Marjorie Leduc

I am a PhD candidate in Linguistics at Rutgers University. My research is concerned with the structural properties of phonological patterns, with a specialization in ATR vowel harmony. I focus on characterizing input-output mappings; what a pattern formally is, what distinguishes it from others that appear surface-similar, and what this reveals about the phonological system. 

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My dissertation investigates dominance reversal, arguing that it constitutes a unified formal phenomenon. I propose a specific ranking configuration in Optimality Theory that generates dominance reversal across typologically diverse languages including Komo, Kinande, Liko, Turkana, and Ateso, addressing the interactions with independent processes and developing a typology that captures the range of attested variation. 

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Research Interests:

• Phonological theory

• Vowel Harmony

• ATR Harmony

• Model Theory