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Word-final sequences of three consonants
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This topic is devoted to word-final sequences of three consonants, also in relation to their (word-initial) mirror images. There appear to be severe restrictions on their distribution, while there is also a clear difference between the possibilities in word-final and word-initial position.

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There are five word-initial sequences of three consonants (see onset: sequences of more than two consonants); together with their mirror images they are enumerated in the table below:

Table 1: The word-initial sequences of three consonants and their mirror images
Word-initial sequence Mirror image
/skr/ /rks/
/spr/ /rps/
/str/ /rts/
/skl/ /lks/
/spl/ /lps/

Not all mirror images of the word-initial sequences occur in word-final position. The ones that do are /-lks/, /-rks/ and /-rps/. The table below gives an exhaustive list of the words they are part of:

Table 2
Ending in /lks/ Ending in /rks/ Ending in /rps/
daalks /da:lks/ immediately piterbjirks /pitərbjɪrks/ odd, strange korps /kɔrps/ corps
binnenwurks /bɪnənvørks/ on the inside (from binnen#wurk indoor work)
bûtenwurks /butənvørks/ outside (from bûten#wurk outdoor work)
The word daalks is an adapted form of Dutch dadelijk /dadə+lək/, so originally it is a derived form. This also holds for the three words ending in /-rks/. The word korps is a loanword. These sequences therefore do not occur in simplex native words, which is indicative of their scarcity.

On the face of it, the mirror image of /str-/ occurs in words like larts /lats/ lark, l(j)urts /l(j)øts/ lark, koarts /koəts/ fever, and koerts /kuəts/ course. Although in these native words <r> is still written, it has undergone a historical process of deletion (see /r/-deletion in simplex words), so it may no longer be part of the underlying representation of the words in question. This, however, is not the case with /r/ in the loanwords arts /arts/ doctor and erts /ɛrts/ ore, where it is always realized.

An overview of the three-segmental word-final sequences without a word-initial mirror image is provided in (1):

1
Examples of words with a three-segmental word-final sequence without a word-initial mirror image
a. /-lsk/
falsk /fɔlsk/ false
gelsk /ɡɛlsk/ rancid, rank
b. /-ŋks/
flanks /flaŋks/ (in: yn 'e flanks nei towards, in the direction of )
sfinks /sfɪŋks/ sphinx
links /lɪŋks/ left(-hand)
lynks /liŋks/ lynx
c. /-nsk/
minske /me:nskə/ human being
winsk /ve:nsk/ wish
d. /-lts/
elts /ɛlts/ each (one)
folts /folts/ people
kwelts /kwɛlts/ (in: kwelts gean to limp )
lilts /lɪlts/ angry
melts /mɛlts/ milch (in: in melke ko a milch cow )
palts /pɔlts/ Palatinate
Drylts /drilts/ (name of) one of the eleven Frisian cities
e. /-lst/
aalst /a:lst/ absinthe
felst /fɛlst/ bog ore
hulst /hølst/ holly, ilex
f. /-nts/
hoants /vwants/ ruff
mients /miənts/ knot
muonts /mwonts/ monk
mûnts /munts/ monk
wants /vɔnts/ bug
g. /-nst/
aanst /a:nst/ at once, right away
hynst /hi:nst/ stallion
h. /-rst/
barst /bast/ crack, burst
boarst /bwast/ breast
hjerst /jɛst/ autumn
toarst /toəst/ thirst
i. /-xts/
rjochts /rjoxts/ right(-hand)
j. /-fts/
lofts /lofts/ left(-hand)
k. /-kst/
takst /takst/ regular, habitual quantity
drekst /drɛkst/ immediately, at once
tekst /tɛkst/ text
gewikst /ɡəvɪkst/ strong
gewykst /ɡəvikst/ shrewd, smart; robust, sturdy
l. /-pst/
gewûpst /ɡəvupst/ robust, sturdy
extra

The words in (1c) and (1g) end in /-ns{k/t}/, which is why the nasal /n/ is not realized here (see vowel nasalization).

The word-final sequences in (1) would have the word-initial mirror images in (2):

2
The three-segmental word-initial miror images of the sequences in (1)
/ksl-/
/skn-/
/ksn-/
/stl-/
/tsl-/
/stn-/
/tsn-/
/tsr-/
/stx-/
/stf-/
/tsk-/
/tsp-/

Consonant sequences must be in conformity with the Resolvability Constraint, which holds that the occurrence of a consonant sequence implies the independent occurrence of its constituting parts (see onset: sequences of more than two consonants). A three-consonantal sequence is in accordance with this constraint, if it can be split up into two biconsonantal sequences. So, since the onset sequences /tx-/, /tf-/, /tl-/, and /tn-/ are not allowed, /stx-/, /stf-/, /stl-/, and /stn-/ are not either. The cluster /ts-/ can only precede the close vowel /i/ or the glide /j/ (see the /ts/ Constraint), which implies the non-occurrence of /tsl-/, /tsn-/, /tsr-/, /tsk-/, and /tsp-/. That /s/ is extra-syllabic in /sl-/ and /sn-/ (see extra-syllabic consonants) explains the non-occurrence of /ksl-/ and /ksn-/, for a word can have no more than one extrasyllabic segment at a time. Likewise, the fact that /k/ is extrasyllabic in /kn-/ (see onset: sequences of obstruients and nasals) renders the sequence /skn-/ impossible.

extra

/skn-/, however, does occur, although only in the plural nouns sknikel(s)blêden /sknikəl(s)#blɛ:d+ən/ (< sk [ə]nikel(s)blêden < sk [ər]ernikel(s)blêden < sk [ar]nikel(s)blêden) ground ivy and sknieren /skniər+ən/ (< sk [ə]nieren < sk [ər]nieren < sk [ar]nieren) hinges, next to which stand the more common forms skarnikel(s)blêden /skarnikəl(s)#blɛ:d+ən/ and skarnieren /skarniər+ən/.

As to the three-consonantal sequences, there is thus a clear difference between the possibilities in word-initial and word-final position.

There are two asymmetries concerning the sequences in (1). In the first place, the coronal /s/ − which is part of all these clusters, either as final or prefinal element − is preceded or followed by a voiceless plosive, with which it forms a complex segment (see complex segments). The labial /p/, however, does not take part (with the exception of the loanword gotspe /ɡɔtspə/ chutzpah, effrontery). There is not a ready explanation for this asymmetry, though it may not be without significance that /-s/, /-t/, /-st/, and /-sk/ also have the status of a suffix, which /p/ has not.

In the second place, these sequences consist of a sonorant consonant followed by /-ts/, /-st/, /-ks/, or /-sk/. As complex segments, the latter can occur in word-final position. On the one hand, /-sk/ is only preceded by the (coronal) nasal /n/ and /-ks/ by the (velar) nasal /ŋ/. On the other hand, /-ts/ and /-st/ are preceded by /n/ and the liquids /l/ and /r/. The coronal sequences have a wider distribution than those which a non-coronal is part of. Both asymmetries then may have to do with the unmarked status of coronal segments vis-à-vis non-coronals.

Overviews of these sequences are given in (3) and (4) below:

3
Sequences of a sonorant consonant + /sk / and /ks/
links
lynks
minske
winsk
4
Sequences of a sonorant consonant + /st/ and /ts/
a. /-nts/ and /-nst/
hoants
muonts
aanst
hynst
b. /-lts/ and /-lst/
elts
Drylts
aalst
felst
c. /-lks/ and /-lsk/
daalks
falsk
gelsk
d. /-rts/ and /-rst/
koarts
koerts
boarst
toarst
extra

In the words from (3) and (4a) ending in /-ns{t/k}/ the nasal /n/ is not realized, due to Vowel Nasalization. Since it precedes a dental-alveolar consonant, r is mute in the words from (4d) (see /r/-deletion in simplex words).

extra

It is assumed here that words like links and lynks in (3) have the velar nasal /ŋ/ in their underlying representation.

The sequences of an obstruent + /ts/ and /st/ also show an asymmetry. A plosive is followed by /st/ ( /-kst/ and /-pst/), a fricative by /ts/ ( /-fts/ and /-xts/), as exemplified in the table below:

Table 3: Sequences of an obstruent + /st/ and /ts/
/-xts/ ( /*-xst/) rjochts
/-fts/ ( /*-fst/) lofts
/-kst/ ( /*-kts/) takst
/-pst/ ( /*-pts/) gewûpst

Preferably, obstruents in a sequence do not agree in continuancy. Therefore, sequences of two plosives or fricatives are far less likely than plosive-fricative or fricative-plosive sequences (see onset: sequences of two obstruents). This accounts for the observed asymmetry.

The sequences /*-kts/, /*-pts/, /*-fst/, and /*-pts/ do not occur in simplex words, but they do in derived forms, like (do) sjochst /sjoɣ+st/ [sjoxst] you see; you look, (it) dreechst /dre:ɣ+st/ [dre:xst] sturdiest; most thorough, (do) draafst /dra:v+st/ [dra:fst] you run, (it) geefst /ge:v+st/ [ge:fst] healthiest; strongest, (wat) ûnkrekts /un+krɛkt+s/ [uŋkrɛkts] something incorrect, and (wat) benypts /bənipt+s/ [bənipts] something narrow-minded. This means, that the ban on /-kts/, /-pts/, /-fst/, and /-pts/ reflects a Morpheme Structure Constraint.

None of the above long word-final sequences have a high frequency. The Word Constraint, which constrains the size of simplex words, may be held responsible for this.

extra

The sequences at hand are prone to simplification. So, the words takst, drekst; aalst, felst; palts and aanst have the variants taks, dreks/drekt; aals, fels; pals and aans. On the other hand, bisegmental word-final sequences ending in /s/ can gain an extra /t/, as in aldergelokst (next to and from aldergeloks /ɔlder+gəlok+s/ fortunately, luckily), selst (next to and from sels /sɛls/ self), and wylst (next to and from wyls /vils/ while).

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