Contrastive Analysis of Consonant Clusters and Syllable Structure in Croatian and Turkish

Abstract

This paper aims to highlight some key differences in the rules of consonant combination and distribution in Croatian and Turkish words, considering the euphonic nature of Turkish as its typological feature. Consonant clusters are analysed and contrasted at the syllable level, which is considered the basic structure in which sounds combine with each other, relying primarily on the sonority sequencing principle. The analysis seeks to identify and compare prototypical, typical and non–typical syllable patterns in Croatian and Turkish native words, and then examines how these patterns are extended by inclu­sion of possible consonant combinations in loanwords in both languages. In analyzing possible consonant sequences, attention is given to contrasting them according to the number, type, and sonority of consonants that occur in differ­ent patterns in syllable onset and coda, as well as to intra– and inter–linguistic differences with respect to word origin. The (non)syllabicity of the consonant r is also discussed in relation to the possibilities of its phonetic realization in both languages, along with the potential syllabicity of some other consonants in both languages. Ways of breaking up consonant clusters with (non)phone­mic prothetic vowels in foreign words are also considered. Finally, with regard to the latter, the question of syllabification and its interpretation based on two different approaches to the syllable — as a phonetic and as a phonological unit — is touched upon for certain Turkish words of foreign origin.