1 Length and weight in Romance
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Pavel Iosad
Abstract
In this chapter we consider the phonological status and patterning of vowel and consonant length and syllabic quantity across Romance varieties. The chapter is divided into two parts. In the first section, we provide an overview of the status of vowel and consonant length in the modern Romance varieties and describe the diachronic context. Synchronically, the presence of a phonemic contrast between short and long vowels is characteristic particularly of Gallo-Romance (including the varieties of northern Italy and Alpine Romance); some kind of distinction between short and long vowels and/or consonants (not necessarily one with phonemic significance) is found in a broader range of varieties, primarily in Italy. Diachronic traces of length, however, are found across most Romance languages. The second section takes up the question of phonological weight and shows that weight-sensitive patterns, primarily relating to the placement of stress, minimality requirements, and prosodic morphology, are pervasive throughout the family, even in languages without phonological length distinctions.
Abstract
In this chapter we consider the phonological status and patterning of vowel and consonant length and syllabic quantity across Romance varieties. The chapter is divided into two parts. In the first section, we provide an overview of the status of vowel and consonant length in the modern Romance varieties and describe the diachronic context. Synchronically, the presence of a phonemic contrast between short and long vowels is characteristic particularly of Gallo-Romance (including the varieties of northern Italy and Alpine Romance); some kind of distinction between short and long vowels and/or consonants (not necessarily one with phonemic significance) is found in a broader range of varieties, primarily in Italy. Diachronic traces of length, however, are found across most Romance languages. The second section takes up the question of phonological weight and shows that weight-sensitive patterns, primarily relating to the placement of stress, minimality requirements, and prosodic morphology, are pervasive throughout the family, even in languages without phonological length distinctions.
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Manuals of Romance Linguistics V
- Acknowledgments VII
- Table of contents IX
- List of abbreviations XIII
- Romance phonetics and phonology: an introduction 1
-
I. Key topics in Romance phonology
- 1 Length and weight in Romance 31
- 2 Syllable structure and (re)syllabification 89
- 3 Processes affecting vowels 127
- 4 From vowel weakening in Romance to French schwa 150
- 5 Palatalization in Romance 173
- 6 Nasals and nasalization 215
- 7 The evolution of Latin stress into Romance with special consideration of French 242
- 8 Comparing and deconstructing speech rhythm across Romance languages 264
- 9 Intonation 299
- 10 Corpus phonology 319
- 11 Sociophonetics 342
- 12 First language acquisition of Romance phonology 375
- 13 Bilingual phonological acquisition 407
- 14 Second and third language acquisition of Romance phonology 435
- 15 The phonology of Romance contact varieties 462
- 16 Loanword phonology in Romance 503
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II. Phonetics and phonology of Romance languages
- 17 Romanian 531
- 18 Italian 559
- 19 Sardinian 597
- 20 Rhaeto-Romance: Friulian, Ladin, and Romansh 628
- 21 French 669
- 22 Occitan 709
- 23 Catalan 743
- 24 Spanish 779
- 25 Judeo-Spanish 808
- 26 Portuguese 839
- 27 Galician 882
- 28 Romance-lexifier creoles 929
- List of contributors 955
- Index 957
Chapters in this book
- Frontmatter I
- Manuals of Romance Linguistics V
- Acknowledgments VII
- Table of contents IX
- List of abbreviations XIII
- Romance phonetics and phonology: an introduction 1
-
I. Key topics in Romance phonology
- 1 Length and weight in Romance 31
- 2 Syllable structure and (re)syllabification 89
- 3 Processes affecting vowels 127
- 4 From vowel weakening in Romance to French schwa 150
- 5 Palatalization in Romance 173
- 6 Nasals and nasalization 215
- 7 The evolution of Latin stress into Romance with special consideration of French 242
- 8 Comparing and deconstructing speech rhythm across Romance languages 264
- 9 Intonation 299
- 10 Corpus phonology 319
- 11 Sociophonetics 342
- 12 First language acquisition of Romance phonology 375
- 13 Bilingual phonological acquisition 407
- 14 Second and third language acquisition of Romance phonology 435
- 15 The phonology of Romance contact varieties 462
- 16 Loanword phonology in Romance 503
-
II. Phonetics and phonology of Romance languages
- 17 Romanian 531
- 18 Italian 559
- 19 Sardinian 597
- 20 Rhaeto-Romance: Friulian, Ladin, and Romansh 628
- 21 French 669
- 22 Occitan 709
- 23 Catalan 743
- 24 Spanish 779
- 25 Judeo-Spanish 808
- 26 Portuguese 839
- 27 Galician 882
- 28 Romance-lexifier creoles 929
- List of contributors 955
- Index 957
