Danish, Estonian, English: Variations on a theme

Abstract

Danish stød (a laryngealisation) is usually said to signal the second mora in odd-numbered syllables, counting from the right (Basbøll 1985; 1988; 2005). While descriptively adequate (with appropriate qualifications), such a statement leaves several questions unaddressed: Is that distribution an idiosyncratic quirk of Danish? What is special about the second mora? Why should ordinal numbering of syllables matter? This paper argues that the distributional pattern is neither restricted to Danish nor to stød. The same format of representation that can explain the distribution of length in Estonian and English lends itself to the analysis of the seemingly unrelated phenomenon of stød. Where the languages differ is in the exact nature of the relations contracted within those representations. This not only positions Danish within the larger context of phonological theory, but also explains why the distribution takes the form it does.