Buriat Syllable Weight and Head Prominence

Abstract

In this paper I examine the relation between syllable structure and weight in Buriat. In general, syllables which have maximal constituency are heavy. However, I argue here that in some cases a syllable may have maximal constituency without being heavy. I will show that Buriat syllables generally conform to a typology in which only vowels contribute weight and a CVVC syllable form is maximal, as it has the maximal two moras as well as a maximal onset and coda. Yet one case appears to be the exception to this generalization. (C)Vηg is the only syllable form in Buriat with a final consonant cluster ( η represents a velar nasal stop here and in subsequent transcription). Furthermore, it has two apparently conflicting properties, namely that it is maximal in its constituency, so CVV ηg is not possible, yet it patterns as light with respect to stress. In a derivational framework, these facts appear to require the elaborated nuclear moraic model of syllable structure proposed by Shaw (1992, 1993). However, I will demonstrate that this patterning can in fact be explained with a simpler moraic constituent structure for syllables in an optimality theoretic framework, where constraints are conceived of as violable (see Prince & Smolensky 1993, McCarthy & Prince 1993a, b). In this discussion I propose a violable constraint penalizing branching constituency in moras. I argue that this constraint in combination with standard syllable structure constraints and the independently motivated notion of head prominence can predict precisely the set of Buriat syllable forms and their patterning with respect to weight without requiring the nuclear moraic model. Concluding discussion shows that the analysis proposed here has interesting implications for both maximal constituency effects and moraic domination of coda consonants. The organization of this paper is as follows. In section 1 I describe the Buriat syllable typology and the apparent paradox presented by the (C)V ηg syllable form and then outline the generalizations that may be drawn concerning Buriat syllable structure. In section 2 I show that although it appears that a nuclear moraic structure is necessary to account for the patterning of Buriat (C)V ηg syllables in a derivational framework, a simpler structure without the nuclear moraic structure approach is sufficient in an optimality theoretic analysis. Section 3 presents the concluding discussion.