• Korean Linguistics
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• v.79
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• pp.63-89
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• 2018

This study explores contrastive relation among voiced bilabial fricative [${\ss}$], voiceless bilabial stop [p] and glide [w] in Middle Korean consonant system based on Probabilistic Model. Preceding researches about voiced bilabial fricative [${\ss}$] proposed two influential arguments. One is voiced bilabial fricative [${\ss}$] was an independent phoneme, the other is it was not an independent phoneme but an allophone of voiceless bilabial stop [p] in Middle Korean. This study applies Probabilistic Phonological Relationship Model (PPRM) for solving the problem of dichotomy about contrastive and allophonic relations. The analysis result of the contrastive entropy by PPRM suggests that voiced bilabial fricative [${\ss}$] was just an allophone of voiceless bilabial stop [p] or glide [w] in Middle Korean. Comparing the entropies between [p] and other consonants with the entropies between [${\ss}$] and other consonants, a continuum defined in terms of entropy reveals that [${\ss}$] in Middle Korean was more allophonic than phonemic.

• Language and Information
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.51-68
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• 2005

This paper proposes an informational approach to the dative alternation in English following up on the Stochastic Optimality- Theoretic (OT) model by Bresnan and Nikitina (2003). While Bresnan and Nikitina's stochastic OT model resolves the crucial problem of 'gradience' unavoidably implicated in variation phenomena by applying the notion of probability to linguistic problems, it fails to account for the details of the unusually alternating examples, which normally would not alternate. More importantly, it fails to capture the focus effect involved in the alternation. This paper has worked out all the problematic examples by modifying the Bresnan and Nikitina model. This new account captures not only the unusual behavior of the less-alternating verbs and idioms but also the special focus effect of the common alternating verbs.