On the edge: Obstruent clusters in Salish

Given the striking tolerance across the Salish language family of lengthy sequences of obstruents (O), a fundamental question is how to assess whether such segments are syllabified, or not. Analysis of initial O sequences in the prefixal vs. root domains in h¢ ̃œ¢mi ̃¢Â reveals distinct generalizations with respect to constraints on ¢-epenthesis, on possible length of O clusters, and on featural specification with respect to both Place and Manner of articulation. It is argued that these observations support a hypothesis of non-exhaustive parsing of Os in the prefixal domain. Comparison with the O clustering properties of Nuxalk provides the basis of a proposed framework governing non-exhaustive parsing systems.