Phonological Phrase Research Articles

Prosody and object clitic placement: A comparison of Old and Modern Spanish

It has often been claimed that the Tobler–Mussafia Law, i.e. the ban on sentence-initial clitic pronouns, is based on prosodic properties such as the ban on unstressed monosyllabic words at the sentence beginning (Mussafia, 1886) or the inherent enclitic nature of the respective pronouns (Meyer-Lübke, 1897). More recent research has identified a number of extra-phonological motivations for this clitic placement, making a prosodic explanation seem superfluous. The present study addresses the question whether Old Spanish, a clear Tobler–Mussafia language, differs in its prosodic patterns from Modern Spanish, which does not show the Tobler–Mussafia placement any longer. The comparison of the data shows that Old Spanish tolerates more sentence-initial unstressed monosyllables and unstressed pretonic syllables at the sentence beginning than Modern Spanish does, contrary to expectations. Together with the observation that the direction of clitic attachment is rather due to the prosodic context (i.e. the immediate preceding or following prosodic words and potential Phonological Phrase boundaries) than to a fixed directionality parameter, this falsifies the hypothesis that the clitic placement pattern in the TML language Old Spanish is due to specific prosodic patterns.

Phasal Syntax = Cyclic Phonology?

AbstractThis paper addresses three central questions in the phonology–syntax interface: What does phonology know about syntax? Does phrasal phonology “know” about syntax directly or indirectly (i.e., mediated by prosodic constituents such as Intonation Phrase)? When does the phonology–syntax interaction take place? Most current phase‐based theories of the interface assume a strict cyclic model of derivation, in which the output of each spell‐out domain directly feeds the phonology. We argue instead for an indirect model in which phonology is mainly conditioned by phase edges and accesses syntax only when the syntactic derivation is complete. We motivate the model mainly with data from Bantu languages that have played a leading role in the development of current theories of the phonology–syntax interface.

The Foot is not an obligatory constituent of the Prosodic Hierarchy: “stress” in Turkish, French and child English

AbstractThis paper proposes that the presence/absence of the Foot is parametric; that is, contra much previous research (see e. g. Selkirk, Elisabeth (1995). Sentence prosody: intonation, stress and phrasing. In J. Goldsmith (ed.)The handbook of phonological theory. Cambridge, MA: Blackwell. 550–569., Vogel, Irene (2009). Universals of prosodic structure. In S. Scalise, E. Magni, & A. Bisetto (eds.)Universals of language today. Dordrecht: Springer. 59–82.), it is argued here that the Foot is not a universal constituent of the Prosodic Hierarchy; rather, some languages, such as Turkish and French, as well as early child languages, are footless. Several types of evidence are presented in support of this proposal, from both Turkish and French, as well as child English. A comparison of regular (word-final) and exceptional stress in Turkish reveals, for example, that regular “stress” is intonational prominence falling on the last syllable of prosodic words in the absence of foot structure. Both acoustic and formal evidence are presented in support of this proposal, as well as evidence from syntax-prosody interface. The paper also presents evidence for the footless status of French, which, unlike Turkish, is proposed to be completely footless. Several arguments are presented in support of this position, such as the fact that, in French, the domain of obligatory prominence is the Phonological Phrase (PPh), not the Prosodic Word (PWd); in a PPh consisting of several PWds, therefore, nonfinal PWds can surface without any kind of stress or prominence, suggesting that, at least for non-final PWds, one cannot assume stress or foot structure. Finally, the proposal is extended to additional languages, such as those demonstrating Default-to-Opposite Edge stress.

Aproximación preliminar al sintagma fonológico en español

Although the prosodic hierarchy has been well established in phonological theory for decades, little empirical work on its higher constituents has been done on Spanish. This study examines two well-known phonological processes in Spanish (spirantization of voiced plosives and fricative sibilant voicing in coda position) as possible parameters in the delimitation of phonological phrases. The data analyzed have been gathered from two native Spanish speakers from the Central Peninsular variety of Spanish, who read 334 stimuli created for that purpose. The results suggest that there is a phonological phrase boundary between the subject and the verb, especially in long subjects. Other syntactic structures seem to be mapped as prosodic constituents of lower or higher levels (prosodic words and intonational phrases, respectively).

The Minimal Phonological Phrase: Evidence from Māori

This paper draws on the rich discussion surrounding the structural notion of the phrase in Māori, and extends that discussion by arguing that there is evidence for a minimal Phonological Phrase in the language. While minimality effects in phonology have been demonstrated for many languages, they are often manifested as a lower limit on the possible Prosodic Word—typically either a disyllabic or a bimoraic structure. This paper presents evidence from Māori that minimality effects involve structures in the prosodic hierarchy that are larger than the Prosodic Word. The analysis of the minimal Phonological Phrase relies on a condition that forces prosodic categories to branch. In most contexts where this condition is in danger of being violated, there is augmentation by an initial phrase particle; however, in contexts where singular personal pronouns are in subject position, these are phonologically incorporated into the preceding phrase.

The role of phrasal phonology in speech perception: What perceptual epenthesis shows us

Recent research using the phenomenon of illusory vowels has raised our awareness of the extent to which speech perception is modulated by the listener's native-language phonological knowledge. However, most of the focus has been limited to word-level phonological knowledge. In this article, we suggest that the perceptual system recruits segmental phonological knowledge that makes crucial reference to prosodic domains far beyond the word-level. We report the results from three identification experiments on Korean and American English participants. In accordance with their native-language phonotactic constraints at the level of the Intonational Phrase, Korean listeners unlike American English listeners hear more illusory vowels in stimuli containing the sequence of voiced stops followed by nasal consonants (e.g. [eɡma]) than those containing voiceless stops followed by nasal consonants (e.g. [ekma]). The results are interpreted as support for the view that speech perception makes crucial reference to the concept of reverse inference.

Prosodic vowel lengthening in a spontaneous speech corpus of Vimeu Picard

Abstract The goal of this paper is to present findings about vowel lengthening at morpho-syntactically defined prosodic boundaries. The data come from a corpus of spontaneous speech from Vimeu Picard, a Gallo- Romance language. A total of 10 672 vowel durations are measured, and 5336 vowel ratios are calculated, providing data for the prosodic word, clitic group, phonological phrase, intonational phrase, and the utterance. A general increase in vowel duration is observed as one ascends the prosodic hierarchy, without adjusting for rate of speech. Significant differences in vowel ratio are found between the clitic group and all other phrases, the prosodic word and the intonational phrase, the phonological phrase and the intonational phrase, and the intonational phrase and the utterance. Contrary to what was expected, vowel ratios at the utterance edge were found to be significantly shorter than vowel ratios at the intonational phrase edge. This may be because pauses are greater for the utterance than for the intonational phrase.

Phonological phrasing and ATR vowel harmony in Akan

This paper examines phonological phrasing in the Kwa language Akan. Regressive [+ATR] vowel harmony between words (RVH) serves as a hitherto unreported diagnostic of phonological phrasing. In this paper I discuss VP-internal and NP-internal structures, as well as SVO(O) and serial verb constructions. RVH is a general process in Akan grammar, although it is blocked in certain contexts. The analysis of phonological phrasing relies on universal syntax–phonology mapping constraints whereby lexically headed syntactic phrases are mapped onto phonological phrases. Blocking contexts call for a domain-sensitive analysis of RVH assuming recursive prosodic structure which makes reference to maximal and non-maximal phonological phrases. It is proposed (i) that phonological phrase structure is isomorphic to syntactic structure in Akan, and (ii) that the process of RVH is blocked at the edge of a maximal phonological phrase; this is formulated in terms of a domain-sensitive CrispEdgeconstraint.

Recursive phonological phrasing in Basque

This paper presents data that force a revised account of the distribution of downstep and pitch reset in Lekeitio Basque. In the light of these data, previous analyses of pitch reset in Lekeitio Basque make wrong predictions. On the one hand, pitch reset is predicted where downstep occurs, and on the other, an ordinary reset is predicted where a large reset occurs. The occurrence of downstep and pitch reset, as well as the amount of pitch reset observed, is best accounted for under the assumption that languages possess a hierarchical prosodic structure that roughly matches the surface syntactic structure of a sentence, including levels of embedding or nesting of syntactic constituents. The analysis proposed in this paper is that pitch reset in Lekeitio Basque applies at the left edge of a non-minimal phonological phrase, i.e. a phonological phrase that dominates at least another phonological phrase.

Phrasal phonology in Copperbelt Bemba

Copperbelt Bemba exhibits several rightward spreading tonal processes which are sensitive to prosodic phrase structure. The rightmost H tone in a word will undergo unbounded spreading if the word is final in a phonological phrase (φ). In an intonational phrase consisting of several single-word φ's, the rightmost H in the first word will spread through all following toneless φ's. From a rule-based perspective, this can only be accounted for by positing mutually feeding iterative rules, as a single H-tone spreading rule cannot account for the long-distance spreading. Rather, a second rule that spreads a H from the final mora of one word onto the initial mora of the following word is required, as a bridge to further unbounded spreading. Three phrase-sensitive OT constraints are proposed to account for H-tone spreading between words. One is of the domain-juncture variety, requiring the specification of two separate prosodic domains.

The syntax and prosody of apposition in Shingazidja

This paper investigates the syntax–prosody interface with respect to apposition in Shingazidja. We examine the syntactic properties of two types of apposition (restrictive and non-restrictive). While restrictive apposition appears to form a single constituent, the syntactic data for non-restrictives are ambiguous between a single constituent analysis and an analysis in which the appositive and its anchor are syntactically separate. Prosodic data confirm the single constituent analysis for restrictive apposition, and provide evidence that non-restrictive appositives are syntactically linked to their antecedent and prosodically embedded in their host clause. The phenomenon of final raising emerges as the principal indicator of intonational phrases in Shingazidja; tone shift signals phonological phrasing. Our analysis is formalised in Optimality Theory through a comparison of Align/Wrap theory and Match theory. A Match-theory account predicts the existence of recursive phonological phrasing, and we present evidence supporting this prediction.

A Linguistic Analysis of the Modern Greek Dekapentasyllavo Meter

Dekapentasyllavo (DPS), the dominant poetic meter in the Modern Greek poetic tradition since several centuries, has barely received any attention by modern linguistic theories. Basing our discussion on the analysis of several dimotiká tragoúdia (folk songs), we seek to understand the structure underlying the meter. Our investigation reveals which patterns are frequently attested, which are less frequent and those which are (virtually) inexistent. DPS verifies the oft-cited L-R asymmetry in verselines (cf. Ryan 2013), which renders L-edges looser than the stricter R-edges. It also tolerates stress lapses much more than stress clashes. Our ensuing account captures this distribution by referring to, primarily, the relation of phonological phrasing to counting of metrical positions and, secondarily, to rhythm. These components are then integrated within a formal analysis along the lines of the Bracketed Grid Theory (Fabb & Halle 2008). We conclude by outlining how DPS poses a challenge for theories of poetic meter and by contemplating its contribution to the field.

The interaction of prosody and syntax in Samoan focus marking

This paper presents the first study of prosodic and syntactic focus marking in Samoan, an Austronesian VSO language. It is shown that while Samoan appears to use syntax to mark focus, focus marking in Samoan actually fits well within the generalisation that focus must be maximally prosodically prominent. Seven native speakers were recorded answering questions about pictures depicting simple events. The questions were designed to elicit agent or object focus, and question-under-discussion (QUD) focus or contrastive focus. Results showed different speakers had different focus-marking strategies. Two consistently used a cleft construction to front the focused constituent. Two speakers fronted focused agents, but not objects. The final three used basic verb-agent-object ordering in all focus conditions. Prosody was analysed within the Autosegmental Metrical framework. The initial phonological phrase was always the most prominent. Therefore, when the focus was fronted, it was maximally prominent, making Samoan a language with prosodically motivated syntactic movement, like Spanish and Hungarian. In the verb-agent-object sentences, the verb and agent were in the initial phrase. Speakers raised the accent on the object in object focus, and lowered it in agent focus; although they did not do this consistently. There was no prosodic marking of focus on the agent. This is interestingly opposite the asymmetry between focus marking on the subject and object in English and Romance languages, with the same prosodic motivation.

Revisiting the Phonology and Morphosyntax of Chechen and Ingush Verb Doubling

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Liaison in Jordanian Arabic and Standard Arabic: Syntax-Prosody Interface

Liaison in Arabic applies to words that end with the feminine marker /t/ even in masculine nouns and adjectives when they happen to have the feminine ending. In this paper, we study liaison in Jordanian Arabic (JA) and Standard Arabic (SA) from the standpoint of syntax-prosody interface. We study the mapping of syntactic phrases onto phonological ones when this process takes place. We argue that liaison in JA is syntactically governed; it occurs only in construct state nominals (CSNs). We compare our finding in JA to those of Standard Arabic (SA). We also present evidence that JA marks right edges of phonological phrase in this phrase-level phonological process. We account for the differences between CSNs, where liaison applies, and other noun phrases where it does not. Finally, we discuss liaison with enchainement which occurs when the second word of the construct state begins with the definite article Ɂal.

On the Prosody of German Lyric Song

Proceeding from the premise that a nineteenth-century German lyric song is a reading of its text, the author develops new resources for describing acts of reading poetry and establishes the analytical relevance of the approach using examples drawn mainly from songs by Brahms. Part I provides an account of the rules that generate phonological words and phrases in German, the principles that determine the normal placement of stress in words and phrases, and motivations for the abnormal placement of stress. Part II looks at higher-level, facultative structures in prosodic phonology: intonation units, various rhythmic aspects of intonation (pulses, pauses, and lengthening), intonation sequences, and intonation contours. The study develops new methods of textual analysis specifically for use in forming and comparing interpretations of nineteenth-century German lyric song, but the approach also has clear implications for the study of other repertories.

The role of prosody in English sentence disambiguation

Only certain ambiguous sentences are perceptually disambiguable. Some researchers argue that this is due to syntactic structure (Lehiste 1973, Price 1991, Kang & Speer 2001), while others argue prosodic structure is responsible (Nespor & Vogel 1986 = N&V, Hirshberg & Avesani 2000). The present study further tests the role of prosodic constituents in sentence disambiguation in English. Target sentences were recorded in disambiguating contexts; twenty subjects listened to the recordings and chose one of two meanings. Following N&V’s experimental design with Italian, the meanings of each target structurally corresponded to different syntactic constituents and varied with respect to phonological phrases (ϕ) and intonational phrases (I). The results confirm N&V’s Italian findings: listeners are only able to disambiguate sentences with different prosodic constituent structures (p < 0.05); those differing in (I) but not (ϕ) have the highest success rate—86% (e.g., [When danger threatens your children]I [call the police]I vs. [When danger threatens]I [your children call the police]I ). As reported elsewhere (e.g., Lehiste 1973), we also observed a meaning bias in some cases (e.g., in “Julie ordered some large knife sharpeners,” listeners preferred “large [knife sharpeners]” but in “Jill owned some gold fish tanks,” they preferred “[goldfish] tanks”).

Constraints on syntax-prosody correspondence: The case of clausal and subclausal parentheticals in Turkish

This study investigates the syntax-prosody mapping of parentheticals. The results of a production experiment on Turkish demonstrate that the parentheticals bence ‘for me’ and yanılmıyorsam ‘if I am not wrong’ are parsed as identical to subclausal arguments, i.e. as phonological phrases when pre-nuclear and parts of phonological phrases when post-nuclear. These results are discussed with respect to a larger data set, in which the prosodic category types of phrasal and clausal parentheticals are compared. Taken together, the data show that parentheticals that are used to commit speech acts, regardless of whether they are clausal or not, are always parsed as intonational phrases, whereas, other parentheticals are parsed as phonological phrases. The paper concludes that illocutionary force projection is the only trigger for intonational phrase formation regardless of whether or not the input syntactic structure is parenthetical, clausal or subclausal.

Erros de base fonológica na escrita: codificação de surdas e sonoras, segmentação e juntura vocabular

Objetivo O estudo investigou características do processamento da informação fonológica, manifestadas na escrita sob ditado de sintagmas, capazes de indicar possíveis correlações e algum impacto preditor entre os erros ortográficos analisados (codificação de fonemas surdos e sonoros, segmentação indevida, juntura vocabular), segundo a rede de ensino. Métodos Foram selecionados 80 escolares, meninos e meninas, na faixa etária entre 6 e 11 anos, regularmente matriculados do 2º ao 5º ano do Ensino Fundamental, em escolas da rede pública estadual e particular, do município de São Paulo. Os participantes escreveram, sob ditado, 34 sintagmas nominais, formados por palavras de alta frequência. Resultados Os três tipos de erros correlacionaram-se segundo padrões diferentes, em cada rede de ensino. Na rede pública, os erros de codificação surda sonora e segmentações indevidas correlacionaram-se positivamente. Características de percepção direcionada ao pé métrico e à sílaba, podem ter influenciado o desempenho dos escolares. Na rede particular, a percepção da palavra fonológica, da frase fonológica e da frase entonacional pode ter influenciado as correlações entre os erros do tipo surdo sonoro e as junturas. Conclusão Os erros de codificação surdos sonoros, juntura vocabular e separação indevida diferenciaram-se nas redes de ensino, quanto ao desempenho em escrita. Apenas na rede particular os erros de codificação surdos sonoros puderam predizer os de juntura vocabular e segmentação indevida.

Syntactic and prosodic scrambling in Japanese

This paper presents evidence that Japanese has prosodic scrambling of phonological phrases (ϕ) in addition to the well-studied syntactic scrambling of XPs. All cases of scrambling in Japanese involve fronting constituents, be they syntactic XPs or phonological ϕs. If the syntax cannot move XPs, the phonology is forced to move their prosodic equivalents: these ϕs are fronted to the left edge of the intonational phrase (ɩ) that contains them and join to make a single recursive ϕ, the domain for tonal downstep (Ito and Mester 2012, 2013). Syntactic scrambling ‘bleeds’ prosodic scrambling, adding support for a uni-directional, feed-forward model of syntax-phonology interactions. Syntactic scrambling fronts XPs and obeys syntactic conditions on movement, and the scrambled XP exhibits interpretive effects in its surface position. Prosodic scrambling fronts ϕs and is blind to syntactic conditions on movement, and the scrambled ϕs are interpreted in situ, as expected.