Extrametricality

<h2 id="english">English</h2>
<p>According to some analyses, an example of extrametricality is found in English, in which the final consonant of every word may be analysed as extrametrical.  This explains the licensing of what would otherwise be superheavy (<a href="/facts/Mora_(linguistics)/7uNR6X4c">trimoraic</a>) syllables in English as long as they are word-final (an example of this would be any final syllable containing a long vowel or diphthong and one or more coda consonants, e.g. <i>main</i> /ˈmeɪn/) but the lack of certain 4-mora syllables (such as those containing a long vowel or diphthong followed by a bimoraic [ŋ]). However, other analyses of these patterns which avoid the need for extrametricality are possible: it may be posited that Weight By Position on English applies only preconsonantally (although this leaves words ending in a long vowel and a coda cluster problematic); another analysis might propose that all English words end in a catalectic syllable, and the apparently word-final consonant(s) are parsed in the onset of this syllable.
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<h2 id="see-also">See also</h2>
<ul><li><a href="/facts/Anacrusis/f7Yth847">Anacrusis</a></li></ul>

<h2 id="references">References</h2>

<ol>
<li id="fn:1"><p>Bruce Hayes, "Extrametricality and English Stress", Linguistic Inquiry, Volume 13, issue 2 (Spring 1982), pp. 234-235. <a href="/wiki/Bruce_Hayes_(linguist)" target="_blank">/wiki/Bruce_Hayes_(linguist)</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li>
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Extrametricality open-in-new

Extrametricality