Quantity and tone in Finnish lexically stressed syllables

This paper presents results from a study on the tonal aspects of quantity in Finnish lexically stressed syllables. Fourteen speakers produced a set of 66 utterances where the quantity and structure of the lexically stressed syllable was system-atically varied. The tonal aspects of the syllable nucleus and nucleus and coda in case of closed syllables was stud-ied in the framework of the Target Approximation theory as formulated by Yi Xu. The results show a clear tendency to-wards the quantity distinction and bimoracity in general in Finnish to be signalled tonally by a dynamic falling tone as opposed to a static high tone in short (one mora) nuclei. 1