Syllable Structure for an Artificial Language Based on Universal Principles

Davis, Stuart

doi:10.22425/jul.2002.3.1.1

J. Univers. Lang. 2002; 3(1):1-13

pISSN: 1598-6381

DOI: https://doi.org/10.22425/jul.2002.3.1.1

Article

Syllable Structure for an Artificial Language Based on Universal Principles

Stuart Davis ¹

Author Information & Copyright ▼

¹Indiana University

Copyright ⓒ 2016, Sejong University Language Research Institue. This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Published Online: Jan 01, 2017

Abstract

This paper discusses the types of syllables that should be found in a spoken artificial language based on the common types of syllables found in natural languages. The paper also examines the various units within the syllable, such as onset，nucleus ，and coda，suggesting how the preferred structure of these units maybe incorporated into an artificial language. One proposal that will emerge is that an artificial language needs to allow for at least a slight degree of complexity in its syllable structure. The paper further discusses related issue of prosody such as word stress and minimal word length in an artificial language. The paper concludes with an overview of the proposals made about syllable structure for an artificial language.

Keywords: syllable; prosody; artificial language; word stress; minimal word length

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