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Schwa deletion results in consonant gemination in West Frisian

Authors :
Sloos, M.
Dijkstra, J.
Heuven, V.J.J.P. van
Calhoun, S.
Escudero, P.
Tabain, M.
Warren, P.
Source :
Proceedings of the 19th International Conference of Phonetic Sciences, 117-121. Canberra: Australasian Speech Science and Technology Association, STARTPAGE=117;ENDPAGE=121;TITLE=Proceedings of the 19th International Conference of Phonetic Sciences
Publication Year :
2019

Abstract

West-Frisian has a highly frequent suffix -/ən/ in which the schwa is usually deleted. This results in a single nasal which is analysed as ‘syllabic’, at least after obstruents. However, it is unclear what happens if schwa deletion occurs after a stem-final nasal as in hûn-en ‘dog.PL’. We consider several options, including nasal deletion, nasal contraction, and gemination. We compare the duration of an underlyingly single nasal in stem-final position with that of the nasal after schwa deletion in -/nən/ as in hûn ~ hûnen. The results reveal that the nasal in hûnen after schwa deletion is more than twice as long as in hûn and also longer than after schwa deletion in -/tən/. This suggests that the nasal is geminated. We discuss the status of this nasal in light of the fact that gemination has not been reported elsewhere in the phonology of West-Frisian.

Details

Language :
English
Database :
OpenAIRE
Journal :
Proceedings of the 19th International Conference of Phonetic Sciences, 117-121. Canberra: Australasian Speech Science and Technology Association, STARTPAGE=117;ENDPAGE=121;TITLE=Proceedings of the 19th International Conference of Phonetic Sciences
Accession number :
edsair.dedup.wf.001..69d00651e54df883ea8b5b4b3e0d2370