Re: [tied] Does Saussure's Law Apply Synchronically to Lithuanian?

On Mon, 07 Oct 2002 20:08:40 -0000, "Richard Wordingham"
<richard.wordingham@...> wrote:

>--- Was: Lith. Acc.pl.
>Richard:
>My understanding is that acute and circumflex are only distinguished
>in stressed long vowels and diphthongs.
>
>Miguel:
>Certainly not only in _stressed_ position, otherwise de Saussure's
>law (which states that an acute syllable attracts the stress from a
>preceding circumflex or short syllable) would be an absurdity.
>
>Richard NEW:
>Am I to take it from this that syllables with a diphthong (including,
>e.g. /am/) or a long vowel are _phonetically_ acute (falling) or
>circumflex (rising), rather than merely _underlyingly_ acute or
>circumflex?

What does it mean to be _underlyingly_ acute or circumflex? Saussure's law is
a soundlaw (or supra-soundlaw, if you will), so there must have been something
physical to cause the accent shift.


=======================
Miguel Carrasquer Vidal
mcv@...