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<p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;" align="center"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">===========================================<br>
L O W L A N D S - L - 12 February 2009 - Volume 02<span style="color: rgb(102, 102, 102);"><br>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-right: 31.7pt;"><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"><br>
From: R. F. Hahn <<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank">sassisch@yahoo.com</a>>
<br>
Subject: Phonology<br>
<br>
Hi, everyone!<br>
<br>
I would like to revisit and possibly get your thoughts about consonant
aspiration.<br>
<br>
It seems to me that among the modern Germanic language groups there are
indications of genealogical traits mixed with areal features due to language
contacts.<br>
<br>
If you look at Low Frankish (including Dutch) and Low Saxon, two closely
related groups, you find that presence and absence of aspiration is a major
distinguishing feature. There is no aspiration in Low Frankish (and indeed in <i>all</i>
Frankish groups), while with the exception of far-western dialects (with Low
Frankish contacts) Low Saxon has aspiration in syllables with primary stress,
virtually identical to the pattern in mainstream American English (as opposed
to other English varieties in which stress makes little difference).<br>
<br>
As I said, Frankish can be generalized as having no aspiration. Going farther
south we find Alemannic, most of whose varieties have strong aspiration. Going
east from there we find (Austro-)Bavarian and Thuringian with no aspiration (?),
where at the old and middle stages supposed "lenition" led to ambiguous
spelling (e.g. <i>buter ~ puter</i> 'butter'). Going farther east we are well
and truly in the "new" territory that used to be mostly Slavic speaking and
became home for immigrants from all over the west, with considerable influx of
Franks from as far away as today's Netherlands
and Belgium.
Assumedly, the "Central German" varieties, which include the "Upper Saxon" and
Silesian ones, are products of language mixing. However, they are predominantly
without aspiration, which may be due to a continuum with neighboring Thuringian,
to Frankish influx or to both of the above. However, going north from there and
entering the eastern extension of Low Saxon we find that aspiration
predominates, be it because of the persistence of this feature (despite Low Frankish
influx), because of aspiration in the Slavic substratum languages or because of
both of them.<br>
<br>
Frisian seems to be a mixed bag: aspiration in Germany under previous Saxon
domination and no aspiration under Dutch domination.<br>
<br>
Scandinavian varieties are predominantly aspirating ones. In Danish, aspiration
is so strong that it has led to the creation of affricates (/t/ -> [ts]). In Islandic, aspiration is so strong that consonants come to be pre-aspirated in certain environments (a feature Icelandic shares with the Turkic Yughur language of Gansu, China, for instance).<br>
<br>
And so we arrive at English, the "new" kid on the block, the love child of Old Saxon,
Old Frisian and other players on previously Celtic-speaking soil. Here we
find a preponderance of aspiration with the exception of a few (northern?) dialects.
A Saxon feature that spread, perhaps facilitated by Celtic aspiration? As mentioned
earlier, mainstream American English by and large follows the same aspiration
pattern as does mainstream Low Saxon (i.e. aspiration of voiceless stops in
syllables with primary stress only; e.g. Peter [</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ˈ</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">p</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ʰ</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">it</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ɻ̩</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">] ~ </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">[</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ˈ</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">p</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ʰ</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">i</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ɾɻ̩</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">],* Low Saxon [</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ˈ</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">p</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ʰ</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">e(</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ː</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">)t</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ɝ</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">] ~ [</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ˈ</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">p</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ʰ</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">e(</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ː</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">)</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ɾɝ</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">],* versus
British English </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">[</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ˈ</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">p</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ʰ</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">i</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ː</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">t</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ʰɚ</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">] ~ </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">[</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ˈ</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">p</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ʰ</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">i</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ːʦ</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;"> </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ʰɚ</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">] and German </span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">[</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ˈ</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">p</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ʰ</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">e</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ː</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">t</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";">ʰɐ</span><span style="font-size: 11pt; font-family: Arial;">]). (*This permitted
the development of the medial t-flap in American and Low Saxon.)<br>
<br>
Are there any relevant thoughts and theories out there?<br>
<br>
Thanks and regards,<br>
Reinhard/Ron<br>
Seattle, USA</span></p>
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