A new phonological analysis of geminates in Cypriot Greek (and beyond)

Abstract

Cypriot Greek geminates have been the subject of much past research and controversy. One major challenge has been their proper syllabification. Another involves their weight status. Taking stock of recent phonetic evidence that supports an inherent mora for Cypriot Greek geminates and tautosyllabicity on the basis of durational effects on the vowel that follows the geminate (Armosti 2011), I build a formal phonological analysis of Cypriot Greek lexical geminates as moraic onsets. The analysis employs WCL (‘weight-and-concomitant-length’), a new theory of gemination designed to handle both the weight and length properties of lexical geminates in comparison to singletons, as attested cross-linguistically. WCL manages to produce both heavy and light geminates on the surface, and dispenses with double linking as a means to express a geminate’s increased length. These features of WCL prove crucial in the analysis of Cypriot Greek. Finally, WCL’s theoretical and typological superiority is furnished through its extensions to other patterns.