Date Thesis Awarded

4-2017

Access Type

Honors Thesis -- Access Restricted On-Campus Only

Degree Name

Bachelors of Arts (BA)

Department

Linguistics

Advisor

Anya Lunden

Committee Members

Dan Parker

Jack Martin

Peter Vishton

Abstract

Ambisyllabic consonants are thought to be shared between two syllables and form both a coda and an onset while not being notably longer than singleton consonants. This thesis attempts to determine whether these ambisyllabic consonants pattern durationally like onset, codas, or neither through a production experiment using nonce words. This not only provides evidence for how the words are actually syllabified, it also may give insight into why such consonants are perceived as being shared by two syllables by many speakers. A production experiment finds that "ambisyllabic" consonants pattern durationally like onsets. This strongly suggests that they are onsets and speaker intuition is based on something other than the syllabification.

Recommended Citation

Rosalsky, Alexa, "Ambisyllabic Consonant Lengthening in English" (2017). Undergraduate Honors Theses. William & Mary. Paper 1089.
https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/1089