German glide formation and its theoretical consequences

Abstract

In German the complementary distribution of [i] and [j] motivate a process of glide formation according to which /i/ surfaces as [j] when situated to the left of a vowel. The present study examines German words in which a prevocalic /i/ occurs after two consonants and demonstrates that the process is blocked from applying if the two consonants show a sonority rise. These data can be accounted for most elegantly in an Optimality Theoretic approach in which the constraint Onset is dominated by a local conjunction involving the Syllable Contact Law (SCL) and constraints militating against an onset consisting of a sonorant plus [j]. An additional set of examples shows that glide formation applies after two obstruents but is blocked after two nasals. It will be argued that the contrast between these two types of plateaus requires no added stipulation, but instead falls out from the same ranking.