A gap filled: postpostinitial accent in Azkoitia Basque

Abstract

The investigation of the accentual systems of the languages of the world within metrical phonology has revealed that the typology of accentual systems is severely constrained. Theoretical considerations also allow us to predict the existence of certain accentual systems and to point out typological gaps. In particular, accent on the third syllable in quantity-insensitive systems, the mirror image of antepenultimate accent, has been considered an unattested pattern (van der Hulst i.p.). In this paper, I demonstrate that postpostinitial accent is precisely the unmarked pattern in the Basque variety spoken in Azkoitia. This is important in that a predicted but previously unattested pattern is shown to occur in at least one language. It is further argued that the Azkoitia accentual system derives historically from a system with penultimate accentuation. In fact, in the Azkoitia system both edges are taken into account since regular postpostinitial accentuation is constrained by a nonfinality condition