Given a set of axioms for syllabic structure, we can use them to help define particular concrete (poly)syllables. Affixes are, by default, monosyllabic. For present purposes, that is all we need to say about them:
Affix:
<> == Syllable.
This definition can now be invoked in the definitions for a couple of monosyllabic inflectional suffixes -ing and -en, realised phonologically as /IN/ and /@n/.
Suffix_ing:
<> == Affix
<phn syl1 peak> == I
<phn syl1 coda> == N.
Suffix_en:
<> == Affix
<phn syl1 peak> == @
<phn syl1 coda> == n.
Likewise, a monosyllabic word stem such as sew (English) or a disyllabic word stem such as Zeitung (German) can be specified in terms of the individual components of their syllables:
Sew:
<> == Syllable
<phn syl1 onset> == s
<phn syl1 peak> == @ U.
Zeitung:
<> == Disyllable
<phn syl2 onset> == t s
<phn syl2 peak> == a I
<phn syl1 onset> == t
<phn syl1 peak> == U
<phn syl1 coda> == N.
From these node definitions, taken together with the axioms for syllable structure given above, we can now infer that:
Suffix_ing:
<phn root form> = I N.
Suffix_en:
<phn root form> = @ n.
Sew:
<phn root form> = s @ U.
Zeitung:
<phn root form> = t s a I t U N.
In the case of Zeitung, the phonological stem form emerges as the
result of concatenating the <phn syl2 form> value and the
<phn syl1 form> value as determined by the equations given at the
Syllable and Disyllable nodes.
Exercise 6013
Give definitions for an additional affix, an additional monosyllabic word stem, an additional disyllabic word stem, and for a trisyllabic word stem.
