LL-L: "Morphophonology" LOWLANDS-L, 10.OCT.2000 (08) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 10.OCT.2000 (08) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: FryskeRie Friesenrat [fryskerie at altavista.com]
Subject: LL-L: "Morphophonology"

Carl Johan Petersson wrote the following with regard to bilabial _w_ in
Lowlandic:

> I would be surprised if it doesn't exist in other Germanic languages as
> well, Lowlandic or not.

In West(erlauwer) Frisian it does, although it's loosing ground. Especially
the northern dialects use labiodental _w_ in most positions, but still realize
bilabial _w_ in clusters like the ones you mentioned (/tw/, /kw/ and the
like), as well as in positions where /w/ results from breaking (_doar_ /dO at r/
> dim. _doarke_ /dw&rk@/, pl. _doarren_ /dw&r(@)n/).
Some younger speakers have lost bilabial _w_ altogether, and even use the
labiodental in cases of breaking (_doarke_ /dv&rk@/, _doarren_ /dv&r(@)n/).

Henk Wolf

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From: niels.winther at dfds.dk
Subject: LL-L: "morphophonology"

From: niels winther [niels.winther at dfds.dk]
Subject: morphophonology

English L and W in Jutish:

The velarized l as in English is typical of Southern Jutish and is in general
not used in the other Jutish dialect groups, although there is a transitional
zone in South West Jutish where it can be heard with some speakers, so it is
quite possible that it has been heard in the Esbjerg area.

The English W on the other hand is typical of Jutish except Southern Jutish,
and the most general usage is in fact in the far north.
South of Limfjorden it is not used before a front vowel except when preceded
by another consonant or a silent (lost) H.

If I pronounce the word corresponding to English _will_ in South West Jutish,
as I know it, neither the first nor the last consonant sounds very English.

rgds
niels

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From: R. F. Hahn [sassisch at yahoo.com]
Subject: Morphophonology

Niels,

The velarized /l/ you mentioned (e.g., as in English _ball_) is also an
allophone in Low Saxon (Low German) dialects.  It tends to be a syllable-final
allophone of /l/, in some dialects only after back vowels and in some dialects
after any type of vowel.  You can still find it shown for instance in Keller's
"North Saxon" section (Keller, R. E. (1961); _German Dialects: phonology &
morphology, with selected texts_; Manchester (UK): Manchester University
Press).

Might this be an areal feature eminating from the area of what are now
Southern Jutland and Sleswig/Slesvig/Schleswig, with a possible continuation
in English and Scots?

I believe this is one of those phonetic features that is on its way out in LS,
at least in Northern Germany.  It may still be found in fairly solidly
LS-speaking communities and also in the dialects of older speakers elsewhere.
(Do you still have it in the Netherlands?)

When I was a child, you could still easily tell true native LS speakers
(especially those who grew up speaking LS most of the time and have been using
German as an actual foreign language) by the pronunciation of their German;
they would have a "strong accent," and this velarized /l/ was one of its
features, besides apical [r], vowel lengthening before sonorants, and
noticeable vowel nazalization before nasal consonants.  Hearing someone talk
German with a "thick accent" like that is becoming rare.  Instead, as these
"typical" features gradually vanish, German "accents" in LS are on the
increase; e.g., uvular [r], short vowels before sonorants, less nazalization,
/s/ -> [S] / #_C (even in dialects that have #[s]C), and monophthongization of
diphthongs (e.g., /zei/ > /zee/ 'sea').

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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