Acentos vizcaínos

Abstract

In this article, the prosodic systems of a number of Biscayan Basque varieties are described and analyzed. It is argued that the detailed description of the facts must be previous to the formulation of generalizations, synchronic or diachronic, about Basque prosody. The present work is a step in that direction. It is shown that, against earlier suppositions about the fundamental unity of western Basque in matters of prosody, there is, in fact, a surprising amount of variation among local varieties, even within the Biscayan dialectal area. The varieties studied range from pitch-accent systems of various types, where differences in pitch patterns play an important role in the distinction between both morphological categories and lexical items, to stress-accent systems, to varieties where the prosodic facts are completely bereft of phonological relevance.