Heterosyllabic Clusters Research Articles

Lost in syllabification. Special cases of geminatio consonantium and syllabarum diuisio through the fringes of the Latin-Greek writing koine

AbstractThe present paper deals with a marginal divergent spelling consisting in the geminatio of a consonant littera in pre- or post-consonantal position. The phenomenon is found in both Latin and Greek non-literary texts. The analysis is conducted on two levels, one grapho-phonological and one historical. In fact, the phenomenon results to be particularly relevant as for the relation between spelling and syllabic representation of heterosyllabic clusters and as for the dimension of contact between Latin and Greek scripts. First, a synchronic cut of Latin non-literary texts is examined to evaluate the occurrence of this geminatio and its ratio of distribution along the different types of clusters. It can be stated that the geminatio at hand represents a metagraphic signal of syllab(ific)ation indeterminacy, as is further corroborated by the examination of metalinguistic sources. Secondly, the historical perspective is then addressed. This spelling can be interpreted as a feature, albeit marginal and stemming from ephemeral slips, of writing koine, as is further evidenced by the examination of two sample clusters of texts.

Acoustic and Kinematic Correlates of Heterosyllabicity in Different Phonological Contexts.

We investigate the temporal and kinematic properties of consonant gemination and heterosyllabic clusters as opposed to singletons and tautosyllabic clusters in Italian. The data show that the singleton versus geminate contrast is conveyed by specific kinematic properties in addition to systematic durational differences in both the consonantal and vocalic intervals; by contrast, tautosyllabic and heterosyllabic clusters differ significantly for the duration of the consonantal interval but do not vary systematically with respect to the vocalic interval and cannot be consistently differentiated at the kinematic level. We conclude that systematic variations in acoustic vowel duration and the kinematics of tongue tip gestures represent the phonetic correlates of the segmental phonological contrast between short and long consonants, rather than of syllable structure. Data are only partly consistent with the predictions of both moraic and gesture-based models of the syllable about the effects of syllable structure on speech production dynamics and call for a more gradient view of syllabification.

Marked Geminates as Evidence of Sonorants in Sylheti Bangla: An Optimality Account

This paper analyzes the universal concept that sonorants are marked geminates in the gemination process of Sylheti Bangla (henceforth SHB). Evidence from SHB suggests that when SHB speakers confront borrowed words with sonorant initial or obstruent initial heterosyllabic clusters, it is invariably the sonorant that gets assimilated. In addition, SHB data indicates that when faced with choices between two sonorants of the heterosyllabic clusters, speakers opt for the less sonorous one for gemination. Given this phenomenon, the proposal that sonorant gemination is absent in SHB could not be the ultimate one as it receives additional support from the fact that SHB also possesses many underlying sonorant geminations. Based on this investigation the hierarchy of the constraints *GG*RR>>*LL*NN is proposed for analyzing the gemination process in SHB. Finally, this paper illustrates some additional constraints in the SHB gemination process found to be necessary.

Lisboa, Lisbon, and the exception

The graphemic form <Lisbon> in the title refers to an underlying [ˈlɪzbən] with a voiced heterosyllabic /zb/ cluster. Chomsky and Halle (1968, p. 150, n. 105) indicate the example Lisbon as one of the exceptions to the devoicing of obstruent clusters in English. Corresponding orthographic <sb> clusters in Portuguese obey a rule according to which a [ʒ] occurs as the phonetic realization of an underlying and unspecified for voice and place of articulation /S/ that assimilates the voicing of the following consonant [b], as in Lisboa [liʒˈboɐ]. It should be borne in mind that not only are /zb/ clusters exceptional in English but that /zb/ and /sb/ may be equally licensed (as in asbestos), while the cooccurrence of voiced and voiceless segments within a cluster is not possible in Portuguese. This paper aims at obtaining answers to the following research question: do native speakers of English experience difficulties when producing Portuguese voiced sC heterosyllabic clusters, taking into account (a) the different syllable structures of these clusters in the L1 (English) and the L2 (Portuguese), and (b) the assimilation process in Portuguese, whereby if C is voiced in sC, then /S/ = [ʒ]? The main conclusions are that assimilation seems less problematic than palatalization for native speakers of English when producing heterosyllabic word-medial Portuguese sC clusters and that individual differences may play an important role. More research is needed, with a focus on instruction and with more informants, to confirm or dismiss these conclusions.

Pre-stopping in Arabana

Pre-stopping is a widespread and usually non-contrastive phenomenon in Australian languages. Contrastive pre-stopping is rare and materials on it are limited. Based partly on original phonetic data, this paper provides evidence that Arabana, a language of northern South Australia, has contrastive pre-stopping of both laterals and nasals. Current analyses of pre-stopping, both contrastive and non-contrastive, model pre-stopped sequences as complex segments, and relate their diachrony to perceptual motivations favouring the enhancement in the discrimination of place oppositions. We provide evidence that pre-stopped sequences in Arabana are best analyzed as heterosyllabic clusters, and that their diachrony centrally involves perceptual motivations favouring the augmentation of phonologically strong constituents, specifically stressed syllables.

An ultrasound study of contextual and syllabic effects in consonant sequences produced under heavy articulatory constraint conditions

The present ultrasound study investigates lingual coarticulatory resistance and differences in tongue configuration and contextual variability for consonants in syllable onset vs coda position in Catalan /iC#Ci/ sequences. In agreement with comparable ultrasound data for /aC#Ca/ sequences reported in an earlier study, coarticulatory resistance turned out to be less for /r/ (which is realized as a trill in onset position and exhibits a more tap-like realization in coda position), /l/ (which is not strongly dark), /s/ and the alveolopalatal /ɲ/ than for /p, t, n, k/. As expected, contextual variability was less for /iC#Ci/ than for /aC#Ca/ sequences due to the highly demanding requirements put on the tongue body by the high front vowel. Regarding the syllable-position-dependent differences, consonants were often longer but not less variable articulatorily in syllable initial than syllable final position. Syllable-position differences in lingual configuration could be ascribed to either a trend for consonants to be more prominent in onset vs coda position or to prominent coarticulatory effects from flanking /i/ rather than from the contextual consonant in the cluster. The conclusion is drawn that the reason why consonants may sound more reduced in coda vs onset position in heterosyllabic clusters is due less to their actual lingual configuration than to their being manifestly shorter and to specific production characteristics which depend not only on the upper articulators but on the jaw cycle as well.

Galician geada: In defense of underspecification in Optimality Theory

In Galician geada a voiced velar fricative or approximant surfaces as a voiceless fricative in all contexts except post-nasally, e.g., pega [péxa] ⿿magpie⿿ (non-geada dialects [péɣa]) vs. longo [lóſgo] ⿿long⿿. Although geada seems to be a rather basic phonological problem, existing analyses are complex. This paper shows that the analysis becomes quite straightforward once the connection of geada with voiced obstruent alternations is recognized. The proposed account obviates the need to resort to controversial mechanisms such as constraint conjunction and sheds light into the allophonic realizations of voiced obstruents. One crucial aspect of voiced obstruent allophones in Galician is their predictability and their underspecification for continuancy. Underspecification is argued to be compatible with Optimality Theory, as long as the underspecified input is not stipulated, but derived from the constraints and constraint ranking. In Galician the phonological system reveals the need for a three-way contrast in obstruents: [⿿continuant], [+continuant] and underspecified [continuant]. The findings about voiced obstruents have consequences for NC heterosyllabic clusters, showing that there is no voicing requirement at stake, rather a continuancy one, according to which voiced obstruents must be [⿿continuant] after nasals. Only voiced obstruents agree in continuancy with nasals, because only voiced obstruents are underspecified for continuancy. Constraint reranking accounts for dialectal variation.

Complexity in phonology: The complex consonants of simple CV-syllables in Zezuru

The main objective of this article is to investigate the interplay of simplicity and complexity in the phonological structure of Zezuru. The article argues that Zezuru affricates, prenasalised consonants (NCs) and velarised consonants (Cws) are subsegmentally complex segments which function as simple onsets. Treating them as heterosyllabic clusters suggests that they are complex onsets (CC) which presents challenges for the simple CV-syllable structure of the language. In order for these consonants to fit into the CV syllable template, they have to be analysed as complex consonants that occupy a single C-slot (simple onsets). The study considers phonological, morphological and distributional evidence and concludes that these consonants are best analysed as monosegments (one-root analysis) rather than heterosyllabic clusters. The argument that NCs are simple onsets is further supported by native speaker intuitions about syllabification. Complexity in phonology is thus not necessarily an overall tendency of the language but is defined per hierarchical level of phonological structure and in the case of Zezuru the syllable structure is simple, but the subsegmental representations are highly complex. This suggests that there is a trade-off between complexity at the subsegmental level and simplicity at the syllable level. The article scrutinises this interplay of simplicity and complexity in the complex consonants of Zezuru. Perhaps, the occurrence of highly complex consonants in Southern Bantu languages such as Zezuru is a result of obeying the cross-linguistic tendency to have a simple syllable structure.

Reavaliando o estatuto silábico das seqüências obstruinte+lateral em português europeu

Segundo as descrições fonológicas e as normas ortográficas do português, todas as sequências Obstruinte+Líquida constituiriam, nesta língua, sequências tautossilábicas (Ataques ramificados), sendo heterossilábicas todas as restantes sequências C1C2. Porém, aplicando às sequências Obstruinte+Lateral alguns dos critérios que levam à classificação à parte das sequências heterossilábicas - origem histórica e certas manifestações externas do conhecimento fonológico (CF) dos falantes -, verificamos que as sequências Obstruinte+Lateral se comportam frequentemente como as sequências heterossilábicas, sobretudo quando, no tocante às manifestações do CF, se olha a dados obtidos com sujeitos sem conhecimento ortográfico. Esta verificação leva-nos a caracterizar as sequências Obstruinte+Lateral do português europeu como genuinamente heterossilábicas e, paralelamente, a aceitar a interferência do conhecimento ortográfico sobre o conhecimento fonológico dos falantes.

Asymmetries in the Acquisition of Consonant Clusters in Spanish

AbstractThis article considers three children’s acquisition of tauto- and heterosyllabic consonant clusters in Spanish within the framework of Optimality Theory. Each child presents with a unique phonological system with respect to the cluster types. One child, BL4 (female, aged 2;8), reduces tautosyllabic clusters to the least sonorous singleton, but preserves both segments in production of heterosyllabic clusters. A second child, SD1 (female, aged 3;4), preserves both segments of tautosyllabic clusters, but reduces heterosyllabic clusters to the least sonorous singleton. Finally, a third child, SD2 (female, 3;9), reduces both types of clusters, maintaining the least sonorous segment; however, a different pattern is observed withthenasal + voiced stop clusters, which reduce to the most sonorous segment. The inter- and intra-child variation is accounted for by an appeal to general markedness and faithfulness constraints that have been motivated elsewhere in the literature in accounting for syllabic and segmental phenomena in acquisition and beyond.

Asymmetries in the Acquisition of Consonant Clusters in Spanish

This article considers three children's acquisition of tauto- and heterosyllabic consonant clusters in Spanish within the framework of Optimality Theory. Each child presents with a unique phonological system with respect to the cluster types. One child, BL4 (female, aged 2;8), reduces tautosyllabic clusters to the least sonorous singleton, but preserves both segments in production of heterosyllabic clusters. A second child, SD1 (female, aged 3;4), preserves both segments of tautosyllabic clusters, but reduces heterosyllabic clusters to the least sonorous singleton. Finally, a third child, SD2 (female, 3;9), reduces both types of clusters, maintaining the least sonorous segment; however, a different pattern is observed with the nasal + voiced stop clusters, which reduce to the most sonorous segment. The inter- and intra-child variation is accounted for by an appeal to general markedness and faithfulness constraints that have been motivated elsewhere in the literature in accounting for syllabic and segmental phenomena in acquisition and beyond.

NCs in Moghamo prenasalized onsets or heterosyllabic clusters

This paper is concerned with the analysis of nasal-plus-oral-stop sequences in Moghamo, a Grassfields Bantu language of Cameroon. Although Stallcup [1978] tentatively analyzed these sequences as heterosyllabic clusters, the evidence suggests that they are actually prenasalized syllable onsets. First, the distribution of NCs closely parallels that of unambiguous onsets: they occur both initially and medially in words of several grammatical categories. Instances of unambiguous heterosyllabic clusters, by contrast, are rare. Second, while the nasal portion of noun-initial NCs was historically a prefix, it appears to be part of the root synchronically. Third, the nasal portion of an Niger-Congo does not appear to be phonologically tone-bearing. Finally, the contention that NCs are on-sets is supported by native speaker intuitions.

Introduction

In Galician geada a voiced velar fricative or approximant surfaces as a voiceless fricative in all contexts except post-nasally, e.g., pega [péxa] ⿿magpie⿿ (non-geada dialects [péɣa]) vs. longo [lóſgo] ⿿long⿿. Although geada seems to be a rather basic phonological problem, existing analyses are complex. This paper shows that the analysis becomes quite straightforward once the connection of geada with voiced obstruent alternations is recognized. The proposed account obviates the need to resort to controversial mechanisms such as constraint conjunction and sheds light into the allophonic realizations of voiced obstruents. One crucial aspect of voiced obstruent allophones in Galician is their predictability and their underspecification for continuancy. Underspecification is argued to be compatible with Optimality Theory, as long as the underspecified input is not stipulated, but derived from the constraints and constraint ranking. In Galician the phonological system reveals the need for a three-way contrast in obstruents: [⿿continuant], [+continuant] and underspecified [continuant]. The findings about voiced obstruents have consequences for NC heterosyllabic clusters, showing that there is no voicing requirement at stake, rather a continuancy one, according to which voiced obstruents must be [⿿continuant] after nasals. Only voiced obstruents agree in continuancy with nasals, because only voiced obstruents are underspecified for continuancy. Constraint reranking accounts for dialectal variation.