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Title: Recursive Prosody and the Prosodic Form of Compounds
This paper investigates the role recursive structures play in prosody. In current understanding, phonological phrasing is computed by a general syntax–prosody mapping algorithm. Here, we are interested in recursive structure that arises in response to morphosyntactic structure that needs to be mapped. We investigate the types of recursive structures found in prosody, specifically: For a prosodic category κ, besides the adjunctive type of recursion κ[κ x], κ[x κ], is there also the coordinative type κ[κ κ]? Focusing on the prosodic forms of compounds in two typologically rather different languages, Danish and Japanese, we encounter three types of recursive word structures: coordinative ω[ω ω], left-adjunctive ω[f ω], right-adjunctive ω[ω f] and the strictly layered compound structure ω[f f]. In addition, two kinds of coordinative φ-compounds are found in Japanese, one with a non-recursive (strictly layered) structure φ[ω ω], a mono-phrasal compound consisting of two words, and one with coordinative recursion φ[φ φ], a bi-phrasal compound. A cross-linguistically rare type of post-syntactic compound has this biphrasal structure, a fact to be explained by its sentential origin.  more » « less
Award ID(s):
1749368
PAR ID:
10252484
Author(s) / Creator(s):
;
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Languages
Volume:
6
Issue:
2
ISSN:
2226-471X
Page Range / eLocation ID:
65
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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