A Segmental Truncation in English Word-formation Process

This study investigates obligatory and necessary with an optional segmental truncation occurring in the word formation through the attachment of derivational suffixes in English. An unstressed medial vowel or an identical medial syllable gets deleted; when the first suffix -ər precedes the second suffix -əs, the vowel in the former is deleted. The medial schwa deletes when a root ends in VC(C), while the medial [ər] gets truncated if a root ends in /ər/ and two suffixes -ər and -əs follow it. Furthermore, the schwa optionally undergoes truncation after deleting [-ər]. Since obligatory and optional deletion occurs sequentially, we adopt a step-wise theoretical framework that shows both derivation traits of a rule-based approach and a consistent constraint ranking characteristic of a constraint-based framework. We claim that segmental truncation occurs to improve syllable parsing into feet and favored foot structure formation. FtBin and Parse-σ play central roles in fulfilling better parsing and foot formation. In addition, the markedness constraint, <SUP>*</SUP>ṽ, substantiates FtBin and Parse-σ through subtractive morphology. The step-wise account in this study can explain both obligatory and obligatory with an ensuing optional schwa deletion in the English word formationprocess.