Predicting prosodic structure by morphosyntactic category: A case study of Blackfoot

Joseph W Windsor

doi:10.5334/gjgl.229

Abstract

This study examines phonetic correlates to three prosodic categories in Blackfoot: the syllable (σ), the prosodic word (ω), and the phonological phrase (φ). I provide evidence that the Blackfoot σ is recognizable by an obligatory process of vowel coalescence and the φ is recognizable by an obligatory process of right edge aspiration. The ω can be distinguished from these other two prosodic constituents by an optional phonetic process which mimics intersyllabic vowel coalescence, but does not apply obligatorily.The prosodic categories investigated in this study are then correlated to three morphosyntactic categories: morphological agreement suffixes, lexical morphemes (adjectives and nouns), and demonstratives. This correlation is used to argue that morphological and syntactic processes function differently at the interface with phonology (cf. Russell 1999), ultimately raising questions with “word-internal syntax” analyses of Blackfoot suffixation which are derived through cyclic head movement (Bliss 2013; Wiltschko 2014) using the Mirror Principle (Baker 1985).This article is part of the Special Collection: Prosody and costituent structure

Highlights

This study examines three phonetic correlates to prosodic structure which are correlated to morphosyntactic categories
In the generalized linear model (GLM), aspiration was found to be a significant predictor of demonstrative-(adjective)noun boundaries [G2 (70) = 84.143, p < 0.001], and vowel coalescence was found to be a significant predictor of adjective-noun boundaries [G2 (69) = 5.24, p = 0.022]
To anchor the discussion of why these phonetic correlates should be considered as instantiating the prosodic units suggested, I return to the Match Theory constraint which matches lexical syntactic heads to prosodic words, MatchWord

Summary

Introduction

This study examines three phonetic correlates to prosodic structure which are correlated to morphosyntactic categories. I conclude that the Blackfoot prosodic phrase (φ) can be recognised by right-edge aspiration (indicated by arrows). The syllable (σ) in Blackfoot can be recognized by a process of obligatory vowel coalescence (resulting in instances of [ɛ] in (1), outlined). The diagram shows that aspiration (depicted as devoiced vowels) can be found at the right edges of φs which correspond to: the demonstrative, the nominal complex, and the verbal complex. Between the words /áka/ ‘old’ and /ímaxkiçkina/ ‘sheep’ the vowel is represented in (1) as a coalesced [ɛ] (divided between the two words) but may appear as [a.í] in free variation. Between the noun /ímaxkiçkina/ ‘sheep’ and –iksi ‘anim.pl’, vowel coalescence can once again be observed, as the intersyllabic vowel is obligatorily realized as [ɛ]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion