Reevaluating the syllabic status of obstruent+lateral clusters in European Portuguese

Abstract

According to the phonological descriptions and the orthographic rules of Portuguese, all Portuguese Obstruent+Liquid clusters are licensed as branching onsets, whilst all the other C₁C₂ strings are classified as heterosyllabic. Nevertheless, if Obstruent+Lateral clusters are subject to the criteria that keep the heterosyllabic clusters apart – such as their historical origin and certain externally observable aspects of the speakers' phonological knowledge – it becomes apparent that the Obstruent+Lateral clusters share some common features with the heterosyllabic clusters, namely when data from subjects without orthographic knowledge are taken into account. Therefore, we propose that European Portuguese Obstruent+Lateral clusters should be classified as genuinely heterosyllabic. In addition, we accept the influence of orthographic knowledge on the subjects' phonological knowledge.