Minimal Sonority Distance

requirements

LING 451/551

Winter 2011

Sanskrit vs. Ancient Greek clusters

• Word initial, medial onset clusters differ

– Medial onset clusters not driven by

Maximal Onset Principle

• Sonority Hierarchy for both lgs. – glide - liquid – nasal – fricative - stop

• Minimum sonority distance requirement

Ancient Greek (400 B.C.)

• 2 types of “onset” clusters

– “Core” onset clusters

• word-internal or word-initial

– “Marginal” onset clusters

• word-initial only

Core onset clusters

r l n

p pn

t tl

k kl kn

g gr

Core onset clusters in Greek

Onset Formation

σ

|

Cx Cy

where Cx is less sonorous than Cy

(Also Minimum Sonority Distance requirement,

below)

Marginal onsets

m s p t d

s sm sp

z zd

p ps

k kt

Note: Sonority decrease: [sp], [zd]

Sonority plateaus: [kt]

Marginal onset clusters

• created by special adjunction

word[ σ

|

C C

no sonority requirement

Why 2 types of onset clusters

• 1. Perfect formation

– /Ce/- (C reduplication) with core onset

clusters

• /kleph/ ke-klopha 'steal'

– /e/- alone with vowel initial roots

• /angel/ e-angelka 'announce' [a:ngelka]

– /e/- with marginal onset clusters

• /kten/ e-ktona 'kill'

Analysis of perfect formation

• Form core syllables

• (klo)(pha)

• k(to)(na)

• Required of core onsets – Sonority increase

– Minimal sonority distance of two

glid liq nas fric stop

glid

liq

nas

fric

stop kl kt

Perfect formation

• Prefix /e/- to all forms; syllabify – e-klopha: (e)(klo)(pha)

– e-ktona: (ek)(to)(na)

• Reduplicate stem initial consonant if syllable initial – (e)(klo)(pha) (ke)(klo)(pha)

– (ek)(to)(na

• Unusual case of P (syllabify) before M (reduplication) – our model: M > P

2. Stress differentiates core,

marginal onsets

• For medial core onset

– V1 in V1CCV2 scans as “light”: i.e. V1.CCV

(e.g. V.grV) (open syllable)

• For medial CC with same segments as

word-initial marginal onset

– V1 in V1CCV2 scans as “heavy”: i.e. V1C.CV2

(e.g. Vs.mV) (closed syllable, must be

accented)

Sanskrit onsets

• Like Greek

– Core vs. marginal onset clusters

• Different from Greek

– Different MSD requirement

Sanskrit core onsets • Core onset clusters need only be separated by

one step of Sonority Hierarchy – glide - liquid – nasal – fricative - stop

• Triconsonantal: k

r m ñ s ʂ s sm

ś śr

p ps

d dr

ʤ ʤñ

k kʂ

Sanskrit marginal onsets

• Fricative+stop [st, śc]

– only word-initially, by special adjunction

Summary of Greek, Sanskrit

• Word-internal syllabification obeys Son

Hier, Minimum Sonority Distance

Requirement

– 2 steps: Greek

– 1 step: Sanskrit

• Word edge syllabification

– Special adjunction (not subject to Son Hier,

MSD requirements)

Ancient Greek

• Data on class web site

• Mycenean (Linear B)

– samples:

http://www.explorecrete.com/archaeology/line

arB.pdf

"Determine what decision the [orthographic]

system makes to deal with the problem posed by

consonant clusters."

• More generally, what is the mapping between

phonology, orthography?

• Word-final consonants are not written

– knossos <ko-no-so>

– deksiwos <de-ki-si-wo>

– ksenwos <ke-se-nu-wo>

• The first consonant in certain consonant sequences is not written – aleksandra <a-re-ka-sa-da-ra>

– phasgana <pa-ka-na>

– phulakphi <pu-ra-pi>

– knossos <ko-no-so>

• The consonant sequences which are not represented orthographically consist of – nasal+stop

– s+stop

– stop+stop

– s+s

clusters with no sonority increase from C1 to C2

• The high vowel [i] is not written in:

– aiksma <a-ka-sa-ma>

• If [i] in [aiksma] is really a glide [j], then

another C not written is

– j + stop

– another cluster with no sonority increase from

C1 to C2

• The first consonant in other clusters is written (with copy of following vowel) – aleksandra <a-re-ka-sa-da-ra>

– knossos <ko-no-so>

– deksiwos <de-ki-si-wo>

– ksenwos <ke-se-nu-wo>

– aiksma <a-ka-sa-ma>

– dosmiya <do-si-mi-ya>

• These consonant sequences consist of: – stop + s

– stop + nasal

– stop + s + nasal

– stop + liquid

– s + nasal

– nasal + glide

clusters in which sonority increases from C1 to C2

"Determine what decision the [orthographic]

system makes to deal with the problem

posed by consonant clusters."

• In the first type of cluster, not represented

orthographically, there is a syllable

boundary between the consonants,

whereas in the second type of cluster, the

consonants are tautosyllabic.

• Onsets, but not codas, are

orthographically represented.

"Does this result shed any light on the syllabic

structure operative in this dialect of Greek?"

• Apparently words were syllabified – knos.sos de.ksi.wos

– kse.nwos a.le.ksan.dra

– phas.ga.na phu.lak.phi

– ai.ksma do.smi.ya

• Permitted onset clusters consisted of

glide liquid nasal fric stop

glide

liquid

nasal nw

fric sm

stop dr kn ks

• Assuming Son Hier – glide - liquid – nasal – fricative - stop

• Then MSD requirement = 1 in Mycenean

– 1 step separation: [sm], [ks]

– 2 step separation: [nw], [kn]

– 3 step separation: [dr]

“Assuming that the Attic dialect discussed in section 6.5 is

a later descendant of Mycenean, can you say anything

about whether Sanskrit or Attic syllabification more closely

reflects the system that must have operated in PIE?"

Attic (4th c. BC) Mycenean

(1000-2000 BC)

Sanskrit

nw

śr

ks, ksm kʂ, kʂɳ, ps

kl, tl

gr dr dr

sm sm

kn, pn kn ʤñ

Attic (4th c. BC) Mycenean

(1000-2000 BC)

Sanskrit

MSD = 2 MSD = 1 MSD = 1

• Simplest historical scenario

PIE (MSD=1)

Mycenean (MSD=1) Sanskrit (MSD=1)

|

Attic (MSD=2)

• Attic has innovated by imposing a more

stringent requirement on clusters

• Alternative scenario

PIE (MSD=2)

Mycenean (MSD=1) Sanskrit (MSD=1)

|

Attic (MSD=2)

• 3 historical changes required