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Vowel Elision in Hiatus Contexts: Which Vowel Goes?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2026

Roderic F. Casali
Roderic F. Casali*
Affiliation:
Summer Institute of Linguistics
*
9706 Route, 19 Houghton, NY 14744 [rod_casali@sil.org]
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Abstract

Among the common strategies for eliminating vocalic hiatus is vowel elision. In some cases, it is the first vowel (V1) that elides, while in others it is the second (V2). Analyses of elision have, virtually without exception, simply stipulated which vowel is elided, for example, by encoding this information directly in a language-specific rule. This implies that the targeted position is not predictable, but simply a matter of which of two equally available options is selected by the language. A cross-linguistic study suggests, however, that this is not strictly the case, but that in some environments the choice of target is universally determined. This article accounts for the observed restrictions on elision target within a constraint-based theory which claims that languages preferentially preserve phonological elements in certain prominent positions.

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Research Article
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Language , Volume 73 , Issue 3 , September 1997, pp. 493 - 533
Copyright
Copyright © 1997 Linguistic Society of America

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