A reanalysis of Munster Irish stress
Date
1997-01
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Calgary
Abstract
Munster Irish exhibits stress patterns unlike other Modem Irish dialects. Rather than landing word-initially, primary stress occurs anywhere within the first three syllables of a word (Stress Window). Munster Irish is a quantity sensitive language, demonstrated by the attraction of main stress to heavy syllables. According to Doherty (1991), these patterns can be explained through the application of
Bimoraic Trochees. I find that the data is better accounted for using a version of the metrical foot as proposed by Hammond (1986): the Revised Obligatory Branching foot. In addition to iambic-like foot construction, I propose the creation of a Word
Tree Reversal rule. Evidence for this analysis comes from the assignment of primary stress to the second heavy syllable, when two heavy syllables occur contiguously. The application of Hammond's model in conjunction with the Word Tree Reversal rule provides a solid explanation for the Munster Irish data.
Description
Keywords
Linguistics, Phonology, Irish language, Accents and accentuation, Celtic languages, Irish language--Dialects
Citation
Thrift, E. (1997). A reanalysis of Munster Irish stress. Calgary Working Papers in Linguistics, 19(Winter), 9-22.