UCLA

This thesis explores the variable realization of word-initial /p/ in Khalkha Mongolian through the lens of connected speech. While phoneme /p/ has two phonologically conditioned allophones word-internally ([p] and [w]), word-initial /p/ does not alternate in careful speech. In connected speech, however, not only is word-initial /p/ variably realized as [p] or [w], it is at times deleted altogether, yielding a “zero” realization. In this study, I offer a characterization of the nature of the variable realization of word-initial /p/ through careful investigation of a small corpus of naturalistic speech (four Khalkha-language TEDx Talks). Then, I model the variation illuminated within the corpus data using a Maximum Entropy grammar (MaxEnt; Goldwater & Johnson, 2003), a probabilistic version of Optimality Theory (Prince & Smolensky, 1993) that generates probability distributions over all candidates. I argue that the variation in the realization of word-initial /p/ is patterned, and that processes related to ease of articulation in connected speech motivate lenition, while processes particular to certain morphosyntactic configurations condition reduction.

The corpus data show a strong preference for the [p] realization, followed by a slight preference for the zero realization, with [w] being the least preferred variant of word-initial /p/. The results also reveal a massive split between content and function words, with the less faithful realizations of /p/ ([w] and zero) occurring almost exclusively in function words. However, the function words do not all behave as one. Markedness constraints favoring the [w] and zero realizations reflect the articulatory pressure to lenite in different phonological environments, while lexically-indexed faithfulness constraints represent morpheme-specific resistance to this pressure. Finally, a constraint encoding a structurally-conditioned listed allomorph of auxiliary pai- captures a case of auxiliary reduction.

The lens of connected speech affords insights into the interplay of articulatory pressures affecting lenition and the morphosyntactic configurations that select phonetically-reduced allomorphs, both of which affect Khalkha word-initial /p/. The core finding of this study is that the variation concerning word-initial /p/ is systematic, but not categorical, reflecting Weinreich et al.’s (1968) postulation of “ordered heterogeneity” as the norm for all linguistic systems and the heart of the variationist enterprise.