Abstract
This paper argues for a theory in which epenthesis results from the interrelated requirements of prosody and not from obligatory skeletal insertion rules. Prosodic Licensing requires the incorporation of unsyllabified melodies into higher prosodic structure; syllabification conditions determine the particular insertion site; and contrasting epenthesis strategies are predicted by general prosodic principles of directionality and maximality
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Abu-Salim Issam M.: 1980, ‘Epenthesis and Geminate Consonants in Palestinian Arabic’, Studies in the Linguistic Sciences 10, 1–11, University of Illinois, Urbana.
Archangeli, D.: 1984, Underspecification in Yawelmani Phonology and Morphology, Ph.D. dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Published 1988, by Garland Publishers, New York.
Aronoff, M. and R. Oehrle (eds.): 1984, Language Sound Structure, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Benjamin, G.: 1976, An Outline of Temiar Grammar, in Jenner et al. (eds.), pp. 129–87.
Borer, H. and Y. Aoun (eds.): 1981, Theoretical Issues in the Grammar of Semitic Languages, MIT Working Papers in Linguistics, Vol. 3.
Borowsky, T.: 1984, ‘On Resyllabification in English’, in M. Wescoat et al. (eds.), Proceedings of WCCFL 3, 1–15.
—: 1986, Topics in the Lexical Phonology of English, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst.
Borowsky, T., J. Itô and A. Mester: 1984, ‘The Formal Representation of Ambisyllabicity: Evidence from Danish’, in C. Jones and P. Sells (eds.), Proceedings of NELS 14, 34–48.
Broselow, E.: 1980, ‘Syllable Structure in Two Arabic Dialects’, Studies in the Linguistic Sciences 10, 13–24.
—: 1982, ‘On Predicting the Interaction of Stress and Epenthesis’, Glossa, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., pp. 115–32.
Chomsky, N. and M. Halle: 1968, The Sound Pattern of English, Harper & Row, New York.
Christdas, P.: 1988, The Phonology and Morphology of Tamil, Ph.D. dissertation, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York.
Clements, G. N.: 1985, ‘The Geometry of Phonological Features’, in Phonology Yearbook, 2, 225–52.
--: 1987, ‘Phonological Feature Representation and the Description of Intrusive Stops’, in A. Bosch et al. (eds.), Parasession on Autosegmental and Metrical Phonology, Vol. 23, Chicago Linguistic Society, pp. 29–50.
--: 1988, ‘The Role of the Sonority Cycle in Core Syllabification’, to appear in J. Kingston and M. Beckman (eds.), Papers in Laboratory Phonology 1, Cambridge University Press.
Clements, G. N. and S. J. Keyser: 1983, CV Phonology: A Generative Theory of the Syllable. MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Dell, F. and M. Elmedlaoui: 1986, ‘Syllabic Consonants and Syllabification in Imdlawn Tashihiyt Berber’, Journal of African Linguistics 7, 105–30.
Diffloth, G.: 1976, ‘Minor-Syllable Vocalism in Senoic Languages’, in P. Jenner et al.f(.), 229–47.
Goldsmith, J.: 1976, Autosegmental Phonology, Ph.D. dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Published 1979, by Garland Publishers, New York.
Halle, M. and J.-R. Vergnaud: 1978, ‘Metrical Structures in Phonology’, manuscript, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Hammond, M.: 1988, ‘On Deriving the Well-Formedness Condition’, Linguistic Inquiry 19, 319–25.
Harris, J. W.: 1983, Syllable Structure and Stress in Spanish: A Nonlinear Analysis, MIT Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Hayes, B.: 1980, A Metrical Theory of Stress Rules, Ph.D. dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Published 1985, by Garland Publishers, New York.
—: 1982, ‘Extrametricality and English Stress’, Linguistic Inquiry 13, 227–76.
—: 1986, ‘Inalterability in CV Phonology’, Language 62, 321–51.
—: 1987, ‘A Revised Metrical Theory’, Proceedings of NELS 17, 274–89.
--: 1988, ‘Compensatory Lengthening in Moraic Phonology’, to appear in Linguistic Inquiry.
Hooper, J. B.: 1972, ‘The Syllable in Phonological Theory’, Language 48, 525–40.
—: 1976, An Introduction to Natural Generative Phonology, Academic Press, New York.
Hyman, L. M.: 1984, ‘On the Weightlessness of Syllable Onsets’, Proceedings of BLS 10, 1–14, University of California, Berkeley.
—: 1985, A Theory of Phonological Weight, Foris Publications, Dordrecht.
Itô, J.: 1986, Syllable Theory in Prosodic Phonology, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Published 1988, by Garland Publishers, New York.
Jenner, P. N., L. C. Thompson and S. Starosta: 1976, Austroasiatic Studies, Part I, University Press of Hawaii, Honolulu.
Kahn, D.: 1976, Syllable-based Generalizations in English Phonology, Ph.D. dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, Published 1980, by Garland Publishers, New York.
Kaye, J. and J. Lowenstamm: 1984, ‘De la syllabicité’, in F. Dell et al. (eds.), Forme sonore du langage, Hermann, Paris, pp. 123–61.
Kenstowicz, M.: 1981, ‘The Metrical Structure of Arabic Accent’, presented at the UCLA-USC Lake Arrowhead Conference on Phonological Theory, manuscript, University of Illinois, Champaign.
—: 1987, ‘Notes on Syllable Structure in Three Arabic Dialects’, Revue québécoise de linguistique 16, 101–28.
Kenstowicz, M., Y. Bader and R. Benkeddache: 1982, ‘The Phonology of State in Kabyle Berber’, manuscript, University of Illinois, Champaign.
Kidda, M.: 1985, Tangale Phonology: a Descriptive Analysis, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Illinois, Champaign.
Kiparsky, P.: 1979, ‘Metrical Structure Assignment is Cyclic’, Linguistic Inquiry 10, 421–41.
—: 1982, ‘Lexical Phonology and Morphology’, in I. S. Yang (ed.), Linguistics in the Morning Calm, Linguistic Society of Korea, Hanshin, Seoul.
--: 1984, ‘On the Lexical Phonology of Icelandic’, Nordic Prosody III, Elert et al. (eds.), University of Umea, pp. 135–60.
—: 1985, ‘Some Consequences of Lexical Phonology’, in C. J. Ewen and J. M. Anderson (eds.), Phonology Yearbook 2, 85–138.
Kisseberth, C.: 1970, ‘On the Functional Unity of Phonological Rules’, Linguistic Inquiry, 1, 291–306.
Kuryłowicz, J.: 1948, ‘Contribution a l'etude de la syllabe’, Esquisses Linguistiques, Ossolineum, Warsaw.
Lapointe, S. and M. Feinstein: 1982, ‘The Role of Vowel Deletion and Epenthesis in the Assignment of Syllable Structure’, in H. van der Hulst and N. Smith (eds.), pp. 69–120.
Levin, J.: 1985, A Metrical Theory of Syllabicity, Ph.D. dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
—: 1988, ‘The Autonomy of the Skeleton: Evidence from Micronesian’, manuscript, University of Texas, Austin.
Liberman, M. and A. Prince: 1977, ‘On Stress and Linguistic Rhythm’, Linguistic Inquiry 8, 249–336.
Lowenstamm, J.: 1981, ‘On the Maximal Cluster Approach to Syllable Structure’, Linguistic Inquiry 12, 575–604.
Marlett, S. A. and J. P. Stemberger: 1983, ‘Empty Consonants in Seri’, Linguistic Inquiry 14, 617–39.
McCarthy, J.: 1979a, ‘Stress and Syllabification’, Linguistic Inquiry 10, 443–66.
—: 1979b, Formal Problems in Semitic Phonology and Morphology, Ph.D. dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts. Published 1985, by Garland Publishers, New York.
—: 1981, ‘A Prosodic Theory of Nonconcatenative Morphology’, Linguistic Inquiry 12, 373–413.
--: 1982, ‘Prosodic Templates, Morphemic Templates, and Morphemic Tier’, in H. van der Hulst and N. Smith (eds.), pp. 191–224.
—: 1983, ‘Ponapean Reduplication’, manuscript, Bell Laboratories, Murray Hill, New Jersey.
—: 1986, ‘OCP Effects: Gemination and Antigemination’, Linguistic Inquiry 17, 207–63.
—: 1988, ‘Feature Geometry and Dependency’, to appear in O. Fujimura (ed.), Articulatory Organization — From Phonology to Speech Signals, S. Karger, Basel.
McCarthy, J. and A. Prince: 1986, ‘Prosodic Morphology’, manuscript. University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and Brandeis University, Waltham.
—: 1987, ‘Quantitative Transfer in Reduplicative and Templatic Morphology’, to appear in Linguistics in the Morning Calm 2 Hanshin, Seoul.
Mester, R. A.: 1986, Studies in Tier Structure, Ph.D. dissertation, University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Published 1988, by Garland Publishers, New York.
Mohanan, K. P.: 1982, Lexical Phonology, Ph.D. dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, published under the title The Theory of Lexical Phonology (1986), D. Reidel, Dordrecht.
Murray, R. W. and T. Vennemann: 1983, ‘Sound Change and Syllable Structure in Germanic Phonology’, Language 59, 514–28.
Myers, S.: 1987, ‘Vowel Shortening in English’, Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 5, 485–518.
Noske, R.: 1985, ‘Syllabification and Syllable Changing Processes in Yawelmani’, in H. van der Hulst and N. Smith (eds.), pp. 335–62.
Payne, D. L.: 1981, The Phonology and Morphology of Axininca Campa, Summer Institute of Linguistics Publications in Linguistics No. 66, University of Texas at Arlington.
Poser, W.: 1984, ‘Hypocoristic Formation in Japanese’, in M. Westcoat et al. (eds.), Proceedings of WCCFL 3, 218–29.
Pulleyblank, D.: 1983, Tone in Lexical Phonology, Ph.D. dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts, published 1986, D. Reidel, Dordrecht.
Prince, A.: 1980, ‘A Metrical Theory for Estonian Quantity’, Linguistic Inquiry 11, 511–62.
—: 1983, ‘Relating to the Grid’, Linguistic Inquiry 14, 19–100.
--: 1984, ‘Phonology with Tiers’, in M. Aronoff and R. Oehrle (eds.), pp. 234–44.
—: 1985, ‘Improving Tree Theory’, Proceedings of BLS 11, 471–490, University of California, Berkeley.
Rehg, K. L. and D. G. Sohl: 1979, Ponapean-English Dictionary, The University Press of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii.
—: 1981, Ponapean Reference Grammar, The University Press of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii.
Sagey, E.: 1986, The Representation of Features and Relations in Non-Linear Phonology, Ph.D. dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
—: 1988, ‘On the Ill-Formedness of Crossing Association Lines’, Linguistic Inquiry 19, 109–18.
Schein B. and D. Steriade: 1986, ‘On Geminates’, Linguistic Inquiry 17, 691–744.
Selkirk, E. O.: 1980, ‘The Role of Prosodic Categories and English Word Stress’, Linguistic Inquiry 11, 563–606.
--: 1981, ‘Epenthesis and Degenerate Syllables in Cairene Arabic’, in H. Borer and Y. Aoun (eds.), pp. 209–32.
--: 1982, ‘The Syllable’, in H. van der Hulst and N. Smith (eds.), pp. 337–84.
--: 1984, ‘On the Major Class Features and Syllable Theory’, in M. Aronoff and R. Oehrle (eds.), pp. 107–36.
Steriade, D.: 1982, Greek Prosodies and the Nature of Syllabification, Ph.D. dissertation, MIT, Cambridge, Massachusetts.
—: 1982, ‘Glides and Vowels in Rumanian’, Proceedings of BLS 10, 47–64, University of California, Berkeley.
—: 1988, ‘Review Article, Clements & Keyser: CV Phonology’, Language 64, 118–29.
ter Mors, C.: 1985, ‘Empty V-Nodes and their Role in the Klamath Vowel Alternation’, in H. van der Hulst and N. Smith (eds.), pp. 313–34.
van der Hulst, H. and N. Smith: 1982, ‘An Overview of Autosegmental and Metrical Phonology’, in H. van der Hulst and N. Smith (eds.), pp. 1–46.
van der Hulst, H. and N. Smith (eds.): 1982, The Structure PHonological Representations, Foris, Dordrecht.
— 1985, Advances in Nonlinear Phonology, Foris, Dordrecht.
Vennemann, T.: 1972, ‘On the Theory of Syllabic Phonology’, Linguistische Berichte 18, 1–18.
Wilkinson, K.: 1988, ‘Prosodic Structure and Lardil Phonology’, Linguistic Inquiry 19, 325–34.
Yip, M.: 1988, ‘The Obligatory Contour Principle and Phonological Rules: A Loss of Identity’, Linguistic Inquiry 19, 65–100.
Younes, R.: 1983, ‘The Representation of Geminate Consonants’, manuscript, University of Texas, Austin.
Zec, D.: 1988, ‘Bulgarian Schwa Epenthesis: A Case for Moraic Structure’, Proceedings of NELS 18, 553–66.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
This is a substantially revised version of portions of Itô (1986). I hope to have made clear in the text my debt to earlier work as well as to the suggestions by John McCarthy, Armin Mester, and Alan Prince. Many of their ideas were incorporated into this article both directly and indirectly. Thanks also to Mark Feinstein and Lisa Selkirk for valuable discussions, and to Mike Hammond, Mike Kenstowicz, Paul Kiparsky, Juliette Levin, John Moore, Doug Pulleyblank, Moira Yip, and two NLLT reviewers for helpful comments. Earlier versions have been presented in talks given at Cornell University, UC/Santa Cruz, and Stanford University. This research was supported in part by faculty research grants funded by the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Itô, J. A prosodic theory of epenthesis. Nat Lang Linguist Theory 7, 217–259 (1989). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00138077
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00138077