An Optimality-Theoretic Approach to Reduplication in Korean Ideophones

Abstract

This paper examines the reduplication behavior observed in Korean ideophones within the framework of Optimality Theory. We argue that the various effects of reduplication, which can be largely classified into two, segmental and templatic variation, are instances of the emergence of the unmarked (TETU). This means that the more unmarked segmental content and the more harmonious syllable template emerge only in the reduplicant through the constraint ranking FAlTII-IO≫PHONO-C≫ IDENT-BR(McCarthy and Prince 1995). To resolve the cases which seem to be quite asymmetric in terms of the template, we propose the constraint •CLASH between the base and the reduplicant, to the effect that they are, in fact, conspiring to improve the syllable structure harmony, and show that no other than OT-based approach can offer a generalized and consistent explanation about it.