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It is proposed that syllable weight is driven by considerations of phonetic effectiveness and phonological simplicity. The phonetically best distinctions are claimed to be those which divide syllables into groups which are phonetically most distinct from each other. Phonologically complex distinctions are those which exceed an upper threshold in the number of phonological predicates to which they refer. It is claimed that languages adopt weight distinctions which are phonetically most effective without being overly complex phonologically. Syllable weight thus reflects a compromise between phonetic and phonological factors. The proposed model of weight further suggests that phonological weight distinctions are ultimately predictable from other basic phonological properties, such as syllable structure. * 1. SYLLABLE WEIGHT. Linguists have long observed that certain phonological processes in many languages distinguish between "heavy" and "light" syllables (e.g. Jakobson 1931, Trubetzkoy 1939, Allen 1973, Hyman 1977, 1992, McCarthy 1979, Zec 1988, Hayes 1989. Syllable weight has played an increasingly larger role in more recent phonological theory, as the number of prosodic phenomena argued to instantiate syllable weight has grown to encompass many diverse phenomena such as weight-sensitive stress, compensatory lengthening, reduplication, minimal word requirements, tone, among others. Drawing on data from these weight-sensitive phenomena, linguists have developed simple yet compelling theories of weight grounded in fundamental concepts such as phonemic length, segment count and sonority.As our data base on weight-sensitive phenomena has expanded to include ever more explicit information on a larger cross-section of languages, theories of weight have been presented with new and interesting opportunities for empirical validation. While the expanded empirical base has corroborated many standard notions about syllable weight, it has also brought new challenges to the theory of weight: an increasingly diverse set of weight distinctions cross-linguistically, individual languages sensitive to multiple weight distinctions, weight distinctions based neither on the number of segments nor on phonemic length contrasts, and cases of conflicted weight criteria for different weight-sensitive processes in the same language. These new data continue to necessitate expansions of the formal apparatus in the theory of weight, suggesting the need for reexamination of the phenomenon of syllable weight. This paper explores the extent to which syllable weight is linked to both structural and phonetic properties. As such, it may be viewed as part of two research programs: one relating the phonology of weight and phonetic properties (see, for example,
It is proposed that syllable weight is driven by considerations of phonetic effectiveness and phonological simplicity. The phonetically best distinctions are claimed to be those which divide syllables into groups which are phonetically most distinct from each other. Phonologically complex distinctions are those which exceed an upper threshold in the number of phonological predicates to which they refer. It is claimed that languages adopt weight distinctions which are phonetically most effective without being overly complex phonologically. Syllable weight thus reflects a compromise between phonetic and phonological factors. The proposed model of weight further suggests that phonological weight distinctions are ultimately predictable from other basic phonological properties, such as syllable structure. * 1. SYLLABLE WEIGHT. Linguists have long observed that certain phonological processes in many languages distinguish between "heavy" and "light" syllables (e.g. Jakobson 1931, Trubetzkoy 1939, Allen 1973, Hyman 1977, 1992, McCarthy 1979, Zec 1988, Hayes 1989. Syllable weight has played an increasingly larger role in more recent phonological theory, as the number of prosodic phenomena argued to instantiate syllable weight has grown to encompass many diverse phenomena such as weight-sensitive stress, compensatory lengthening, reduplication, minimal word requirements, tone, among others. Drawing on data from these weight-sensitive phenomena, linguists have developed simple yet compelling theories of weight grounded in fundamental concepts such as phonemic length, segment count and sonority.As our data base on weight-sensitive phenomena has expanded to include ever more explicit information on a larger cross-section of languages, theories of weight have been presented with new and interesting opportunities for empirical validation. While the expanded empirical base has corroborated many standard notions about syllable weight, it has also brought new challenges to the theory of weight: an increasingly diverse set of weight distinctions cross-linguistically, individual languages sensitive to multiple weight distinctions, weight distinctions based neither on the number of segments nor on phonemic length contrasts, and cases of conflicted weight criteria for different weight-sensitive processes in the same language. These new data continue to necessitate expansions of the formal apparatus in the theory of weight, suggesting the need for reexamination of the phenomenon of syllable weight. This paper explores the extent to which syllable weight is linked to both structural and phonetic properties. As such, it may be viewed as part of two research programs: one relating the phonology of weight and phonetic properties (see, for example,
In Central Alaskan Yup’ik, syllables with long vowels are always stressed, light syllables alternate stress, but only certain closed syllables are stressed. The acoustic correlates of stress, however, have only been the subject of one small-scale preliminary study so far. Moreover, there are divergent accounts of how phonological phenomena such as gemination and syllable closure affect weight. This article presents an acoustic investigation of gemination, stress, and phonemic length. Six Yup’ik recordings were annotated, resulting in a dataset of 2,602 syllable onsets and 2,282 vowels, which were then modelled using linear mixed-effects models. The first part of the study, examining the distribution of gemination as a metrical-adjacent phenomenon, revealed that singleton onsets were shorter than geminated onsets both within feet and across foot boundaries. The main study showed that stressed vowels were longer, louder, and, for short vowels only, higher in f0 than unstressed vowels, while long vowels were longer, louder, and featured greater f0 falls than short vowels. These results corroborate the literature that asserts that long, short unstressed, and short stressed vowels are all produced distinctively, and moreover, that vowel duration is affected by iambic lengthening and syllable closure. The identification of stress correlates and other metrical behaviors examined here set the stage for future prosodic work on Yup’ik.
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