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Gerard Manley Hopkins' sprung rhythm: corpus study and stochastic grammar*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2011

Bruce Hayes  and
Claire Moore-Cantwell
Bruce Hayes
Affiliation:
University of California, Los Angeles
Claire Moore-Cantwell
Affiliation:
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
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Abstract

Sprung rhythm is a complex poetic metre invented and used by Gerard Manley Hopkins. We re-examine and amplify a seminal analysis of this metre by Kiparsky (1989). We coded the sprung rhythm corpus for stress, weight and phrasing, then used a computer program to locate every scansion compatible with Kiparsky's analysis. The analysis appears to be nearly exceptionless. However, it is incomplete in that it permits dozens or even hundreds of scansions for certain lines. We propose a Parsability Principle for metrics mandating that ambiguity of scansion be minimised, and suggest that under this proposal, the Kiparskyan system is not a possible metre. Our own revised analysis adds ten new constraints and is cast in the form of a stochastic maxent grammar. It produces an acceptably low level of ambiguity in metrical parsing, and is supported by a good match to the diacritics Hopkins employed to mark his intended scansion.

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Articles
Information
Phonology , Volume 28 , Issue 2 , August 2011 , pp. 235 - 282
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2011

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