Linguistic Variation - Online First

Our paper investigates lexical stress placement variation in Modern Standard Russian past tense verbal forms. This kind of variation has arisen due to complex interactions of various processes in the development of Russian and its present-day state is said (often rather impressionistically) to be conditioned by intra-speaker sociolinguistic factors. However, cases of inter-speaker variation can also be observed. We put forward a proposal that stress placement in forms with variable stress is influenced by the rhythmic pattern of immediate linear context. To support this, we report on a pilot experiment that shows a preference towards alternating rhythm in a sequence consisting of a past tense verbal form of a transitive verb and its direct object, thus conforming to the fundamental principle of rhythmic alternation. The results also raise some questions about the phonology of stress and stress variation in Russian and beyond.

This paper examines the historical and phonological properties of h in Japanese. It shows that, by analysing a specific case of segmental variation, we not only deepen our understanding of the sound which varies but also shed light on some general characteristics of the sound system as a whole. Using an Element Theory approach ( Anderson and Jones 1974 ; Kaye et al. 1985 ; Harris and Lindsey 1995 ; Scheer 1999 ; Nasukawa 2005 ; Cyran 2010 ; Backley 2011 ), the discussion focuses on the distribution of the element |U|, arguing that |U| is naturally weak in Japanese. This helps explain two idiosyncrasies in Japanese phonology – the restricted distribution of labial consonants and rounded vowels, and the patterning of h with labials.

In modern Japanese, labiality is phonologically and phonetically weak. In vowels, u and w are produced without lip rounding, as unrounded [ɯ] and [ɰ]. And in consonants, the labial stop p is banned from certain contexts. These facts point to the inherent weakness of |U| in Japanese, where weakness refers to structural headedness; following Backley and Nasukawa (2009) , it is assumed that labials are represented by headed |U| (cf. non-headed |U| in velars). To account for the restricted distribution of labials, it is argued that labiality (headed |U|) is only realised in Japanese if a specific structural condition is met: |U| must co-occur with (i.e. be supported by) another element from the same sub-group of ‘dark’ elements. Thus, the paper exploits the natural division between dark elements {|A|, |U|, |L|} and light elements {|I|, |H|, |Ɂ|}.

The paper presents an analysis of the Afrikaans degree modifier baie ‘very/much/many’. Baie appears to be a single lexical item with a wide distribution in terms of the categories of gradable predicate with which it can combine. However, the paper shows that two syntactically distinct instances of baie should be distinguished. These instances of baie portion out the modification of different grammatical categories between them: one, a head, exclusively modifies gradable adjectives, and the other, an adjunct, modifies the remaining categories of gradable predicate.