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ROA:333
Title:Tone and Prominence
Authors:Paul de Lacy
Comment:
Length:62
Abstract:Tone and Prominence



Paul de Lacy

University of Massachusetts, Amherst





There is a well-established relationship between tone and

metrically prominent positions: metrically prominent

positions attract high tone, and high toned moras attract

metrical prominence.



The empirical aim of this paper is to show that the converse

is also true: there is an attraction between lower tone and

metrically non-prominent positions. In addition, it is argued

that these attractions hold at every prosodic level, from

the mora to the Intonational Phrase.



The theoretical aim of this paper is to provide a mechanism

to account for tone-prominence interactions. Crucial to

this proposal is the Designated Terminal Element of

Liberman & Prince (1977). When combined with the elements

of a tonal prominence scale, sets of constraints in fixed

rankings are produced. Various rankings of these constraints

with respect to stress- and tone-placement constraints produce

the variety of attested tone-prominence interactions.



To justify both the empirical and theoretical claims of this

paper, the relation between tone and stress in three Mixtec

dialects - Ayutla, Molinos, and Huajuapan - is examined.

Conditions of adequacy on theories of prominence-driven

stress are also considered.
Type:Paper/tech report
Area/Keywords:Phonology
Article:Version 1