This study aims to determine whether French word-initial [w] exhibits different phonetic properties depending on whether or not sandhi phenomena are permitted. We also explore the question of whether or not these properties are lexically determined and therefore consistent across contexts. Minimum F2 value for [w] as well as the duration until 80% of the F2 transition from [w] to the following vowel are analyzed. The study involves a preliminary elicitation of experimental items from four native subjects both in sentences and in isolation. The results suggest that recent phonological analyses are not wholly correct in positing underlyingly onset or underlyingly nuclear word-initial glides, since the surface-level post-lexical syllabification seems to determine whether word-initial [w] will be more consonant-like (onset) or vowel-like (nuclear). We propose a revision to these phonological analyses in light of the new phonetic data. This study serves as a contribution to the growing literature on the phonetic properties of segments involved in sandhi phenomena in French.

This thesis attempts to address very specific questions from nationalism debates, and attempts to argue that ‘the everyday’ becomes the arena where the themes of modernity and nationalism constantly engage with each other. Using two specific cases – Scotland and Catalonia, this thesis attempts to understand how distinct history, culture, geography, festivals, etc. become tools to ascertain a unique, distinct and different national identity in these nations. It moves beyond the notion that these are ‘invented traditions’, to study how these invented traditions are reinvented, practiced, sustained or reinterpreted in the contemporary world. By doing so, it makes a humble attempt to bridge the gaps between two seminal works – one on everyday IPE and the other on banal nationalism.