Constraints on Pulaar Phonology

Constraints in Pulaar Phonology provides clear and convincing analyses and solutions to linguistic phenomena whose treatment in the literature remained unsatisfactory until now. An analysis of the metrical structure and other morphological and phonological processes in Pulaar shows the need for further distinctions beyond the generally admitted binary ones. The argument is supported by various processes that obtain in Pulaar, a dialect of Fula, a language of the West Atlantic Branch of the Niger Congo Language Family. The analyses adopted show Pulaar not only breaks this binary distinction but also makes a four way weight distinction in contrast to other views according to which only a two way weight distinction prevails in languages. The analysis of the metrical system of Pulaar shows that stress assignment is sensitive to the "sonority" hierarchy of the syllables in the word. Four sonority levels (CV < CVC < CVV < CVVC) are distinguished for the syllables. In addition to providing an account of Pulaar metrical structure, phonological and morphological processes, the analyses adopted in this study critiques previous analyses by Taylor (1953), McIntosh (1984), and Prunet and Tellier (1984).