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    High-vowel-plus-homorganic-glide-restriction
    quickinfo

    Combinations of [i] plus the homorganic glide [j] display a strong tendency to avoid stress. This occurs in words with more than two syllables, yet under two conditions:

    1. the combination occurs in the last two syllables of the word
    2. the glide is the onset of an open syllable (as for instance in word-final [ija] or [ijo:]

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    [+]Quadrisyllabic monomorphemic words

    Quadrisyllabic monomorphemic words display the tendency to have an alternating stress pattern (see alternating stress patterns), with primary stress on the third syllable and secondary stress on the first one. However, if the last two syllables consist of the (disyllabic) sequence [ija], primary stress falls on the antepenult:

    1
    magnolia [maɣ.'noə.li.ja] magnolia
    petunia /pe:.'ty.ni.ja/ petunia
    extra

    The word petunia petunia has been transcribed as [pe:.'ty.ni.ja] here, with the A-class vowel [e:]. Being in unstressed position, however, the latter may also be realized as schwa: [pə.'ty.ni.ja].

    [+]Trisyllabic words

    Trisyllabic monomorphemic words show a similar pattern, in that primary stress on the last two syllables is avoided, as shown in (2):

    2
    ratio [ˈra:.tsi.jo:] ratio
    radio ['ra:.di.jo:] radio
    loempia ['lum.pi.ja] spring roll
    hernia ['hɛr.ni.ja] hernia
    sangria ['saŋ.ɡri.ja] sangria

    There are some counterexamples to this pattern, restricted to proper nouns:

    3
    Tanzania [tan.za.'ni.ja] Tanzania
    Sjaria [sja:.'ri.ja] Sharia
    Maria [ma:.'ri.ja] Mary
    Jeremia [je:.re.'mi.ja] Jeremiah
    extra
    x

    The proper noun Jeremia Jeremiah has been transcribed as /je:.re.'mi.ja/, with [e:]; in this position, preceding /r/, however, the latter is commonly realized as the centring diphthong [ɪə] or just the full vowel [ɪ]: [jɪə.re.'mi.ja] or [jɪr.re.'mi.ja] (with an ambisyllabic [r]).

    [+]Disyllabic words

    In disyllabic words which contain [i] and the homorganic glide [j], stress is on the penultimate, as shown in (4):

    4
    dia ['di.ja] slide
    fia ['fi.ja] via
    trio ['tri.jo:] trio
    [+]Words containing schwa

    Schwa may influence the stress placement (it cannot bear stress). In cases where the antepenultimate syllable contains schwa, primary stress falls on the penultimate, provided it contains a high vowel:

    5
    pizzeria [pi.dzə.'ri.ja] pizzeria

    When the final, glide-initial syllable contains schwa ( [-ijə]), stress is on the penultimate as well, of which (6) gives examples. It should be noted that the high-vowel-plus-homorganic-glide-restriction is violated in these words.

    6
    fanylje [fan.'ni.jə] vanilla
    eskadrille [ɛs.ka.'dri.jə] air wing
    pastylje [pas.'ti.jə] pastille
    extra

    The words fanylje vanilla and pastylje pastille may also be realized as [fan.'nil.jə] and [pas.'til.jə], with [l] between [i] and [jə] (in accordance with the spelling). The high-vowel-plus-homorganic-glide-restriction has no bearing on such words, which obey the closed penult restriction.

    Examples where [ijə] avoids stress are given in (7) below. It mainly concerns toponyms (exonyms):

    7
    Australië [ɔw.'stra:.li.jə] Australia
    Argentinië [ar.ɣɛn.'ti.ni.jə] Argentina
    Bosnië ['bos.ni.jə] Bosnia
    Brazilië [bras.'si.li.jə] Brazil
    Etiopië [e:.ti.'jo:.pi.jə] Ethiopia
    Georgië [ɡe:.'jɔr.ɣi.jə] Georgia
    agrariër [aɡ.'ɡra:.ri.jər] farmer
    fegetariër [fe:.ɣe.'ta:.ri.jər] vegetarian
    extra
    x
    Literature

    In Dutch, toponyms are often the sole apparent exceptions to otherwise strong restrictions on stress assignment. Köhnlein (2014), however, argues that closer inspection reveals that they display the stress behaviour which is characteristic of morphologically complex words, derived via suffixation or compounding, and that similar patterns are found in place names in various other languages.

    [+]Word-internal combinations of /i/ plus glide

    The high-vowel-plus-homorganic-glide restriction does not hold for the word-internal sequence /ij/. As shown by the examples in (8), words containing this sequence have primary stress on the syllable beginning with the glide, stress on the high vowel being avoided:

    8
    pyama [pi.'ja:.ma] pyjamas
    piano [pi.'ja:.no:] piano
    [+]Non-homorganic high vowel plus glide sequences

    Stress on a syllable preceding the glide is possible in cases where a) the vowel is not high, and b) the vowel and the glide are not homorganic:

    9
    papaja [pap.'pa:.ja] papaya
    halleluja [hal.le:.'ly.ja] hallelujah

    Furthermore, stress is not prohibited in an /ij/ combination in case the word-final syllable, beginning with the glide [j], is closed; the vowel in that syllable can be either an A-class vowel, a B-class vowel or a diphthong:

    10
    kaviaar [kav.vi.'ja:r] caviar
    legioen [le:.ɣi.'juən] legion
    bastion [bas.ti.'jon] bastion
    sjampinjon [sjam.pi.'jon] mushroom
    lampion [lam.pi.'jon] paper lantern
    proviand [pro:.vi.'jɔnt] provisions
    References
    • Köhnlein, Björn2014The morphological structure of complex place names: the case of Dutch
    About this article
    Author(s): Willem Visser, Joke Weening
    Category: Frisian Phonology
    Keywords: stress/ij/-sequence
    Version: 1.0, December 2015
    Version history:
    version editor(s) date remarks
    1.0 Willem Visser, Joke Weening December 2015
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