재음절화와 자질보존성에 의한 영어 이화작용의 재해석

Reinterpretation of Dissimilation by Resyllabification and Feature Preservation

The purpose of this study is to discuss the definition of English dissimilation and to reinterpret it using the perspective of feature preservation, not Obligatory Contour Principle which has been the most common explanatory tool for dissimilation. In general, dissimilation has been described as a phenomenon that two same or similar elements are avoided from being next to each other and considered opposite to assimilation. But dissimilation in this paper is regarded as the result from the interaction of feature preservation. One of the main arguments in this study is that the operation of the feature preservation between two adjacent features is attributed to resyllabification rule that is applied to the first stratum of the lexicon. Only when two adjacent features are in the same syllable, feature preservation mechanism works properly. In order to reinterpret dissimilation in terms of resyllabification rule and feature preservation scale and to present the evidence of this operation, I establish related constraints and analyze some words containing dissimilation with these constraints.