Word onset Consonant+Vowel: Experiments on Finnish Syllable Structure

The most widely accepted view of the syllable-internal architecture is the rightbranching onset plus rime structure with the subsequent division of the rime into the vocalic nucleus and the coda. However, this view has not been uncontested in grammatical descriptions, as various other interpretations including flat structures and non-rightbranching hierarchical descriptions have also been proposed. Moreover, a number of psycholinguistic studies have shown that the onset plus rime structure may not be a universal processing unit either. The present results from two experimental paradigms and spontaneous slips of the tongue strongly suggest that Finnish speakers prefer the CV plus the remaining segments over the onset plus rime segmentation, both in on-line and off-line conditions