Theories.Phonology.Feature.low true = true

theorem Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.resolveA_back : resolveA true = a_vowel

theorem Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.resolveA_front : resolveA false = e_vowel

theorem Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.resolveI_back_unround : resolveI true false = ı_vowel

theorem Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.resolveI_front_round : resolveI false true = ü_vowel

theorem Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.resolveI_back_round : resolveI true true = u_vowel

theorem Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.resolveI_front_unround : resolveI false false = i_vowel

theorem Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.palatal_back_stem : Theories.Phonology.Harmony.triggerValue palatalHarmony [a_vowel] = some true

Palatal harmony extracts [back] from a back-vowel stem.

theorem Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.palatal_front_stem : Theories.Phonology.Harmony.triggerValue palatalHarmony [e_vowel] = some false

Palatal harmony extracts [−back] from a front-vowel stem.

theorem Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.labial_round_stem : Theories.Phonology.Harmony.triggerValue labialHarmony [o_vowel] = some true

Labial harmony extracts [round] from a rounded stem.

theorem Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.labial_unround_stem : Theories.Phonology.Harmony.triggerValue labialHarmony [ı_vowel] = some false

Labial harmony extracts [−round] from an unrounded stem.

theorem Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.göz_palatal : Theories.Phonology.Harmony.triggerValue palatalHarmony [ö_vowel] = some false

theorem Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.göz_labial : Theories.Phonology.Harmony.triggerValue labialHarmony [ö_vowel] = some true

theorem Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.a_e_dorsal_disagree : Theories.Phonology.Autosegmental.agreeAt a_vowel e_vowel Theories.Phonology.FeatureGeometry.GeomNode.dorsal = false

theorem Fragments.Turkish.VowelHarmony.a_o_same_back : a_vowel.hasValue Theories.Phonology.Feature.back true = true ∧ o_vowel.hasValue Theories.Phonology.Feature.back true = true