Prosodic structure between the prosodic word and the phonological phrase: Recursive nodes or an independent domain?

Abstract

In this article, a prosodic domain located between the prosodic word and the phonological phrase is argued for (the prosodic word group – PWG). This constituent groups the members of several types of compound-like expressions, but does not play a special part in the prosodic organization of clitics, and thus is argued to be (partially) distinct from the old clitic group (Hayes, The prosodic hierarchy in meter, Academic Press, 1989; Nespor and Vogel, Prosodic phonology, Foris, 1986). The PWG is shown to play a role in the phonology of compound-like expressions in a great number of languages, belonging to different linguistic families. Evidence is multifarious, coming from segmental, tonal, duration and prominence related phenomena. Crucially, evidence is also offered against an analysis resorting to recursive prosodic words – e.g., prominence patterns at the levels of the Prosodic Word (PW) and PWG may be reversed; phonological phenomena distinguishing the two domains show a difference in kind and not just in strength (Ladd, Intonational phonology, Cambridge University Press, 1996/2008; Frota, Prosody and focus in European Portuguese. Phonological phrasing and intonation, Garland Publishing, 2000).