Phonology From The Ground Up - University of North Dakota
Phonology From The Ground Up - University of North Dakota
Phonology From The Ground Up - University of North Dakota
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F. Word edges and extrametricality<br />
When the syllable is not enough<br />
F.1.! ! If!the!syllable!were!adequate!to!describe!all!possible!words!(as!<br />
combinations!<strong>of</strong>!syllables),!then!all!words!should!be!parsable!by!the!<br />
maximal!syllable!template!<strong>of</strong>!the!language.!But!in!fact,!this!is!not!true!for!a!<br />
large!number!<strong>of</strong>!languages!in!some!very!specific!situations.!<strong>The</strong>se!<br />
complications!do!not!negate!the!importance!<strong>of</strong>!the!syllable!template,!but!<br />
they!show!that!the!theory!must!be!supplemented!by!something!else.!This!<br />
unit!presents!two!ways!in!which!syllables(at(word(edges!are!<strong>of</strong>ten!special.!<br />
<strong>The</strong> special nature <strong>of</strong> word-initial position<br />
Draft!8/3/11!(not!for!citation);!©!Stephen!A.!Marlett;!provisional!title:!<strong>Phonology</strong>(from(the(<strong>Ground</strong>(<strong>Up</strong>((Part(1).!<br />
! 42!<br />
F.2.! ! Word\initial!syllables!are!<strong>of</strong>ten!different!from!other!syllables.!It!is!<br />
extremely!common!―!but!not!universal,!despite!earlier!claims 60 !―!for!the!<br />
first!syllable!<strong>of</strong>!a!word!in!a!language!to!have!a!special!status!in!that!it!<br />
(unlike!a!syllable!in!any!other!position)!may!occur!without!a!consonant!in!<br />
the!onset.!We!should!not!be!surprised!at!all!to!discover!that!the!only!<br />
syllables!in!a!language!with!no!onset!are!only!found!in!word\initial!position.!!<br />
F.3.! ! That!is,!even!in!a!language!that!has!the!Obligatory!Onset!Parameter!set!<br />
“on”,!one!might!find!words!such!/abi/,!/onani/,!and!/amonehe/.!<br />
F.4.! ! This!situation!is!so!common!that!it!has!been!proposed!that!it!is!<br />
universally!true,!although!there!is!now!evidence!that!this!is!not!the!case. 61 !<br />
<strong>The</strong>refore,!in!the!spirit!<strong>of</strong>!the!parameters!approach!taken!above,!one!might!<br />
propose!another!parameter!relating!to!word\initial!position:!the!Word\<br />
initial!Onset!Exception!Parameter.!This!parameter!is!apparently!typically!<br />
“on”.!That!is,!even!in!languages!with!obligatory!syllable!onsets,!word\initial!<br />
onsetless!syllables!are!usually!possible.!<br />
F.5.! ! <strong>The</strong>!importance!<strong>of</strong>!this!point!almost!cannot!be!overstated!since!many!<br />
descriptions!<strong>of</strong>!languages!in!the!past!failed!to!notice!that!onsetless!syllables!<br />
were!found!only!in!word\initial!position!and!therefore!made!incorrect!<br />
claims!about!the!syllable!structure!<strong>of</strong>!the!language!in!question.!<br />
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br />
60!Itô!(1986),!for!example.!<br />
61!Two!languages!are!Yine!(Urquía!Sebastián!and!Marlett!2008)!and!San!Francisco!Ozlolotepec!<br />
Zapotec!(Leander!2008).!
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