Explaning licensing mismatches in Welsh

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I propose a new analysis of so-called ‘vowel mutation’ in Welsh, whereby final syllables (both stressed and unstressed) only allow a reduced inventory (by disallowing [ə]). I argue that these final syllables are specified with something like a suprasegmental feature that triggers a feature co-occurrence effect, and that there is no need for recourse to a mechanism of metrical prominence akin to that borne by stressed syllables (as previously suggested in the literature). (A fuller version of the analysis can be found in the thesis.) The argument also stresses the need for a distinction between metrical headship and prominence features such as stress (see also here).

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‘Pitch accent’ and prosodic structure in Scottish Gaelic →