LINGUIST List 10.359

Sun Mar 7 1999

Books: Phonology

Editor for this issue: Scott Fults <scottlinguistlist.org>

Directory

1. Rint Sybesma, Phonology: N. Elenbaas, A unified account of binary and ternary stress

N e w f r o m H o l l a n d A c a d e m i c G r a p h i c s

Nine Elenbaas, A unified account of binary and ternary stress.
Considerations from Sentani and Finnish

A unified account of binary and ternary stress, written in the
context of metrical theory, aims for a restrictive theory of stress
systems in natural languages. 
 In bounded stress systems the distance between stressed
syllables is kept to a maximum. Usually, the notion of bounded
stress is equated with binary alternation or binarity. In binary
stress systems the rhythmic distance between two stressed
syllables is at most one stressless syllable, while in ternary
systems the maximum distance is at most two stressless syl-
lables. Using Optimality Theory Elenbaas aims to contribute to
metrical theory by offering a unified account of binary and
ternary stress systems. 
 The arguments are based on analyses of the stress systems
of Sentani and Finnish. Both languages have a basically binary
stress system, in which ternary patterns appear frequently. The
analysis of Sentani shows that the anti-lapse constraint, which
plays an important role in the analysis of ternary stress
systems, and which requires the avoidance of long sequences of
unstressed syllables, must be interpreted as a rhythmic
constraint, rather than as a parsing constraint. The analysis of
Finnish gives independent evidence for this anti-lapse
constraint, where it plays a crucial role in creating binary stress
patterns.

Contents: 1. Introduction 2. Theoretical assumptions 3. Sentani 
4. The analysis of Sentani stress 5. Finnish stress: the
phonological pattern 6. Finnish stress: the morphological
pattern 7. Conclusion Appendices

1999. xii+216 pp. isbn 90-5569-065-1. Paperback. [LOT International 
Series 20. UiL OTS Dissertation.] Price: NLG 55.20 (excl. VAT, P&P). 
Individuals ordering directly from HAG are eligible for a 33% discount.

<http://www.hagpub.com>;


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