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Word stress assignment in German, English and Dutch: Quantity-sensitivity and extrametricality revisited

The Journal of Comparative Germanic Linguistics volume 17, pages 59–96 (2014)Cite this article

Abstract

English, German, and Dutch show very similar word stress patterns, in that word stress is not fixed to a certain position within a word, but realized within the final three syllables. There is, however, no consensus on the actual stress-assigning algorithms and the role of quantity (e.g., Kiparsky 1982; Wiese 2000; Hayes 1995; Giegerich 1985, 1992; Trommelen and Zonneveld 1999a, b). Existing studies are methodologically problematic since they largely depend on convenience samples of existing words and do not test their claims with new words. Using mixed effects regression and classification trees as analytical tools, this paper presents the results of a production experiment with pseudowords and an analysis of large random samples as found in the CELEX lexical database. It is shown that stress assignment is sensitive to syllabic weight in all three languages, though in slightly different ways. The implications of these results for the metrical structure of the three languages are discussed.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institut für deutsche Sprache und Literatur, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany

    Ulrike Domahs

  2. English Language and Linguistics, University of Duesseldorf, Duesseldorf, Germany

    Ingo Plag

  3. Department of Dutch Studies, University of Oldenburg, Oldenburg, Germany

    Rebecca Carroll

  4. Institut für deutsche Sprache und Literatur, Universität zu Köln, Gronewaldstraße 2, 50931, Köln, Germany

    Ulrike Domahs

Authors
  1. Ulrike Domahs
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  2. Ingo Plag
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  3. Rebecca Carroll
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Correspondence to Ulrike Domahs.

Appendix

Appendix

A. German Pseudowords

vc.v.vcc v.vc.vcc vc.v.vc v.v.vc
Gam.do.kust Ga.dom.kust Bin.sa.kaf Bä.lu.ful
Hul.sa.domp Hu.sal.domp Dim.pu.sat Dä.mu.pok
Kon.fa.sorp Ko.fan.sorp Ful.go.but Fe.ko.mot
  Lü.ras.palf Gos.ta.ful Go.nü.bak
  Mä.fal.rolk Hol.ta.pok Hü.ba.guf
Nom.pu.lams No.pur.lams Kis.nu.mot Ke.ga.fur
Pas.ro.garf Pa.ros.garf Lan.do.guf La.fö.was
Rul.ko.menk Ru.kol.menk Mur.la.was Va.so.haf
Ser.da.nulz Se.daf.nulz Pel.no.fur Wo.ta.sat
Tak.lu.tarp Ta.luf.tarp   Zö.da.but
v.vc.vc v.v.v v.vc.v vc.vc.v
Bo.kam.was De.to.pu Bu.mol.ta Dir.san.ra
Da.pön.bak Fu.sa.fo Me.fal.bo Kat.lön.bo
Fä.lus.fur Ga.rö.so Na.dur.so Kum.sak.pu
Go.rum.ful Ho.bu.lo Pa.lön.fo Las.fon.ta
Ra.bosch.kaf Kä.na.ra Ro.taf.ku Mok.nas.fo
Si.fas.mot Lö.mu.da Sä.lot.ga Nel.kum.lo
Tu.lor.sat Mü.la.ku Tö.pum.lo Rän.gul.da
Vu.pal.but Ne.kü.ga We.läs.ra Sap.wur.ku
Wo.sol.pok Pa.go.ta Vü.sol.da Täm.buf.ga
Zü.bal.guf Ru.ga.bo Zi.lat.pu Wis.top.so

B. English Pseudowords

vc.v.vcc v.vc.vcc vc.v.vc v.v.vc
rulcomest sadufnalf Binsacub baloguth
masforuld parosgarf Gostafaz lamopog
nompolans gadomcust Holtanof lafowoth
serdanuls huzaldomp folmadoth fekomof
lusrapalf bofangond lundogof gonusab
tilcopalt mafalrolt molravos hanogaf
confagond nopumlans fulgobog cagafoth
holsadomp rucolmest pelnofut sudabod
posragols niraspalf zalfolup votasat
gamdocoft tolufpalt thimravas masocath
v.vc.vc v.v.v v.vc.v vc.vc.v
bocamvas hobalu tholatpo tambufga
falosfuth dotopu visalda molnasfo
zefasmof gerosu rocafta nelcumlo
sudalgaf cabora tosumlo cumzacto
goromfod mulako nadalco lisfonta
dapunbod losuda velasra domsanro
raboshgat pulota palonfo cathlonbo
godolpog fotafo Silatpa wistocso
tulasrup nipago bomolta rongalda
nopalbol rogaba mefalbo lupvulco

C. Dutch Pseudowords

vc.v.vcc v.vc.vcc vc.v.vc v.v.vc
gandokost gadomkost binsakaf belufol
holsadomp hosaldomp dimposat demopok
konfasorp kofansorp falgobot fekomot
  luraspalf gostafol gonubak
metfarolk mefalrolk holtapok hubagof
nompolams noporlams kisnomot kegafor
pasrogarf parosgarf landogof lafuwas
rulkomenk rokolmenk morlawas vasohaf
serdanols sedafnuls pelnofor wotasat
taklotarp taloftarp   zudabot
v.vc.vc v.v.v v.vc.v vc.vc.v
bokamwas detono bomolta dirsanra
daponbak fosafo mefalbo katlondo
felosfar garoso nadorso komsakpo
goromfol hobolo palonfo lasfonta
raboskaf kenara rotafko moknasfo
sifasmot lumoda selotga nelkomlo
tolorsat mulako silatpu rengolda
wosolpok nekuga tupomlo sapworko
vopalbot pagota vusolda tembofga
zubalgof rogabo welesra wistopso

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Domahs, U., Plag, I. & Carroll, R. Word stress assignment in German, English and Dutch: Quantity-sensitivity and extrametricality revisited. J Comp German Linguistics 17, 59–96 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10828-014-9063-9

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Keywords

  • Germanic word stress
  • quantity-sensitivity
  • pseudoword production task
  • corpus analysis
  • metrical prosody