Representing unstable segments: external sandhi rules in Tuscan varieties

Abstract

This paper is concerned with external sandhi phenomena in Tuscan varieties. Processes of word-final and word-initial vowel deletion, which are related to cases of Raddoppiamento sintattico, will be taken into account. These phenomena belong to the type of phonological rules that involve unstable segments, which appear or disappear depending on contextual conditions. A  representational analysis is here presented, which does not involve rules that add or remove segments in the course of phonological derivation. In this proposal, which incorporates the representational tools of Strict CV theory, the ‘deletion’ and ‘insertion’ of segments are reinterpreted as variable contextual conditions that apply to one and the same lexical form that contains unstable segments, determining the phonetic realisation or non-realisation of such segments.

Key words

V-deletion; Unstable segments; Floating melody; Raddoppiamento sintattico; Tuscan dialects.