Tone, stress, quantity, and quality: prosodic patterns and tonal wug-tests in Žiri Slovenian

Abstract

In this paper, we report on the prosodic system of Žiri Slovenian, which displays an intricate set of interactions between tone, stress, quantity, and vowel quality. The prosodic restrictions are complex, exceeding the patterns observed in most other pitch-accented languages. Some of the patterns are well-motivated (e.g. the preference of High tone syllables to be stressed; the requirement for long vowels to have High tone) while others lack phonetic or phonological motivation (e.g. the requirement of long vowels to be footed). Žiri also displays a rare case of interaction of prosody with vowel quality: long [ɛɛ] must always be stressed and prefers the High tone on the second mora, which is not the case for any other vowel. To confirm the productivity of the observed patterns, we conduct a tonal wug experiment that tests the dependence of stress on vowel quality, word length, and tone. This paper brings forth a new instance of a phonetically unmotivated phonological process at the suprasegmental level, which appears to be less discussed than at the segmental level. We also discuss methodological issues arising from artificial experiments on tonal processes.