Syllables and Templates: Evidence from Southern Sierra Miwok
, K. D. Sloan 1991
This thesis examines aspects of the syllable structure and templatic phonology of Southern Sierra Miwok (henceforth SSM). SSM provides strong evidence fro a model of phonological organization incorporating an x-slot tier (a segmental model). I advance three arguments in favor of a segmental model. First, I argue that SSM exhibits floating x-slots and floating phonemes. SSM has a complex array of length and alternation phenomen. I demonstrate that by utilizing singly-linked phonemes, doubly-linked phonemes, floating x-slots, floating phonemes and combinations of these, all of the surface forms can be derived by syllabification without recourse to any special lengthening, shortening or deletion rules. I propose a hierarchy of elements in which x-slots with phonemic content havae precedence over floating x-slots which in turn have precedence over floating phonemes.
Second, I show that the behavior of morpheme-final geminates in SSM is inconsistent with the moraic analysis of gemination proposed in Hayes (1989). Only a model which represents geminates as holding two positions or �slots� will properly account for the gemination facts. The third type of evidence comes from the templatic system of SSM. I demonstrate that SSM exhibits the three distinct templates CVCVC, CVCVX and CVCVV. I propose that these can be represented by taking advantage of the distinctions between branching and non-branching Nucleus and between floating and non-floating x-slots. These distinctions readily follow from the x-slot model I advance herein but are unavailable in a moraic model of phonological organization.
The properties of syllabification in SSM appear paradoxical. On the one hand, it can be demonstrated that syllabification must apply at the word-level in order to account for the surface variation in vowel length. On the other hand, in order to explain the distribution of epenthesis, syllabification must arguably take place prior to the word-level. I propose a solution to this dilemma by arguing that syllabification in SSM takes place at two discrete stages. CV(X) syllables are constructed at the lexical level. Subsequent word-level syllabification builds syllables from right-to-left, respecting previously built structure and Maximality. I demonstrate that Prosodic Syllabification, as proposed in Ito (1986, 1989) cannot correctly derive the SSM facts. This results from two (potentially) problematic aspects of SSM syllabification: (i) although syllabification must not apply cyclically, there are certain cyclic effects observed and (ii) epenthesis can only occur at morpheme boundaries even though these boundaries are not visible at the point in the phonology where syllabification must occur. These effects fall out of the analysis that I propose herein.
Thesis supervisor:Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â James W. Harris
Table of Contents
Chapter 1        Introduction                                                                                         9
           1.1      Syllabic organization                                                                            9
           1.2      Two-stage syllabification                                                                      14
           1.3      Templatic and non-templatic modes of operation                                  15
           1.4      Organization of the thesis                                                                     16
           1.5      Basics of Southern Sierra Miwok phonology                                        18
                       1.5.1   Phoneme inventory                                                                  19
                       1.5.2   Organization of the data                                                           21
                       1.5.3   Syllables, stress and metrical structure                          22
           Notes to Chapter 1                                                                                          24
Chapter 2        The Characterization of Length and Consonantal Alternations   25
           2.1      Inherent length                                                                         26
                       2.1.1   Morpheme-final geminates and moraic models              30
           2.2      Suffixes which trigger preceding length                                      37
                       2.2.1   Long epenthetic phonemes                                                       39
                       2.2.2   Distribution of floating-x suffixes                                               46
                       2.2.3   �H�-initial suffixes                                                                     47
                       2.2.4   Distribution of morpheme-final long vowels                               54
           2.3      Floating phonemes                                                                               57
           2.4      Alternating length in consonants                                                66
                       2.4.1   Broadbent�s morphophoneme //H//                                          67
                       2.4.2   Distinctive length in consonants                                     71
                       2.4.3   The representation of alternating consonants                             76
           2.5      Appendix                                                                                            80
Notes to Chapter 2Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 88
Chapter 3        Syllabification and Epenthesis                                                  90
           3.1      Alternating vowels                                                                               91
                       3.1.1   Distinctive vowel length                                                95
                       3.1.2   Distribution of the surface variants of alternating vowels 98
           3.2      Syllabification and epenthesis in SSM                                       103
           3.3      Prosodic syllabification                                                             129
Notes to Chapter 3Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 144
Chapter 4        Templates                                                                                            146
           4.1      Templates as a property of the suffix                                                    148
           4.2      Reanalyzed roots                                                                                 152
           4.3      Templatic bases                                                                                   158
                       4.3.1   Polymorphemic bases                                                              162
                       4.3.2   Nominal themes                                                                       163
                       4.3.3   Shape variation in �long� bases                                     165
           4.4      The representation of templates                                                167
                       4.4.1   The light-heavy templates                                                         167
                                   4.4.1.1 The template CVCVC                                                 168
                                   4.4.1.2 The template CVCVX                                                 172
                                   4.4.1.3 The template CVCV:                                                   176
                       4.4.2   The representation of light-heavy templates in SSM                  179
                       4.4.3   Templates and the CVV/CVC distinction                                 187
                                   4.4.3.1 Arabic                                                                         187
                                   4.4.3.2 Comparison of Arabic and SSM                                  190
Notes to Chapter 4Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â 193