Phonetic and Phonological Aspects of Geminate Timing

CHAPTER 4

Cross-Language Study: Phonological Overview

 

4.1 Introduction

This chapter provides an overview of the segmental inventories and prosodic characteristics of three additional languages: Levantine Arabic, Hungarian and Madurese. What these languages have in common is that each, like Bernese, exhibits a contrast between singleton and geminate consonants. However, these languages differ from Bernese—as well as from each other—along a number of prosodic dimensions, including constraints on minimum word size, allowable sequential combinations of vowel and consonant quantity, and the possibility of a heavy vs. superheavy (i.e., bi- vs. trimoraic) contrast in syllable weight. All of these differences are potentially informative from the point ...