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SUMMARY:The history of English phrase-level syllabification - Ricardo Berm
 údez-Otero (University of Manchester)
DTSTART:20100510T150000Z
DTEND:20100510T154500Z
UID:TALK24064@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Petros Karatsareas
DESCRIPTION: This talk addresses the history of phrase-level syllabificati
 on in English\, focusing on the \nbehaviour of word-final consonants immed
 iately followed by a vowel across a word boundary. \nMinkova (2003: ch. 4)
  provides an authoritative account of phrase-level syllabification in Old 
 \nand Middle English based on internal linguistic evidence and on data fro
 m poetic metre. She \nshows that Old English avoided stressed onsetless sy
 llables by means of [ʔ]-epenthesis\; because \nOld English words had root
 -initial stress\, this typically had the effect of blocking the \nresyllab
 ification of word-final consonants before underlyingly vowel-initial conte
 nt words: e.g. \n_Ēadmund æþeling_ ['ʔæd.mund. 'ʔæ.ðe.liŋg] 'prin
 ce Edmund' (Brun 3a). In Middle English\, in \ncontrast\, [ʔ]-epenthesis 
 ceased to be obligatory\, and so word-final prevocalic consonants \nbecame
  liable to full resyllabification into the onset: note\, for example\, the
  alliteration on /t/ in \n_þat schal I telle te  trwly\, quoþ þa.t ̮o.
 þer þenne_ (SGGK 2444). The aim of the paper is to supply \nthe link bet
 ween Minkova’s narrative and the synchronic situation in Present-day Eng
 lish\, \nwhere the syllabic affiliation of word-final prevocalic consonant
 s is not immediately obvious: in \nPresent-day English\, such consonants e
 xhibit both onset-like and coda-like properties.\n\nRelying mainly on evid
 ence from /t/-flapping and from the allophony of the liquids /l/ \nand /ɹ
 / across a range of present-day dialects\, I shall argue that ambisyllabic
 ity (e.g. Kahn 1976\, \nGussenhoven 1986) fails to provide a satisfactory 
 answer to our problem. By attempting to use \nthe syllable to channel all 
 the effects of prosody and of morphosyntax on segmental allophony\, \ntheo
 ries of ambisyllabicity get caught in representational paradoxes. In contr
 ast\, stratal-cyclic models of phonology provide a straightforward interpr
 etation of the Present-day English facts \nin terms of the diachronic life
 -cycle of phonological processes. In this account\, Present-day English co
 nsonants exhibit onset-like properties in word-final prevocalic position b
 ecause in \nthat environment they continue to undergo full phrase-level re
 syllabification into the onset\, \njust as they did in Middle English. How
 ever\, these consonants also exhibit coda-like properties \nbecause\, at t
 he word level (i.e. prior to phrase-level resyllabification in the synchro
 nic \nderivation)\, they are in the coda\; in this position\, they are tar
 geted by lenition processes such as \n/l/-darkening\, which\, in the cours
 e of their diachronic life-cycle\, have had their cyclic domain \nof appli
 cation narrowed down to individual grammatical words: i.e. gradient proces
 s of phonetic \nimplementation > categorical process in the phrase-level p
 honology > categorical process in the \nword-level phonology. \n\nMore gen
 erally\, the range of crossdialectal variation displayed by the allophony 
 of Present-day English consonants\, particularly the liquids\, can easily 
 be understood in diachronic terms as the result of two major forces shapin
 g the life-cycle of a lenition process: 'phonetic analogy'\, also known as
  'rule generalization' (Kiparsky 1988: §14.3.1)\, enlarges its prosodic d
 omain of application\; 'grammatical analogy' narrows down its cyclic domai
 n of application  (Bermúdez-Otero 2007: §21.3.2).  \n\nBermúdez-Otero\,
  Ricardo (2007). 'Diachronic phonology'\, in Paul de Lacy (ed.)\,  _The \n
 Cambridge handbook of phonology_. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press\, 
 497-517. \n\nGussenhoven\, Carlos (1986). 'English plosive allophones and 
 ambisyllabicity'\, _Gramma_ 10 (119-\n141). \n\nKahn\, Daniel (1976).  _Sy
 llable-based generalizations in English phonology_. Doctoral dissertation\
 , \nMIT\, Cambridge\, MA. \n\nKiparsky\, Paul (1988). 'Phonological change
 '\, in Frederick J. Newmeyer (ed.)\, _Linguistics: the \nCambridge survey 
 (vol. 1\,  Linguistic theory: foundations)_. Cambridge: Cambridge \nUniver
 sity Press\, 363-415.\n \nMinkova\, Donka (2003).  _Alliteration and sound
  change in early English (Cambridge Studies in \nLinguistics 101)_. Cambri
 dge: Cambridge University Press. 
LOCATION:Bowett Room\, Queens’ College\, Cambridge
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