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High-vowel-plus-homorganic-glide-restriction
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Combinations of [i] plus a homorganic glide (see also hiatus) display a strong tendency to avoid stress in words with more than two syllables, albeit 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

In general, these words display a tendency to have alternating stress patterns, with primary stress on the third syllable and secondary stress on the first (see stress in monomorphemic quadrisyllabic words). However, if the last two syllables contain a high vowel followed by a glide, primary stress falls on the antepenult in the large majority of cases:

1
magnolia [max.ˈno.li.ja] magnolia
camelia [kaˈme.li.ja] camellia
petunia [pe.'ty.ni.ja] petunia
tarantula [ta.ˈrɑn.ty.la] tarantula
gardenia [ɣɑr.ˈde.ni.ja] gardenia
[+]Trisyllabic words

Trisyllabic words show a similar pattern: stress is avoided on the last two syllables.

2
ratio [ˈra.tsi.jo] ratio
radio ['ra.di.jo] radio
loempia ['lum.pi.ja] spring roll
hernia [ˈhɛr.ni.ja] hernia
sangria [ˈsɑŋ.gri.ja] sangria

There are some counterexamples to this pattern; they are restricted to some proper names.

3
Tanzania [tɑn.za.ˈni.ja] Tanzania
Nicosia [ni.ko.'si.ja] Nicosia
Sjariah [ʃa.ˈri.ja] Sharia
Maria [ma.'ri.ja] Mary
Jeremia [je.re.ˈmi.ja] Jeremiah
[+]Disyllabic words

In disyllabic words that contain a high vowel and a homorganic glide, stress is on the penultimate:

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

In words containing a schwa, the presence of this vowel can influence the stress placement (schwa cannot carry stress). In cases where the antepenultimate syllable contains a schwa, primary stress falls on the penultimate syllable with the high vowel. Examples, however, are scarce:

5
pizzeria [pi.tsə.ˈri.ja] pizzeria
cafeteria [kɑ.fe.tə.ˈri.ja] cafeteria

The word cafeteria deserves further attention: Dutch speakers seem to have two ways of pronouncing that word: in the (less frequent) pronunciation provided above [kɑ.fe.tə.ˈri.ja], the third syllable contains a schwa. In this case, we find penultimate stress on the high vowel; that is, the high-vowel-plus-homorganic-glide restriction is disobeyed. In a second pronunciation (which is given as standard by Dutch dictionaries; [kɑ.fe.ˈta.ri.ja]), the antepenultimate syllable contains an [a] instead of a schwa. This again influences the stress assignment: stress falls on the antepenultimate position of the word; thus, the high-vowel-plus-homorganic-glide restriction is satisfied.

When the final, glide-initial syllable contains schwa [i.jə], stress can fall on the penultimate as well. This is not obligatory, though. (6a) contains forms with penultimate stress, the word in (6b) has antepenultimate stress:

6
a. vanille [va.ˈni.jə] vanilla
      peccadille [pɛ.ka.ˈdi.jə] pecadillo
      mantille [mɑn.ˈti.jə] mantilla
      escadrille [ɛs.ka.ˈdri.jə] escadrille
      pastille [pɑs.ˈti.jə] pastille
b. Alexandrië [a.lɛk.ˈsɑn.dri.jə] Aleksandria

Some examples where [ijə] avoids stress are presented below. These examples are mainly toponyms:

7
Australië [ɑu.ˈstra.li.jə] Australia
Anatolië [a.na.ˈto.li.jə] Anatolia
Argentinië [ɑr.ɤən.ˈti.ni.jə] Argentina
Bosnië [ˈbɔs.ni.jə] Bosnia
Brazilië [bra.ˈzi.li.jə] Brazil
Ethiopië [e.ti.ˈjo.pi.jə] Ethiopia
Georgië [ɣe.ˈjɔr.ɣi.jə] Georgia
Indonesië [ɪn.do.ˈne.zi.jə] Indonesia
agrariër [aɣ.ˈra.ri.jər] farmer
vegetariër [ve.ɣe.ˈta.ri.jər] vegetarian
[+]Word-internal combinations of /i/ plus glide

The high-vowel-plus-homorganic-glide restriction does not hold for word-internal combinations of /i/ plus glide. In such cases, primary stress usually falls on the syllable beginning with the glide – stress on the high vowel is still avoided:

8
furioso [fy.ri.'jo.zo] furioso
ravioli [ra.vi.'jo.li] ravioli
curiosum [ky.ri.ˈjo.sʏm] curiosity
hyena [hi.'je.na] hyena
piama [pi.'ja.ma] pajamas
piano [pi.'ja.no] piano
tertiaris [tɛr.tsi.ˈja.rəs] third order
tiara [ti.'ja.ra] tiara

We were able to find one item where the high vowel receives primary stress. These items, however, are highly infrequent:

9
Tiamat [ˈti.ja.mɑt] Tiamat
[+]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:

10
sequoia [se.ˈkʋo.ja] sequoia
kabaja [ka.'ba.ja] kebaya
papaja [pa.'pa.ja] papaya
maracuja [ma.ra.'ky.ja] passion fruit
halleluja [hɑ.le.ˈly.ja] hallelujah

Furthermore, stress is not prohibited in cases where the final glide-initial syllable is closed; the vowel in that syllable can be tense or lax:

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capriool [kɑ.pri.ˈjol] silly trick
gladiool [xla.di.'jol] gladiolus
kaviaar [ka.vi.'jar] caviar
legioen [le.ɣi.ˈjun] legion
bastion [bɑs.ti.ˈjɔn] bastion
champignon [ʃɑm.pi.ˈjɔn] champignon
lampion [lɑm.pi.ˈjɔn] paper lantern
proviand [pro.vi.ˈjɑnt] provisions

Note, however, that stress is avoided in words that end in -ium (often chemical elements):

12
cadmium [ˈkɑt.mi.jʏm] cadmium
calcium [ˈkɑl.si.jʏm] calcium
hafnium [ˈhɑf.ni.jʏm] hafnium
holmium [ˈhɔl.mi.jʏm] holmium
barium [ˈba.ri.jʏm] barium
[+]Stress-shifting effect of word-final vowel plus homorganic glide

When the endings -ia or -io are added to a toponym to form names, this leads to a stress shift in cases where the toponym does not have final stress:

13
Finlandia [fɪn.ˈlɑn.di.ja] company name
Hollandia [hɔ.ˈlɑn.di.ja] company name
Hollandio [hɔ.ˈlɑn.di.jo] radio station
References
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