A Q-Theoretic approach to distinctive subsegmental timing

Abstract

This paper presents two case studies of segment-internal timing distinctions which motivate Q Theory, in which each segment (Q) is represented as a string of featurally uniform subsegments (q), e.g. (q1 q2 q3), corresponding to the informal concepts of onset, target, and offset (Inkelas & Shih 2013, 2016, 2017, Shih & Inkelas 2014). We argue, based on Panará and Hungarian, that this representational richness is motivated by the need to represent phonologically tripartite segments, as well as segment-internal timing distinctions that are phonologically contrastive. In addition to supporting existing Q Theory architecture, we also argue for expanding the repertoire of Q Theory further to include phonologically long segments, such as geminates.