Abstract
The word stress system in San’ani Arabic exhibits patterns of stress placement that associate some level of prominence with syllables with long vowels and syllables that end in the left-leg of a geminate. The fact that such syllables always succeed in attracting stress away from other non-final CVC syllables, even beyond the final trisyllabic window, clearly indicates the role that underlying moraicity plays in the stress algorithm. The proposed account, offered in this paper for the word stress system in San’ani, is couched in Harmonic Serialism, as a serial version of Optimality Theory. Key to the analyses presented is the assumption of gradual prosodification. The distinction drawn between faithful and unfaithful prosodic operations allows for applying some in a parallel fashion, but confines others to serialism. Central to the analysis, as well, is the exceptional case of final stress, which is mainly attributed to the intrinsic prominence of syllables with underlying bimoraic sequences.
Highlights
In quantity-sensitive stress systems, syllable weight plays a pivotal role in stress placement
San’ani Arabic, as a clear example of a quantity-sensitive stress system, is no exception to that. What distinguishes it from most quantity-sensitive systems, though, is the priority given to CVV and CVG syllables when compared with other CVC heavy syllables
The two different paths of prosodification meant that a derivation could begin with footing/stress assignment immediately, and whenever underlying moraicity allows it, or it could start with mora assignment followed by footing/stress assignment
Summary
In quantity-sensitive stress systems, syllable weight plays a pivotal role in stress placement. An open syllable with a long vowel or a syllable with the left-leg of a geminate will always receive stress, no matter what other syllables there might be This predominant characteristic of the stress system in San’ani is fundamental to the analysis developed in this paper. To render that distinction feasible, the proposed account must assume successive, rather than parallel, prosodification Operations such as syllabification, mora assignment, footing, and stress assignment will be arranged in consecutive derivational steps. May be allowed to combine, depending on whether an operation is considered to be faithful or unfaithful at a given step Another issue that is accounted for by assuming the prominence distinction between heavy syllables in San’ani is the occurrence of word-final stress.
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