To delete or not to delete: The contexts of Icelandic Final Vowel Deletion

Icelandic Final Vowel Deletion (FVD) is a phonological rule that deletes word-final unstressed vowels before initial vowels of the next word. To date, it has not been studied systematically. The research reported here is based on data from three different sources. The results show (i) that syntactic information is insufficient to fully account for the contexts of FVD application, (ii) that prosodic constituency plays a crucial role but fails to explain the full pattern because (iii) eurhythmy may affect phonological rule application at a higher level in the prosodic hierarchy, and (iv) that focus affects FVD application indirectly via its impact on prosodic phrasing.