The Effect of Mora-Timing on the Duration of Vowels Preceding Geminate Consonants

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship among geminate consonants, preceding vowels, and timing in different types of languages. While it has generally been assumed that a predictable relationship between the geminates and preceding vowels exists only in syllable-timed languages, I show that the relationship is also (to a certain degree) predictable in mora-timed languages. However, while in syllable-timed languages vowels are shortened before geminate consonants, in mora-timed languages they are lengthened. I argue that this lengthening is due to the presence of a bimoraic foot in the mora.timed languages investigated here.