The Distribution of /s/ in Blackfoot

This book examines the distribution of Blackfoot /s/, which differs from that of all other consonants. Clusters of more than two consonants occur only with /s/, and clusters of more than three consonants occur only with geminate /ss/. The Blackfoot syllable seems to be overwhelmingly simple, with /ss/ clusters being the only outliers. While all other geminates occur between vowels, geminate /ss/ often occurs before, after, or between other consonants. This book describes the distribution of /s/ in Blackfoot, and then proposes that this distribution can be accounted for by positing that /s/ is inherently moraic in Blackfoot, a claim usually reserved only for vowel segments. This book also proposes that because of this inherent moraicity, /s/ can act as a syllable nucleus in Blackfoot. Finally, these claims are examined within the framework of Optimality Theory.

Autorentext

Ryan Denzer-King is a Ph.D. student in linguistics at Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey. He received his M.A. in linguistics from the University of Montana and his B.A. in philosophy from Vanderbilt University. In addition to his work on Blackfoot, Ryan has also researched neologisms and numerals in North American languages.