Phonetic lapse in American English -ative

Abstract

This article argues that constraints regulating the distribution of metrical prominence must be able to reference fine-grained durational information. Evidence comes from an apparent segmental effect on stress in American English -ative: stress on -at- is more likely when it is preceded by an obstruent or a cluster (as in irrigative, integrative) than when it is preceded by a vowel or a sonorant consonant (as in palliative, speculative; Nanni 1977). I propose that this pattern should be understood as an effect of phonetically evaluated *LAPSE: longer lapses are penalized more severely than shorter ones. Results from two studies of speaker preferences for stress placement in nonce -ative forms support this proposal.