Emergent Stops in English and in Polish: Against Syllable-Based Accounts

Abstract

Consonant epenthesis has been used to provide support for syllable-based approaches. In Optimality Theoretic accounts, epenthesis serves to reduce the markedness by providing missing onsets. In this paper, I look at a different type of apparent insertion, the emergence of stops in consonant clusters. In search for a possible driver of the process, I consider syllable structure, syllable contact, and sonority distance. It is demonstrated that the syllable cannot be held accountable for the appearance of stops in consonant clusters. More generally, reference to markedness results in wrong predictions. It is argued that a diachronic phonetically-based explanation referring to aerodynamic requirements and articulatory gestures has significantly more explanatory power. The mis-timing of phonetic gestures may lead to structural reinterpretation, giving rise to the phonologization of emergent stops. Historical and modern English, as well as dialectal Polish, provide the primary illustrative examples for this phonetically-based analysis.