Blackwell Reference Online

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Languages that have contrasts between short and long vowels and, in some cases, between single and geminate consonants, are said to have contrasts in phonological quantity. Luganda, for example, exhibits both types of contrast, e.g., wela “refuse” versus weela “rest” and yiga “learn” versus yigga “hunt” (Tucker 1962), where length is transcribed by double letters. The framework of Chomsky and Halle (1968) had relatively little to say about quantity, assuming it could be handled by means of a feature such as [+Long]. In his work on Arabic verb morphology, McCarthy (1979a, 1981a) took an important step, separating not only consonant sequences (verb stems) from vowel sequences as different morphemes on separate tiers, but also the pattern of vocalic and consonantal positions as a separate morpheme on a separate tier. Since Arabic uses quantity to distinguish morphologically distinct forms of a verb (e.g., katab vs. kaatab vs. kattab ), McCarthy represented contrasts in quantity as contrasts in the number of V or C slots with which a melodic unit is associated: (1) This analysis autosegmentalizes segmenthood, separating it from melodic features onto a “skeletal tier” or “skeleton,” much as autosegmentalization of tone separated tonal features from melodic features of individual segments. Since linking of a single melodic unit to more than one C or V slot (“multiple association” ... log in or subscribe to read full text