Abstract
This paper argues that English vowel shortening is a process that applies when a long vowel can be posited in a closed syllable. We assume that this simple generalization is made obscure morpheme-internally by aberrant word-final consonant clusters and across morpheme boundaries by a stress pattern relic where the derived forms have been carried over from their basic forms. Introducing an extrasyllabic unit and a stress-sensitive syllable reconstruction process, we propose that English vowel shortening rules be regarded as one syllabic structure reconstructing process. Since the above process applies both within and across morpheme boundaries, we claim that the constraint of Strict Cyclicity should be modified in line with Halle & Mohanan (1985).
