Hyphenation ofself-governments

Analysis of "self-governments" in French

This analysis will focus on how a French speaker would attempt to pronounce and syllabify the English loanword "self-governments." French phonology will be applied to the English orthography. This presents challenges as English and French have different phoneme inventories and syllable structures.

1. Pronunciation in French:

A French speaker would likely approximate the pronunciation, adapting it to French phonological rules. The 'self-' prefix would be challenging, potentially becoming /sɛl/ or /sɛlf/. The 'govern-' would be closer to /ɡɔvɛʁn/, and 'ments' would be /mɑ̃/.

2. Syllable Division:

Following French syllabification rules, which prioritize open syllables (syllables ending in a vowel) and avoid consonant clusters at syllable boundaries where possible, the division will be: self-go-vern-ments.

3. Morphemic Analysis:

• Prefix: self- (Germanic origin, meaning "own"). Morphological function: intensifier, reflexive.
• Root: govern- (Latin gubernare - to steer, rule). Morphological function: verb stem.
• Suffix: -ments (French, from Latin -mentum). Morphological function: forms a noun from a verb, indicating action or result.

4. Stress Identification:

French generally has stress on the final syllable of a word or phrase. Therefore, the stress would fall on "ments."

5. Phonetic Transcription:

/sɛl.ɡɔ.vɛʁn.mɑ̃/ (This is an approximation of how a French speaker would pronounce it. The 'l' in 'self' might be elided or weakened.)

6. Edge Case Review:

The initial "self-" is the most problematic part. French doesn't readily accept consonant clusters like "slf" at the beginning of a syllable. A vowel insertion or simplification is likely. The 'r' in 'govern' is a uvular fricative /ʁ/ in standard French.

7. Grammatical Role:

As a loanword, "self-governments" would likely function as a noun in French, referring to entities that govern themselves. Syllabification and stress would remain consistent regardless of grammatical context.

8. Definition & Semantics:

• Definition: Bodies or systems that have the power to make their own rules and laws without external control.
• Translation: Autogouvernements (French equivalent, though less commonly used than a descriptive phrase).
• Grammatical Category: Noun
• Synonyms: Collectivités autonomes (autonomous communities)
• Antonyms: Gouvernements centralisés (centralized governments)
• Examples: "Les self-governments autochtones gèrent leurs propres ressources." (Indigenous self-governments manage their own resources.)

9. Phonological Comparison:

• "gouvernement" (government): go-ver-ne-ment. Similar syllable structure, with the final "-ment" suffix.
• "établissement" (establishment): é-ta-blis-se-ment. Shares the "-ment" suffix, demonstrating consistent syllabification.
• "développement" (development): dé-ve-lop-pe-ment. Again, the "-ment" suffix is consistently syllabified. The initial consonant cluster is handled differently, with a vowel onset.

10. Alternative Pronunciations/Regional Variations:

Regional variations in French pronunciation could affect the realization of the /ʁ/ sound (uvular vs. alveolar trill) and the vowel qualities. However, the syllable division would likely remain the same.

11. Division Rules Applied:

• Rule 1: Open Syllable Preference: French favors open syllables. This influences the division between "go" and "vern."
• Rule 2: Consonant Cluster Avoidance: French avoids complex consonant clusters at syllable boundaries. This is why "self" is separated as a syllable on its own, despite the "slf" cluster.
• Rule 3: Final Syllable Stress: Stress falls on the final syllable ("ments").