On the nature of metrical phonology of Iraqi Arabic: A non-linear approach

The paper is an in-depth study of how the principles and rules of the metrical theory of phonology have found their way to apply to Iraqi Arabic words and expressions. Iraqi lexical items have amassed evidence illustrating that both foot and stress are the hub of phonological designs of parametric prominence entailed in mapping and building up word syllables. Nevertheless, this is not a free-for-all which is far beyond restrictions or exceptions. Some constraints are not imposed to deviate from the metrical norms of Iraqi words nor some exceptions are made to distort their lexical frames, but rather they are adopted to emphasize that any theory's premises are generally the same but its applicable ends are definitely different in so far as the language or the dialect in question is concerned. The paper also digs deep certain metrical phenomena taking place in Iraqi word stress patterns like the extra metrical behavior of some word syllables and segments, and cyclic and non-cyclic parameters of some morphological operations of words.

Word Stress system of the Saraiki language

This study presents an Optimality-Theoretic analysis of Saraiki word stress. This study presents a first exploration of word stress in the framework of OT. Words in Saraiki are mostly short; secondary stress plays no role here. Saraiki stress is quantity-sensitive, so a distinction must be made between short and long vowels, and light and heavy syllables. A metrical foot can consist of one heavy syllable, two light syllables, or one light and one heavy syllable. The Foot structure starts from right to left in prosodic words. The foot is trochaic and the last consonant in Saraiki words is extra metrical. These generalizations are best captured by using metrical phonology first and Optimality constraints later on.

Suprasegmental Features of Indonesian Students’ English Pronunciation and the Pedagogical Implication

This minor study aims at describing learners’ features of pronunciation in terms of their suprasegmental aspects found in their speech. Students were asked to read aloud a text entitled The Gorilla Joke from the © BBC British Council 2006. Students oral narrations were then analysed in terms of their intonation pattern and stress assignment in sentence level. A metrical analysis was also used to show how students produced their speech rhythm. The result of the analysis shows that given the same text to read students may produce various combination of intonation patterns. Students also misplaced stress within the syllables or assigned no stress at all. Based on the metrical phonology analysis, learners did not assign foot timely based on the timing units in connected speeches. The speech production is more like a broken speech. Students also neglected the morphophonemics rules in which they did not produce the appropriate allomorphs [t], [d], and [id] in the past participle words. These features bring about some pedagogical implication. Keywords: student’ pronunciation features, suprasegmental aspects

Level ordering and opacity in Tetsǫ́t’ıné: a Stratal OT account

Dene (Athabaskan) verbs are widely known for their complex morphophonology. The most complex patterns are associated with two conjugation markers, /s/ and /n/, which are associated with a floating H tone to their immediate left. In this paper, we provide an analysis of /θe/ and /ɲe/, the reflexes of the /s/ and /n/ conjugations in Tetsǫ́t’ıné. Whereas previous accounts of these conjugations have relied heavily on morphological conditioning, we show that, once level ordering, autosegmental phonology and metrical phonology are brought to bear on the problem, morphological conditioning is not required. Within the framework of Stratal OT, we propose the Domain Reference Hypothesis, by which phonological constraints may only refer to morphological domains and their edges. In addition, we show that in Tetsǫ́t’ıné there is a correlation between phonological opacity and morphological structure, as predicted by the Stratal OT model.

On the intonational features of yes/no interrogatives in English and Montenegrin

This paper outlines the results of an analysis of syntactically marked yes/no interrogatives in American English and Montenegrin from the persepctive of intonation. The analysis, based on the theoretical framework of Autosegmental-Metrical Phonology and the use of the computer software package Praat, treats issues regarding the different types of pitch contours and boundary tones at the end of yes/no interrogatives, gathered from various American and Montenegrin TV talk shows. Particularly, it focuses on specific intonational constituents, which indicate and clarify the alternative meanings of these questions. Having in mind the very nature of TV talk shows, which are seen as a part of a semi-institutionalized discourse, we start from the assumption that one type of intonation contour will be the prevailing one in yes/no interrogatives in both languages. Furthermore, all melodic deviations within these structures will influence and modify their basic meaning. The findings partially confirm our hypothesis, indicating a difference in the terminal contour between the two languages.

More learnable than thou? Testing metrical phonology representations with childdirected speech

Not available.