Acoustic correlates of lexical stress in Moroccan Arabic
-
Published:2020-06-22
Issue:3
Volume:51
Page:425-449
-
ISSN:0025-1003
-
Container-title:Journal of the International Phonetic Association
-
language:en
-
Short-container-title:Journal of the International Phonetic Association
Author:
Bruggeman Anna,Louriz Nabila,Almbark Rana,Hellmuth Sam
Abstract
Presently there is no consensus regarding the interpretation and analysis of the stress system of Moroccan Arabic. This paper tests whether the acoustic realisation of syllables support one widely adopted interpretation of lexical stress, according to which stress is either penultimate or final depending on syllable weight. The experiment reports on word-initial syllables that differ in presumed stress status. Target words were embedded in a carrier sentence within a scripted mock dialogue to ensure that the measurements reflect lexical stress rather than phrase-level prominence. Results from all four acoustic parameters tested (f0, duration, Centre of Gravity and vowel quality) showed that there were no differences as a function of presumed stress status, thus failing to support an interpretation according to which stressed syllables are acoustically differentiated. We consider the results in relation to previous claims and observations, and conclude that the absence of acoustic correlates of presumed stress is compatible with the view that Moroccan Arabic lacks lexical stress.
Publisher
Cambridge University Press (CUP)
Subject
Speech and Hearing,Linguistics and Language,Anthropology,Language and Linguistics
Reference87 articles.
1. Benhallam, Abderrafi . 1980. Syllable structure and rule types in Arabic. Ph.D. dissertation, University of Florida.
2. Benhallam, Abderrafi . 1989. Aspects de la recherche en phonologie de l'arabic marocain. Langue et société au Maghreb, 13–23. Rabat: Publications de la faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines.
3. The Oxford Handbook of Arabic Linguistics
4. Methodological issues in the study of word stress correlates
5. Experiments in the Perception of Stress