Chang Yong Sohn
Seoul National University · Arts and Humanities
About the Lab
Professor Chang Yong Sohn's research lab specializes in historical phonology and theoretical phonology, with a primary focus on sound change in the English language, particularly in Old and Middle English. The lab investigates phenomena such as vowel lengthening, diphthongization, vowel deletion, and syllable structure changes using the framework of Optimality Theory, emphasizing constraint interactions and typological compatibility. Key research directions include the phonological motivation behind quantitative changes, the role of prosodic structure in historical sound shifts, and the theoretical unification of seemingly divergent sound changes through constraint-based modeling.
Research Overview
Research Output Trend
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Selected Papers
14This paper proposes a modified version of anacrusis which applies to a verse- initial element in order to make the verse more manageable by a finite set of verse types. The type- dependent application of the restricted anacrusis originally proposed by Sievers (1885) and adherently employed by Bliss (1958), Cable (1974), Russom (1987) and Hutcheson (1995) not only is unwarranted but also yields a statistical anomaly in some identifiable pairs of verse types. It is demonstrated that there is no ob
중세영어의 개음절장음화는 강세를 받는 단모음이 개음절에서 장모음화되는 현상이다. 현재까지의 연구에서는 음절절단, 음보간의 선호도, 보상적장음화에 의해 이 현상이 설명되어 왔다. 본 논문에서는 기존의 분석들의 문제점들을 지적하고 단어의 최소성과 어말자음율격제외의 상호작용에 의해 중세영어 개음절장음화가 설명되어야 한다고 주장한다. 개음절장음화를 이해하는 데 필수적인 요소로 어말약모음 탈락을 자연스럽게 포함함으로써 기존의 분석들과는 달리 개음절장음화를 위한 어떤 독자적인 규칙이나 제약을 상정할 필요가 없음을 보인다. 더불어 단어의 최소성에 의한 장음화가 필요 이상으로 적용되는 것을 막기 위해서는 어말자음율격제외가 도출환경의 제약의 의해서 제한적으로 적용되어야 한다는 제안을 한다.
Optimality Theory (McCarthy & Prince 1993a, 1993b Prince & Smolensky 1993) provides a very sound basis for explicating the intimate correlation between stress and High Vowel Deletion in Old English. In this paper, it is argued that three major principles in a rule-based metrical theory―Maximality, Directionality and Free Element Condition―can and should be collapsed into a single alignment constraint and that this reduction leads us to a redundancy-free system. It is also
This paper proposes a unified account of ME quantitative changes within the framework of Optimality Theory. Unification of apparently diverse quantitative alternations is proven to be achievable through various interactions among a fixed set of constraints. It is demonstrated that both the syllable cut theory by Murray (2000) and the augmented foot by Lahiri and Dresher (1999) not only fail the test of observational adequacy but also are incompatible with crosslinguistically attested syllable ty
This paper aims at expounding on theoretical implications of two competing hypotheses on the inception of the Great Vowel Shift (GVS): the pull-chain and the push-chain. The two hypotheses are compared in terms of the compatibility with the chronological ordering between subchanges of GVS and the temporal proximity between the trigger and the actuation of the change. The pull-chain model is shown to be more consistent with the diachronic data and free of a conceptual problem inherent in the push
This paper attempts to give an account of MEOSL (Middle English Open Syllable Lengthening) within the framework of Optimality Theory. Accounts of MEOSL based on mora preservation and preference scales prove to be stipulative and raise a serious problem with chronological ordering between relevant sound changes. It is proposed that NonFin, which amounts to Final Syllable Extrametricality, be introduced as a direct encoding of the ME general weakening in final syllables. It is also demonstrated th
The historical origin of obstruent phonemes in English traces back to the Indo-European system. This paper attempts to account for two important developments (Grimm's Law and Middle English phonemicization) within the framework of Optimality Theory. The proposal is crucially based on the rejection of a serial interpretation of Grimm's Law and the substitution of the Maintain Contrast constraint with the interactions between symmetry in the system and the minimality of phonological change. In add
Research Areas
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