Cross-Vowel Phonotactic Constraints

Fudge (1969), Clements and Keyser (1983), and Davis (1984) have all pointed out a number of systematic phonotactic constraints holding between a prevocalic and a postvocalic consonant in English monosyllabic words. One of the strongest of these constraints, and one that has been observed by all three of the above mentioned researchers, is that there are no monosyllabic words of the form sCVC in which the same non-coronal (labial or velar) consonant flanks both sides of the vowel. Hence there are no English words like "spep" or "skik". Another constraint, noted by Davis (1984), is that there are no monosyllabic words of the form sNVN (where N can be any nasal consonant). Thus there are no words in English like "snam" or "sming". Here, I point out that these two constraints are in fact more general. Both these constraints are more general in that they are not just constraints on monosyllabic words or on single syllables, rather they are constraints on any sequence of sCVC (or sNVN) regardless where in the word (or, rather, morpheme) that sCVC sequence (or sNVN gequence) occurs. Also, the constraint on sCVC sequences is not just a constraint on identical consonants flanking both sides of the vowel, but on homorganic consonants (i.e., consonants having the same place of articulation) flanking both sides of the vowel. Are the systematic constraints on sCVC sequences (in which the Cs are identical noncoronal consonants) and sNVN sequences (in which the N is any nasal consonant) which hold for English monosyllabic words actually general constraints on English syllables as is assumed by Davis (1984) (and also by Clements and Keyser 1983)? If, in fact, these are constraints on English syllables, one would expect to find words containing the sequence sCVCV (or sNVNV) since the postvocalic C (or N) would not be part of the initial syllable. So, for example, one might expect that there would be words like "skicky" or "spapoon" in which the postvocalic consonant is not part of the initial syllable, but there would not be words like "skick" or "spap" in which the postvocalic consonant is part of the initial syllable. If, on the other hand, the constraint on sCVC sequences (and sNVN sequences) is actually a constraint on a sequence of sounds, regardless of whether the sounds are all in the same syllable, then possible words or sequences like "skicky" or "spapoon" would be non-occurring or at least extremely rare. A search was done on a computerized lexicon containing nearly 20,000 words from Webster's Pocket Dictionary to see if the sequences sCVC and sNVN. occur in any polysyllabic words. The only word in this lexicon in which the sequence sCVC is found (where the Cs are identical non-coronal consonants) is the word "dyspepsia" where the sequence "spep" occurs. No other such words were found. Polysyllabic words having the sequence sCVC where the two Cs are not identical are much more common. A search through the 20,000-word lexicon gives us such words as "spaghetti", "scaffold", "scuba", "eskimo", and "episcopal". Thus it appears that the constraint on sCVC sequences is not really a constraint only holding within a syllable, but is a constraint on a sequence of sounds holding within a word. (Notice that in the exceptional word "dyspepsia" the sequence "spep" spans a morpheme boundary since the s is part of the prefix "dys-" , which occurs in words like "dysfunction", "dysphasia", and "dystrophy".) At first glance, the search through the lexicon of polysyllabic words containing the sequence sNVN suggests that the constraint on the sequence sNVN does not hold for polysyllabic words, unlike the constraint on sCVC sequences. The following 12 words containing the sequence sNVN were found: casement, congressman, dismantle, emplacement, fastening (with the orthographic e between the t and the n being deleted in pronunciation), marksman, placement, pronouncement, replacement, spokesman, statesman, and talisman. However, these words, like the exceptional "dyspepsia" mentioned above, are not monomorphemic; all of these words (with the possible exception of"tal isman") involve morpheme boundaries between the s and the following nasal consonant. These data thus indicate that the constraint on sNVN sequences (as well as on sCVC sequences) are constraints on a sequence of sounds that hold within morphemes; they can be considered morpheme structure constraints, not word level or syllable structure constraints. The constraint disallowing (monomorphemic) sCVC sequences (in which the Cs are identical non-coronal consonants) on further investigation turns out to be a more general constraint in that the two Cs do not have