Relation Between the Syllable Structure of Suffix and Moraic Weight of Base in Persian Tri-syllabic Words

This paper examines relation betweensyllable structure of derivational suffixes and the weight of the base it is added to, in Persian tri-syllabic words, within a Moraic-theoretic account. The weight pattern of a word is the weight of its syllables and it is defined based on the distinction between heavy and light syllables (Carr, 2008:172). Here, the notion of mora (often symbolized μ) as a basic timing unit, is important because it provides a distinction between 'light' and 'heavy' syllable. As Hayes (1989: 356) mentions, heavy syllables are of more moras compared to light syllables. In order to study and compare the weight pattern of derivational suffixes, 6665 tri-syllabic derivative words were collected from two dictionaries Dehkhoda (2003) and Moshiri (2009). Then, they were sorted in an Excel worksheet with all their etymological and phonological information including the weight of syllables (light, heavy, super-heavy, and ultra-heavy). Studies show that there are two groups of suffixes in tri-syllabic derivatives: suffixes beginning with a consonant in the onset; suffixes with no onset, beginning with a vowel. The latter, make about 77 percent of the data, among which /-i/ as a long vowel is so frequent and productive and can be added to all bases of one mora (mono-moraic), two moras (bi-moraic), three moras (tri-moraic), and even four moras (tetra-moraic). The weight patterns of these suffixes show that they mostly tend toward tri-moraic bases. On the other hand, suffixes with a consonant in the onset are less productive and tend toward bi-moraic bases.