Cluster-Dependent Epenthesis Asymmetries

Anaptyxis-prothesis asymmetries, common in loanword adaptation and interlanguage phonology, are characterized by vowel insertion before sibilant + stop clusters, but into obstruent + sonorant clusters. I propose that such patterns reflect an epenthesis strategy in which the site of epenthesis is chosen to maximize perceptual similarity between input and output. Experimental evidence in support of this claim is presented, and a formal analysis is developed in which DEP constraints sensitive to segmental context regulate the location of epenthetic vowels.