In this course, we will explore the organization of phonological space from the perspective of stress. Stress is a phonological feature with an uncommon property: it cannot contrast with its absence. In other words, its distinctive status is revealed by permutation only (e.g. Russian muká ‘flour’ ~ múka ‘torment’). Consequently, stress is defined by syntagmatic relations, and we will see to what extent it can be analyzed as the surface realization of phonological space.

The topics covered in this course are:

– stress and quantity
– stress and quality
– stress and morphosyntax
– stress and syllabic structure

Selected references:

Caratini, E. 2009. Vocalic and consonantal quantity in German: synchronic and diachronic perspectives. PhD dissertation, University of Nice Sophia-Antipolis.
Chierchia, G. 1986. Length, syllabification and the phonological cycle in Italian. Journal of Italian Linguistics 8, pp. 3–55.

Garde, P. 1968. L’Accent. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
Larsen, U. B. 1998. Vowel length, Raddoppiamento Sintattico and the
selection of the definite article in Italian. In Sauzet, P. (ed.), Langues et Grammaire II-III: Phonologie. Paris: University Paris 8. pp. 87–102.