Abstract
Grammont's Law of Three Consonants (LTC) states that French schwa is obligatorily pronounced in any CC_C sequence to avoid three-consonant clusters. Although schwa presence has been shown to be sensitive not only to cluster size but also to the nature of consonants in post-lexical phonology, the LTC is still considered as accurate to describe schwa-zero alternations in lexical phonology. The paper uses judgment data from French speakers in France and Switzerland to compare the behavior of schwa in derived words (lexical phonology) and inflected words (post-lexical phonology). The results show that schwa-zero alternations are conditioned not only by cluster size but also by cluster type in lexical phonology. Moreover, the same phonotactic asymmetries among consonant clusters are found in lexical and post-lexical phonologies. The data therefore support a weaker version of the lexical-phonology hypothesis than what is usually assumed for French. Lexical and post-lexical phonologies do not require different phonotactic constraints but only different weights for the same constraints.
Highlights
In French, some morphemes alternate between a form with schwa and a form without schwa
The Law of Three Consonants (LTC) has been shown to depend on the nature and order of consonants in CC_C in postlexical phonology, Grammont’s categorical formulation is still considered as accurate to describe schwazero alternations in lexical phonology
The judgment data collected in this study support the hypothesis that the number and the nature of surrounding consonants matters for schwazero alternations in derived words
Summary
In French, some morphemes alternate between a form with schwa and a form without schwa. Determining the factors that condition the distribution of schwazero alternations has been a central topic in French phonology for more than a century (see Bürki et al 2011:39823985 for an overview) Among these factors, the consonantal context, and in particular the number of consonants surrounding schwa, has received particular attention early on. The consonantal context, and in particular the number of consonants surrounding schwa, has received particular attention early on In his influential treaty on French pronunciation, Grammont (1914:115116) states that a preconsonantal schwa is obligatory when preceded by two consonants (CC_C), as illustrated in (1a), but excluded when preceded by a single consonant (C_C), as illustrated in (1b). In (1b), the schwaless form is preferred in the absence of threeconsonant clusters
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