[Lingtyp] Language change and foot structure

[David Gil]

Dear Matt,

In colloquial Malay/Indonesian, some dialects are iambic while others 
are trochaic; with just a few exceptions this follows a geographical 
pattern, with final stress to the west, penultimate stress to the east.  
So presumably the kind of shift you are looking for must have taken 
place here, in the course of the diversification of Malay/Indonesian 
dialects.

As for the directionality of the shift: given that Malay originated in 
the western part of the archipelago, where foot structure is iambic, one 
might speculate that this was the original pattern, and that as the 
language spread eastwards, some varieties switched to trochaic, most 
likely under the influence of the local substrate languages, many of 
which have trochaic structure.

David


On 17/08/2021 22:07, Matthew Windsor wrote:
>
> Dear all,
>
> Is anyone aware of a language where metrical/rhythmic structure has 
> clearly shifted from having right-headed (iambic) feet to left-headed 
> (trochaic) feet or vice versa? I’m studying a language variety where 
> this seems to be the case. It’s a quantity-sensitive system, so the 
> change mainly affects strings of light syllables. Any examples or 
> suggested resources would be helpful, thanks!
>
> Regards,
>
>
> -- 
>
> 	
>
> 	
>
> 	
>
> *Matt Windsor*
>
> Linguistics & Translation Facilitator | SIL Americas, North
>
> Cell: 1-807-631-6656
>
> ᐅᐦᐅᐁᐧᐃᐦᑭᑐᐃᐧᐣᑮᐄᐧᔮᐦᓯᐃᐧᒦᓇᑭᑮᐱᐄᐧᒋᐊᔮᒥᑯᓈᐣ.
>
> 	
>
> 	
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>
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-- 
David Gil

Senior Scientist (Associate)
Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology
Deutscher Platz 6, Leipzig, 04103, Germany

Email: gil at shh.mpg.de
Mobile Phone (Israel): +972-526117713
Mobile Phone (Indonesia): +62-81344082091

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