formal language theory

Unbounded recursion in two dimensions, where syntax and prosody meet

Both syntax and prosody seem to require structures with unbounded branching, something that is not immediately provided by multiple context free grammars or other equivalently expressive formalisms. That extension is easy, and does not disrupt an …

Representing multiple dependencies in prosodic structures

Association of tones to prosodic trees was introduced in Pierrehumbert & Beckman (1988). This included: (i) tonal association to higher-level prosodic nodes such as intonational phrases, and (ii) multiple association of a tone to a higher-level …

Computational perspectives on phonological constituency and recursion

Whether or not phonology has recursion is often conflated with whether or not phonology has strings or trees as data structures. Taking a computational perspective from formal language theory and focusing on how phonological strings and trees are …