Whamit!

The Weekly Newsletter of MIT Linguistics

Issue of Monday, October 12th, 2026

LingLunch - Peter Grishin (Brown), Elise Newman (MIT), J. Cooper Roberts (MIT)

Speaker: Peter Grishin (Brown), Elise Newman (MIT), J. Cooper Roberts (MIT)
Title: What’s new with the Passamaquoddy Group?
Time: 10/15/2026, 12:30pm - 2pm
Location: 32-D461

Abstract: In this talk, we (the MIT Passamaquoddy Group) will each present some of our ongoing research on Passamaquoddy (Algonquian, Maine & New Brunswick). Topics include argument structure, the syntax-semantics of exclusive particles, and more. Hopefully, many of you will be inspired to join us!

LFRG - Iva Kovač (University of Vienna)

Speaker: Iva Kovač (University of Vienna)
Title: Can the distribution of weak NPIs be derived from Scope Economy?
Time: Wednesday, October 14, 1-2pm 
Location: 32-D461
 
Abstract: 
The same condition, paraphrased in (1), has been independently proposed to license covert scope shifting of quantifiers (Generalized Scope Economy; Mayr & Spector 2010) and to govern the distribution of weak NPIs such as any (Kusumoto & Tancredi 2013; Barker 2018).
  1. Scope Condition
    a. A quantifier Q may covertly outscope an element S only if …
    b. An NPI must be in the scope of an element S such that …
    the reading that would result from the Q/NPI taking wide scope with respect to S does not entail the reading resulting from the Q/NPI taking narrow scope with respect to S.
In this talk, I explore some consequences of this correspondence. Empirically, if both strands of research are on the right track, we expect weak NPIs to be licensed in exactly those configurations in which (non-NPI) indefinites are allowed to extend scope covertly. I discuss corroborating evidence as well as challenges and open issues. If, despite the challenges, the analogy can be upheld, it opens up a new way of capturing the distribution of weak NPIs, as an indirect consequence of Scope Economy.

Phonology Circle - Suyeon Yun (Chungnam National University)

Speaker: Suyeon Yun (Chungnam National University)
Title: Perceptual similarity and repair choice in Mongolian loanwords
Time: Tuesday October 13th, 5pm - 6:30pm
Location: 32-D831

Abstract: This study examines how perceptual similarity shapes the repair of initial consonant clusters in 355 Mongolian loanwords. Mongolian prohibits word-initial clusters but permits many medial clusters, providing a within-language test of competing, phonotactically acceptable repairs. Three patterns emerge: vowel insertion sites follow intensity patterns more closely than sonority; metathesis is restricted to clusters with a sonorant second consonant and is favored when the initial source syllable is unstressed, provided the resulting structure is permissible; and /s/-stop clusters consistently undergo prothesis, whereas /ʂ/-stop clusters allow both prothesis and internal epenthesis. A P-map-based Optimality Theory analysis accounts for these patterns through faithfulness constraints reflecting the perceptibility of vowel insertion and segmental reordering, including differences between stressed and unstressed vowels and between the two sibilants. The study argues that perceptual similarity guides the choice among structurally acceptable repairs and that fine-grained perceptual distinctions can organize both epenthesis and metathesis within a single grammar.

MIT Linguistics @ AMP 2026

The Annual Meeting on Phonology (AMP 2026) was held October 9-11 at University of Maryland, College Park. Several of our current students and alumns presented their work:

  • Hani Al Naeem (4th year): The nature of emphasis spread in Jordanian Arabic
  • Yuen Chun (Chelsea) Tang (4th year): From Denasalization to Backcopying in Nyandarua Gĩkũyũ: Contrast Loss and the Emergence of Base-Reduplicant Identity
  • Suyeon Yun (PhD 2016)[Chungnam National University]: Gestural transparency in apparent opacity: Lenis stop lenition and vowel devoicing in Seoul Korean
  • Shuang Zheng and Youngah Do (PhD 2013)[HKU]: Phonetic substance in the neural network implementation of phonological learning: the case of vowel harmony and vowel disharmony
  • Shuhao Zhang and Youngah Do (PhD 2013)[HKU]: Discriminating Allophones: Impacts of Acoustic, Contextual, and Semantic Factors
  • Giorgio Magri (PhD 2009)[CNRS]: Biases do not help with the problem of maximum entropy’s unrestrictiveness
  • Stefan Pophristic, Alec Marantz (PhD 1981)[NYU] and Maria Gouskova: Beyond Wug Tests: Sublexical Phonotactics Affect Real and Nonce Word Processing
  • Yang Wang and Bruce Hayes (PhD 1980)[UCLA]: A learning algorithm for phonemicization in Stratal MaxEnt OT