Abstract
The problem of light geminates haunts moraic representations of syllable structure. Topintzi and Zimmermann 2023 offers an account within moraic theory and asserts that length-based, nonmoraic analyses are at a loss when facing this problem. We use this debate as a starting point to a discussion of weight hierarchies in the languages of the world. We propose an analysis in Strict CV Metrics (Faust and Ulfsbjorninn 2018), a nonmoraic theory which does not conflate syllable structure and metrics. Instead, the latter is built on the former. The typology of weight takes the shape of a restrictive, nonrerankable parameter hierarchy, which indicates what aspects of universal syllabification contribute weight in a given language. The parameter hierarchy correctly predicts all the attested weight scales in natural language and correctly excludes many unattested systems. We compare our approach to the moraic one and find it preferable on several fronts. Unlike its competitor, it does not require arbitrary phonetic translations; it is easily extendable to long vowels; and it makes clear, correct and falsifiable predictions.
