Maximal Onset Principle

From Glottopedia
Revision as of 18:17, 17 February 2009 by Wohlgemuth (talk | contribs) (corr)
Jump to navigation Jump to search

In phonology, the Maximal Onset Principle is a principle determining underlying syllable division. It states that intervocalic consonants are maximally assigned to the onsets of syllables in conformity with universal and language-specific conditions (see also sonority hierarchy).

Example

The English word diploma can be divided in several ways: dip.lo.ma vs. di.plo.ma. However, the only division that is in conformity with the maximal onset principle is di.plo.ma.

Link

Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics

References

  • Kahn, Daniel (1976) Syllable-based generalizations in English phonology. Doctoral dissertation, MIT.
  • Selkirk, E.O. 1981. English Compounding and the Theory of Word-structure, in: M. Moortgat, H. Van der Hulst & T. Hoestra (eds.) The Scope of Lexical Rules, Foris, Dordrecht.
Retrieved from "http://glottopedia.org/index.php?title=Maximal_Onset_Principle&oldid=7966"