Prosodic structure between the prosodic word and the phonological phrase: Recursive nodes or an independent domain?

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.

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Emergência de sândi consonântico em Português Europeu: uma abordagem prosódica

Revista da Associação Portuguesa de Linguística ◽

10.26334/2183-9077/rapln3ano2017a11 ◽

2017 ◽

pp. 177-190

Author(s):

Alexandra Malho ◽

Susana Correia ◽

Sónia Frota

Keyword(s):

Prosodic Structure ◽

Prosodic Word ◽

European Portuguese ◽

Word Position ◽

Fricative Voicing ◽

Phonological Phrase ◽

The Relationship

In European Portuguese, the domain for sandhi phenomena is the intonational phrase. Unlike the intonational phrase, the phonological phrase has been shown to be only relevant for rhythm and prominence-related phenomena (Frota, 2000, 2014). Fricative voicing between words (casa[ʒb]rancas, casa[ʃp]retas) and ressylabification before vowel-initial words (casa[zɐ]marelas) occur within the intonational phrase. In this study, we considered spontaneous productions of a Portuguese child (Luma), aged 2;04-4;00, to examine the acquisition of external consonantal sandhi. The data show that sandhi production varies according to the segmental (C#C, C#V, CFric, CVib, CLat) and prosodic context (clitic, prosodic word, position in prosodic structure). The data further confirm that sandhi occurs within the intonational phrase, supporting the analysis proposed for the adult grammar. This study contributes to the understanding of the relationship between the acquisition of the prosodic structure and the acquisition of sandhi phenomena.

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The prosodic word is not universal, but emergent

Journal of Linguistics ◽

10.1017/s0022226710000216 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 46 (3) ◽

pp. 657-709 ◽

Cited By ~ 35

Author(s):

RENÉ SCHIERING ◽

BALTHASAR BICKEL ◽

KRISTINE A. HILDEBRANDT

Keyword(s):

Prosodic Structure ◽

Phonological Processes ◽

Prosodic Word ◽

Phonological Rule ◽

Actual Degree ◽

Construction Type ◽

Sound Patterns ◽

Phonological Phrase ◽

Frequent Reference ◽

Phonological Rules

In Prosodic Phonology, domains for the application of phonological patterns are commonly modeled as a Prosodic Hierarchy. The theory predicts, among other things, that (i) prosodic domains cluster on a single universal set of domains (‘Clustering’), and (ii) no level of prosodic structure is skipped in the building of prosodic structure unless this is required by independently motivated higher ranking principles or constraints (‘Strict Succession’). In this paper, we demonstrate that if, as is standardly done, evidence is limited to lexically general phonological processes, some languages systematically violate the Strict Succession Prediction, evidencing no prosodic word domain, and some languages systematically violate the Clustering Prediction, evidencing more than one domain between the phonological phrase and the foot. We substantiate these claims by in-depth studies of phonological rule domains in Vietnamese (Austroasiatic) and Limbu (Sino-Tibetan). As an alternative to the Prosodic Hierarchy framework, we advocate a heuristic for cross-linguistic comparison in which prosodic domains are conceived of as language-particular, intrinsic and highly specific properties of individual phonological rules or constraints. This allows us to explore empirically the actual degree of variation to be encountered across prosodic systems. It turns out that the ‘word’ has no privileged or universal status in phonology, but only emerges through frequent reference of sound patterns to a given construction type in a given language.

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The Medium and the Message

Sign Language & Linguistics ◽

10.1075/sll.2.2.04san ◽

1999 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 187-215 ◽

Cited By ~ 34

Author(s):

Wendy Sandler

Keyword(s):

Facial Expression ◽

Sign Language ◽

Spoken Language ◽

Sign Languages ◽

Prosodic Word ◽

Special Stress ◽

New Perspective ◽

New Evidence ◽

Phonological Phrase ◽

The Relationship

In natural communication, the medium through which language is transmitted plays an important and systematic role. Sentences are broken up rhythmically into chunks; certain elements receive special stress; and, in spoken language, intonational tunes are superimposed onto these chunks in particular ways — all resulting in an intricate system of prosody. Investigations of prosody in Israeli Sign Language demonstrate that sign languages have comparable prosodic systems to those of spoken languages, although the phonetic medium is completely different. Evidence for the prosodic word and for the phonological phrase in ISL is examined here within the context of the relationship between the medium and the message. New evidence is offered to support the claim that facial expression in sign languages corresponds to intonation in spoken languages, and the term “superarticulation” is coined to describe this system in sign languages. Interesting formaldiffer ences between the intonationaltunes of spoken language and the “superarticulatory arrays” of sign language are shown to offer a new perspective on the relation between the phonetic basis of language, its phonological organization, and its communicative content.

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The Syntax and Prosody of Weak Pronouns in Chamorro

Linguistic Inquiry ◽

10.1162/002438903322520151 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 34 (4) ◽

pp. 547-599 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Sandra Chung

Keyword(s):

Syntactic Structure ◽

Linguistic Theory ◽

Mutual Interaction ◽

Prosodic Structure ◽

Austronesian Language ◽

Independent Components ◽

Prosodic Phrase ◽

Phonological Phrase

In the modular linguistic theory assumed by many generative linguists, phonology and syntax are interconnected but fundamentally independent components of grammar. The effects of syntax on phonology are mediated by prosodic structure, a representation of prosodic constituents calculated from syntactic structure but not isomorphic to it. Within this overall architecture, I investigate the placement of weak pronouns in the Austronesian language Chamorro. Certain Chamorro pronominals can be realized as prosodically deficient weak pronouns that typically occur right after the predicate. I showthat these pronouns are second-position clitics whose placement is determined not syntactically, but prosodically: they occur after the leftmost phonological phrase of their intonational phrase. My analysis of these clitics assumes that lexical insertion is late and can affect and be affected by prosodic phrase formation-assumptions consistent with the view that the mutual interaction of phonology and syntax is confined to the postsyntactic operations that translate syntactic structure into prosodic structure.

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Phonological phrasing and ATR vowel harmony in Akan

Phonology ◽

10.1017/s0952675715000081 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 32 (1) ◽

pp. 177-204 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Frank Kügler

Keyword(s):

Syntactic Structure ◽

Vowel Harmony ◽

Prosodic Structure ◽

General Process ◽

Sensitive Analysis ◽

Serial Verb Constructions ◽

Internal Structures ◽

Verb Constructions ◽

Serial Verb ◽

Phonological Phrase

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 CrispEdge constraint.

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Prosodic vowel lengthening in a spontaneous speech corpus of Vimeu Picard

Lingua Posnaniensis ◽

10.1515/linpo-2015-0004 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 57 (1) ◽

pp. 77-88

Author(s):

Eric Halicki

Keyword(s):

Spontaneous Speech ◽

Vowel Duration ◽

Speech Corpus ◽

General Increase ◽

Romance Language ◽

Prosodic Word ◽

Prosodic Boundaries ◽

Rate Of Speech ◽

Vowel Lengthening ◽

Phonological Phrase

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.

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The relevance of prosodic structure in tonal articulation Edge effects at the prosodic word level in Catalan and Spanish

Journal of Phonetics ◽

10.1016/j.wocn.2010.10.004 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 38 (4) ◽

pp. 687-705 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Pilar Prieto ◽

Eva Estebas-Vilaplana ◽

Maria del Mar Vanrell

Keyword(s):

Edge Effects ◽

Prosodic Structure ◽

Prosodic Word ◽

Word Level

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O BLOQUEIO DO SÂNDI VOCÁLICO EM PB E EM PE: EVIDÊNCIAS DA FRASE FONOLÓGICA

Organon ◽

10.22456/2238-8915.31151 ◽

2004 ◽

Vol 18 (36) ◽

Author(s):

Luciani Tenani

Keyword(s):

Prosodic Structure ◽

Phonological Process ◽

European Portuguese ◽

Level Ii ◽

Speech Data ◽

Vowel Deletion ◽

Phonological Phrase

In this paper, the contexts that block vowel merger and vowel deletion in BrazilianPortuguese and European Portuguese are analysed. It aims at identifying differences and similaritiesbetween BP and EP, which may be related to their rhythmic and prosodic organization. Therefore,speech data were collected for BP following the methodology employed by the research done byFrota (1998) for EP. Comparing BP and EP, we found that in both of them there are (i) rhythmicrestrictions that block ill-formed rhythmic configuration at phrase phonological level; (ii) a directionalhead-effect which is related to the restriction that preserves the prominence of rightmost stress withinthe phonological phrase; (iii) active restrictions that depend on the type of phonological process andof prosodic structure in which sandhi contexts are found. What makes BP differ from EP is the factthat vowel merger and vowel deletion are blocked depending on V1/V2 distinction and prosodicprominence.

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Spelling out enclitics and giving their tone a voice: Cyclic clitic incorporation in BCS and breaking the cycle

The Linguistic Review ◽

10.1515/tlr-2017-0026 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 0 (0) ◽

Author(s):

Aida Talić

Keyword(s):

Syntactic Structure ◽

Complex Pattern ◽

Prosodic Structure ◽

Prosodic Word ◽

Structure Building

Abstract This paper examines previously unnoticed facts about prosodic interactions between enclitics and their hosts in Bosnian/Croatian/Serbian (BCS). I show that there is a three-way split between BCS enclitics in this respect: (i) enclitics that always interact with the accent of their host; (ii) enclitics that interact with the accent of their host in some contexts, but not in others; (iii) and enclitics that never interact with the accent of their host. It is shown that this rather complex pattern can be accounted for in its entirety by a condition on prosodic incorporation of enclitics that holds at the point when syntactic structure is mapped to prosodic structure, which essentially requires the clitic and the host to be in the same spell-out domain in order for the clitic to incorporate into the prosodic word of its host, a prerequisite for the clitic to interact with the accent of its host. I also discuss certain idiosyncratic phonological properties of the auxiliary clitic je ‘be.3sg’ and the particle se ‘self’ that cause reordering of enclitics in PF. It is shown that this PF movement can have an effect on whether a clitic is spelled out in the same domain as its host, which in turn affects the prosodic interaction between the two. Based on the prosodic interaction of enclitics with the accent of their host, I argue for a phase-based approach to prosodic structure building (see also Dobashi 2003; Kahnemuyipour 2004, 2009;Kratzer and Selkirk 2007; Sato 2012; Sato and Dobashi 2016; among others).

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