Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði - 01.01.1999, Page 177

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Flugur, smágreinar og umræðuefni
sonority from the nucleus. This might be illustrated as shown in (3),
where the vowels are in the nucleus and the point of the < sign points
towards lesser sonority):
(3) The Sonority Sequencing Principle in syllables:
obstruents < nasals < liquids < glides < VOWELS > glides > liquids >
nasals > obstruents
The SSR predicts that the onset cluster /kl-/ in klænt [khlant] ‘thin’ is
a good cluster, since the liquid /1/ is more sonorous than the obstruent
^ and it is closer to the nucleus. The same holds for the sequence
'nt/ in the coda, where the nasal /n/ is closer to the nucleus than the
obstruent /tI. Conversely, the SSR rules out an onset sequence like /lk-
’ where the liquid is in front of the obstruent in the onset. Consequent-
y a word like *lkænt is impossible.4
Now if we compare the actual output form of metathesis in words
'he feskt [fekst] ‘fresh’ to the output that would be expected if no
^etathesis occurred, namely something like *[feskt], the SSH as
escribed in (3) does not rate one of the forms higher than the other
^nce no distinction is drawn between obstruents (fricatives and stops).
ne might think, however, that a fricative should if anything be more
s°norous than a stop and thus tend to occur closer to the nucleus of the
syllable. Then the non-metathesized version, with the [s] preceding
e [k] would correspond better to the SSP than the actual output does.
ut ibis is not entirely clear. Thus it has been known for a long time
j at /s/ has a special status among fricatives in certain respects. Thus
q ls Ihe only fricative that can precede a stop in the syllable onset in
rrnanic languages, such as Faroese, Icelandic and English for in-
p^nce’ i e. onsets like [sp-, st-, sk-] are fine in all these languages.
r°ese (and Icelandic!) examples include words like spinna ‘spin’,
Sjjp "ibere are examples in Faroese, as well as other languages that violate
Wo i actchhon, the language has various ways of “fixing” sequences that
sh ^ f Vlotate the SSP. Thus a sequence like the coda /-tn/ in vatn ‘water’
the a- not be possible. What happens is that the nasal becomes syllabic (cf.
ay . lscussion of syllabic sonorants in Sandpy 1994) and thus the violation is
0b 60' The same can happen in words with final sequences involving
ruents+liquids, such as /-tl/ in œtl ‘consideration’.