(A)symmetric Realizations of Sonorant Sequences across the Morpheme Boundaries

This study looks over the identical sonorant sequences created by morpheme concatenation and manner assimilation in English and provides an alternative analysis, which is not entirely dependent on the stratification of affixes. A traditional view on the degemination of consonants has been that Levels 1 and 2 behave differently in phonological processes. Thus, a segment in the Level 1 affix is subject to phonological changes, which is not the case for a segment in the Level 2 affix. Accordingly, sonorant geminates made with the Level 1 affix undergo degemination, while sonorant geminates containing the Level 2 affix resist degemination. However, the realizations of identical sonorant sequences show that the affix stratification is not an absolute factor in degemination: the nasal geminate formed with the Level 1 prefix is realized either as a geminate or a degeminated consonant. On the other hand, a liquid geminate created with the Level 2 suffix is degeminated, like the liquid geminate formed with the Level 1 prefix. Thus, the study argues that the strict division of morphological level seems to become weak. (Jeonbuk National University)