Syllable Theory in Prosodic Phonology

Purpose This study aimed to examine whether abstract knowledge of word-level linguistic prosody is independent of or integrated with phonetic knowledge. Method Event-related potential (ERP) responses were measured from 18 adult listeners while they listened to native and nonnative word-level prosody in speech and in nonspeech. The prosodic phonology (speech) conditions included disyllabic pseudowords spoken in Chinese and in English matched for syllabic structure, duration, and intensity. The prosodic acoustic (nonspeech) conditions were hummed versions of the speech stimuli, which eliminated the phonetic content while preserving the acoustic prosodic features. Results We observed language-specific effects on the ERP that native stimuli elicited larger late negative response (LNR) amplitude than nonnative stimuli in the prosodic phonology conditions. However, no such effect was observed in the phoneme-free prosodic acoustic control conditions. Conclusions The results support the integration view that word-level linguistic prosody likely relies on the phonetic content where the acoustic cues embedded in. It remains to be examined whether the LNR may serve as a neural signature for language-specific processing of prosodic phonology beyond auditory processing of the critical acoustic cues at the suprasyllabic level.

Download Full-text

The Prosodization of Weak Function Words in Kurdish Language (Leilakhi Dialect)

International Journal of Linguistics ◽

10.5296/ijl.v7i4.8065 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. 42

Author(s):

Sadegh Mohammadi Bolban Abad ◽

Batool Alinezhad ◽

Vali Rezai

Keyword(s):

Noun Phrase ◽

Theoretical Framework ◽

Personal Pronoun ◽

Prosodic Structure ◽

Personal Pronouns ◽

Function Words ◽

Phonological Process ◽

Stress Assignment ◽

Prosodic Phonology

<p>This paper investigates the prosodic structure of simple prepositions and dependent personal pronouns as weak function words in Leilakhi Dialect with the theoretical framework of Prosodic Phonology or Phonology of Domains. Weak function words (fnc) of this dialect are proclitics or enclitics that form Clitic Group (CG) with their host. One such feature of these elements is their combinatorial restriction with their host, <em>i.e. </em>simple prepositions as prosodic proclitics must precede a noun phrase or independent personal pronoun and absolute prepositions as phonological words join the dependent personal pronouns in the role of enclitics which give form to the clitic group. The phonetic process and phonological process used in this research are aspiration and stress assignment pattern respectively. </p>

Download Full-text

Ternary Constituents Are a Consequence of Mora Sluicing

Proceedings of the Annual Meetings on Phonology ◽

10.3765/amp.v1i1.26 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Ben Hermans ◽

Francesc Torres-Tamarit

Keyword(s):

Explanatory Power ◽

Stress Plane ◽

One To One ◽

Syllable Theory

While ternary rhythm exists, ternary feet do not, not even indirectly by means of recursion. We propose that ternary rhythm arises from mora sluicing, the phenomenon whereby moras can be excluded from the stress plane to satisfy an instance of NO-CLASH in a model that conceives metrical prominences as headed constituents. We demonstrate that the notion of mora sluicing has high explanatory power: it is necessary on independent grounds to explain otherwise unrelated phenomena such as uneven trochee-creating processes in Mohawk and Central Slovak, and opaque stress-epenthesis interactions in Mohawk. One fundamental move derived from the metrical model sketched in this paper is the relation between what we call line1 constituents (phonological syllables) and phonetic syllables (namely CV or CVC sequences), which is not one-to-one anymore, as it is in standard syllable theory.

Download Full-text