rhotacism from Ray Hickey

[Dorothy Disterheft]

On the reverse of rhotacism and other *unlikely* changes
========================================================
 
The present discussion of rhotacism and its possible reverse has been
centered on Altaic and the Germanic/Latin data so that perhaps the data has
prevented us from making some general points. Taking Lyle's suggestion that
the reversal of rhotacism is very unlikely as a starting point: the issue
to home in on in such changes is the SECONDARY ARTICULATION of the segments
involved. A fricative /r/ (apical trill or continuant) can easily become
a full sibilant, i.e. re-align itself phonologically as /z/, as has
happened in Polish with the Slavic PRE-prefix and as seen in Czech in the
trilled /r/ (evident e.g. in _Dvorak_, the composer's name and indicated
by a superscript hacek). It also happens sub-phonemically in Stockholm
Swedish and forms of Western Irish when /r/ is phonetically palatalised and
where the raising of the apex to the palate leads to assibiliation.
 
I might push this point and suggest that secondary articulation is the
natural bridge leading across a phonological divide to a phoneme on the
other bank, so to speak. The classic case is velarised /l/ [l-] to /u/
which is hardly worth commenting on, it is so common: Polish, colloquial
forms of southern British English, Brazilian Portuguese; historically:
southern English in general, French, etc. The secondary articulation becomes
primary, the original primary articulation is dropped and bob's your uncle.
 
Ray Hickey
English Linguistics
Essen University
Germany
 
r.hickey at uni-essen.de