On the Syllabification of English Intervocalic Glides

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss such phonological processes as follows, which seem to be caused by the resyllabification of intervocalic glides : [Table omitted] The intervocalic glide, in each case, is resyllabified from the onset into the rhyme of the preceding syllable, against the widely accepted "onset maximality." What constitutes this resyllabification, it is concluded, are the two phonological characteristics of English, namely its leftward directionality of the spreading of high vowels and its relatively weak requirement of onsets. It is also mentioned that Japanese and Hungarian exhibit a striking contrast with English in glide insertion, which implies that the former two have a rightward directionality in the spreading and a stronger requirement of onsets than the latter one.