LL-L "Phonology" 2008.05.02 (10) [E]

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L O W L A N D S - L  - 02 May 2008 - Volume 10
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From: Luc Hellinckx <luc.hellinckx at gmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "Phonology"

Beste Sandy,

You wrote:

I pronounce the herb and name as "bazzle" in English and Scots, but in
Scots the /a/ -> /e/ shift can be productive on the stressed syllable if
it's the first syllable of the word. Some such shifts are old and not
optional in the regions where they're applied, eg, father -> faither,
some may be more dynamic, eg I might say "carpet" or sometimes
"cairpet".

In general, the further south in Scotland, the more you hear the /e/
forms. By the time you reach Berwickshire you may even hear "waiter" for
"watter" (water), which people in central dialects probably wouldn't
use. Conversely, it can surprise some central Scots to find that
"father" is still used rather than "faither" in some more northerly
dialects.


I've always been interested in /e/-realisations for long "a" in Germanic
languages (eg, father -> faither and water -> waiter), because it's also a
hallmark of my own native dialect (Northwest of Brussels).
Describing the sound isn't easy, but it's somewhere between long Dutch "a"
and [ɛː] (èè), and quite palatal.
The only other place in the Netherlands and Belgium where I've heard a long
"a", that sounds a bit similar, is Katwijk (Dutch coast, north of The
Hague).

The feature must have been more widespread in the past though, because
Middle (Western) Flemish/Zeelandic spelling proposes [ɛː]-like pronunciation
for standard [aː], and 15th century (Western) Brabantish hints at a palatal,
and also diphtongal "a".

Maybe this diphtongization can be traced back to an Ingwaeonic substrate
(eg, year >< jaar ~ Jahr)?

Kind greetings,

Luc Hellinckx

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

Hi, Luc!

I wonder if Frisian ought to be taken into consideration here. Remember that
much of the coastal region of today's Dutch-speaking area used to be Frisian
and that Frisian substrata ought to exist.

Old Frisian had written *water*, but today's Standard Westerlauwers (West)
Frisian has *wetter* [ˈvɛtər], and Scots has *watter* [ˈwatər]
(Southern ['wetər]).


Perhaps our Henno can tell us if there are Frisian varieties in which the [ɛ]
is long. But I suppose next to nothing is known about the extinct Southern
Frisian varieties.

Note also the short vowel in German *Wasser* [ˈvatər] versus a long vowel in
most Lowlands varieties (e.g. Low Saxon *Water* [ˈvɒːtɝ] ~ [ˈvoːtɝ],
Standard Dutch *water* [ˈʋaːtər], Limburgish *water* [ˈvaːtər], and
Afrikaans *water* [ˈvɑːtər].

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
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