An optimality-theoretic analysis of syllable contraction in Cantonese

Abstract

As a departure from Cheung's (1986) rule-based study on syllable contraction in Cantonese, the present analysis employs the notion of constraint interaction in Optimality Theory (Prince and Smolensky 1993) to solve the critical issue concerning the prediction of the output nucleus. Distinct from the sonority-oriented dialects such as Taiwanese Southern Min, Hakka, and Taiwan Mandarin, Cantonese is characterized by the determination of output nucleus by vowel length. In Optimality Theory, language variation appeals to different ranking of a set of universal constraints. This paper also illustrates that as a product of fast speech, syllable contraction may not follow language-specific phonotactic constraints.