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ROA:397
Title:A unified account of binary and ternary stress
Authors:Nine Elenbaas
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Length:232
Abstract:A unified account of binary and ternary stress



Nine Elenbaas

Universiteit Utrecht





This thesis aims at accounting for ternary rhythmic patterns with the

analytic tools provided by metrical theory for binary patterns. The

approach is based on the typological observation that languages with

ternary rhythms tend to combine these with binary rhythms. Essential to

the analysis of mixed binary-ternary rhythm is an anti-lapse constraint,

defined on the pure grid, which interacts with the standard array of OT

constraints on syllable parsing, foot alignment, and quantity-sensitivity.



The core of this thesis is formed by analyses of the stress systems of

two languages, Sentani (a Papuan language spoken in Irian Jaya, the

eastern most province of Indonesia) and Finnish. The stress systems of

both languages combine binarity and ternarity. Their central interest to

metrical theory resides in the interactions of factors that produce

ternarity in a basically binary system, with important consequences for

the notion of 'bounded stress system'. In the analysis of the stress

systems of Sentani and Finnish, several issues of broader relevance

arise, such as the analysis of partial quantity sensitivity; reference

to the pure grid versus the bracketed grid; free variation in output

patterns; and the notion 'base' in output-output correspondence.



Chapter 1 previews the central issues at stake, in the perspective of

metrical theory and Optimality Theory, while Chapter 2 spells out

theoretical assumptions. Chapters 3 and 4 deal with Sentani. Chapter 3

offers an extensive description of aspects of Sentani phonology and

morphology which are relevant for the analysis of the stress system. An

OT analysis of Sentani stress is given in Chapter 4, with special

attention to rhythmic aspects, such as clash and lapse avoidance and

non-finality of stress. This analysis offers an argument that the anti-

lapse constraint must be defined on the pure grid. Chapter 5 and Chapter

6 are devoted to Finnish. Chapter 5 gives a brief description of relevant

aspects of Finnish phonology and morphology, followed by a description

and analysis of stress patterns, focussing on partial quantity sensitivity

and variation. Chapter 6 deals with effects of the morphology on stress,

vis-a-vis the analysis of simplex words established in Chapter 5. The

analysis of morphologically governed variation is based on free rankings

of morphology-sensitive constraints on stress placement and output-output

correspondence constraints. Chapter 7 summarises the findings of this

thesis, and extends the theory to what we could call 'truly ternary'

stress systems, by straightforward rerankings of the constraints

independently motivated for binary stress systems.
Type:Dissertation
Area/Keywords:
Article:Version 1