of two syllables, ideally with the stress on the second syllable. All long vowels are stressed, and when they occur in the weaker syllable of a metrical foot, the syllable that contains them is counted as its own foot and counting begins on the next syllable pair, and the last syllable is always stressed. In M'ikmaq, Unami and Munsee, languages that are more closely related to Massachusett, the rules are a little more complex. In these languages, metrical feet consist of two syllables or morae, forming either strong right-foot iambs or strong left-foot trochees. Primary stress generally falls on either the rightmost (iambic) or leftmost (trochaic) syllables, but there are numerous exceptions. Unlike the Ojibwe system, these Eastern Algonquian languages allow for word-final unstressed syllables. Long vowels tend to be stressed, but may be shortened when long vowels fall in the weaker position. Long vowels and short syllables in the strong part of the foot receive secondary stress. Stressed words, especially the primary stress, are pronounced louder and at a higher pitch, with secondary stress the effects less so. Because Massachusett, generally, does not undergo vowel syncope, weak vowels can receive secondary stress and entire words can consist of weak, short vowel syllables as in Mi'kmaq and Unami. weyaus (weeyâws) , ('flesh') sépꝏ (seepuw) , ('river') sábahég (sâpaheek) , ('soup') wampanoag (wôpanâak) , ('Wampanoag') keen (keen) , ('you') askꝏk (ask8k) , ('snake') mishoon (muhsh8n) , ('canoe') kuttuntantamummin (kutunantamumun) , ('we (inclusive) think') peyaumꝏash (peeyômuwash) , ('they come' or 'they are coming') ohkeomꝏs (âhkeeôm8s) , ('bee') waskétop (waskeetôp) , ('man') mockus (mahkus) , ('shoe') Phonological processes Vowel affection A is inserted before vowels that follow or , only when these consonants in turn come after the vowels or This is written with a single in both the colonial and modern orthographies of the Massachusett language. This is not triggered in every instance, but it generally occurs when the short vowel is the weakened form of Proto-Algonquian *i· and *i (both of which merged into Proto-Eastern Alqonquian *i before weakening in Proto-Southern New England Algonquian) or which did not undergo weakening. nepitt (neeput) , ('my tooth') and nepitteash (neeputeash) , ('my teeth') from PA *ni·piči (singular) via PEA *nīpītar (plural). sekeneam or sekunyam (seekuneam) ('she/he refuses to') from PEA *sīnkīnam. wuskannemunneash (wuskaneemuneash) ('seeds') from PA *[weškin]imi·ni (singular) via PEA *wəθkanīmīnar (plural). ogquenneoquss (aquneôqus) ('to resemble'). Palatization of /k/ Unique to Southern New