A modular approach to Phonologically Conditioned Allomorphy

Abstract This chapter proposes a new model to deal with cases of Phonologically Conditioned Allomorphy (PCA) in an entirely modular fashion. The case study will be represented by the Ligurian definite article system. It will be argued that the alternation between the forms of m.sg definite [er] (before a word starting with a labial/velar consonant) and [u] (before a word starting with a non-labial/velar consonant) constitutes a case of melodically conditioned allomorphy. In the model presented here—couched within a Nanosyntactic framework—such cases are accounted for by a demotion operation happening in the phonological component. This operation applies to the list of ranked lexical items coming out of the syntactic computation, which the authors propose to be always initially inherited from previous lexicalization cycles. The authors contend that such an approach allows for a completely modular account of PCA, so that syntax and phonology can still be considered entirely incommunicado.