This course will provide a comprehensive exploration of vowel harmony as a phenomenon at the intersection of phonetics, phonology, and computation. Students will examine the typology of harmony systems, the representation of harmonic features (with emphasis on [±ATR]), and the mechanisms governing directionality and locality. The course culminates in computational modeling approaches that test theoretical claims against empirical phonological data. Students participating in this course will first explore the articulatory and acoustic correlates of harmonic features, especially [±ATR] and then evaluate directional spreading and locality constraints theoretically and empirically. Within directionality, the course content will focus on the traditionally defined directional, dominant-recessive, and root-controlled harmony systems and their limitations. In addition to the directionality parameters, the cross-linguistic distribution of harmonic features of ATR and other prominent harmony systems such as rounding harmony will form a significant part of the course. The course content will also lay emphasis on the roles of triggers, targets, participating and non-participating vowels in vowel harmony systems. Finally, we will also throw some light on using computational models to test typological hypotheses.

Level: introductory/intermediate