In summary, each of the six attested types of putatively unbounded stress systems is accounted for straightforwardly under the autosegmental theory of stress. Furthermore, the
latter predicts that these six basic systems are the only ones that may be derived using the Weight-to-Stress Principle. The separation of prominence and constituency is precisely what
makes it possible to analyze these stress systems without resorting to the use of unbounded feet. Consequently, I conclude that these stress systems do not constitute an argument for the
existence of unbounded feet. In fact, I know of no compelling argument for the existence of unbounded feet, and the Autosegmental Stress Hypothesis makes it possible to account for
these systems without using feet at all.
3.3. Summary
The preceding sections have instantiated the stress typology that is predicted by the theory that was proposed in the preceding chapter. This chapter was organized in terms of the
traditional distinction between bounded and unbounded feet. Section 3.1 instantiated the predicted typology of binary stressed feet with data from Warao, Mayo, Cairene Arabic,
Turkish, and Hixkaryana. The first four of these languages exemplify the four logically possible surface combinations of a stress autosegment with a symmetric foot. The final language,
Hixkaryana, was presented as an example of how a stress autosegment links to an asymmetric foot. Following Prince 1990, the total absence of stress systems which stress the weak
member of an asymmetric foot is explained by the Weight-to-Stress Principle. That is, the otherwise-free ability of a grammar to combine any foot type with any direction of linking of a
stress autosegment is overruled by the asymmetry of the iambic foot.
Section 3.2 applied the Weight-to-Stress Principle to derive what has traditionally been known as “unbounded” stress. It was argued that all and only the attested patterns of
unbounded stress are predicted to occur if the Weight-to-Stress Principle is allowed to apply in the domain of the word.
This completes the instantiation of the various stress patterns that are predicted by the autosegmental theory of stress. The next two chapters provide further arguments for the two
key claims of the theory, i.e., that stress and metrical structure are logically separate and that stress is autosegmental. Chapter 4 presents a detailed analysis of the facts of stress and vowel
length in Yidin
y
, a language of Australia, and argues that the autosegmental approach to Yidin
y
stress is superior to the proposals of Hayes 1982b, Halle and Vergnaud 1987b, and Hammond 1990b. In particular, it is argued that feet which surface with stress in Yidin
y
are initially built without stress and remain stressless throughout part of the derivation.
Furthermore, the Weight-to-Stress Principle is used to assign stress to the rightmost heavy syllable in a word in essentially the same manner as in some of the derivations in section 3.2.
Chapter 5 takes a closer look at the nature of Mayo’s floating accent and describes a similar phenomenon in Tagalog. Further evidence for the autosegmental nature of stress is deduced
from base transfer effects in Mayo reduplication and from the interaction of segmental length and stress assignment in Mayo.
112
4. Headless Feet in Yidin
y
Chapter 2 demonstrated that Yidin
y
has a vowel lengthening rule which intervenes between the construction of stressless and headless feet and the assignment of stress. The requirement
for this particular ordering of the rules was invoked as an argument for the claim that feet are inherently headless. However, chapter 2 did not discuss the question of how Yidin
y
stress is formally assigned to feet. This chapter proposes an autosegmental analysis of stress and vowel
length in Yidin
y
and compares it to other analyses that have been proposed, concluding that the facts of Yidin
y
are best accounted for by a theory in which all feet, including stressed feet, are headless.
103
The chapter begins by reviewing the basic facts of Yidin
y
that were presented in chapter 2. Then, section 4.2 presents the autosegmental analysis. Section 4.3 reviews the analyses of
Hayes 1982b, Halle and Vergnaud 1987b, and Hammond 1990b and argues that each has one or more theoretical problems associated with it. It is concluded that the autosegmental
analysis of Yidin
y
stress is free of the problems that are raised by the other proposals precisely because the autosegmental analysis separates constituency from prominence. This, then,
constitutes an argument in favor of the inherent headlessness of feet, which is a foundational principle of the autosegmental theory of stress.
4.1. The Empirical Basis for Iterative Headless Foot-Building
Dixon’s 1977 generalization regarding Yidin
y
stress is as follows in 193 repeated from section 2.1.2.2.
193 Stress Assignment Rule Dixon 1977: Stress is assigned to the first syllable involving a long vowel. If there is no long
vowel, it is assigned to the first syllable of the word. Further stresses are then assigned recursively to the syllable next but one before, and the next but one
after, a stressed syllable.
A subset of Dixon’s Yidin
y
data is repeated below from chapter 2. Notice that long vowels are always stressed and that vowel length may occur anywhere in the word, although neither
length nor stress surfaces on adjacent vowels.
104
Furthermore, stress occurs either on every even-numbered syllable, as in 194, or on every odd-numbered syllable, as in 195,
depending upon the location of long vowels.
103
As was mentioned in section 2.1.2.2, Crowhurst 1991a and Crowhurst and Hewitt 1995 argue for analyses that are quite similar to the one presented here. However, although the above works initially construct headless feet, they later assign heads to
them. In contrast, I argue that all feet are headless.
104
It is possible for length to occur on adjacent vowels prior to the end of the derivation, but one of these vowels always gets shortened via Dixons rule of Illicit Length Elimination, which shortens a long vowel in an odd-numbered syllable of a word
containing an odd number of syllables. This lends support to the claims, for which I argue below, that all stress is derived on the basis of the surface location of long vowels, and that vowel length may be either underlying or derived.
