Procliticized Phonological Phrases in English: Evidence from Rhythm*

Abstract

Abstract. Post‐lexical stress shift in English, as exemplified by FIFteen MEN (cf. fifTEEN or FIFTEEN) is sensitive to rhythm and constituency. Rhythm can be accounted for by constraints like NoClash, forbidding adjacent accents within the phonological phrase. Constituency has been accounted for by a cyclic application of right‐alignment and left‐alignment of accents in the phonological phrase. However, such an account fails to take care of multiply premodified NPs like Fifteen Japanese CDs. Ranking right‐alignment above left‐alignment gives fifTEEN japaNESE ceeDEES and the reverse ranking gives the equally unacceptable FIFteen JAPanese CEEdees. Abandoning a cyclic treatment, I propose a procliticized structure in which procliticized phonological phrases correspond to embedding premodifiers like fifteen in the above example. Such premodifiers align with the left edge with a phonological phrase but fail to align their right edge with a phonological phrase. As a result, the correct (FIFteen (JAPaNESE ceeDEES)) is produced, or, if NoClash is given a stricter interpretation so as to ban accents with only one unaccented syllable between them, the equally correct (FIFteen (JAPanese ceeDEES)). A systematic but hitherto unnoticed stress contrast is discussed, that between e.g. TOO high BUILdings and TWO HIGH BUILdings, and it is shown that the new account deals with it effortlessly.