Exploring Metrical Phonology: A Brief Overview

 
Metrical Stress Theory
 
Julie Nelson, Cailey Moe, and Trang Nguyen
 
Metrical phonology is...
 
...a group of subtheories of generative
phonology which attempt to categorize
stress and stress rules.
 
...differs from generative phonology in that
it does not treat stress as a segmental
feature pertaining specifically to vowels.
 
...organizes stress into rhythmic hierarchies.
 
 
These are the faces of metrical phonology!
 
a brief history...
 
...metrical stress theory was a response to Chomsky &
Halle's (1968) proposal of a linear analysis that stress is
segmental.
...Liberman (1975) created the theory in his
doctoral dissertation
...other major contributions: Liberman & Prince
(1977), Halle and Vergnaud (1978), Hayes (1981,1984,
1995)
 
a brief history...
 
...it can be considered a sort of sister
theory to auto-segmental theory
 
...its authors sought to provide alternatives
to generative theory such as rule variables
 
...another way to represent stress in
stress languages at the same time denoting
its hierarchical characteristics.
 
briefly,generative theories of stress
 
-Generative stress rules are linear and may
be considered too simplistic by some
-Stress is treated as a segmental feature
 
[+stress], [-stress], [1stress], [2stress]
-Doesn't account for the hierarchical and
relational properties of stress
 
A sample stress rule (generative)
 
Penultimate stress (vowel-counting
version)
 
V 
→ [+stress] / ___ C
0
 V C
0
 ]
word
Assign stress to the second-to-last vowel in the word.
 
Building Syllables
 
All syllables have:
 
An onset
: 
"The consonant or sequence of consonants at the
beginning of a syllable"
 
A coda:
 
"The consonant or sequence of consonants at the end of a
syllable"
 
And a 
nucleus:
 
"The vowel or diphthong found at the syllable's
core and functioning as its sonority peak"
 
Syllable Structure
 
 
Syllable Construction
 
When building syllables, first assign the
nucleus!
 
Syllable Construction
 
Next, attach any consonants to the following
syllable:
 
Syllable Construction
 
Finally, if necessary, attach any consonants
not yet syllabified with the preceding
syllable:
 
 
 
In some languages, Onset Formation appears
to be word bounded, like in German:
 
 
Syllable Construction
 
In other languages, like Spanish, Onset
Formation can cross word boundries:
 
 
Syllable Weight
 
Heavy Syllables:
 
End in a consonant (aka 'closed syllable')
 
Have a long vowel or diphthong (aka
'open')
 
Light Syllables:
 
End in a short vowel (open)
 
Syllables that end in a consonant are 
heavy
,
ones that end in a vowel are 
light
.
 
Generative Representation of
Heavy/Light Syllabification
 
 
More about syllables...
 
Every syllable must have a nucleus.
Depending on the language, onset and coda
are not required.
 
Arabic:Every syllable must have an onset
 
Samoan: codas are illegal
 
Metrical Theories of Stress
 
A summary of the typological properties of stress:
Culminativity
:
Every content word has to have at least 1 stressed syllable
In every word or phrase there is one syllable which is stronger than the
rest
Stress is not usually assigned on grammatical words
Rhythmic distribution:
Syllables bearing stress tend to occur in roughly equal distances
Stress Hierarchies:
Some stresses are stronger than others within a word or phrase boundary
(primary, secondary, tertiary stresses, etc.)
Non-assimilation
Stress doesn't assimilate like sound features like [round] or [front] do
 
 
Metrical representations of stress
 
1. Metrical tree 
(Liberman 1975, Liberman & Prince 1977,
Hayes 1984)
 
 
 
 
 
 
Metrical trees usually have a similar format to syntactic trees
 
Metrical Representations of Stress
2.  Metrical Grid (Liberman & Prince, 1977)
Primary stress
 
Secondary stress  
syllable
 
             
  
=>
 
3.  Bracketed Grid (Halle & Vergnaud, 1987)
 
 
 
Grids, continued
 
Grids are ways to represent certain stress
phenomena:
 
 
 
 
Grids, continued
 
Grids roughly correspond to the categorical
levels of stress
 
 
 
 
 
 
In this way, they convey similar information
to what can be found on trees
 
Parameters of Stress
Representation
 
1. Foot Boundedness
 
2. Foot Dominance
 
3. Quantity-sensitivity
 
4. Directionality vs Iterativity
 
 
1. Boundedness
 
Motivated by 
culminativity 
and 
exhaustivity
.
Culminativity
: 
Every content word must have at
least one stress.
Exhaustivity
: 
Every syllable has to be organized
into feet.
Bounded feet
 
can have no more than 2 syllables
(feet are binary or degenerate at the syllabic level of
analysis).
Unbounded feet
 can have any number of
syllables.
Words with an odd number of syllables begin or end
with a degenerate foot.
 
1. Boundedness
 
 
 
 
Ex: 
What types of foot are these?
 
2.  Foot Dominance
 
Left dominance:
left nodes of feet are stressed
Feet are trochaic (a)
Ex: 'problem, ('holi)day,
('alter)('nation)
'what a ('failure)
Right dominance:
Right nodes of feet are stressed
 
Feet are iambic (b)
 
Ex: re'port,
  
(com'puter)
  
(ex'treme)mity
(My 'head) (was 'hot)
 
3. Quantity Sensitivity (Q-sensitivity)
 
Syllable weight influences how stress feet are assigned.
Q-sensitive 
language: heavy syllables get stressed.
 
English is Q-sensitive:
 
Light penult: stress goes to preceding syllable.
Ex: 'Canada, 'metrical, 'visible, 'ultimate
 
Heavy penult: gets the stress
   
Ex: A'genda, ho'rizon, de'cided, 'mango
 
Q-determined 
(Obligatory Branching): means Q-sensitive,
but with the extra requirement that the dominant syllable node
be heavy.
 
 
3. Quantity Sensitivity (Q-
sensitivity)
 
Q-insensitive
 language
: 
heavy syllables may occur in
stressless position. Another way of understanding: syllables
are treated as having equal weight.
 
French is Q-insensitive. Examples anyone?
 
4. Directionality vs Iterativity
 
Directionality: 
The assignment of feet starts from the left
and goes right or vice-versa
English likes right-to-left, trochaic foot formation.
Ex: restoration => resto('ration) => ('resto)('ration)
Iterativity
Iterativity (bidirectionality): assign a foot at one edge, then
go to the other edge and assign feet iteratively.
Ex: Piro language
 
 
 
Non-iterativity: other cases (words have one single foot at
the edge. Ex: monosyllable or bi-syllable words)
 
 
 
Extrametricality
 
[X] does not conform to metrical rules &
occurs at peripheral locations.
 
Ex:
 
why is it as'paragus
  
 
 
but not ('aspa)('ragus)
 
'gus' is extrametrical --> poor thing gets a
degenerate foot (exhaustivity)
 
Tree construction is right to left and trochaic:
  
    *
 *  *  *  *
  
 *  *  * < * > 
 
    *  (*    *)< * >
asparagus => aspara<gus> => as('para)(gus)
 
More examples: ('visi)('bili)ty, re('peti)tive,
 
The future of metrical phonology
 
Can regularities be accounted for by
transformational rules or by output
constraints?
 
How does prominence in syllables affect
stress in syllables?
 
Research in languages with ternary rhythm.
 
Sources
 
Hammond, M. (1995)  Metrical Phonology.  
Annual Review of Anthropology
24
 (pp. 313-342)
Hayes, B. (1995).  
Metrical stress theory: Principals and case studies.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press
Hayes, B. (2009)  Introductory Phonology.  Wiley-Blackwell Publishing: West
Sussex, UK.
Hogg, R. & McCully, C.B. (1987) Metrical Phonology: A Coursebook.
University of Cambridge Publishing: New York, NY.
Kager, R. (1995)  The metrical theory of word stress.  In 
The handbook of
phonology
, Goldsmith, J (ed.) (pp. 367-402) Blackwell Publishing: Cambridge,
MA
McCarthy, J. & Hayes, B. (2003)  Metrical phonology.  Linguistics department
faculty publication series.  University of Massachusetts Publishing.  Retrieved
from:
http://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=linguist_faculty_pubs
Metrical Phonology. (n.d)  Wikipedia.  Retrieved from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrical_phonology
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Metrical phonology, a subtheory of generative phonology, focuses on categorizing stress and stress rules within rhythmic hierarchies. It differs from generative phonology by not treating stress as a segmental feature specific to vowels. Originating from Halle's linear analysis, metrical stress theory has evolved through key contributions and aims to provide an alternative approach to representing stress, emphasizing its hierarchical characteristics. This overview also contrasts generative theories of stress with metrical phonology's approach to stress rules and syllable structure.


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  1. Metrical Stress Theory Julie Nelson, Cailey Moe, and Trang Nguyen

  2. Metrical phonology is... ...a group of subtheories of generative phonology which attempt to categorize stress and stress rules. ...differs from generative phonology in that it does not treat stress as a segmental feature pertaining specifically to vowels. ...organizes stress into rhythmic hierarchies.

  3. These are the faces of metrical phonology!

  4. a brief history... Halle's (1968) proposal of a linear analysis that stress is segmental. ...Liberman (1975) created the theory in his doctoral dissertation ...other major contributions: Liberman & Prince (1977), Halle and Vergnaud (1978), Hayes (1981,1984, 1995) ...metrical stress theory was a response to Chomsky &

  5. a brief history... ...it can be considered a sort of sister theory to auto-segmental theory ...its authors sought to provide alternatives to generative theory such as rule variables ...another way to represent stress in stress languages at the same time denoting its hierarchical characteristics.

  6. briefly,generative theories of stress -Generative stress rules are linear and may be considered too simplistic by some -Stress is treated as a segmental feature [+stress], [-stress], [1stress], [2stress] -Doesn't account for the hierarchical and relational properties of stress

  7. A sample stress rule (generative) Penultimate stress (vowel-counting version) V [+stress] / ___ C0 V C0 ]word Assign stress to the second-to-last vowel in the word.

  8. Building Syllables All syllables have: beginning of a syllable" syllable" core and functioning as its sonority peak" An onset: "The consonant or sequence of consonants at the A coda:"The consonant or sequence of consonants at the end of a And a nucleus:"The vowel or diphthong found at the syllable's

  9. Syllable Structure

  10. Syllable Construction When building syllables, first assign the nucleus!

  11. Syllable Construction Next, attach any consonants to the following syllable:

  12. Syllable Construction Finally, if necessary, attach any consonants not yet syllabified with the preceding syllable:

  13. In some languages, Onset Formation appears to be word bounded, like in German:

  14. Syllable Construction In other languages, like Spanish, Onset Formation can cross word boundries:

  15. Syllable Weight Heavy Syllables: End in a consonant (aka 'closed syllable') Have a long vowel or diphthong (aka 'open') Light Syllables: End in a short vowel (open) Syllables that end in a consonant are heavy, ones that end in a vowel are light.

  16. Generative Representation of Heavy/Light Syllabification

  17. More about syllables... Every syllable must have a nucleus. Depending on the language, onset and coda are not required. Arabic:Every syllable must have an onset Samoan: codas are illegal

  18. Metrical Theories of Stress A summary of the typological properties of stress: Culminativity: Every content word has to have at least 1 stressed syllable In every word or phrase there is one syllable which is stronger than the rest Stress is not usually assigned on grammatical words Rhythmic distribution: Syllables bearing stress tend to occur in roughly equal distances Stress Hierarchies: Some stresses are stronger than others within a word or phrase boundary (primary, secondary, tertiary stresses, etc.) Non-assimilation Stress doesn't assimilate like sound features like [round] or [front] do

  19. Metrical representations of stress 1. Metrical tree (Liberman 1975, Liberman & Prince 1977, Hayes 1984) Metrical trees usually have a similar format to syntactic trees

  20. Metrical Representations of Stress 2. Metrical Grid (Liberman & Prince, 1977) Primary stress Secondary stress syllable => 3. Bracketed Grid (Halle & Vergnaud, 1987)

  21. Grids, continued Grids are ways to represent certain stress phenomena:

  22. Grids, continued Grids roughly correspond to the categorical levels of stress In this way, they convey similar information to what can be found on trees

  23. Parameters of Stress Representation 1. Foot Boundedness 2. Foot Dominance 3. Quantity-sensitivity 4. Directionality vs Iterativity

  24. 1. Boundedness Motivated by culminativity and exhaustivity. Culminativity: Every content word must have at least one stress. Exhaustivity: Every syllable has to be organized into feet. Bounded feetcan have no more than 2 syllables (feet are binary or degenerate at the syllabic level of analysis). Unbounded feet can have any number of syllables. Words with an odd number of syllables begin or end with a degenerate foot.

  25. 1. Boundedness Ex: What types of foot are these?

  26. 2. Foot Dominance Left dominance: left nodes of feet are stressed Feet are trochaic (a) Ex: 'problem, ('holi)day, ('alter)('nation) 'what a ('failure) Right dominance: Right nodes of feet are stressed Feet are iambic (b) Ex: re'port, (com'puter) (ex'treme)mity (My 'head) (was 'hot)

  27. 3. Quantity Sensitivity (Q-sensitivity) Syllable weight influences how stress feet are assigned. Q-sensitive language: heavy syllables get stressed. English is Q-sensitive: Light penult: stress goes to preceding syllable. Ex: 'Canada, 'metrical, 'visible, 'ultimate Heavy penult: gets the stress Ex: A'genda, ho'rizon, de'cided, 'mango Q-determined (Obligatory Branching): means Q-sensitive, but with the extra requirement that the dominant syllable node be heavy.

  28. 3. Quantity Sensitivity (Q- sensitivity) Q-insensitive language: heavy syllables may occur in stressless position. Another way of understanding: syllables are treated as having equal weight. French is Q-insensitive. Examples anyone?

  29. 4. Directionality vs Iterativity Directionality: The assignment of feet starts from the left and goes right or vice-versa English likes right-to-left, trochaic foot formation. Ex: restoration => resto('ration) => ('resto)('ration) Iterativity Iterativity (bidirectionality): assign a foot at one edge, then go to the other edge and assign feet iteratively. Ex: Piro language the edge. Ex: monosyllable or bi-syllable words) Non-iterativity: other cases (words have one single foot at

  30. Extrametricality [X] does not conform to metrical rules & occurs at peripheral locations. Ex: why is it as'paragus but not ('aspa)('ragus) 'gus' is extrametrical --> poor thing gets a degenerate foot (exhaustivity) Tree construction is right to left and trochaic: * * * * * * * * < * > * (* *)< * > asparagus => aspara<gus> => as('para)(gus) More examples: ('visi)('bili)ty, re('peti)tive,

  31. The future of metrical phonology Can regularities be accounted for by transformational rules or by output constraints? How does prominence in syllables affect stress in syllables? Research in languages with ternary rhythm.

  32. Sources Hammond, M. (1995) Metrical Phonology. Annual Review of Anthropology 24 (pp. 313-342) Hayes, B. (1995). Metrical stress theory: Principals and case studies. Chicago: University of Chicago Press Hayes, B. (2009) Introductory Phonology. Wiley-Blackwell Publishing: West Sussex, UK. Hogg, R. & McCully, C.B. (1987) Metrical Phonology: A Coursebook. University of Cambridge Publishing: New York, NY. Kager, R. (1995) The metrical theory of word stress. In The handbook of phonology, Goldsmith, J (ed.) (pp. 367-402) Blackwell Publishing: Cambridge, MA McCarthy, J. & Hayes, B. (2003) Metrical phonology. Linguistics department faculty publication series. University of Massachusetts Publishing. Retrieved from: http://scholarworks.umass.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1006&context=linguist_faculty_pubs Metrical Phonology. (n.d) Wikipedia. Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrical_phonology

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