Vṛddhi traces in Hindi denominal derivation

This paper considers vṛddhi as an inherited feature in Modern Standard Hindi. As a phenomenon, vṛddhi is most commonly discussed in reference to Old Indo‐Aryan (OIA), particularly with a focus on inflectional patterns in Sanskrit. However, the inherited pattern in New Indo‐Aryan (NIA) languages presents specific analytical challenges and its status as a morpho‐phonological feature in the present‐day languages is not straightforward to establish. In this paper, the focus is given to the operation of vṛddhi in denominal derivations in both OIA and present‐day Hindi. This leads to a discussion of the evolution of vowel systems in the history of Indo‐Aryan. Regarding the question of how synchronic vṛddhi‐alternations can be accounted for theoretically, I present two possibilities: (i) that vṛddhi constitutes a phonologically active process of vowel lowering/tensing in Hindi; and (ii), that vṛddhi is a suppletive phenomenon synchronically, and thus, not derived by phonological rule

Vowel compression in Altiplateau Mexican Spanish

This paper presents an exploratory study of coda-driven vowel compression in Altiplateau Mexican Spanish (AMS). Previous research has led to the claim that pan-dialectal, coda-driven compression does not occur in Spanish and that, instead, only onset complexity drives the shortening of following vowels (Aldrich & Simonet 2019). Based on acoustic analysis of continuously read speech, we find that mid and low vowels in AMS centralise in closed unstressed syllables, and they also display significant shortening in CVC contexts (relative to their uncompressed duration in CV syllables). By contrast, onset complexity does not induce significant compression in our data. Inferential testing confirms that it is an interaction between stress and syllable structure (i.e. coda presence in unstressed syllables) that is most significant in driving both qualitative and quantitative compression. We argue that phonologically constrained, coda-driven compression occurs in Spanish, but it is dialect-specific and stress-dependent. We consider the implications of these variety-specific patterns in the context of debates concerning Spanish resyllabification, phonological rhythm and the acoustic marking of stress

Dialect-specific Acoustic Correlates of Stress in Spanish: The Role of Vowel Compression and Syllable Structure

The present paper is part of a wider project examining vowel compression and its impact on the phonetic signalling of stress across dialects of Spanish. Here within, we compare vowel compression effects in spontaneous Southern Chilean Spanish to previous findings from continuously read Altiplateau Mexican Spanish. Results show that, in Southern Chilean Spanish, vowels are shortened in CVC and CCV syllables irrespective of stress; although unstressed vowels are shorter than stressed, onset and coda-driven compression effects are visible on all vowels. Qualitative results show that stress-driven differences in vowel height are visible on /o/ and /a/ in open but not closed syllables: stressed vowels are lower in the vowel space. Conversely, results from Altiplateau Mexican Spanish showed that whilst unstressed vowels in CVC syllables were shortened and centralised, stressed vowels were not. Results therefore support theories that dialect-specific compression effects exist due to dialect-specific phonetic-phonological interactions (Authors under review): in this case, their interaction with stress. We further consider the implications of these variety-specific patterns in the context of debates concerning the dialect-specific nature of stress, arguing that compression effects may have implications on the wider vowel systems and the phonetic way in which stress is signalled across dialects

From phonetic enhancement to phonological underspecification:Hybrid voicing contrast in European Portuguese

Laryngeal contrast in European Portuguese has typically been described in the phonological literature in terms of an opposition between [+voice] and [–voice]. However, a number of phonetic studies have revealed that lenis fricatives in European Portuguese tend not to exhibit consistent, robust voicing. Focusing on the sibilant system, this paper has a three-fold goal. Firstly, we present results of a phonetic study designed to test the realisation of sibilants both in contrast and neutralisation contexts. Secondly, we propose a reanalysis of synchronic laryngeal contrast couched in the laryngeal realist tradition. Our claim is that an analysis in which fortis fricatives are specified for [spread glottis] makes more accurate phonetic predictions than alternative approaches. Our analysis entails the secondary claim that European Portuguese exemplifies what we term a hybrid voicing system: whilst [spread glottis] is the key contrast feature for the fricative series, the stop series can be best handled by assuming that lenis stops are specified for [voice]. Thirdly, we develop a possible diachronic scenario for how such a hybrid system may have emerged diachronically as the result of phonological changes the history Portuguese