Re: English syllable structure

John Cowan:
> Dirk Elzinga wrote:
>
> > For
> > example, tense vowels and diphthongs don't occur with non-alveolar
> > consonant clusters.
>
> Since English has only /b p m k g N/ as non-alveolar consonants,
and /f v S Z h j w/

> and (AFAIK) only /mp Nk Ng/ as non-alveolar clusters, this seems
> a kind of trivial observation.
Pun apart, it is an essential fact of English.

Bumph, gallumph, harrumph and triumph provide an additional
rime-type where the coda Cs are all nonalveolar.

/lf/ also conforms to Dirk's generalization (okay, I know he didn't
originate it!) for some speakers (who have /Q/ rather than /ow/
in _golf_. /lp/, /lk/ and (probably) /lm/ also conform for all
speakers. So do /pt/ and /kt/ stems and, with a handful of exceptions,
/ps/ and /ks/ stems. /ft/ too conforms except for dialects that
had A-lengthening (e.g. _shaft_).

> Anyhow, the rule applies to /N/ by itself as well.
Which is the main argument for analysing it as underlyingly /ng/.

--And.

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