A Metrical Theory of Stress Rules
B. Hayes, 1980
This thesis tries to characterize the class of unmarked stress rules. The approach I have taken is metrical: stress is represented as a matter of relative prominence, using the tree notation proposed by Mark Liberman. I have also assumed two further developments of Liberman’s theory. The first is the introduction of a separate level of metrical feet, allowing us to dispense with the feature [+stress]. The second is a theory of syllable internal structure, which makes it possible to represent distinctions of prominence among syllables geometrically, as the differences between branching and non-branching nodes. Using these notions, I claim that an unmarked stress rule must construct trees that are drawn from a highly restricted inventory of possible tree geometries, defined by constraints on whether or not the various nodes of the tree may branch. I further claim that in the great majority of cases, the labeling of the trees to determine the relative prominence of their nodes is carried out by one of two unmarked labeling conventions.
Some further ideas presented in this thesis are the following: (a) The notion of dominant and recessive nodes is introduced, and shown to simplify the formulation of the unmarked tree construction and labeling rules. (b) A constrained theory of extrametricality is developed, which provides a better account for cases which would otherwise require an expanded theory of unmarked tree geometry. (c) A precise universal formulation of Stray Syllable Adjunction is proposed and motivated empirically.
To support the theory, the stress systems of Aklan, Tiberian Hebrew, Yidiny, and English are analyzed in some detail. Numerous other languages are discussed briefly to illustrate how the rules predicted as unmarked by the theory are in fact frequentyl attested.
Thesis Supervisor: Morris Halle
Title: Ferrari P. Ward Professor of Modern Languages and Linguistics
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1 Background
1 Introduction 6
2 Liberman and Prince’s Theory 6
3 Syllables and feet 14
4 The theory of syllable weight 24
5 Outline and miscellanea 31
Footnotes 35
Chapter 2 Stress in Aklan
1 Preliminaries 36
2 Analysis 37
3 Theoretical consequences 56
Footnotes 65
Chapter 3 Tree Geometry
1 Tree geometry as the central part of metrical theory 66
2 The problem of syllable quantity 69
3 A theory of tree geometry 78
4 Exemplification 85
4.1 Binary quantity insensitive trees 86
4.2 Unbounded quantity insensitive trees 95
4.3 Unbounded quantity sensitive trees 96
4.4 Binary quantity sensitive trees 99
4.5 Trees in which dominant nodes must branch 105
5 Feet with extra final nodes 110
6 Other kinds of extrametricality 129
7 Stress in Tiberian Hebrew 134
8 Conclusion 168
Footnotes 170
Chapter 4 Labeling Rules
1 Common labeling conventions 174
2 Rarer labeling rules 187
3 Stress in Yidiny 196
4 Conclusion 226
Footnotes 228
Chapter 5 Where does English fit in?
1 Introductory 229
2 Extrametricality rules for English 236
3 Stress retraction 246
4 The phonological cycle 257
5 Two destressing rules 271
6 Non-maximal foot construction 280
7 Further adjectival suffixes 283
8 Cases of the type Winnepesaukee 287
9 A constraint on destressing rules 303
10 Prefix-stem words and the stress cycle 304
11 Ternary feet across VV and the i-y rule 318
12 Conclusion 330
Footnotes 331