- Dutch1
- Frisian
- Saterfrisian
- Afrikaans
-
- Phonology
- Segment inventory
- Phonotactics
- Phonological processes
- Phonology-morphology interface
- Word stress
- Primary stress in simplex words
- Monomorphemic words
- Diachronic aspects
- Generalizations on stress placement
- Default penultimate stress
- Lexical stress
- The closed penult restriction
- Final closed syllables
- The diphthong restriction
- Superheavy syllables (SHS)
- The three-syllable window
- Segmental restrictions
- Phonetic correlates
- Stress shifts in loanwords
- Quantity-sensitivity
- Secondary stress
- Vowel reduction in unstressed syllables
- Stress in complex words
- Primary stress in simplex words
- Accent & intonation
- Clitics
- Spelling
- Morphology
- Word formation
- Compounding
- Nominal compounds
- Verbal compounds
- Adjectival compounds
- Affixoids
- Coordinative compounds
- Synthetic compounds
- Reduplicative compounds
- Phrase-based compounds
- Elative compounds
- Exocentric compounds
- Linking elements
- Separable complex verbs (SCVs)
- Gapping of complex words
- Particle verbs
- Copulative compounds
- Derivation
- Numerals
- Derivation: inputs and input restrictions
- The meaning of affixes
- Non-native morphology
- Cohering and non-cohering affixes
- Prefixation
- Suffixation
- Nominal suffixation: person nouns
- Conversion
- Pseudo-participles
- Bound forms
- Nouns
- Nominal prefixes
- Nominal suffixes
- -aal and -eel
- -aar
- -aard
- -aat
- -air
- -aris
- -ast
- Diminutives
- -dom
- -een
- -ees
- -el (nominal)
- -elaar
- -enis
- -er (nominal)
- -erd
- -erik
- -es
- -eur
- -euse
- ge...te
- -heid
- -iaan, -aan
- -ief
- -iek
- -ier
- -ier (French)
- -ière
- -iet
- -igheid
- -ij and allomorphs
- -ijn
- -in
- -ing
- -isme
- -ist
- -iteit
- -ling
- -oir
- -oot
- -rice
- -schap
- -schap (de)
- -schap (het)
- -sel
- -st
- -ster
- -t
- -tal
- -te
- -voud
- Verbs
- Adjectives
- Adverbs
- Univerbation
- Neo-classical word formation
- Construction-dependent morphology
- Morphological productivity
- Compounding
- Inflection
- Inflection and derivation
- Allomorphy
- The interface between phonology and morphology
- Word formation
- Syntax
- Preface and acknowledgements
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
- 1 Characterization and classification
- 2 Projection of verb phrases I:Argument structure
- 3 Projection of verb phrases II:Verb frame alternations
- Introduction
- 3.1. Main types
- 3.2. Alternations involving the external argument
- 3.3. Alternations of noun phrases and PPs
- 3.3.1. Dative/PP alternations (dative shift)
- 3.3.1.1. Dative alternation with aan-phrases (recipients)
- 3.3.1.2. Dative alternation with naar-phrases (goals)
- 3.3.1.3. Dative alternation with van-phrases (sources)
- 3.3.1.4. Dative alternation with bij-phrases (possessors)
- 3.3.1.5. Dative alternation with voor-phrases (benefactives)
- 3.3.1.6. Conclusion
- 3.3.1.7. Bibliographical notes
- 3.3.2. Accusative/PP alternations
- 3.3.3. Nominative/PP alternations
- 3.3.1. Dative/PP alternations (dative shift)
- 3.4. Some apparent cases of verb frame alternation
- 3.5. Bibliographical notes
- 4 Projection of verb phrases IIIa:Selection of clauses/verb phrases
- 5 Projection of verb phrases IIIb:Argument and complementive clauses
- Introduction
- 5.1. Finite argument clauses
- 5.2. Infinitival argument clauses
- 5.3. Complementive clauses
- 6 Projection of verb phrases IIIc:Complements of non-main verbs
- 7 Projection of verb phrases IIId:Verb clusters
- 8 Projection of verb phrases IV: Adverbial modification
- 9 Word order in the clause I:General introduction
- 10 Word order in the clause II:Position of the finite verb (verb-first/second)
- 11 Word order in the clause III:Clause-initial position (wh-movement)
- Introduction
- 11.1. The formation of V1- and V2-clauses
- 11.2. Clause-initial position remains (phonetically) empty
- 11.3. Clause-initial position is filled
- 12 Word order in the clause IV:Postverbal field (extraposition)
- 13 Word order in the clause V: Middle field (scrambling)
- 14 Main-clause external elements
- Nouns and Noun Phrases
- 1 Characterization and classification
- 2 Projection of noun phrases I: complementation
- Introduction
- 2.1. General observations
- 2.2. Prepositional and nominal complements
- 2.3. Clausal complements
- 2.4. Bibliographical notes
- 3 Projection of noun phrases II: modification
- Introduction
- 3.1. Restrictive and non-restrictive modifiers
- 3.2. Premodification
- 3.3. Postmodification
- 3.3.1. Adpositional phrases
- 3.3.2. Relative clauses
- 3.3.3. Infinitival clauses
- 3.3.4. A special case: clauses referring to a proposition
- 3.3.5. Adjectival phrases
- 3.3.6. Adverbial postmodification
- 3.4. Bibliographical notes
- 4 Projection of noun phrases III: binominal constructions
- Introduction
- 4.1. Binominal constructions without a preposition
- 4.2. Binominal constructions with a preposition
- 4.3. Bibliographical notes
- 5 Determiners: articles and pronouns
- Introduction
- 5.1. Articles
- 5.2. Pronouns
- 5.3. Bibliographical notes
- 6 Numerals and quantifiers
- 7 Pre-determiners
- Introduction
- 7.1. The universal quantifier al 'all' and its alternants
- 7.2. The pre-determiner heel 'all/whole'
- 7.3. A note on focus particles
- 7.4. Bibliographical notes
- 8 Syntactic uses of noun phrases
- Adjectives and Adjective Phrases
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- 2 Projection of adjective phrases I: Complementation
- 3 Projection of adjective phrases II: Modification
- 4 Projection of adjective phrases III: Comparison
- 5 Attributive use of the adjective phrase
- 6 Predicative use of the adjective phrase
- 7 The partitive genitive construction
- 8 Adverbial use of the adjective phrase
- 9 Participles and infinitives: their adjectival use
- 10 Special constructions
- Adpositions and adpositional phrases
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- Introduction
- 1.1. Characterization of the category adposition
- 1.2. A formal classification of adpositional phrases
- 1.3. A semantic classification of adpositional phrases
- 1.3.1. Spatial adpositions
- 1.3.2. Temporal adpositions
- 1.3.3. Non-spatial/temporal prepositions
- 1.4. Borderline cases
- 1.5. Bibliographical notes
- 2 Projection of adpositional phrases: Complementation
- 3 Projection of adpositional phrases: Modification
- 4 Syntactic uses of the adpositional phrase
- 5 R-pronominalization and R-words
- 1 Characteristics and classification
- Phonology
-
- General
- Phonology
- Segment inventory
- Phonotactics
- Phonological Processes
- Assimilation
- Vowel nasalization
- Syllabic sonorants
- Final devoicing
- Fake geminates
- Vowel hiatus resolution
- Vowel reduction introduction
- Schwa deletion
- Schwa insertion
- /r/-deletion
- d-insertion
- {s/z}-insertion
- t-deletion
- Intrusive stop formation
- Breaking
- Vowel shortening
- h-deletion
- Replacement of the glide w
- Word stress
- Clitics
- Allomorphy
- Orthography of Frisian
- Morphology
- Inflection
- Word formation
- Derivation
- Prefixation
- Infixation
- Suffixation
- Nominal suffixes
- Verbal suffixes
- Adjectival suffixes
- Adverbial suffixes
- Numeral suffixes
- Interjectional suffixes
- Onomastic suffixes
- Conversion
- Compositions
- Derivation
- Syntax
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Unergative and unaccusative subjects
- Evidentiality
- To-infinitival clauses
- Predication and noun incorporation
- Ellipsis
- Imperativus-pro-Infinitivo
- Expression of irrealis
- Embedded Verb Second
- Agreement
- Negation
- Nouns & Noun Phrases
- Classification
- Complementation
- Modification
- Partitive noun constructions
- Referential partitive constructions
- Partitive measure nouns
- Numeral partitive constructions
- Partitive question constructions
- Nominalised quantifiers
- Kind partitives
- Partitive predication with prepositions
- Bare nominal attributions
- Articles and names
- Pronouns
- Quantifiers and (pre)determiners
- Interrogative pronouns
- R-pronouns
- Syntactic uses
- Adjective Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Complementation
- Modification and degree quantification
- Comparison by degree
- Comparative
- Superlative
- Equative
- Attribution
- Agreement
- Attributive adjectives vs. prenominal elements
- Complex adjectives
- Noun ellipsis
- Co-occurring adjectives
- Predication
- Partitive adjective constructions
- Adverbial use
- Participles and infinitives
- Adposition Phrases
- Characteristics and classification
- Complementation
- Modification
- Intransitive adpositions
- Predication
- Preposition stranding
- Verbs and Verb Phrases
-
- General
- Morphology
- Morphology
- 1 Word formation
- 1.1 Compounding
- 1.1.1 Compounds and their heads
- 1.1.2 Special types of compounds
- 1.1.2.1 Affixoids
- 1.1.2.2 Coordinative compounds
- 1.1.2.3 Synthetic compounds and complex pseudo-participles
- 1.1.2.4 Reduplicative compounds
- 1.1.2.5 Phrase-based compounds
- 1.1.2.6 Elative compounds
- 1.1.2.7 Exocentric compounds
- 1.1.2.8 Linking elements
- 1.1.2.9 Separable Complex Verbs and Particle Verbs
- 1.1.2.10 Noun Incorporation Verbs
- 1.1.2.11 Gapping
- 1.2 Derivation
- 1.3 Minor patterns of word formation
- 1.1 Compounding
- 2 Inflection
- 1 Word formation
- Morphology
- Syntax
- Adjectives and adjective phrases (APs)
- 0 Introduction to the AP
- 1 Characteristics and classification of APs
- 2 Complementation of APs
- 3 Modification and degree quantification of APs
- 4 Comparison by comparative, superlative and equative
- 5 Attribution of APs
- 6 Predication of APs
- 7 The partitive adjective construction
- 8 Adverbial use of APs
- 9 Participles and infinitives as APs
- Nouns and Noun Phrases (NPs)
- 0 Introduction to the NP
- 1 Characteristics and Classification of NPs
- 2 Complementation of NPs
- 3 Modification of NPs
- 3.1 Modification of NP by Determiners and APs
- 3.2 Modification of NP by PP
- 3.3 Modification of NP by adverbial clauses
- 3.4 Modification of NP by possessors
- 3.5 Modification of NP by relative clauses
- 3.6 Modification of NP in a cleft construction
- 3.7 Free relative clauses and selected interrogative clauses
- 4 Partitive noun constructions and constructions related to them
- 4.1 The referential partitive construction
- 4.2 The partitive construction of abstract quantity
- 4.3 The numerical partitive construction
- 4.4 The partitive interrogative construction
- 4.5 Adjectival, nominal and nominalised partitive quantifiers
- 4.6 Kind partitives
- 4.7 Partitive predication with a preposition
- 4.8 Bare nominal attribution
- 5 Articles and names
- 6 Pronouns
- 7 Quantifiers, determiners and predeterminers
- 8 Interrogative pronouns
- 9 R-pronouns and the indefinite expletive
- 10 Syntactic functions of Noun Phrases
- Adpositions and Adpositional Phrases (PPs)
- 0 Introduction to the PP
- 1 Characteristics and classification of PPs
- 2 Complementation of PPs
- 3 Modification of PPs
- 4 Bare (intransitive) adpositions
- 5 Predication of PPs
- 6 Form and distribution of adpositions with respect to staticity and construction type
- 7 Adpositional complements and adverbials
- Verbs and Verb Phrases (VPs)
- 0 Introduction to the VP in Saterland Frisian
- 1 Characteristics and classification of verbs
- 2 Unergative and unaccusative subjects and the auxiliary of the perfect
- 3 Evidentiality in relation to perception and epistemicity
- 4 Types of to-infinitival constituents
- 5 Predication
- 5.1 The auxiliary of being and its selection restrictions
- 5.2 The auxiliary of going and its selection restrictions
- 5.3 The auxiliary of continuation and its selection restrictions
- 5.4 The auxiliary of coming and its selection restrictions
- 5.5 Modal auxiliaries and their selection restrictions
- 5.6 Auxiliaries of body posture and aspect and their selection restrictions
- 5.7 Transitive verbs of predication
- 5.8 The auxiliary of doing used as a semantically empty finite auxiliary
- 5.9 Supplementive predication
- 6 The verbal paradigm, irregularity and suppletion
- 7 Verb Second and the word order in main and embedded clauses
- 8 Various aspects of clause structure
- Adjectives and adjective phrases (APs)
-
- General
- Phonology
- Afrikaans phonology
- Segment inventory
- Overview of Afrikaans vowels
- The diphthongised long vowels /e/, /ø/ and /o/
- The unrounded mid-front vowel /ɛ/
- The unrounded low-central vowel /ɑ/
- The unrounded low-central vowel /a/
- The rounded mid-high back vowel /ɔ/
- The rounded high back vowel /u/
- The rounded and unrounded high front vowels /i/ and /y/
- The unrounded and rounded central vowels /ə/ and /œ/
- The diphthongs /əi/, /œy/ and /œu/
- Overview of Afrikaans consonants
- The bilabial plosives /p/ and /b/
- The alveolar plosives /t/ and /d/
- The velar plosives /k/ and /g/
- The bilabial nasal /m/
- The alveolar nasal /n/
- The velar nasal /ŋ/
- The trill /r/
- The lateral liquid /l/
- The alveolar fricative /s/
- The velar fricative /x/
- The labiodental fricatives /f/ and /v/
- The approximants /ɦ/, /j/ and /ʋ/
- Overview of Afrikaans vowels
- Word stress
- The phonetic properties of stress
- Primary stress on monomorphemic words in Afrikaans
- Background to primary stress in monomorphemes in Afrikaans
- Overview of the Main Stress Rule of Afrikaans
- The short vowels of Afrikaans
- Long vowels in monomorphemes
- Primary stress on diphthongs in monomorphemes
- Exceptions
- Stress shifts in place names
- Stress shift towards word-final position
- Stress pattern of reduplications
- Phonological processes
- Vowel related processes
- Consonant related processes
- Homorganic glide insertion
- Phonology-morphology interface
- Phonotactics
- Morphology
- Syntax
- Afrikaans syntax
- Nouns and noun phrases
- Characteristics of the NP
- Classification of nouns
- Complementation of NPs
- Modification of NPs
- Binominal and partitive constructions
- Referential partitive constructions
- Partitive measure nouns
- Numeral partitive constructions
- Partitive question constructions
- Partitive constructions with nominalised quantifiers
- Partitive predication with prepositions
- Binominal name constructions
- Binominal genitive constructions
- Bare nominal attribution
- Articles and names
- Pronouns
- Quantifiers, determiners and predeterminers
- Syntactic uses of the noun phrase
- Adjectives and adjective phrases
- Characteristics and classification of the AP
- Complementation of APs
- Modification and Degree Quantification of APs
- Comparison by comparative, superlative and equative degree
- Attribution of APs
- Predication of APs
- The partitive adjective construction
- Adverbial use of APs
- Participles and infinitives as adjectives
- Verbs and verb phrases
- Characterisation and classification
- Argument structure
- Verb frame alternations
- Complements of non-main verbs
- Verb clusters
- Complement clauses
- Adverbial modification
- Word order in the clause: Introduction
- Word order in the clause: position of the finite Verb
- Word order in the clause: Clause-initial position
- Word order in the clause: Extraposition and right-dislocation in the postverbal field
- Word order in the middle field
- Emphatic constructions
- Adpositions and adposition phrases
This section deals with the syllabic affiliation of glides preceding a vowel (short, long, diphthong), viz. with the question as to whether these glides belong to the syllable onset or to the syllable nucleus.
In the late 17th and early 18th centuries, the long central vowels e:,o:,ɛ:,ɔ: were diphthongized to iɪ,ɪɛ,uo,oɔ. These diphthongs then began to be realized as either [iə,ɪə,uə,oə] or [jɪ,jɛ,wo,wa], depending on the morphophonological context. This sound change is known as Modern Frisian Breaking (see Breaking and the references cited there). It resulted in a huge increase in initial consonants and consonant sequences followed by the glides [j] and [w], which no doubt is a striking feature of Frisian phonotactics.
The phonological interpretation of these sequences is a matter of debate. The question is whether the glides they contain belong to the syllable onset, the syllable nucleus, or to neither of the two. The question behind this is whether or not Frisian has rising diphthongs. In Cohen et al. (1959:125-126), the glide in the above clusters is considered to be a (consonantal) onset phoneme, since 1) it can be replaced by another consonant, rendering minimal pairs, like jûk [juk] yoke - tûk [tuk] skilful and clever and jier [jiər] year - dier [diər] animal, and 2) it does not constitute a syllable. This means that no rising diphthongs are assumed to exist. As a consequence, triconsonantal initial clusters become quite numerous. This view is adopted by Booij (1989).
At first sight, this is a desirable outcome in view of what is stated in Kenstowicz and Rubach (1987:476). They observe that the glide of a diphthong "is characteristically oriented in the same direction with respect to the core throughout the entire system of diphthongs, as either onglide (Slovak) or offglide (English, Canadian, French). It is natural to construe this left-right orientation as fixing a parameter of the representational system". Since Frisian has genuine left-headed (falling and centring) diphthongs, right-headed (rising) ones are not expected to occur, so the glides in the above-mentioned clusters should preferably not be interpreted as part of the nucleus.
Segments within one and the same phonological constituent can be subjected to collocational restrictions, as stated in Ewen and Van der Hulst (2001:130):
Collocational restrictions can thus shed light on what constituent a given segment belongs to. In Dutch, for instance, the glides [j] and [w] "precede all kinds of vowels, and are subject to co-occurence restrictions with preceding consonants" (Booij (1989:321)), cf. Cohen et al. (1959:88-89)). This means that the Dutch glides are best analyzed as belonging to the onset, in line with the fact that Dutch has falling diphthongs.
In Frisian, however, matters are not that straightforward. On the one hand, the glides [j] and [w] co-occur with all sorts of tautomorphemic vowels (short ones, long ones, diphthongs) to their right. On the other hand, they combine with virtually all permissible tautomorphemic consonants and consonant clusters to their left. An overview of the possibilities is presented in tabel (A) and (B):
poask [pwask] ruff | puol [pwol] pool |
pjisk [pjɪsk] peach | pjuts [pjøts] gush, spurt |
boarst [bwast] breast | buol [bwol] bubble |
bjist [bjɪst] beestings | bjuster [bjøstr̩] lost |
twer [twɛr] sickening | twir(je) [twɪr] to whirl |
tjirk [tjɪrk] redshank | tjems [tjɛms] milk filter |
dwers [dwɛs] crosswise | dwyl [dwil] dizzy |
djip [djɪp] deep | djerre [djɛ:rə] yolk |
kwelts [kwɛlts] with a limp | kuos [kwos] pet name of pig |
kiuw [kjo:] gill | kjirm(je) [kjɪrm] to moan |
Goasse [ɡwasə] proper noun | guod [ɡwot] things |
gjin [ɡjɪn] no(ne) | gjalp [ɡjɔlp] shriek |
fuort [fwot] away | foars [fwas] sturdy |
fjoer [fju.ər] fire | fjild [fjɪlt] field |
woarst [vwast] sausage | woartel [vwatl̩] root |
wiette [vjɪtə] wetness | wjok [vjok] wing |
swilk [swɪlk] linoleum | swel [swɛl] swallow |
sjerp [sjɛrp] syrup | sjippe [sjɪpə] soap |
loarte [lwatə] droppings | luork(je) [lwork] to peek |
ljisk [ljɪsk] groin | ljurk [ljørk] lark |
ruot [rwot] soot | roaster [rwastr̩] grid |
rjocht [rjoxt] law, justice | rjemme [rjɛmə] cream |
noartsk [nwatsk] surly | nuodlik [nwodlək] risky |
njonken [njoŋkŋ] next to | njúnt(sje) [njynt] to hum |
muoz(je) [mwoz] to spill | muoi(e) [mwo:j] to regret |
meall(e) [mjɛl] to grind | mjitte [mjɪtə] measure |
pljims [pljɪms] sheet (of paper); quarter of a quire |
( [plw] is not attested) |
priuw(e) [prj{o:/u:/y:}wə] to taste |
preamk(je) [prjɛmkjə] sail with a flatboat |
proalling [prwalɪŋ] kidney of a slaughtered animal |
proastich [prwastəx] jaunty, perky |
bliuw(e) [blj{o:/u:/y:}wə] to stay |
blier(je) [bljɪrjə] to blister, to bubble |
bloarre [blwarə] greenhorn |
bluodderich [blwodərəx] bloody, gory |
brjit [brjɪt] lump of peat |
briefk(je) [brjɪfkjə] to correspond (with) |
bruorren [brworn̩] brothers; brethren |
triuw(e) [trj{o:/u:/y:}wə] to push |
triemmich [trjɪməx] rancid, rank |
troanje [trwãjə] face; mug, phiz |
driuw(e) [drj{o:/u:/y:}wə] to float, to drift |
( [drw] is not attested) |
kljirre [kljɪrə] tangle (of hair) |
kluork(je) [klworkjə] to question, to sound out |
kloark(je) [klwarkjə] to question, to sound out |
kreauw(e) [krjo:wə] to quarrel |
kriuwel [krjo:wəl] itch, tickle |
kroadfol [krwat-] barrowload |
kroask(je) [krwaskjə] to pace reluctantly |
glierk(je) [ɡljɪrkjə] to shine, to glance |
gljurk(je) [ɡljørkjə] cast loving looks at |
gluork(je) [ɡlworkjə] to gleam, to glow |
gloarje [ɡlwarjə] glowing ember |
greau [ɡrjo:] dripping |
griente [ɡrjɪntə] vegetables |
groatten#brij [ɡrwatn̩-] barley gruel |
frjemd [frjɛmt] foreign; strange |
Frjentsjer [frjɛntsjər] name of a Frisian town |
froask [frwask] frog |
fljoch [ljox] fly (present tense stem) |
fljirk(je) [fljɪrkjə] to flame, to kindle |
fluor(je) [flworjə] to pave, to surface |
wriuw(e) [vrjo:wə] to rub |
( [vrw] is not attested) |
fnjit (hawwe mei) [fnjɪt] (be) pleased (with) |
gnjird(zje) [ɡnjɪdzjə] seize roughly |
gnoar(je) [ɡnwarjə] to growl; to grumble |
knjocht [knjoxt] servant, helper |
kniers#bien [knjɪz-] cartilage |
in knoarre [knwarə] a lot |
knoar#hoanne [knwar-] gurnard |
smjunt [smjønt] wigeon; rascal, scoundrel |
smjirk(je) [smjɪrkjə] make a mess |
smoarch [smwarx] dirty, soiled |
(op it) snjit (mei) [snjɪt] pleased (with) |
snie#bal [snjɪ-] snowball |
snuorje [snworjə] certain period of time |
snoark(je) [snwarkjə] to snore |
sloarm [slwarm] great lump of a dog |
sluork(je) [slworkjə] to slide softly |
sljurk(je) [sljørkjə] to slide softly |
sljocht [sljoxt] even, smooth |
spoanne [spwanə] chip (of wood) |
spuonnen [spwonn̩] made of split-wood |
spjelde [spjɛldə] (hair)pin |
spjocht [spjoxt] woodpecker |
stoarm [stwarm] storm, gale |
stuolk(je) [stwolkjə] be based (on) |
stjitt(e) [stjɪtə] to thrust |
stjelp [stjɛlp] cheese-cover farmhouse |
skoalle [skwalə] school |
skuorre [skworə] barn |
skjin [skjɪn] clean |
skeau [skjo:] sheaf |
tsjin [tsjɪn] against |
tsjuster [tsjøstr̩] dark |
strjitte [strjɪtə] street |
strjemm(e) [strjɛmə] to coagulate, to curdle |
spriuw [sprjo:] thrush, aphtha |
skriuw(e) [skrjo:wə] to write |
skreau [skrjo:] shout, shriek |
skroar(je) [skrwarjə] practise the tailor's trade |
In view of all this it seems that we have to face a contradiction. There appears to be evidence that glides do not belong to the nucleus, viz. their co-occurrence with all sorts of vowels. At the same time, however, there appears to be evidence that they do not belong to the onset either, viz. their co-occurrence with all sorts of consonants and consonant clusters. Put differently, glides do not seem to contribute to the complexity of either nucleus or onset.
Hermans (2007) notes that [ju] and [jy] can only be preceded by a consonant cluster when followed by the glide [w], as in bliuw(e) /blj{o:/u:/y:}/ to stay and triuw(e) /trj{o:/u:/y:}/ to push. In the inflected forms bliuwe [blj{o:/u:/y:}wə] stay (infinitive; all plural persons present tense) and triuwe [trj{o:/u:/y:}wə] push (infinitive; all plural persons present tense), however, the glide [w] functions as a hiatus filler (see the resolution of hiatus between a monophthong and a following vowel), so it is not part of the underlying representation of the verbs at hand. The spelling, however, seems to suggest that [w] is part of the stem, since words like these are always written with iuw.
On closer scrutiny, there appears to be a small asymmetry between onset + [j/w] and [j/w] + nucleus. On the one hand, the glides are not followed by all vowels and vowel combinations: [j] does not precede [ɪə, øə, o:j, ɔ:] and [w] does not precede [i:w, y, y:, yə, ø:, öə, o:, oə, ʌy]. On the other hand, they cannot be preceded by any consonant combination either: [w] cannot combine with the initial clusters [dr, pl, vr, fn, skl, spr, str, spl], whereas [j] cannot with [skl, spl]. The glides do not behave symmetrically here, since the combinatorial possibilities of [j] exceed those of [w].
The three words in (1) are an exception to the above statement that [j] does not precede [ɪə]:
tsjea | [tsjɪə] | thigh |
tsjeaf | [tsjɪəf] | thief |
tsjeak | [tsjɪək] | jaw; cheek |
These words, however, have become obsolete. As to this, it should be added that the sequences [jøə, jy, jɪə] did occur as well, as the words in (2) show:
frjeon | [frjøən] | friend | [(nowadays: freon)] |
krjús | [krjys] | cross | [(nowadays: krús)] |
ljeaf | [ljɪəf] | dear, nice | [(nowadays: leaf)] |
The sequences [jyə] and [jɪə] show dialectal variation in [yə] and [ɪə]:
njuet ~ nuet | [n(j)yət] | tame(d) |
sjeas ~ seas | [s(j)ɪəs] | gig |
Hermans (2007) analyzes the products of Modern Frisian Breaking as monopositional vowels with two place nodes, hence as complex vowels. In his analysis then the glides are part of the nucleus. This is also the position taken by Visser (1997:Chapter 3) and Visser (2002). According to the analysis put forward in Booij (1989) and Chada (2007), on the other hand, they are part of the onset, which entails that Frisian only has falling and centring diphthongs, but not rising ones.
In the first place, a language game seems to provide evidence for the onset analysis. The game at hand entails the hypocoristic transformation of personal names, exemplified in the scheme below:
Krijn [krɛjn] | Krijn petijn [krɛjm pətɛjn] |
Douwe [dɔwə] | Douwe petouwe [dɔwə pətɔwə] |
Richt [rɪxt] | Richt peticht [rɪxt pətɪxt] |
With the glide [j] | With the glide [w] |
Jarich petarich [pəta:rəx] [*pətja:rəx] | Goasse petoasse [?pətasə] [??pətwasə] |
Lieuwe petieuwe [pəto:wə] [*pətjo:wə] | Duotsje petuotsje [?pətotsjə] [??pətwotsjə] |
Djoke petoke [pəto:kə] [*pətjo:kə] | |
Sjoerd petoerd [pətu.ət] [*pətju.ət] |
The pattern in the left-hand column seems to indicate that the glide belongs to the onset. The intuitions about the cases in the right-hand column are not that clear. Though there may be a slight preference for the forms without a glide, those with a glide are not ill-formed.
As to the pattern in the left-hand column, it should be noted that the sequence [tj] is rather uncommon in Frisian. It occurs mainly in complex words with a broken centring diphthong, like teannen [tjɛnn̩] toes (cf. tean tɪən toe) and tiennen [tjɪnn̩] wicker (cf. tien /tiən/ osier (rod), wicker). As for simplex words, it only occurs in the unfamiliar verb tjild(e) /tjɪld/ to recognize, to acknowledge and some interjections, like tjú(jút) [tjy(jyt)], tjút [tjyt], and tjûk [tjuk]. All other words beginning with [tj-] have a variant with [tsj-], so tjilling [tjɪlɪŋ] teal and tjirk [tjɪrk] redshank have the variants tsjilling and tsjirk. The other way around, however, not all words beginning with /tsj/- have a variant with [tj-], so the variant forms *tjaffel and *tjerke do not occur alongside tsjaffel [tsjafəl] trap, gob and tsjerke [tsjɛrkə] church. Moreover, the sequence [*tjə] is out, only [tsjə] being allowed.
Secondly, in the eastern part of the language area, the sequences [wa] and [wo] have turned into [ja] and [jo] when preceded by a labial consonant (see replacement of the glide /w/ of the broken diphthong /w{a/o}/ by /j/ following labial consonants). Examples are provided in (4):
Change from [w{a/o}] to [j{a/o}] when following a labial consonant | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
boartsje | [bjatsjə] | to play | [(elsewhere: [bwatsjə])] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
foarke | [fjarkə] | fork | [(elsewhere: [fwarkə])] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
poarte | [pjatə] | gate | [(elsewhere: [pwatə])] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
woarst | [vjast] | sausage | [(elsewhere: [vwast])] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
muorre | [mjorə] | wall | [(elsewhere: [mworə])] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
fuort | [fjot] | gone; away | [(elsewhere: [fwot])] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
buorren | [bjorn̩] | village centre | [(elsewhere: [bworn])] |
The impetus for this change is a constraint prohibiting a sequence of two labial segments in the onset. This would imply that the glides must have been part of the onset.
In what follows, the evidence which points to a glide belonging to the nucleus will be presented.
In the first place, if the onsets of two successive words are interchanged, the glide remains in place, which is exemplified in the scheme below:
Examples of the interchanging of onsets |
wy hawwe om 'e keallen tocht [kjɛln̩ tɔxt] we have of the calves thought |
as: wy hawwe om 'e teallen kocht [tjɛln̩ kɔxt] |
*wy hawwe om 'e tellen kjocht [tɛln̩ kjɔxt] |
wy hawwe de buorden makke [bwodn̩ makə] we have the signs made |
as: wy hawwe de muorden bakke [mwodn̩ bakə] |
*wy hawwe de morden boakke [modn̩ bwakə] |
Secondly, Modern Frisian Breaking (see breaking) resulted in an alternation between centring and rising diphthongs: /iə/ ~ /jɪ/, /uə/ ~ /wo/, /ɪə/ ~ /jɛ/. The diphthong /oə/, however, does not fit into this pattern, for it does not alternate with /wɔ/ as expected, but with /wa/. Hoekstra (1988) posits the phonotactic filter below, for which he adduces several pieces of evidence:
On the strength of this filter, the outcome of the breaking of /oə/ need to be repaired, which is achieved by means of lowering /ɔ/ to /a/. Since it is predominantly segments within one and the same phonological constituent that can be subjected to collocational restrictions, the very existence of the Breaking Filter indicates that /w/ and /ɔ/ are likely to belong to the same phonological constituent, viz. the nucleus.
Thirdly, the initial cluster /ts/ has the distributional property that it must precede the vowel /i/ ( /i/, /i:/, /iə/), or the glide /j/, which is /i/ underlyingly (see the glides). This can be expressed by means of the following morpheme structure constraint (where 'M' is an abbreviation of 'Morpheme'):
The distribution of word-initial /ts/ is exemplified in (5):
Examples of words with the initial cluster /ts/ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
tsiis | /tsi:z/ | cheese | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
tsien | /tsiən/ | ten | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
tsjil | /tsjɪl / | wheel | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
tsjêf | /tsjɛ:v/ | chaff | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
tsjoar | /tsjoər/ | tether |
V(V) and jV(V) pattern alike here, which is an indication that the glide belongs to the nucleus.
Evidence which is neutral with respect to the nucleus- or onset-analysis ‒ see Visser (2002) ‒ is left out of consideration.
All evidence taken together, it turns out to be the case that co-occurrence restrictions are not always as unequivocal an indication concerning constituenthood as one might wish. In the case at hand, the prevocalic glides show ambiguous behaviour, in that there is evidence that they are part of the syllable onset and the syllable nucleus. Visser (2000) suggests therefore that these glides are floating segments in underlying representation: initially they remain unsyllabified, but at a later stage they are incorporated into the already existing prosodic structure. The latter may proceed by means of leftward or rightward association, viz. incorporation into the onset or into the nucleus, which would account for the ambiguous behaviour of these glides.
Frisian is not the only language in which the syllabic affiliation of prevocalic glides is problematical. If the conception of the syllable as the conjunction of an onset and a rhyme is taken seriously, then a) each segment must uniquely belong to either onset or rhyme and b) the boundary between these constituents should be clear and consistent for any given language, see Yip (2003), who considers prevocalic glides as a test-case for this set of assumptions. She notes that in English and Mandarin Chinese such glides behave as part of the onset and as part of the rhyme. As to this, there is both inter- and intra-speaker variation. As this casts doubt on the usefulness of the onset-rhyme distinction, a 'flat' syllable structure is opted for. The latter implies "simple, linear phonotactics, with no appeal to sub-syllabic constituency". Co-occurrence facts between segments are to be understood in terms of general notions like 'similarity', 'proximity', and 'sonorancy'. This view of the syllable seems to be corroborated by the behaviour of the prevocalic glides in Frisian.
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