The phonological basis of linguistic rhythm: cross-linguistic data and diachronic interpretation

Abstract

Several research traditions have hypothesized that rhythmic differences between mora-, syllable- and stress-timed languages are rooted in the different phonological profiles of the languages in question. In this paper, ten of the proposed prosodic, phonotactic and morphophonological parameters are tested against data from a twenty-language sample. The evidence suggests that rhythmic differences across languages are gradual rather than discrete. Linguistic rhythm should therefore be conceived as a continuum with mora- and stress-based rhythm as focal points. Since evolutionary processes on stress- and mora-related parameters are in principle independent from each other, diachrony casts doubt on holistic typologies of linguistic rhythm.