Various German dialects delete certain word-final plosives in plural forms (e.g. [hʊnt] ‘dog’ vs. [hʊn] ‘dogs’). I claim that this type of subtractive pluralisation is best analysed as an epiphenomenon resulting from the affixation of a disyllabic trochaic foot. This metrical template can create word-final empty-headed syllables; subtraction targets the onset of these syllables. Independent evidence comes from related phenomena, for the first time unified in a comprehensive account. Firstly, all varieties with word-final consonant subtraction delete the same consonants in the onset of post-tonic syllables containing a vowel. Additionally, some dialects display predictable interactions of consonant subtraction with either vowel shortening or the assignment of tonal accent. The proposal in this paper supports the idea that morphology is generally additive, and that subtraction can be derived from prosodic affixation. I thus argue that using more sophisticated independently motivated phonological representations can help to simplify the morphological grammar.

中文翻译：

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基于语素的德语方言减法复数方法

各种德语方言以复数形式删除某些词尾塞音（例如 [hʊnt] 'dog'对比[hʊn] '狗'）。我声称这种类型的减法复数最好被分析为由双音节气管足附着引起的附带现象。这个韵律模板可以创建词尾空头音节；减法针对这些音节的开头。独立的证据来自相关的现象，第一次统一在一个综合的帐户中。首先，所有带有词尾辅音减法的变体都删除了包含元音的后主音音节开头的相同辅音。此外，一些方言显示辅音减法与元音缩短或音调重音分配的可预测相互作用。本文中的提议支持形态通常是加法的观点，减法可以从韵律词缀中推导出来。