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Durational Evidence for Word-based vs. Prominence-based Constituent Structure in Limerick Speech

In this paper we present an experiment to determine the types of constituents that influence polysyllabic shortening. Materials were designed to encourage the use of rhythmic, prominencebased, cross-word (Abercrombian) feet. Our preliminary results suggest that when polysyllabic shortening occurs, it operates preferentially within word-based constituents of the prosodic hierarchy (Selkirk [9], Nespor & Vogel [7]), rather than within cross-word feet that contain word fragments. In spite of the highly rhythmicized nature of our materials, only one of the three speakers analyzed so far showed any evidence at all of polysyllabic shortening within Abercrombian feet. Even this speaker showed stronger evidence of word-based constituent polysyllabic shortening, as well as other types of word-boundary correlates, such as initial vowel glottalization. Data from additional speakers will be presented at the conference.