Syllabic Consonants and Phonotactics Syllabic Consonants

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Syllabic consonants and phonotactics Syllabic consonants Consonants that stand as the peak of the syllable, and perform the functions of vowels, are called syllabic consonants. For example, in words like sudden and saddle, the consonant [d] is followed by either the consonant [n] or [l] without a vowel intervening. The [n] of sadden and the [l] of saddle constitute the centre of the second, unstressed, syllable and are considered to be syllabic peaks. They typically occur in an unstressed syllable immediately following the alveolar consonants, [t, s, z] as well as [d]. Examples of syllabic consonants Cattle [kæțɬ] wrestle [resɬ] Couple [kʌpɬ] knuckle [nʌkɬ] Panel[pæņɬ] petal [petɬ] Parcel [pa:șɬ] pedal [pedɬ] It is not unusual to find two syllabic consonants together. Examples are: national [næʃņɬ] literal [litrɬ] visionary [viʒņri] veteran [vetrņ] Phonotactics Phonotactic constraints determine what sounds can be put together to form the different parts of a syllable in a language. Examples: English onsets /kl/ is okay: “clean” “clamp” /pl/ is okay: “play” “plaque” */tl/ is not okay: *tlay *tlamp. We don’t often have words that begin with /tl/, /dm/, /rk/, etc. in English. However, these combinations can occur in the middle or final positions. So, what is phonotactics? Phonotactics is part of the phonology of a language. Phonotactics restricts the possible sound sequences and syllable structures in a language. Phonotactic constraint refers to any specific restriction To understand phonotactics, one must first understand syllable structure. Permissible language structures Languages differ in permissible syllable structures. Below are some simplified examples. Hawaiian: V, CV Japanese: V, CV, CVC Korean: V, CV, CVC, VCC, CVCC English: V CV CCV CCCV VC CVC CCVC CCCVC VCC CVCC CCVCC CCCVCC VCCC CVCCC CCVCCC CCCVCCC English consonant clusters sequences English allows CC and CCC clusters in onsets and codas, but they are highly restricted. English Onset Clusters (simplified) CC stop, fricative + liquid, glide [s] + voiceless stop, nasal CCC [s] + voiceless stop + liquid, glide Resolving constraint violations In codas, nasals may precede voiceless plosives, but only if they share the same place of articulation. jump [ʤʌmp], stunt [stʌnt], stink [stIɳk] Prohibited sounds sequences may arise for various reasons, including: borrowing from another language, e.g. tsunami [sunami] or [tsunami], from Japanese [tsuinami] Putting affixes, words together sequentially cost + s→*sts next store→*stst Resolving identical constraints Consider the constraint *sts from some dialects of English. Dialect A: resolve via deletion ghosts /gəʋst/→[gəʋss] Dialect B: resolve via insertion ghosts /gəʋst/→[gəʋstəz] or [gəʋstəsəz] Constraints have different scopes in different dialects. e.g. a constraint may apply within a word only, across word boundaries, or both..

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CONSONANT CLUSTER PHONOTACTICS: a PERCEPTUAL APPROACH by MARIE-HÉLÈNE CÔTÉ B.Sc. Sciences Économiques, Université De Montr
CONSONANT CLUSTER PHONOTACTICS: A PERCEPTUAL APPROACH by MARIE-HÉLÈNE CÔTÉ B.Sc. Sciences économiques, Université de Montréal (1987) Diplôme Relations Internationales, Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris (1990) D.E.A. Démographie économique, Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris (1991) M.A. Linguistique, Université de Montréal (1995) Submitted to the department of Linguistics and Philosophy in partial fulfillment of the requirement for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY À ma mère et à mon bébé, at the qui nous ont quittés À Marielle et Émile, MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY qui nous sont arrivés À Jean-Pierre, qui est toujours là September 2000 © 2000 Marie-Hélène Côté. All rights reserved. The author hereby grants to M.I.T. the permission to reproduce and to distribute publicly paper and electronic copies of this thesis document in whole or in part. Signature of author_________________________________________________ Department of Linguistics and Philosophy August 25, 2000 Certified by_______________________________________________________ Professor Michael Kenstowicz Thesis supervisor Accepted by______________________________________________________ Alec Marantz Chairman, Department of Linguistics and Philosophy CONSONANT CLUSTER PHONOTACTICS: A PERCEPTUAL APPROACH NOTES ON THE PRESENT VERSION by The present version, finished in July 2001, differs slightly from the official one, deposited in September 2000. The acknowledgments were finally added. The MARIE-HÉLÈNE CÔTÉ formatting was changed and the presentation generally improved. Several typos were corrected, and the references were updated, when papers originally cited as manuscripts were subsequently published. A couple of references were also added, as Submitted to the Department of Linguistics and Philosophy well as short conclusions to chapters 3, 4, and 5, which for the most part summarize on September 5, 2000, in partial fulfillment of the requirements the chapter in question.
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In: Dieter Kastovsky and Aleksander Szwedek (eds) Linguistics across historical and geographical boundaries. In honour of Jacek Fisiak on the occasion of his fiftieth birthday. Berlin: Mouton-de Gruyter, 1986, 359-66. On syncope in Old English Raymond Hickey University of Bonn Abstract. Syncope in Old English is seen to be a rule which is determined by syllable structure but furthermore to be governed by a set of restricting conditions which refer to the world-class status of the forms which may act as input to the syncope rule, and also to the inflectional or derivational nature of the suffix which are added also to the precise phonological structure of those forms which undergo syncope. A phonological rule in a language which does not operate globally is always of particular interest as the conditions which restrict its application can frequently be recognized and formulized, at the same time throwing light on the nature of conditions which can in principle apply in a language’s phonology. In Old English a syncope rule existed which clearly related to the syllable structure of the forms it did not operate on but which was also subject to a set of restricting conditions which lie outside the domain of the syllable. The examination of this syncope rule and the conditions pertaining to it is the subject of this contribution. It is first of all necessary to distinguish syncope from another phonological process with which it might be confused. This is epenthesis, which appears to have been quite widespread in late West Saxon, as can be seen in the following forms.
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