An Optimal Analysis on [i] to /e/ and [u] to /i/ Vowel Shift in Mashoori Dialect

The present study explores two common vowel alternations in Mashoori dialect, spoken in Mahshahr port, a variation of Modern Standard Farsi, within the framework of optimality theory. To conduct this research, the two alternations represented firstly as the change of the high long vowel /i/ to the mid high vowel [e] and secondly, observed as the back round vowel /u/ turning to the front spread vowel [i] in various phonetic environments. The faithflness/ markedness constraints involved to account for these phonological processes operate as follows: *V[+tense], *[u] > > IDENT_V [+stressed], IDENT[b,r], IDENT_IO, that suggest the priority of markedness constraints over the faithfulness constraints in Persian dialectal variations rather than the standard Farsi. Besides, the changes show the dynamic nature of Persian vowel system synchronically.