LL-L "Phonology" 2003.03.31 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
 L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
 S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From: burgdal32admin <burgdal32 at pandora.be>
Subject: LL-L "Language contacts" 2003.03.28 (04) [E]

> From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Language contacts
>
> Elsie wrote (above):
>
>> The 40-year old vowel shift in Afrikaans is probably an English
>> language
>> influence. For example: gaan - gôn;
>> ma - mô; kyk - kaaik; lyk -laaik; mooi - moei.
>
> So <kyk> = kaaik and <lyk> = laaik is now like or similar to (longer
> than?)
> Modern Randstad Dutch pronunciation of <kijk> and <lijk> respectively?
>
> What about [u:@] for <oo> (Dutch [o:] ~ [o.U]); e.g. <boom> = boeëm,
> and
> <groot> = groeët?  Does it belong to the same set of shifts, or is it
> older?
>
Hi,
  I spell groeët and boeëm  like groôt and boôm, with the same
pronounciation.
So it is old Zeeuws or  West-Flemish!
The "y" sound is more likely a Brabantish story.

Groetjes
Luc Vanbrabant
Oekene

----------

From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Phonology

Thanks, Luc!  Why does this not surprise me?

> I spell groeët and boeëm  like groôt and boôm, with the same
> pronounciation.

Just so others do not get this wrong, let me emphasize that the official
Afrikaans speling is <groot> (big, large) and <boom> (tree).  I had spelled
them "groeët" and "boeëm" respectively to indicate "as though spelled ...".

> The "y" sound is more likely a Brabantish story.

As far as I know, that tends to be [@I] (schwa + lax i) in "tradtitional"
Afrikaans (probably a petrified earlier stage in the development of Dutch
<ii> ~ <ÿ> ~ <y>  > <ij>), now shifting to [a.I] according to Elsie's
interesting information.

Also, note what Elsie showed regarding long /a/ (traditionally like long /a/
in Standard German, not like long /a/ in Standard Dutch):

> gaan - gôn;
> ma - mô;

I take it she uses <ô> to symbolize a wide open a-sound.  This would be
similar (if not identical) to the "posh English _ar_" sound I referred to
recently and Sandy identified as occurring in Scots as well.  It is also
similar to long /a/ in South African English (e.g., in <can't>, <half>,
<car> and <path>).  I had pointed out that in many Lowlands Saxon (Low
German) dialects this is the way long /a/ is realized (e.g., _gahn_ ~ _gaan_
'to go', _daal_ 'down(ward)').  Incidentally, this sound is also very
similar to the realization of Standard Swedish long /a/ (e.g., _dag_ 'day',
_jag_ 'I').  Outside Germanic, I can point to Standard Iranian Farsi (Modern
Persian) long /a/ (e.g., _bârân_  ﻥﺍﺭﺎﺑ 'rain' -- and a very friendly hello
to our Lowlanders in and from Iran as well as to everyone else who knows
Farsi!).  Now, isn't this also the pronunciation of long /a/ in many
(Eastern and Western) Flemish (and Zeelandic?) varieties?

Although I do not doubt Elsie's supposition that the shifts y > aai, aa > ô
are due to English influences (plus oo > oeë), it is interesting to note
that these cause Afrikaans to aquire sounds that are quite widespread among
its closest relatives in Europe.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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