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Recent work on consonant epenthesis has argued that the insertion of [r] as a hiatus breaker is phonologically natural (De Lacy 2006, Uffmann 2007). This claim is argued to derive support from the high cross-linguistic frequency of (intervocalic) r-Epenthesis. The goal of the present article is to investigate the original sources for the languages which are assumed to have a regular synchronic r-Epenthesis rule. It is concluded - on the basis of these sources - that there is very little solid cross-linguistic support for that process. If correct, this finding means that r-Epenthesis in many varieties of English cannot be argued to be phonologically natural on the basis of non-related languages with that process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

German Glide Formation converts /i/ to [j] before vowels, e.g. ‘Spain’, but the rule is consistently blocked in neologisms containing the suffix – esk, e.g. hippiesk [hrpiℇsk] / *[hrpjℇsk]. It is argued below that the underapplication of Glide Formation in such examples follows from a requirement that the stem in a derived word must be identical to the unaffixed base. The base in such examples will be shown to be a free-standing morpheme as opposed to a bound root. The analysis proposed will be shown to be supported in additional examples in which Glide Formation is blocked from applying to the [i] preceding the suffix – aner, but only if the suffix follows a free-standing morpheme, e.g. ‘adherent of Schumi (Michael Schumacher)’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

German Glide Formation converts /i/ to [j] before vowels, e.g. ‘Spain’, but the rule is consistently blocked in neologisms containing the suffix – esk, e.g. hippiesk [hrpiℇsk] / *[hrpjℇsk]. It is argued below that the underapplication of Glide Formation in such examples follows from a requirement that the stem in a derived word must be identical to the unaffixed base. The base in such examples will be shown to be a free-standing morpheme as opposed to a bound root. The analysis proposed will be shown to be supported in additional examples in which Glide Formation is blocked from applying to the [i] preceding the suffix – aner, but only if the suffix follows a free-standing morpheme, e.g. ‘adherent of Schumi (Michael Schumacher)’. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Proto-Longgu-Makira-Malaitan (Southeast Solomonic, Oceanic, Austronesian) a regular sound change is often assumed, according to which Proto-Oceanic *s surfaced as *t before nonhigh vowels but remained *s before high vowels. This article presents an alternative account for the developments in Southeastern Solomonic, according to which the change described above is decomposed into two stages: (i) the unconditioned occlusivization of *s to *t and (ii) the assibilation of *t to *s before high vowels. Both processes in (i) and (ii) are common typologically and make sense from the point of view of phonetics and phonology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study investigates a relatively minor gap in English phonotactics, namely the lack of surface rhotic+palatal glide sequences (i.e./rj/) and explores the theoretical ramifications thereof. It will be argued, contrary to most previous studies, that this gap has a phonetic (ie. articulatory) explanation and not a phonological one captured in terms of a filter with distinctive features, A typology will be posited which refers to languages with and without syllable-initial and heterosyllabic/rj/sequences and it will be shown that of the four logical possible language types only three are attested. An Optimality Theoretic analysis will be proposed which hinges on the interaction between a specific and a general version of the MARKEDNESS constraints for/rj/sequences (ie *[rj and *r3), and a Farm constraint. It will be shown that two of the attested language types are represented by two modem English dialects and that the third one is represented by a variety of English spoken in the 17th century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present article offers an Optimality-Theoretic analysis capturing the distribution of ‘superheavy syllables’ in Modern English, i.e, syllabics consisting of a long vowel + con- sonant(s), a diphthong + consonant(s), or a short vowel + two or more consonants, e.g. feel, farm. It will be shown that superheavy syllables are restricted to surfacing either (i) in word-final position, (ii) before a compound boundary, or (iii) before a consonant-initial suffix. By contrast, superheavy syllables are typically non-occurring in other environments. In the present article the following theoretical claims are made. First, superheavy syllables are analyzed as trimoraic. Second, environments (i)-(iii) above describe the right edge of a phonological word. The distribution of superheavy syllables is captured below with the constraint ALIGN-3μ, which ensures that the third mora in a syllable be situated at the right edge of a phonological word. Finally, ALIGN-3μ will be shown to be violated in certain (predictable) word-internal cases, e.g the syllable [aun] in mountain, such facts will be accounted for by various language-specific constraint rankings. The present surface based analysis will be argued to be superior to an earlier one proposed for Modern English in a derivational framework by Borowsky (1986, 1989). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]