1986/06/01 by David Odden · 3 citations
Psychology · Mathematics · #Phonetics and Phonology Research #Linguistics #Philosophy #Epistemology #Mathematics #Psychology
paper · doi:10.2307/414677
openalex publication_date 1986/06/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/30
In autosegmental phonology, a sequence of adjacent identical tones can be represented (a) as a single tone mapped onto multiple vowels, (b) as a one-to-one mapping between multiple tones and vowels, or (c) as a combination of these extremes. The Obligatory Contour Principle (OCP) has been proposed as a constraint which restricts tonal representations to a one-to-many mapping between tones and vowels. It is argued here that the strongest form of the OCP is falsified by a number of languages which distinguish single vs. multiple tones associated with a sequence of vowels. The language-particular violations of the OCP constitute a strong argument for the full power of autosegmental phonology.