Foot structure enables strict locality in phonological processes

Abstract

The metrical foot has a long pedigree as a theoretical device in generative phonology (Liberman &
Prince, 1977; Halle & Vergnaud, 1978; Selkirk, 1980; Hammond, 1984; Halle & Vergnaud, 1987; Idsardi,
1992; Hayes, 1995). While the motivations for foot structure are typically studied in terms of stress, this
paper provides evidence from the principles of formal language theory (Chomsky, 1956; Hopcroft & Ullman,
1979) for foot-based analyses of non-stress processes. Though use of foot structure in these analyses is not
novel (see Gonzalez (2018) for an overview) this paper contributes a precise characterization of what is at
stake in terms of the computation of these processes when foot structure is present versus when it is not. This
formal computational analysis indicates that feet have measurable implications for the predicted typology
of these patterns. Thus, support is provided for a specific substantive phonological proposal based on the
well-defined measures of complexity that formal language theory offers.