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Superheavy syllables in stress assignment
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In Dutch, superheavy syllables are strong attractors of primary stress. Three syllable types are regarded as superheavy:

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[+]General information

Since the occurrence of superheavy syllables is usually restricted to the word-final position, their strong tendency to carry primary stress goes against the general avoidance of final stress in polysyllabic words. While the large majority of word-final superheavy syllables carry primary stress, there are also some exceptions, in particular final B-class vowel + two consonants (BCC) syllables. Such words with unstressed superheavy syllables have been analyzed as prosodic compounds(Trommelen and Zonneveld 1989; Booij 1995,1999). The following examples were taken from Celex (Baayen 1995).

[+]AC

Polysyllabic words ending in superheavy syllable of the pattern A-class vowel plus consonant (AC): 206 items, 182 final stress, 24 non-final stress

1
AC
acuut [a.ˈkyt] acute
fluweel [fly.ˈwel] velvet
helaas [he.ˈlas] unfortunately
kameel [ka.ˈmel] camel
klimaat [kli.ˈmat] climate
minuut [mi.ˈnyt] minute
pistool [pis.ˈtol] pistol
systeem [sis.ˈtem] system
toernooi [tur.ˈnoj] tournament
vulkaan [vʏl.ˈkan] volcano

Celex provides the following counter-examples:

2
altaar [ˈɑl.tar] altar
bamboes [ˈbɑm.bus] bamboos
kroepoek [ˈkru.puk] shrimps crackers
luipaard [ˈlœy.part] leopard
mammoet [ˈmɑ.mut] mammoth
maraboet [ˈma.ra.but] marabout
peluw [ˈpe.lyʋ] bolster
satyr [ˈsa.tir] satyr
tapir [ˈta.pir] tapir
zenuw [ˈze.nyʋ] nerve
[+]DC

Diphthongs followed by a consonant (DC): 57 items, 56 final stress, 1 non-final stress

The stress attraction of final diphthongs plus consonant is practically exceptionless. Consider the following data:

3
DC
arduin [ɑr.ˈdœyn] bluestone
bazuin [ba.ˈzœyn] trumpet
fontein [fɔn.ˈtɛin] fountain
jasmijn [jɑs.ˈmɛin] jasmine
jolijt [jo.ˈlœyt] merriment
konijn [ko.ˈnɛin] rabbit
paradijs [pa.ra.ˈdɛis] paradise
rosmarijn [rɔs.ma.ˈrɛin] rosemary
termijn [tɛr.ˈmɛin] term
terrein [tɛ.ˈrɛin] terrain

In Celex, the word arbeid [ˈɑr.bɛit] work is the only counter-example to the general pattern.

[+]BCC

B-class vowels followed by two consonants (BCC): 76 items, 60 final stress, 16 non-final stress

As the following data show, final BCC-syllables are strong stress attractors as well. However, as with words ending in AC, there are some counter-examples. Celex lists the following items with final stressed BCC-syllables:

4
BCC
accent [ɑk.ˈsɛnt] accent
biljard [bɪl.ˈjart] billiard
diamant [di.ja.ˈmɑnt] diamond
evident [e.vi.ˈdɛnt] evident
gerant [ʒe.ˈrɑ̃] manager
orkest [ɔr.ˈkɛst] orchestra
plafond [pla.ˈfɔnt] ceiling
rapport [rɑ.ˈpɔrt] report
serpent [sɛr.ˈpɛnt] serpent
triljard [trɪl.ˈjɑrt] trillion

In Celex, we find the following exceptions to the dominant pattern:

5
ambacht [ˈɑm.bɑxt] craft
avond [ˈa.vɔnt] evening
eland [ˈe.lɑnt] moose
horizont [ˈho.ri.zɔnt] horizon
katapult [ˈkɑ.ta.pʏlt] catapult
lariks [ˈla.rɪks] larch
maarschalk [ˈmar.sxɑlk] marshal
matrix [ˈma.trɪks] matrix
olifant [ˈo.li.fɑnt] elephant
vijand [ˈvɛi.jɑnt] enemy
References
  • Baayen, R. Harald, Piepenbrock, Richard & Gulikers, L1995The CELEX Lexical Database (CD-ROM), Release 2, Dutch Version 3.1
  • Booij, Geert1995The phonology of DutchOxfordOxford University Press
  • Booij, Geert1999The role of the prosodic word in phonotactic generalizationsHall, T. Alan & Kleinhenz, Ursula (eds.)Studies on the phonological wordAmsterdam / PhiladelphiaJohn Benjamins47-72
  • Trommelen, Mieke & Zonneveld, Wim1989Klemtoon en metrische fonologieMuiderbergCoutinho
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