On the Change of Word Stress In the History of German (original) (raw)
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The Change From Left Word-Edge Stress To Right Word-Edge Stress
2020
This paper presents and discusses a prosodic development shared by an impressively large number of languages in their historical evolution: a shift from main stress from the left word-edge to the right word-edge. One particular example is discussed in more detail: the evolution from Pre-classical to Classical Latin. The analysis of intermediate Early Classical Latin is contrasted in two descriptive models, putting the balance in favor of one of them. The causal factors for the change are claimed to be the indeterminacy in the data, reinforced by emerging quantity-sensitivity and pre-stressing suffixes.
German Word Stress in Optimality Theory
1998
Stress has always been a recurrent theme in phonology, even more so since Liberman's dissertation (1975), in which the foundations of the metrical theory were established. Liberman's view of stress as a phonetic means of grouping linguistic elements has found considerable agreement in the phonological community. However, the nature of both the groupings and the elements to be grouped is still a matter of debate. In this paper I make the very conventional assumption that syllables are grouped into feet. Studies on stress systems fall into two classes. First, extensive typological studies, like those of Halle and Vergnaud (1987), Hayes (1980, 1995) and Idsardi (1992) for instance, compare the stress systems of a large number of languages and propose parameters of stress assignment and/or feet inventories. The second class of studies examine in detail the stress pattern of a single language or a language family from a theoretical point of view. The present paper falls into the second class. Close studies of individual language stress systems are important since they are a way of testing the validity of metrical theories. Though some languages have been extensively studied and can be claimed to be fairly well understood, this is far from being true of all languages. This paper shows that Optimality Theory (OT) is able to elegantly capture the intricacies of German stress without too many special stipulations. OT is a theory of grammar recently developed by Prince and Smolensky (1993) and McCarthy and Prince (1993a,b, 1994, 1995), who have applied it to phonological facts from different languages. So far, the theory has been very successful in accounting for different aspects of phonology in several languages, particularly in the area of stress and related phenomena (see for instance the analyses proposed in Hammond 1995,
On the Change from Left to Right Word-Edhe Main Stress in Icelandic, Polish and Latin
Nordic Journal of Linguistics (Trykt Utg.), 2003
A shift from left to right word-edge main stress can be observed in a large number of languages. Three cases, Icelandic/Faroese, Polish and Latin are studied in this paper. In doing so, two descriptive rule-based models are compared in order to evaluate their descriptive and explicative adequacy. The causes that have been proposed for the observed changes are critically discussed. Finally, an OT-description of the case studies is provided.
On the change from left to right word-edge main stress in Icelandic, Polish and Latin
Nordic Journal of Linguistics, 2003
A shift from left to right word-edge main stress can be observed in a large number of languages. Three cases, Icelandic/Faroese, Polish and Latin are studied in this paper. In doing so, two descriptive rule-based models are compared in order to evaluate their descriptive and explicative adequacy. The causes that have been proposed for the observed changes are critically discussed. Finally, an OT-description of the case studies is provided.
Language Sciences, 2007
Within the framework elaborated by the late Professor Lionel Guierre , who pioneered a new school of thought in the study of English phonology, this paper sets out to disprove one of the founding principles of Chomsky and Halle's theories (also pre-eminent in Halle and Keyser's later works), namely the premise that the English stress system is, to a great degree, modelled on Classical Latin metrical rules (dichotomy between prefinal heavy syllables entailing penultimate stressing and prefinal light syllables entailing antepenultimate stressing).
On exceptional stress assignment in Latvian: the case of prefixes
Journal of Baltic Studies, 2018
In this article, we examine some previously understudied exceptions to the generalisation that Latvian assigns stress to the left-most syllable in a prosodic word, specifically those that involve prefixation. We will show that these apparent exceptions in stress assignment follow from the internal structural properties of the word, and are a result of attaching the prefix outside the domain where stress is assigned, which is up to the first functional head inside the hierarchy. Our treatment combines the syntactic structure of a neoconstructionist approach to word formation with an OT formalisation at the phonological level.