earticle

영어

This study proposes an account of morphologically conditioned medial vowel deletion in a word when affixed with non-neutral suffixes {-al, -ic, -ous} of English. The syncope pattern in such data is intriguing because it is obligatory and does not allow a variant form. We assume that the schwa in the final syllable of base [Cər] is underlyingly present, which is against a traditional view that the schwa is epenthetic. The idea of an underlying schwa is grounded in the fact that when a neutral suffix like {-ing} follows a base word, the schwa shows variable realizations: winter+ing → win[tər]ing, win[tr]ing. If the schwa is epenthetic, it is not easy to explain the deletion of an inserted vowel. Considering the morphologically conditioned and general syncope data, it is rational to presume that the schwa is not epenthetic. Based on this, we argue that the schwa gets deleted obligatorily to improve foot structure ([cen.tra]l *[cen.te.ral]) and to maximize the syllable parsing. Syncopating a medial vowel but not an affix vowel is ascribed to WSP: [cén.tra]l vs. *[cén.ter]1. In addition, we can account for variant realizations of syncope by slightly modifying the low-ranked FtBin and Max-V of obligatory syncope constraints. An underlying schwa assumption can provide a more inclusive account of syncope in English.