German affricates

Abstract

In the long debate over whether the German affricates consist of single phonemes or of clusters, the most important consideration has been one of phoneme commutation - how many segments may fit into which slots in the language. These arguments, however, have largely ignored the phonetic substance and the differences between structure and function. In this study, a closer examination is made from the standpoints of the phonetic characteristics of true affricates and of the historical development of the German affricates. On the basis of the traditional concept of the speech segments, these examinations, along with psychological considerations, support the view that the German affricates are simply fortis articulations of the corresponding voiceless stops and are therefore monophonematic. This hypothesis is seriously weak, though, because of its adherence to the traditional segmental analysis, which requires all of the features in question to be inherent to a phoneme, or bundle of distinctive features. On the other hand, a nonsegmental analysis of the features within their syllabic frames shows that the affricates consist of single obstructions constrained by prosodic features of fortis aspiration. This nonsegmental analysis, furthermore, is unambiguous both in structure and in function.