Abstract
This paper presents rhythmic syncope in Mojeño Trinitario, an Arawak language spoken in lowland Bolivia. In this language, every vowel that is in a weak prosodic position can syncopate. The syncope pattern of Mojeño Trinitario is remarkable for several reasons. First, it involves a regular, categorical and complete deletion rather than a statistical reduction of vowels. Second, it applies similarly to words with either of two stress patterns: iambic words, which make up the great majority of words, and trochaic ones, much less numerous. Third, a great variety of consonant sequences are the result of syncope, and syllabification applies again after syncope. Fourth, rhythmic syncope actually underapplies: almost half of the vowels that are in a position to syncopate are maintained, and vowel quality plays a statistical role in immunity to syncope. Fifth, due to a rich morphology and a set of complex phonotactic rules applying sequentially, syncope leads to extreme opacity. The data presented in this paper in a theory-neutral way contribute to the typology of rhythmic syncope. It will also be of interest to phonologists considering constraint-based vs. derivational models of phonology.
Highlights
Mojeño is an Arawak language spoken in lowland Bolivia
The Trinitario dialect shows a process of rhythmic syncope by which the vowels that are in weak prosodic positions are subject to deletion throughout the word
It underapplies in all kinds of words, so that barely half of vowels that are in weak prosodic positions do delete
Summary
Mojeño is an Arawak language spoken in lowland Bolivia. The Trinitario dialect shows a process of rhythmic syncope by which the vowels that are in weak prosodic positions are subject to deletion throughout the word. Syncope in Mojeño Trinitario shows particularities that are not accounted for in the existing typologies of syncope, such as the deletion of the vowel of the first syllable of iambically-parsed words, and almost unrestricted combinatorics in consonant sequences. This is not the whole story, since some words show a lexical stress placement based on trochaic parsing, and these involve syncope. It is very likely that a diachronic study would account for a larger portion of the data, but this is far beyond the scope of the current study
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