Type frequency influences phonological generalizations: Eliminating stressed open syllables with short vowels in West Germanic

2015 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 205-237 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Mailhammer ◽  
William W. Kruger ◽  
Alexander Makiyama
Keyword(s):  
Syllable Structure ◽  
Frequency Effects ◽  
West Germanic ◽  
Short Vowels ◽  
Type Frequency ◽  
Phonological Change ◽  
Germanic Languages ◽  
The Relationship

A pivotal process in the loss of phonological quantity in West Germanic languages is what is traditionally known as Open Syllable Lengthening. Existing accounts have found no explanation for why languages such as English apply this change in less than 50% of the relevant cases. This paper presents the results of a corpus investigation of four West Germanic languages showing that whether Open Syllable Lengthening occurs in more than 50% of predicted cases correlates with the ratio of closed syllables with short vowels to open syllables with long vowels. We interpret this as the result of frequency effects that have markedly shaped the application of Open Syllable Lengthening in West Germanic. This has implications for phonological change in general, as well as for the relationship between stress and syllable structure in West Germanic languages.*

West Germanic monosyllabic lengthening and Gothic breaking as partially Proto-Germanic developments

2017 ◽  
Vol 70 (2) ◽  
pp. 135-170 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eugen Hill
Keyword(s):  
West Germanic ◽  
Short Vowels ◽  
Sound Changes ◽  
Monosyllabic Words ◽  
Germanic Languages

Abstract The paper deals with two Germanic sound changes which are traditionally believed to postdate the disintegration of the Proto-Germanic parent language. The lengthening in several monosyllables, attested in West Germanic languages, is usually believed to be an innovation of this branch. The so-called Gothic breaking is similarly thought of as belonging exclusively to East Germanic. The paper shows that there is evidence suggesting a Proto-Germanic age for parts of both sound changes, in particular for a lengthening in monosyllabic words ending in PGmc *-r and for a lowering of PGmc *i if followed by *r. Proto-Germanic possessed at least three pronoun-based place adverbs formed with PGmc *-r, cf. Goth ƕar ‘where’ from ƕa- ‘what’, þar ‘there’ from þa- ‘that’ and hēr ‘here’ from hi- ‘this here’. The vocalism of these adverbs did not match that of the corresponding pronouns on two points. First, the vowels of the adverbs were probably long. Second, the close PGmc *ẹ̄ (Goth ē, OHG ia) of ‘here’ did not match PGmc *i in the corresponding pronoun. The paper assumes that the long vowels of the place adverbs emerged by a lengthening of etymologically short vowels in monosyllablic words ending in PGmc *-r. The timbre difference between PGmc *ẹ̄ in ‘here’ and PGmc *i in the corresponding pronoun for ‘this here’ is accounted for by a lowering of PGmc *i before *r. Both postulated developments must have been operating already in Proto-Germanic times but the lowering must have chronologically preceded the lengthening. The paper introduces the data supporting the assumptions made and discusses the apparent counterevidence.

scholarly journals Germanic Preterite-Present Verbs and their Morphological and Semantic Peculiarities

2019 ◽  
pp. 74-88
Author(s):  
Andriy Botsman ◽  
Olga Dmytruk
Keyword(s):  
Morphological Characteristics ◽  
Morphological Features ◽  
The West ◽  
Phonological Processes ◽  
West Germanic ◽  
Historical Method ◽  
European Languages ◽  
Germanic Languages ◽  
Semantic Aspect

The purpose of this article is to give detailed description to all possible semantic and morphological features of Germanic preterite-present verbs. Some research has dealt with the problem of preterite-present present verbs; however, semantic and morphological functions of these verbs were studied only by singling out verb characteristics, peculiarities, potential possibilities in different Germanic languages without any alignment of the obtained results. There is little information available on preterite-present verbs within the west Germanic and North Germanic (Scandinavian) subgroups. Semantic aspect of these verbs was analysed by some scholars, but it is still unknown how these verbs were formed in other Indo-European languages (Baltic, Slavonic, Romantic). The contradicting point of the available research is how those verbs are reflected in Latin and Greek. In spite of the fact that preterite-present verbs were studied in detail in terms of phonological characteristics, their morphological and semantic peculiarities were not taken into account and compared. Special attention should be given to the functioning and correlation of phonological and morphological peculiarities of those verbs. This paper offers the results of a detailed and consistent analysis of phonological and morphological peculiarities of preterite-present verbs. The paper aims at determining the morphological characteristics of preterite-present verbs, which were formed under the influence of phonological processes. The purpose of this study was to investigate the connection of Germanic preterite-present verbs with possible sources in other Indo-European languages. The authors define a set of characteristics peculiar of preterite-present verbs semantics. The functions of these verbs are analysed in detail. The authors attempt to analyse the nature of these verbs. The attention is paid to the functions of preterite- present verbs not only in the Germanic languages, but in other Indo-European languages, too. The comparative historical method is used here as the main one. The authors see this valid way of investigation as reliable and appropriate for the preterite-present verb analysis.

scholarly journals Nullsubjekte im Mittelniederdeutschen

2016 ◽  
Vol 138 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Farasyn ◽  
Anne Breitbarth
Keyword(s):  
Present Article ◽  
Corpus Analysis ◽  
Null Subjects ◽  
Null Subject ◽  
North West ◽  
West Germanic ◽  
Low German ◽  
Middle Low German ◽  
Germanic Languages

AbstractIn spite of growing interest in recent years, the syntax of Middle Low German (MLG) remains an extremely underresearched area. In light of recent research showing early North West Germanic languages to be partial null subject languages (Axel 2005; Walkden 2014; Kinn 2016; Volodina/Weiß 2016), the question arises where MLG is positioned in this respect. The present article presents novel data showing that MLG had referential null subjects (RNS) and can be classified as a partial null subject language. Based on a quantitative and qualitative corpus analysis of their syntactic distribution, we argue that two types of RNS must be distinguished in MLG, null topics in SpecCP and null clitics on C.

World Englishes and Phonological Theory

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christian Uffmann
Keyword(s):  
Strong Evidence ◽  
Optimality Theory ◽  
Point Contact ◽  
Syllable Structure ◽  
World Englishes ◽  
Active Constraints ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Constraint Hierarchies ◽  
Substrate Constraint

The relationship between phonological theory and World Englishes is generally characterized by a mutual lack of interest. This chapter argues for a greater engagement of both fields with each other, looking at constraint-based theories of phonology, especially Optimality Theory (OT), as a case in point. Contact varieties of English provide strong evidence for synchronically active constraints, as it is substrate or L1 constraints that are regularly transferred to the contact variety, not rules. Additionally, contact varieties that have properties that are in some way ‘in between’ the substrate and superstrate systems provide evidence for constraint hierarchies or implicational relationships between constraints, illustrated here primarily with examples from syllable structure. Conversely, for a scholar working on the description of World Englishes, OT can offer an explanation of where the patterns found in a contact variety come from, namely from the transfer of substrate constraint rankings (and subsequent gradual constraint demotion).

Frequency effects and markedness in phonotactics

2018 ◽  
Vol 55 (1) ◽  
pp. 157-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Orzechowska ◽  
Paulina Zydorowicz
Keyword(s):  
Consonant Clusters ◽  
Frequency Effects ◽  
Frequency Bands ◽  
The Core ◽  
Auditory Distance ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Written Corpus

Abstract In this paper, we take up the challenge of exploring the relationship between markedness and frequency in phonotactics. The study is based on word-initial and word-final consonant clusters in Polish and English. The aim of this study is threefold. First, we establish logarithmic frequencies for word-initial and final consonant clusters compiled from two resources, a dictionary (or paradigm) and a written corpus. Second, we examine the preferability status of clusters in three frequency bands (high, mid, low) in terms of two phonotactic principles, i.e. sonority and Net Auditory Distance. Finally, we test the correlations between degrees of markedness and frequency. The present paper extends our previous studies on comparative Polish–English phonotactics, where markedness and frequency constitute the core of the analysis. The study shows that there is no relationship between cluster markedness and its frequency. As to frequencies, Polish and English differ from each other with respect to the distribution of clusters in the dictionary list, while the disproportions are neutralized in usage.

New Light on Early Middle English Borrowing from Anglo-Norman: Investigating Kinship Terms in grand‑

2019 ◽  
Vol 137 (2) ◽  
pp. 255-277
Author(s):  
Philip Durkin
Keyword(s):  
Middle English ◽  
Old English ◽  
Considerable Influence ◽  
Lexical Borrowing ◽  
West Germanic ◽  
Anglo Norman ◽  
Germanic Languages

Abstract It is well known that the set of kinship terms in Middle English showed considerable influence from French. In the case of aunt and uncle, this accompanied major restructuring of the system of kinship terms, as the Old English set of four distinct terms for paternal and maternal uncles and aunts were replaced by just two terms for ‘uncle’ and ‘aunt’, regardless of whether paternal or maternal. In comparison, the words for ‘grandfather’ and ‘grandmother’ have attracted little attention, as their story has appeared simpler: Old English had words for ‘grandfather’ and ‘grandmother’, irrespective of whether paternal or maternal, and so did Middle English. The terms are also similar in structure, with native terms in which words for ‘father’ or ‘mother’ are the head and eald ‘old’ is the modifier (whether in a compound or a phrasal structure) being replaced by borrowed terms (grandsire, granddame) or hybrid terms (grandfather, grandmother) in which French grand ‘big’ is the modifier. This paper shows that behind this apparently simple story there lurk some significant complications which point to considerable disruption and instability in the terms for ‘grandfather’ and ‘grandmother’ in both Middle English and French (with interesting and perhaps significant parallels also in other West Germanic languages). Consideration of these complications also casts new light on early lexical borrowing into Middle English from Anglo-Norman.

Early Latin loan-words in Old English

1993 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfred Wollman
Keyword(s):  
Old English ◽  
Complete List ◽  
The West ◽  
Loan Words ◽  
West Germanic ◽  
Celtic Languages ◽  
Germanic Languages

It is a well-known fact that Old English is rich in Latin loan-words. Although the precise number is not yet known, it is a fairly safe assumption that there are at least 600 to 700 loan-words in Old English. This compares with 800 Latin loan-words borrowed in different periods in the Brittonic languages (Welsh, Cornish, Breton), and at least 500 early Latin loan-words common to the West Germanic languages. These rather vague overall numbers do not lend themselves, however, to a serious analysis of Latin influence on the Germanic and Celtic languages, because they include different periods of borrowing which are not really comparable to each other. The basis of these estimates, moreover, is often not stated very clearly. Although the establishment of a complete list of Latin loan-words in the various Germanic languages is a desideratum, it can only be achieved in a later stage of our studies.

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