Mora Terminology

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Averyn
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Mora Terminology

Post by Averyn »

Hello! (:

I am currently developing a heavily mora-based conlang, but there is a terminology detail that is eluding me.
Does a mora relate to a syllable like a syllable to a word? That is, is a syllable composed of one ore more morae in the same way that a word is compsed of one ore more syllables? Does this equation work?
In other words: can you say that e.g. ba "is one mora" (in the same way as fish is one syllable")? Or can you only say "ba is one mora long"? Can you use the term "mora" to refer to the content, the sounds you utter, or does it only refer to the amount of time it takes for you to utter them?

You see, my confusion stems from the general definition of a mora as a unit of time. A linguistics prof of mine told me that saying "one hiragana stands for one mora (as opposed to kanji, which stand for one syllable each)" would be wrong because the mora is not the sounds themselves, but the amount of time it takes to utter them. Is she right?
Also, if she is and a mora is not analogous to a syllable in this way, what would be the appropriate term? I came across "chroneme", but I think that’s a different concept. I really need a term for that because describing my phonology without one would be rather painful.

I hope I have made clear enough what my question is. Have a nice day! ^^
Averyn
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Creyeditor
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Re: Mora Terminology

Post by Creyeditor »

It depends on the theory.
In "syllable/mora-timed language theory", moras are a unit of (phonetic) duration. A language can only have syllables or moras and every segment is part of a stretch whose durarion can be measured in morae or syllables.
In "a mora is what a heavy syllable has two of"-theory, moras are part of a syllable and a unit of phonological weight. In autosegmental representations this means that syllables dominate moras and moras dominate segments. The only exception being onset segments, which usually are dominated directly by the syllable and not connected to a mora. (Of course, there are many hybrid or mixed or in-between theories.)
In the first theory you would say that ba is one mora long. In the second theory you would say that ba has one mora. In neither theory you can say that ba is one mora (but in some mixed theories you might).
In the second theory, [a word and a syllable] and [a syllable and a mora] have a similar relation. In the first theory they don't, IINM.

It looks like for your description of your conlang the second theory is a better fit.
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Averyn
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Re: Mora Terminology

Post by Averyn »

Thank you for your reply! (:

I was not aware that those are two different theories. In the texts I have consulted so far, the aspect of weightedness seemed to be part of the "mora as a time unit"-concept.
So, since in neither theory "mora" is analogous to "syllable" in this way, I wonder if there is another term in any theory that describes excatly what I’m looking for. So far, I have been using "morable" (portmanteau of "mora" and "syllable"), which I came up with as a makeshift solution. But I don’t really like the word because it sounds like "able to be moraed" (whatever that would mean). Do you know of any term?
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Sequor
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Re: Mora Terminology

Post by Sequor »

Isn't this more of a question of English rather than theory?

What is the difference between "fish is one syllable" and "fish is one syllable long"? To me, the former, "fish is one syllable", just sounds like questionable English... Maybe you mean "fish is a [valid, good, proper] syllable" by the former? "fish is well-formed".
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