Chain Shifts in Persian Vowel System:an Optimality Theoretic account

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linguistics, Literature and foreign languages, AllamehTabataba'i university, Tehran, Iran

Abstract

This research investigates diachronic changes of Persian vowel system from Old Iranian to Middle Persian, to Dari and to Present Day Persian, describes how they have occurred and analyzes why they have happened in the framework of Optimality Theory (OT). The changes are regular and context free, formed in a chain shift fashion resulting in a more symmetrical vowel system in terms of the qualitative distinctions of simple vowels and also in elimination of the phonemic role of Persian diphthongs and long vowels. These changes are explained through constraints interaction whose final output in each language period (variation) is the optimal vowel of that period and corresponds to the input for its speaker and remains in his lexicon until another vowel change occurs. New changes are represented by constraints reranking and result in input restructuring. Also, the intermediate stages of gradual vowel changes are explained in OT with candidate chains.

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