The Nominal Stress System of Romanian (re)revisited
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Cristian Iscrulescu
Abstract
Cast in the framework of Optimality Theory (Prince and Smolensky 1993/2004), this paper re-examines the system of nominal stress in Romanian. I show that nominal stress is best analyzed as weight-insensitive footing (syllabic trochees), contra claims that the system is weight-sensitive (moraic trochees, Steriade 1984). Forms with superficial final vowels are shown to conform to the syllabic trochee pattern (modulo certain items with lexical specification). The necessity of final vowel extrametricality, claimed in previous analyses of Romance stress, is obviated. Stress on the final syllable in words ending in consonants is claimed to represent an instance of phonological opacity for which an account in Sympathy Theory (McCarthy 1999) is proposed.
Abstract
Cast in the framework of Optimality Theory (Prince and Smolensky 1993/2004), this paper re-examines the system of nominal stress in Romanian. I show that nominal stress is best analyzed as weight-insensitive footing (syllabic trochees), contra claims that the system is weight-sensitive (moraic trochees, Steriade 1984). Forms with superficial final vowels are shown to conform to the syllabic trochee pattern (modulo certain items with lexical specification). The necessity of final vowel extrametricality, claimed in previous analyses of Romance stress, is obviated. Stress on the final syllable in words ending in consonants is claimed to represent an instance of phonological opacity for which an account in Sympathy Theory (McCarthy 1999) is proposed.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
- An Acoustic Basis for Palatal Geminate Behavior in Spanish 1
- Mapping the Patterns of Maintenance versus Merger in Bilingual Phonology 15
- New Tendencies in Geographical Dialectology 31
- Output-to-output Correspondence and the Emergence of the Unmarked in Spanish Plural Formation 49
- Mapping French Pronunciation 65
- Phonological Variability in the Laboratory 83
- Constraint Re-ranking in Three Grammars 97
- Mid Vowels and Schwa in Eastern Catalan 113
- The Nominal Stress System of Romanian (re)revisited 127
- Proto-Romance Stress Shift Revisited 141
- Final -m in Yucatan Spanish 155
- Stressed Enclitics? 167
- How To Do Things Without Junk 183
- Subject Index 207
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Introduction vii
- An Acoustic Basis for Palatal Geminate Behavior in Spanish 1
- Mapping the Patterns of Maintenance versus Merger in Bilingual Phonology 15
- New Tendencies in Geographical Dialectology 31
- Output-to-output Correspondence and the Emergence of the Unmarked in Spanish Plural Formation 49
- Mapping French Pronunciation 65
- Phonological Variability in the Laboratory 83
- Constraint Re-ranking in Three Grammars 97
- Mid Vowels and Schwa in Eastern Catalan 113
- The Nominal Stress System of Romanian (re)revisited 127
- Proto-Romance Stress Shift Revisited 141
- Final -m in Yucatan Spanish 155
- Stressed Enclitics? 167
- How To Do Things Without Junk 183
- Subject Index 207
