Clash, Lapse and Directionality

Abstract

Typological (a)symmetriesThe typology of stress patterns that we find among the world's languages displays an astonishing symmetry, and much of the research in metrical theory over the last decades has concentrated on this property. There are languages where main stress is assigned close to the right edge of the prosodic word, others where it is assigned close to the left edge. There are quantity-sensitive languages, where heavy syllables systematically attract stress, and quantity-insensitive languages, where syllable weight does not influence stress placement at all. In metrical theory therefore it has been proposed that the typology of stress systems is to a large extent determined by a limited set of binary parameters (e.g. among others Hayes 1980, Prince 1983, Halle and Vergnaud 1987, Hayes 1995. An incomplete list includes the following parameters:(1) a. Foot-type: a language makes use of either left-headed (trochaic) or right-headed (iambic) feet. b. Directionality of parsing: feet are built either starting from the left or starting from the right edge of the prosodic word. c. Location of main stress: main stress is assigned either close to the left or close to the right edge of prosodic words. d. Quantity sensitivity: stress placement either is sensitive to syllable weight or it is not However, researchers have also often observed that the typology of stress patterns does contain certain empirically attested asymmetries that should be accounted for. To name but one well-known case, Hayes (1995: 73) observes that quantity-insensitive systems are typically trochaic and accounts for this fact by proposing a universal asymmetrical footinventory from which quantity-insensitive iambs are excluded.Furthermore, with the rise of optimality theory (Prince and Smolenky 1993), attention has been drawn to phenomena showing that the picture of binary parameters that are either on or off for a certain language is too simple. For instance, it has been observed (Alber 1997) that there are languages that are neither consistently quantity-sensitive nor consistently quantity-insensitive. In these partially quantity-sensitive systems heavy syllable attract stress only in case no higher ranked constraints prohibits it. When all higher ranked constraints are satisfied, the constraint requiring heavy syllables to be stressed can show its force and quantity-sensitive patterns emerge.On a similar line, Rosenthall and van der Hulst (1999) propose that contrary to what is usually assumed, closed CVC syllables are not consistently light or consistently heavy in a specific language. There are languages where the weight of CVC syllable changes according to context. Context-sensitive weight, they claim, arises when CVC syllables are generally heavy (or light) in a certain language but change their weight under the pressure of constraints that favor heavy (or light) CVC syllables only in a specific context. Thus, with the concept of constraint violability, the possibility of further asymmetries in the typology emerges. 1In this paper I...

Gradient clash, faithfulness, and sonority sequencing effects in Russian compound stress

“…This type of stress clash prohibition is discussed by Nespor and Vogel (1989), who mention English examples such as Mìssissippi múd (cf. Mississíppi) (see also Elenbaas and Kager 1999;Alber 2005;Gouskova 2010). -Token frequency and register.…”

“…According to this categorical characterization, clash would arise in (1a) if the left-hand compound stems were stressed, but stresses are suffciently far apart in (1b). 1 The question of whether the anti-clash constraint is gradient or categorical is of general interest in metrical stress theory: there are several proposals for differential anti-lapse constraints that penalize lapses of longer lengths more severely than lapses of shorter lengths (Steriade 1997;Gordon 2005;McCarthy 2007), but there has been relatively little discussion of differential anticlash constraints (Liberman and Prince 1977;Nespor and Vogel 1989;Kager 1994;Pater 2000;Alber 2005). Our proposal, based on the Russian pattern, is in Section 5.5.…”

Locality in metrical typology

“…As noted in the previous section, in recent rhythm-based typologies (Kager 2001, Gordon 2002, Alber 2005) constraints on the locations of lapses take the place of (final) extrametricality. Thus the trochaic footing (10)(20)(20)0 is caused not by directionality, but by LAPSE-AT-END or the equivalent.…”

“…It is perhaps notable, however, that (m) is disfavoured by four of the constraints in this set (as is (l)). This pattern corresponds to a simple right-to-left iambic language without unary feet, which has been claimed to be unattested, or at least to be much rarer than one with left-to-right iambs (Hayes 1995, van de Vijver 1998, Alber 2005. However, once the constraint set includes *ALIGN-L, which is necessary for Kashaya, right-to-left iambs must be admitted formally as well.…”

Learning bias in stress windows: Frequency and attestation

“…The constraints used in this study were chosen to represent standard sorts of distinctions in stress grammars, modifying the constraint sets of Alber (2005) and Kager (2005) Prince (1993) and Prince & Smolensky (1993/2004 more generally.…”