A note on the relationship between grid structure and metrical structure in Banawá

2020

The stress system of Banawa ́, an endangered Arawan language spoken in the Brazilian Amazon, constitutes a puzzling case study for metrical phonology. It has been claimed that its metrical representations violate the Syllable Integrity Principle (1) (Buller, Buller, and Everett (BBE) 1993, Everett 1996, 1997), one of the core universal principles in standard metrical theory, which bans representations where a foot dis- sects a heavy syllable (e.g., *(CV.CV ́ )(V.CV ́ ), *(CV ́ .CV)(V ́ .CV), where periods indicate syllable boundaries and parentheses, foot edges).