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{{Short description|Reduced syllable followed by a full tonic or stressed syllable}}
Primarily in [[Austroasiatic languages]] (also known as Mon–Khmer), in a typical word, a '''minor syllable''', '''presyllable''', or '''sesquisyllable''', is a reduced (minor) [[syllable]] followed by a full tonic or stressed syllable. The minor syllable may be of the form {{IPA|/[[Consonant|C]]ə/}} or {{IPA|/Cə[[nasal consonant|N]]/}}, with a [[reduced vowel]], as in colloquial [[Khmer language|Khmer]], or of the form {{IPA|/CC/}} with no vowel at all, as in [[Mlabri language|Mlabri]] {{IPA|/kn̩diːŋ/}} 'navel' (minor syllable {{IPA|/kn̩/}}) and {{IPA|/br̩poːŋ/}} 'underneath' (minor syllable {{IPA|/br̩/}}), and [[Khasi language|Khasi]] {{Transliteration|kha|kyndon}} {{IPA|/kn̩dɔːn/}} 'rule' (minor syllable {{IPA|/kn̩/}}), ''syrwet'' {{IPA|/sr̩wɛt̚/}} 'sign' (minor syllable {{IPA|/sr̩/}}), {{Transliteration|kha|kylla}} {{IPA|/kl̩la/}} 'transform' (minor syllable {{IPA|/kl̩/}}), {{Transliteration|kha|symboh}} {{IPA|/sm̩bɔːʔ/}} 'seed' (minor syllable {{IPA|/sm̩/}}) and ''tyngkai'' {{IPA|/tŋ̩kaːɪ/}} 'conserve' (minor syllable {{IPA|/tŋ̩/}}).

This [[Iamb (foot)|iambic]] pattern is sometimes called '''sesquisyllabic''' (lit. 'one and a half syllables'), a term coined by the American linguist [[James Matisoff]] in 1973 (Matisoff 1973:86). Although the term may be applied to any word with an iambic structure, it is more narrowly defined as a syllable with a [[consonant cluster]] whose [[Realization (linguistics)|phonetic realization]] is [CǝC].{{sfn|Enfield|2018|p=57}}

==In historical linguistics==
Sometimes minor syllables are introduced by language contact. Many [[Chamic languages]] as well as [[Burmese language|Burmese]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Areal Diffusion and Genetic Inheritance: Problems in Comparative Linguistics|author=Randy LaPolla|author-link=Randy LaPolla|chapter=The Role of Migration and Language Contact in the Development of the Sino-Tibetan Language Family|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2001|page=238|isbn=978-0-19-829981-3 |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4W5coy_am2wC&pg=PA238}}</ref> have developed minor syllables from contact with Mon-Khmer family. In Burmese, minor syllables have the form {{IPA|/Cə/}}, with no [[consonant cluster]]s allowed in the [[syllable onset]], no [[syllable coda]], and no [[tone (linguistics)|tone]].

Some reconstructions of [[Proto-Tai]] and [[Old Chinese]] also include sesquisyllabic roots with minor syllables, as transitional forms between fully disyllabic words and the monosyllabic words found in modern [[Tai languages]] and modern [[Chinese language|Chinese]].

==See also==
*[[Mainland Southeast Asia linguistic area]]
*[[Khmer language#Stress|Stress in Khmer]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*Brunelle, Marc; Kirby, James; Michaud, Alexis; Watkins, Justin. (2017). [https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01617182/document Prosodic systems: Mainland Southeast Asia]. HAL 01617182.
*Butler, Becky Ann. (2014). ''Deconstructing the Southeast Asian sesquisyllable: A gestural account (Doctoral dissertation)''. Cornell University.
*{{citation|title=Mainland Southeast Asian Languages: A Concise Typological Introduction|surname=Enfield|given=N. J.|date=2018|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9781139019552|doi=10.1017/9781139019552}}
*Ferlus, Michel. (2004). [https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00927222/document The origin of tones in Viet-Muong]. In ''Papers from the Eleventh Annual Conference of the Southeast Asian Linguistics Society'' (pp. 297–313). HAL 00927222v2.
*Ferlus, Michel. (2009). [https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-01581138/document What were the four Divisions of Middle Chinese?]. ''Diachronica, 26''(2), 184-213. HAL 01581138v2.
* [[James A. Matisoff|Matisoff, James A.]] (1973). 'Tonogenesis in Southeast Asia'. In Larry M. Hyman (ed.), [http://gsil.sc-ling.org/pubs/SCOPILS_1_3_4/consonant_types_and_tone.pdf ''Consonant Types and Tone''] (Southern California Occasional Papers in Linguistics No. 1), pp. 73–95. Los Angeles: Linguistics Program, University of Southern California.
*Kirby, James & Brunelle, Marc. (2017). Southeast Asian tone in areal perspective. In R. Hickey (Ed.), ''The Cambridge Handbook of Areal Linguistics'' (pp. 703–731).
*Michaud, Alexis. (2012). [https://halshs.archives-ouvertes.fr/halshs-00436432/document Monosyllabicization: patterns of evolution in Asian languages]. In ''Monosyllables: From phonology to typology'' (pp. 115–130). HAL 00436432v3.
*Svantesson, J.-O. & Karlsson, A. M. (2004). [http://sprosig.org/tal2004/tal2004-Beijing/Svantesson-Karlsson.pdf Minor syllable tones in Kammu]. In ''International Symposium on Tonal Aspects of Languages (TAL 2004)''.
* Thomas, David (1992). [http://sealang.net/sala/archives/pdf8/thomas1992sesquisyllabic.pdf 'On Sesquisyllabic Structure']. ''[[Mon-Khmer Studies]]'', 21, pp. 206–210.

[[Category:Phonetics]]

{{phonetics-stub}}

Minor syllable - Revision history

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