This book studies the linguistic phenomenon of «Raddoppiamento sintattico» (RS) the
post-lexical lengthening in Italian of word-initial consonants following certain words e.g. a
[k:]asa 'at home'. Linguists have long sought describe exactly where and why RS occurs. Based
on naturally occurring speech recorded in Siena Tuscany this book provides detailed phonetic
information on what happens when RS occurs as well as its interactions with other phenomena in
natural speech such as lenition and pausing. This study relates this phonetic detail to
existing phonological models of RS vowel length and syllable structure in Italian. The most
important subject of the book is the fine-grained description of stops in RS contexts which
are shown to be optionally preaspirated - a phenomenon typically associated with only a few
languages outside of Scandinavia. The book considers in detail the potential role of
preaspiration in signaling consonant length in this variety of Italian and in doing so serves
as a useful model for other laboratory phonology investigations into connected speech
processes.
