LL-L "Phonology" 2004.12.02 (13) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 02.DEC.2004 (13) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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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: Gary Taylor <gary_taylor_98 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Phonology

Hi All

Ok, I've done a bit of research, partly on my own, and partly from what
everyone here's been saying and I've got rough pronunciations of r figured
out, and whether it's vocalised or not, for the Lowland area. Note not
necessarily for fun - it does tie in with my research, so purely selfish,
but thought you might be interested. Please correct me if anything here's
wrong.

Netherlands/Belgium

1 Totally rhotic areas where r is pronounced in all positions as [r] (tongue
tip r) inlude the middle
swathe of the Dutch speaking area (including Brugge, Antwerp, Breda,
Tilburg, Eindhoven, Helmond, Nijmegen, Arnhem). Also possibly Lelystad,
Hoorn, Alkmaar, Den Helder - not so sure.

2 Areas where the r is throaty ([R]) and variably deleted or vocalised are
the Randstad (see the earlier definitions) and isolated examples in area 1
such as Bergen op Zoom

3 Areas of southern Belgian Dutch speaking areas(Kortrijk, Gent,
AalstLeuven) also have throaty R, although it would surprise me if it was
vocalised.

4 The Low Saxon/Limburgs areas as far North as Zwolle and Almelo and all
largish towns not yet mentioned to the south of these tend to have a
difference between the towns and the villages - towns usually with [R] and
villages with [r]. It's vocalised or dropped here before coronal consonants
(t, d, s, n, l) and before other consonants it's either pronounced (so
rhotic) or there's epenthesis - a vowel is inserted to separate the r and
following consonant. Word finally it's also optionally dropped/vocalised.

5 Northern Netherlands including Groningen, Assen, Emmen, Meppel have [r]
and a tendency to add epenthetic vowels between r and following consonant -
at least this is the case with following l - but I think it could also be
vocalised.

6 Westerlauwers Frisian and Stellingwerfs (including Heerenveen, Steenwijk,
Drachen and Leeuwarden) have [r] and are generally rhotic, although they
drop r before coronal consonants.

North Germany
1 Low Saxon areas have [r] pronunciation, although [R] is also common and
are largely non-rhotic apart from the two areas as follows

2 Western Ruhrgebiet and further south which behaves like 4 above.

3 Area around Berlin including Potsdam, Neuruppin, Wittstock, Brandenburg,
Magdeburg, Salzwedel, Wittenberge. In this area the r is always [R] and
variously vocalised, mainly word finally and after long vowels.

4 Saterland Frisian r is [r] and is non rhotic

5 North Frisian r is also [r] although younger speakers using [R]. This area
is variably rhotic with
r constantly dropped before /n/ and /S/ and word finally and optionally
elsewhere.

Scotland
1 Usually [r] and rhotic, usually weaker [4] or very occasionally vocalised
after a vowel.

2 Caithness and Scottish English speaking areas have [r'] as an option.

Wales and England
1 Non rhotic and r is [r\] apart from:

2 Northumbria where [R] is an option although this has almost died out - as
has its rhoticism

3 Areas around Burnley and Preston which are still rhotic

4 The Southwest of England (and far southwest of Wales) where r is [r'] and
rhotic depending on the speaker. This area extends to Southampton,
Basingstoke, Reading and Oxford, although the closer to London you get the
rarer this is. This area is also receding.

5 Welsh speaking areas which tend to be rhotic.

The rest of the English speaking world is divided into non-rhotic -
Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and other African Englishes, Trinidad
and other Windward Islands, Leeward Islands, Bahamas, New England down to
New York, Philadelphia, areas between Charleston and Texas...

...and rhotic - Canada, the rest of the States not mentioned above,
Barbados, Indian English

Jamaica has variable rhoticity.

Afrikaans is also rhotic with r as [r] or [r\] after a vowel.

And if you've made it to the end of that then well done

Gary

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

Thanks, Gary.  Very interesting!

As an aside: the [R] has been spreading to most minority languages in
Germany.

This includes both (West Slavonic) Sorbian languages in which the [r] is
disappearing with the seniors.  It sounds SO odd to me hearing a Slavonic
language pronounced with [R]!

Apparently, this has also been happening in Romany and Sinti of Germany,
Belgium and France.  It's problematic, because /R/ (orthographic <rr>) is a
native phoneme (the voiced counterparts of /x/) distinct from native /r/
(orthographic <r>, originally and in other areas still [r]).  The intrusion
of [R] for /r/ is eliminating the phonetic distinction between /R/ and /r/
(though apparently some still pronounce the /R/ longer).  In some dialects
outside Germany, such as in Eastern Europe, on the other hand, the /R/ seems
to be on the way of being taken over by [r(:)]; so there is neutralization
there too.  For example, the native name of the people (which I think of as
_Ghoma_) is spelled <Rroma> and pronounced [Ro'ma] while 'Rome' is spelled
<Roma> and pronounced ['roma].  Now it's becoming [Ro'ma] vs ['Roma] or
[ro'ma] vs ['roma].

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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