Quantity and the Three-Syllable Window in Dutch Word Stress

Abstract

This paper considers the state-of-the-art in the (generative) study of Dutch word stress. In the past 25 years, consensus has been reached on a number of properties of the Dutch stress system, such that it obeys the so-called three-syllable window and that it is quantity sensitive. However, not all of these arguments are equally convincing in the light of modern developments in phonological theory, in particular since experimental data on native speakers’ intuitions are missing. Although there is strong evidence for quality-sensitivity (in particular to the quality of schwa), the evidence for quantity-sensitivity is not so strong, given that the main sources of loanwords (which are usually argued to be quantity-sensitive) themselves are quantity-sensitive.