LL-L "Phonology" 2010.01.12 (09) [Phonology]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 12 January 2010 - Volume 09
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From: Hellinckx Luc <luc.hellinckx at gmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "Phonology"

Beste Marlou,

You wrote:

 Hello Luc,
Â
do you really mean that in western Brabantish "Maria" is stressed on the
final a? I could imagine stress on the first a, but not on the final a. Or
do you mean it is stressed on the i? I know just one old christmas song,
this one
http://www.herbert-fritz.de/weihnachttext/vom_himmel_hoch_o_englein_kommt.html,
where the melody forces you to stress "Maria" on both a-vowels. This sounds
so strange that if the song is sung at all today, people shift syllables so
as to have the stress on the i.

Definitely, the stress in "Maria" is on the final "a". We don't actually
pronounce the "i" either, we say something like "Marjà " (and also "Marjà n"
for "Marianne").
No doubt this is French influence. Another example is "Willy". Anglo-Saxon
or not, the final "y" gets stress: "Willìe".
Same happens with the female name "Louisa/Luisa"...sounds like "Luisà "
around here. The extent of this feature is geographically roughly limited to
the western half of Southern Brabant I gather. Bornem, for example, is
already under Antwerp influence and says "Marìa".

Kind greetings,

Luc Hellinckx, Halle, Belgium

•

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