Schwa and the phonotactics of RP English

In this paper it is argued that the phonotactics of RP English1 should be seen in terms of the arrangement of consonants around a full vowel nucleus, and that schwa has a pivotal role in facilitating such arrangements but is not itself distinctive in the vowel system.2 Two types of function are identified for schwa: anaptyctic (e.g. today, abbot), and positional (e.g. support, lotus). Because schwa-syllables are bound and their vocalic content predictable, there is no justification for setting them up as phonotactic domains. In order that their consonantal content can be put into phonotactic relation with a full vowel, a unit of distribution called a ‘phonotactic group’ is proposed.3

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