The Distribution of /s/ in Blackfoot

This book examines the distribution of Blackfoot /s/ which differs from that of all other consonants. Clusters of more than two consonants occur only with /s/ and clusters of more than three consonants occur only with geminate /ss/. The Blackfoot syllable seems to be overwhelmingly simple with /ss/ clusters being the only outliers. While all other geminates occur between vowels geminate /ss/ often occurs before after or between other consonants. This book describes the distribution of /s/ in Blackfoot and then proposes that this distribution can be accounted for by positing that /s/ is inherently moraic in Blackfoot a claim usually reserved only for vowel segments. This book also proposes that because of this inherent moraicity /s/ can act as a syllable nucleus in Blackfoot. Finally these claims are examined within the framework of Optimality Theory.