ABSTRACT
In the present paper we will discuss the main problems of Estonian
phonology (determination of segmental phonemes, interrelations between
phonemes and quantity degrees, as well as word stress and quantity
degrees).
Based on the corpus design of the EUROM_1 we have made for Estonian some
modifications in the amount of speech blocks (totally 55 blocks),
guaranteeing that all main phonologically relevant oppositions will be
revealed in the text corpus. Isolated CVC constructions are used for the
presentation of word-initial and word-final consonants, as well as for
interconsonantal short/long vowels. The CVC material defines all possible
CV- and VC-diphones on the basis of single/geminate consonants in
combination with short/long vowels. It does not define the same corpus of
diphones in different word accent contexts.
Main types of word accent patterns are presented in filler sentences and in
passages. The text corpus contains also diphthongs and consonant clusters.
At the same time passages and filler sentences serve as the main material
for the characterisation of intonational, phrasal and foot structures.