Phonotactic Constraints on Tri-Syllabic Loanwords Containing Three-Consonant Sequences: An Optimality Account

This paper examined the constraints on tri-syllabic loanwords in Persian, which contained three-consonant sequences in the underlying representation, within an optimality-theoretic account. Pulgram and Mich (1965:76) called a series of consonants as cluster occurring in the same syllable, and as sequence appearing in two consecutive syllables. Most of three-consonant sequences are the result of a complex onset placed word-medially in the second or third syllable and the consonants are put in the coda position of the preceding syllable. Having analyzed 9725 simple tri-syllabic words in Persian, a total of 36 words with three consonant sequences in the syllable boundaries were extracted. The results showed that they were all loanwords, except for three of them originating from Old Persian with no usage in contemporary Persian. In Persian, consonant clusters are avoided in onset position; consequently, three consonant sequences of a complex onset origin, when introduced into Persian, are adapted to fit the syllable structure of the target language and undergo re-syllabification. Re-syllabification occurs either with or without a vowel epenthesis and the processes all conspire to avoid a complex onset. Moreover, it is argued that in all these sequences, re-syllabification is subject to meeting the sonority at the syllable boundary and is explained by Gouskova’s (2001) proposal as the effect of the Syllable Contact Law (SCL), i.e., the preference for sonority to fall across a syllable boundary (Murray and Vennemann, 1983).