{"id":{"repo_id":"uiuc","oai_identifier":"oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/20953"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/uiuc/oai:www.ideals.illinois.edu:2142/20953","repository":{"repo_id":"uiuc","name":"University of Illinois - Urbana-Champaign","base_url":"https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/oai-pmh"},"display":{"title":"Syllable \"sonority\" hierarchy and the stress patterns in Pulaar. A metrical approach","abstract":"\"\"\"Syllable weight is usually viewed as a binary opposition... \"\" (Hayes, 1989). That is, distinctions are seen in terms of heavy versus light, bimoraic versus monomoraic syllables. An analysis of the metrical structure and other phonological processes of Pulaar, a member of the West Atlantic branch of the Niger-Congo Language Family (Greenberg, 1955 & Niang, 1989), shows the need for further distinctions beyond the generally admitted binary distinctions. Also, in contrast to other views according to which only a two-way-weight distinction prevails in languages, I argue and show that Pulaar makes a four-way-weight distinction. I argue that word stress assignment in Pulaar is heavily dependent upon the \"\"sonority\"\" of the syllables in the string. Four sonority levels emerge: CV $<$ CVC $<$ CVV $<$ CVVC. CVVC is more \"\"sonorous\"\" than CVV which is more \"\"sonorous\"\" than CVC which in turn is more \"\"sonorous\"\" than CV. Using this \"\"sonority\"\" hierarchy among the syllables permitted in the language, I provide a comprehensive analysis of the metrical system of Pulaar at the word and sentence levels. Besides I argue and show that Pulaar stress patterns are highly predictable in contrast to other views according to which \"\"The identification of the stressed syllable in a word is not a simple matter.\"\" (McIntosh, 1984) p. 20\"","abstract_html":"&quot;&quot;&quot;Syllable weight is usually viewed as a binary opposition... &quot;&quot; (Hayes, 1989). That is, distinctions are seen in terms of heavy versus light, bimoraic versus monomoraic syllables. An analysis of the metrical structure and other phonological processes of Pulaar, a member of the West Atlantic branch of the Niger-Congo Language Family (Greenberg, 1955 &amp; Niang, 1989), shows the need for further distinctions beyond the generally admitted binary distinctions. Also, in contrast to other views according to which only a two-way-weight distinction prevails in languages, I argue and show that Pulaar makes a four-way-weight distinction. I argue that word stress assignment in Pulaar is heavily dependent upon the &quot;&quot;sonority&quot;&quot; of the syllables in the string. Four sonority levels emerge: CV $&lt;$ CVC $&lt;$ CVV $&lt;$ CVVC. CVVC is more &quot;&quot;sonorous&quot;&quot; than CVV which is more &quot;&quot;sonorous&quot;&quot; than CVC which in turn is more &quot;&quot;sonorous&quot;&quot; than CV. Using this &quot;&quot;sonority&quot;&quot; hierarchy among the syllables permitted in the language, I provide a comprehensive analysis of the metrical system of Pulaar at the word and sentence levels. Besides I argue and show that Pulaar stress patterns are highly predictable in contrast to other views according to which &quot;&quot;The identification of the stressed syllable in a word is not a simple matter.&quot;&quot; (McIntosh, 1984) p. 20&quot;","abstract_has_math":true,"creators":["Niang, Mamadou Ousmane"],"institution":"University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign","degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Linguistics","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Kisseberth, Charles W."],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2011,"date_issued":"2011-05-07T12:54:02Z","date_published":"2011-05-07T12:54:02Z","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:17Z","subjects":["Language, Linguistics"],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["Copyright 1993 Niang, Mamadou Ousmane"],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["AAI9329121","(UMI)AAI9329121"],"render_values":[{"text":"AAI9329121","href":null,"code":true},{"text":"(UMI)AAI9329121","href":null,"code":true}]}]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/2142/20953","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Kisseberth, Charles W."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Niang, Mamadou Ousmane"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2011-05-07T12:54:02Z","10000-01-01","1993"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["text"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Linguistics"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]},{"key":"thesis:institution_name","label":"Thesis Institution Name","values":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Language, Linguistics"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright 1993 Niang, Mamadou Ousmane"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["AAI9329121","(UMI)AAI9329121","http://hdl.handle.net/2142/20953"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["\"\"\"Syllable weight is usually viewed as a binary opposition... \"\" (Hayes, 1989). That is, distinctions are seen in terms of heavy versus light, bimoraic versus monomoraic syllables. An analysis of the metrical structure and other phonological processes of Pulaar, a member of the West Atlantic branch of the Niger-Congo Language Family (Greenberg, 1955 & Niang, 1989), shows the need for further distinctions beyond the generally admitted binary distinctions. Also, in contrast to other views according to which only a two-way-weight distinction prevails in languages, I argue and show that Pulaar makes a four-way-weight distinction. I argue that word stress assignment in Pulaar is heavily dependent upon the \"\"sonority\"\" of the syllables in the string. Four sonority levels emerge: CV $<$ CVC $<$ CVV $<$ CVVC. CVVC is more \"\"sonorous\"\" than CVV which is more \"\"sonorous\"\" than CVC which in turn is more \"\"sonorous\"\" than CV. Using this \"\"sonority\"\" hierarchy among the syllables permitted in the language, I provide a comprehensive analysis of the metrical system of Pulaar at the word and sentence levels. Besides I argue and show that Pulaar stress patterns are highly predictable in contrast to other views according to which \"\"The identification of the stressed syllable in a word is not a simple matter.\"\" (McIntosh, 1984) p. 20\"","Furthermore, I show the inadequacy of previous analyses proposed by Taylor (1953), Arnottt (1970), MacIntosh (1984), Prunet and Tellier (1984).","Made available in DSpace on 2011-05-07T12:54:02Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 license.txt: 4922 bytes, checksum: 910b249b4beec47e7ab768910c8f966f (MD5) 9329121.pdf: 7792458 bytes, checksum: 0c2bb98c1552ad0fa0d067678acd5106 (MD5) Previous issue date: 1993","Item marked as restricted to the 'UIUC Users [automated]' Group (id=2) by Howard Ding (hding2@illinois.edu) on 2011-05-07T14:47:29Z Item is restricted indefinitely.","Restriction data tranferred 2014-07-01T11:21:26-05:00 Original Data Group with Access UIUC Users [automated] Release Date: none Reason: ETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permission","ETDs are only available to UIUC Users without author permission","U of I Only"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Syllable \"sonority\" hierarchy and the stress patterns in Pulaar. A metrical approach"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["Kisseberth, Charles W."],"dc:creator":["Niang, Mamadou Ousmane"],"dc:date":["2011-05-07T12:54:02Z","10000-01-01","1993"],"dc:description":["\"\"\"Syllable weight is usually viewed as a binary opposition... \"\" (Hayes, 1989). That is, distinctions are seen in terms of heavy versus light, bimoraic versus monomoraic syllables. An analysis of the metrical structure and other phonological processes of Pulaar, a member of the West Atlantic branch of the Niger-Congo Language Family (Greenberg, 1955 & Niang, 1989), shows the need for further distinctions beyond the generally admitted binary distinctions. Also, in contrast to other views according to which only a two-way-weight distinction prevails in languages, I argue and show that Pulaar makes a four-way-weight distinction. I argue that word stress assignment in Pulaar is heavily dependent upon the \"\"sonority\"\" of the syllables in the string. Four sonority levels emerge: CV $<$ CVC $<$ CVV $<$ CVVC. CVVC is more \"\"sonorous\"\" than CVV which is more \"\"sonorous\"\" than CVC which in turn is more \"\"sonorous\"\" than CV. Using this \"\"sonority\"\" hierarchy among the syllables permitted in the language, I provide a comprehensive analysis of the metrical system of Pulaar at the word and sentence levels. Besides I argue and show that Pulaar stress patterns are highly predictable in contrast to other views according to which \"\"The identification of the stressed syllable in a word is not a simple matter.\"\" (McIntosh, 1984) p. 20\"","Furthermore, I show the inadequacy of previous analyses proposed by Taylor (1953), Arnottt (1970), MacIntosh (1984), Prunet and Tellier (1984).","Made available in DSpace on 2011-05-07T12:54:02Z (GMT). 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A metrical approach"],"dc:type":["text"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Linguistics"],"thesis:degree_level":["Dissertation"],"thesis:degree_name":["Ph.D."],"thesis:institution_name":["University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:25:17Z"}