This dissertation explores the relationship between English phonotactics – sequential dependencies between adjacent segments – and the metrical parse, which relies on the division of words into syllables. Most current theories of syllabification operate under the assumption that the phonotactic restrictions which co-determine syllable boundaries are constrained by word edges. For example, a syllable can never begin with a consonant sequence that is not also attested as a word onset. This view of phonotactics as categorical is outdated: for several decades now, psycholinguistic research employing monosyllables has shown that phonotactic knowledge is gradient, and that this gradience is projected from the lexicon and possibly also based on differences in sonority among consonants located at word margins. This dissertation is an attempt to reconcile syllabification theory with this modern view of phonotactics. In what follows, I propose and defend a gradient metrical parsing model which assigns English syllable boundaries as a probabilistic function of the well-formedness relations that obtain between potential syllable onsets and offsets. I argue that this well-formedness is subserved by the same sources already established in the phonotactic literature: probabilistic generalizations over the word edges as well as sonority. In support of my proposal, I provide experimental evidence from five sources: (1) a pseudoword hyphenation experiment, (2) a reanalysis of a well-known, large-scale hyphenation study using real English words, (3) a forced-choice preference task employing nonwords presented as minimal stress pairs, (4) an online stress assignment experiment, and (5) a study of the speech errors committed by the participants of (4). The results of all studies converge in support of the gradient parsing model and correlate significantly with each other. Subsequent computer simulations suggest that the gradient model is preferred to the categorical alternative throughout all stages of lexical acquisition. This dissertation contains co-authored material accepted for publication.

This study is a synchronic derivational analysis of phonological phenomena in three dialects of Sudanese Arabic. Its main goal is to provide a unified prosodic account of syncope and of the phonological processes functioning as strategies of repairing unsyllabified segments in the dialects of Urban Central Sudanese Arabic, Shukriiya, and Hamar. The domains of these processes are argued to follow from the degree of restriction that dialects place on word-level and phrase-level syllabification. To this end, the study proposes an analysis of syllabification in the three dialects that identifies the degree to which word-level syllabification is exhaustive, the segments that may be marked extrasyllabic and the conditions regulating their extrasyllabic status, the phrasal level at which these segments must be syllabified, and the level at which alteration to syllable structure is disallowed. In identifying the degrees of restriction dialects place on syllabification and resyllabification, the analysis provides a principled explanation for the levels of repair of unsyllabified segments as well as the domains of syncope. The study also provides an analysis of word stress and an analysis of phonological phrase formation. By revealing and accounting for the interesting phonological patterns attested in these dialects, the study aims to contribute to the area of Arabic phonology in general and to research on the typology of Arabic dialects in particular. In addition to the analyses proposed, its substantial contribution in this regard is a significant body of original data that is being analysed for the first time. With respect to dialects of Sudanese Arabic, the study represents a new direction of enquiry, one that seeks to disentangle their respective grammars and reveal the interesting ways in which they pattern alike and diverge.

This paper offers a short report on an Optimality Theoretic analysis of the syllabification of single intervocalic consonants in the Arabic dialect of Sakaka city. This study aimed at investigating how intervocalic consonants of different sonority profiles are treated in the dialect of Sakaka City. Thirty monolingual male participants were recruited voluntarily in this study. Participants’ judgments were elicited using a metalinguistic word blending task with pairs of disyllabic nonwords of the structure ꞌCVCVC + ꞌCVCVC, where stress was on the first syllable only throughout the data. All phonemes involved in this structure are in conformity with Arabic phonotactics. In addition, the intervocalic consonants under examination belonged to four sonority levels; glides ([j] and [w]), liquids ([r] and [l]), nasals ([m] and [n]) and obstruents ([s] and [b]). The low vowel [a] was the only vowel used in this structure. Unlike many works of this nature, ambisyllabicity and word minimality effects were blocked in this complete word task. Although the investigation shed light on several important universal rules of syllabification, sonority profile of intervocalic consonants was the overriding preference in this blending task. That is, glides, liquids and nasals were parsed in coda position by the majority of participants whereas obstruents were parsed in onset position. However, the effects of other universal principles of syllabification such as Maximal Onset Principle and stress placement were minimized. The study concluded that the Split Margin Hierarchy adopted showed a strong preference for coda parse with high sonority consonants and onset parse with low sonority ones, thus adding further support to the abstractness of the syllable as a higher prosodic constituent and the discreteness of phonemes in the human speech stream. Keywords: Arabic dialect, Sakaka city, Optimality Theory, intervocalic consonants, nonwords, ambisyllabicity, minimality effects, Split Margin Hierarchy, sonority, Maximal Onset Principle, stress, syllable, speech stream.

Neste trabalho, buscamos observar como os vocoides altos se comportam, no que diz respeito à silabificação e à atribuição do acento, em português brasileiro (PB). O termo “vocoide” é aqui empregado para designar um segmento subjacente que pode se realizar como vogal ou como glide. Nosso objetivo, então, é o de verificar em que contextos a realização se dará com uma ou com outro. Para a análise que tem como pressuposto teórico a Teoria de Otimidade (Prince e Smolensky (1993), McCarthy e Prince (1993b)), tomamos como ponto de partida as hipóteses de que o glide pós-vocálico localiza-se na coda silábica, enquanto o glide pré-vocálico forma núcleo complexo com a vogal seguinte. O principal argumento para a primeira hipótese é o fato de que o glide não coocorre com um (outro) segmento em coda. Fundamentando a segunda hipótese, há o fato de que o glide pré-vocálico possui um papel a desempenhar na atribuição do acento, uma vez que não existem palavras em PB nas quais o acento “pula” uma sílaba constituída por ditongo crescente na penúltima posição (*ídioma). Em uma análise não derivacional, não é possível interpretar tal ausência como consequência do fato de que, em uma etapa anterior de silabificação, o vocoide alto ocupa a posição de núcleo, o que significa que o acento não pode incidir em uma sílaba à sua esquerda, pois estaria sendo violada a restrição da “janela de três sílabas”. Propomos, então, um ranqueamento que dá conta das diferentes estruturas silábicas de vogal mais glide pós-vocálico e de glide pré-vocálico mais vogal. No que diz respeito à atribuição do acento, foi possível observar que, de maneira geral, o vocoide alto só receberá acento se for acentuado no input. Se o acento não estiver presente no input ou se outro segmento receber acento no input, haverá uma preferência pela realização do vocoide alto como glide, uma vez que tal realização permite a satisfação simultânea das restrições relativas à silabificação e à atribuição do acento. / In this work, we aim to analyze the way high vocoids behave in relation to syllabification and stress assignment in Brazilian Portuguese (BP). The term “vocoid” is used here to express a subjacent segment that can surface as vowel or glide. Our objective is to verify in which contexts will surface one or the other. Based on Optimality Theory (Prince and Smolensky (1993), McCarthy and Prince (1993b)), we take as starting point the hypothesis that the postvocalic glide is placed in the syllabic coda whereas the prevocalic glide forms a complex nucleus with the following vowel. In relation to the first hypothesis, the main argument refers to the fact that the glide does not co-occur with another coda segment. Concerning the second hypothesis, our argument refers to the fact that the prevocalic glide has to play a role in the stress assignment, since there are not words in BP in which the stress “jumps” a syllable constituted by rising diphthong in the penultimate position (*ídioma). In a non-derivational analysis, it is not possible to interpret this absence as a consequence of an anterior stage of syllabification, where the high vocoid was placed in the nucleus position, and stress placement on a syllable on its left would mean a “three syllable window” violation. Therefore, we propose a ranking that deals with the different syllabic structures of vowel plus postvocalic glide and prevocalic glide plus vowel. In relation to stress assignment, in a general way, we observed that the high vocoid will be stressed only if it is stressed in the input. If the stress is not present in the input or if other segment is stressed in the input, there will be a preference for the realization of a high vocoid as glide, since this realization allows a simultaneous satisfaction of the constraints relating to syllabification and to stress assignment.

Neste trabalho, buscamos observar como os vocoides altos se comportam, no que diz respeito à silabificação e à atribuição do acento, em português brasileiro (PB). O termo “vocoide” é aqui empregado para designar um segmento subjacente que pode se realizar como vogal ou como glide. Nosso objetivo, então, é o de verificar em que contextos a realização se dará com uma ou com outro. Para a análise que tem como pressuposto teórico a Teoria de Otimidade (Prince e Smolensky (1993), McCarthy e Prince (1993b)), tomamos como ponto de partida as hipóteses de que o glide pós-vocálico localiza-se na coda silábica, enquanto o glide pré-vocálico forma núcleo complexo com a vogal seguinte. O principal argumento para a primeira hipótese é o fato de que o glide não coocorre com um (outro) segmento em coda. Fundamentando a segunda hipótese, há o fato de que o glide pré-vocálico possui um papel a desempenhar na atribuição do acento, uma vez que não existem palavras em PB nas quais o acento “pula” uma sílaba constituída por ditongo crescente na penúltima posição (*ídioma). Em uma análise não derivacional, não é possível interpretar tal ausência como consequência do fato de que, em uma etapa anterior de silabificação, o vocoide alto ocupa a posição de núcleo, o que significa que o acento não pode incidir em uma sílaba à sua esquerda, pois estaria sendo violada a restrição da “janela de três sílabas”. Propomos, então, um ranqueamento que dá conta das diferentes estruturas silábicas de vogal mais glide pós-vocálico e de glide pré-vocálico mais vogal. No que diz respeito à atribuição do acento, foi possível observar que, de maneira geral, o vocoide alto só receberá acento se for acentuado no input. Se o acento não estiver presente no input ou se outro segmento receber acento no input, haverá uma preferência pela realização do vocoide alto como glide, uma vez que tal realização permite a satisfação simultânea das restrições relativas à silabificação e à atribuição do acento. / In this work, we aim to analyze the way high vocoids behave in relation to syllabification and stress assignment in Brazilian Portuguese (BP). The term “vocoid” is used here to express a subjacent segment that can surface as vowel or glide. Our objective is to verify in which contexts will surface one or the other. Based on Optimality Theory (Prince and Smolensky (1993), McCarthy and Prince (1993b)), we take as starting point the hypothesis that the postvocalic glide is placed in the syllabic coda whereas the prevocalic glide forms a complex nucleus with the following vowel. In relation to the first hypothesis, the main argument refers to the fact that the glide does not co-occur with another coda segment. Concerning the second hypothesis, our argument refers to the fact that the prevocalic glide has to play a role in the stress assignment, since there are not words in BP in which the stress “jumps” a syllable constituted by rising diphthong in the penultimate position (*ídioma). In a non-derivational analysis, it is not possible to interpret this absence as a consequence of an anterior stage of syllabification, where the high vocoid was placed in the nucleus position, and stress placement on a syllable on its left would mean a “three syllable window” violation. Therefore, we propose a ranking that deals with the different syllabic structures of vowel plus postvocalic glide and prevocalic glide plus vowel. In relation to stress assignment, in a general way, we observed that the high vocoid will be stressed only if it is stressed in the input. If the stress is not present in the input or if other segment is stressed in the input, there will be a preference for the realization of a high vocoid as glide, since this realization allows a simultaneous satisfaction of the constraints relating to syllabification and to stress assignment.

Neste trabalho, buscamos observar como os vocoides altos se comportam, no que diz respeito à silabificação e à atribuição do acento, em português brasileiro (PB). O termo “vocoide” é aqui empregado para designar um segmento subjacente que pode se realizar como vogal ou como glide. Nosso objetivo, então, é o de verificar em que contextos a realização se dará com uma ou com outro. Para a análise que tem como pressuposto teórico a Teoria de Otimidade (Prince e Smolensky (1993), McCarthy e Prince (1993b)), tomamos como ponto de partida as hipóteses de que o glide pós-vocálico localiza-se na coda silábica, enquanto o glide pré-vocálico forma núcleo complexo com a vogal seguinte. O principal argumento para a primeira hipótese é o fato de que o glide não coocorre com um (outro) segmento em coda. Fundamentando a segunda hipótese, há o fato de que o glide pré-vocálico possui um papel a desempenhar na atribuição do acento, uma vez que não existem palavras em PB nas quais o acento “pula” uma sílaba constituída por ditongo crescente na penúltima posição (*ídioma). Em uma análise não derivacional, não é possível interpretar tal ausência como consequência do fato de que, em uma etapa anterior de silabificação, o vocoide alto ocupa a posição de núcleo, o que significa que o acento não pode incidir em uma sílaba à sua esquerda, pois estaria sendo violada a restrição da “janela de três sílabas”. Propomos, então, um ranqueamento que dá conta das diferentes estruturas silábicas de vogal mais glide pós-vocálico e de glide pré-vocálico mais vogal. No que diz respeito à atribuição do acento, foi possível observar que, de maneira geral, o vocoide alto só receberá acento se for acentuado no input. Se o acento não estiver presente no input ou se outro segmento receber acento no input, haverá uma preferência pela realização do vocoide alto como glide, uma vez que tal realização permite a satisfação simultânea das restrições relativas à silabificação e à atribuição do acento. / In this work, we aim to analyze the way high vocoids behave in relation to syllabification and stress assignment in Brazilian Portuguese (BP). The term “vocoid” is used here to express a subjacent segment that can surface as vowel or glide. Our objective is to verify in which contexts will surface one or the other. Based on Optimality Theory (Prince and Smolensky (1993), McCarthy and Prince (1993b)), we take as starting point the hypothesis that the postvocalic glide is placed in the syllabic coda whereas the prevocalic glide forms a complex nucleus with the following vowel. In relation to the first hypothesis, the main argument refers to the fact that the glide does not co-occur with another coda segment. Concerning the second hypothesis, our argument refers to the fact that the prevocalic glide has to play a role in the stress assignment, since there are not words in BP in which the stress “jumps” a syllable constituted by rising diphthong in the penultimate position (*ídioma). In a non-derivational analysis, it is not possible to interpret this absence as a consequence of an anterior stage of syllabification, where the high vocoid was placed in the nucleus position, and stress placement on a syllable on its left would mean a “three syllable window” violation. Therefore, we propose a ranking that deals with the different syllabic structures of vowel plus postvocalic glide and prevocalic glide plus vowel. In relation to stress assignment, in a general way, we observed that the high vocoid will be stressed only if it is stressed in the input. If the stress is not present in the input or if other segment is stressed in the input, there will be a preference for the realization of a high vocoid as glide, since this realization allows a simultaneous satisfaction of the constraints relating to syllabification and to stress assignment.

William Clarke (1976) and Nathan Greenberg (1980) offer an objective framework for the study of alliteration in Latin poetry. However, their definition of alliteration as word initial sound repetition in a verse is inconsistent with the syllabic nature both of the device itself and also of the metrical structure. The present study reconciles this disparity in the first half of the Aeneid by applying a similar method to syllable initial sound repetition. A chi-square test for goodness-of-fit reveals that the distributions of the voiceless obstruents [p], [t], [k], [k^w], [f], and [s] and the sonorants [m], [n], [l], and [r] differ significantly from a Poisson model. These sounds generally occur twice per verse more often than expected, and three or more times per verse less often than expected. This finding is largely consistent with existing observations about Vergil's style (e.g. Clarke, 1976; Greenberg, 1980; Wilkinson, 1963). The regular association of phonetic features with differences in distribution suggests phonetic motivation for the practice.

This thesis deals with syllable boundaries in Czech and the issue of their determination. The theoretical part discusses the concept of the syllable in terms of both phonetics and phonology, introduces several approaches to syllabification (i.e. division of words into syllables) along with factors that are relevant in syllabification, and it also presents a survey of methods used in syllable boundary investigation. The following chapters describe a series of experiments that are to be a basis for formulating a syllabification model of Czech. The first group of experiments examines the phonetic correlates of syllable affiliation of intervocalic consonants (using electropalatography and temporal parameters). A phonotactic analysis of a spoken and a written corpus follows, in which we computed type and token frequencies of occurrence of word-initial and word-final clusters. The subsequent chapter introduces three behavioural experiments, in which the participants work with words and syllables without explicitly focusing on syllable boundaries (synchronization of syllables with a metronome pulse; syllable permutation; inserting silence into words). The first two experiments examined what phonetic and phonological factors are relevant in the syllabification of Czech words. The aim of the third...

Text in Afrikaans / Summaries in Afrikaans and English / In Afrikaans, soos in NederJands en Duits, word saamgestelde woorde aanmekaar geskryf. Nuwe woorde word dus voortdurend geskep deur woorde aanmekaar te haak Dit bemoeilik die proses van woordafkapping tydens teksprosessering, wat deesdae deur rekenaars gedoen word, aangesien die verwysingsbron gedurig verander. Daar bestaan verskeie afkappingsalgoritmes en tegnieke, maar die resultate is onbevredigend. Afrikaanse woorde met korrekte lettergreepverdeling is net die elektroniese weergawe van die handwoordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal (HAT) onttrek. 'n Neutrale netwerk ( vorentoevoer-terugpropagering) is met sowat. 5 000 van hierdie woorde afgerig. Die neurale netwerk is verfyn deur 'n gcskikte afrigtingsalgoritme en oorfragfunksie vir die probleem asook die optimale aantal verborge lae en aantal neurone in elke laag te bepaal. Die neurale netwerk is met 5 000 nuwe woorde getoets en dit het 97,56% van moontlike posisies korrek as of geldige of ongeldige afkappingsposisies geklassifiseer. Verder is 510 woorde uit tydskrifartikels met die neurale netwerk getoets en 98,75% van moontlike posisies is korrek geklassifiseer. / In Afrikaans, like in Dutch and German, compound words are written as one word. New words are therefore created by simply joining words. Word hyphenation during typesetting by computer is a problem, because the source of reference changes all the time. Several algorithms and techniques for hyphenation exist, but results are not satisfactory. Afrikaans words with correct syllabification were extracted from the electronic version of the Handwoordeboek van die Afrikaans Taal (HAT). A neural network (feedforward backpropagation) was trained with about 5 000 of these words. The neural network was refined by heuristically finding a suitable training algorithm and transfer function for the problem as well as determining the optimal number of layers and number of neurons in each layer. The neural network was tested with 5 000 words not the training data. It classified 97,56% of possible points in these words correctly as either valid or invalid hyphenation points. Furthermore, 510 words from articles in a magazine were tested with the neural network and 98,75% of possible positions were classified correctly. / Computing / M.Sc. (Operasionele Navorsing)

This thesis analyzes the phonological and morphological nativisation of English loans in the Tonga language. The contact situation between English and Tonga, in Zimbabwe, facilitates transference of lexical items between the two languages. From having been one of the most widely used languages of the world, English has developed into the most influential donor of words to other languages such as Tonga. The infiltration of English words into the Tonga lexical inventory led to the adoption and subsequent nativisation of English words by the native Tonga speakers. The main deposit of English words into Tonga is the direct interaction between English and Tonga speakers. However, it is sometimes via other languages like Shona, Ndebele, Venda and Shangani. In the 21st century, English’s contribution to the vocabulary of Tonga became more widely spread, now covering a large proportion of the Tonga language’s lexical inventory. The fact that English is the medium of instruction, in Zimbabwe, language of technology, education, media, new administration, health, music, new religion and economic transactions means that it is regarded as the high variety language with coercive loaning powers. Words from English are then adopted and nativised in the Tonga language, since Tonga asserts itself an independent language that can handle loans on its own. The main focus of this study therefore, is to try and account for the phonological and morphological behavior and changes that take place in English words that enter into Tonga. Analyzing phonological processes that are employed during nativisation of loan words entails analyzing how Tonga speakers handle aspects of English language such as diphthongs, triphthongs, cluster consonants, CVC syllable structure and sounds in repairing unacceptable sequences in Tonga. The research also accounts for the handling of morphological differences between the two languages. This entails looking at how competence and ordered-rule framework are harmonized by Tonga speakers in repairing conflicting features at morphological level. Since the two languages have different morphological patterns, the research analyzes the repairing strategies to handle singular and plural noun prefixes, tenses and particles, which are morphological components of words. The researcher appreciates that the native Tonga speakers have robust intuitions on the proper way to nativise words. / African Languages / D.Litt. et Phil. (African Languages)