Phonetic lapse in American English –ative
Juliet Stanton
direct link: http://ling.auf.net/lingbuzz/004074
June 2018
This paper argues that constraints regulating the distribution of metrical prominence must be able to reference fine-grained durational information. Evidence comes from an apparent segmental effect on stress in American English –ative: stress on –at- is more likely when it is preceded by an obstruent or cluster (as in irrigative, integrative) than when preceded by a vowel or a sonorant (as in palliative, speculative; see Nanni 1977). I propose that this pattern should be understood as an effect of phonetically evaluated *Lapse: longer lapses are penalized more severely than shorter ones. Results from a nonce word rating task support this proposal.