Abstract
This paper is an attempt to explain the mechanism of Open Syllable Lengthening in Middle English, which is regarded as a Compensatory Lengthening process, within the framework of what we may call‘Two-Prosodic-Plane Theory’. The notion, Minimal Word, was first proposed by McCarthy & Prince 1986, 1988 in Prosodic Morphology. We will propose that the occurrences of OSL follow from the Minimal Foot Principle and the Minimal Word Principle which operate on the grid plane and on the syllable plane respectively. In doing so, we will reveal the general properties of CL processes, considering the grid constituent structures, Metrical and Syllable Transformations and the relationship between the grid plane and the syllable plane in Quantity Sensitive languages.
