21.5169, Diss: Historical Ling: Schulze: 'Der i-Umlaut im Althochdeutschen ...'

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LINGUIST List: Vol-21-5169. Mon Dec 20 2010. ISSN: 1068 - 4875.

Subject: 21.5169, Diss: Historical Ling: Schulze: 'Der i-Umlaut im Althochdeutschen ...'

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1)
Date: 20-Dec-2010
From: Jan Henning Schulze [jan-henning.schulze at uni-bamberg.de]
Subject: Der i-Umlaut im Althochdeutschen. Theorie, Phonetik und Typologie sowie eine optimalitätstheoretische Analyse/The Old High German i-Umlaut: Theory, phonetics and typology as well as an Optimality Theoretic analysis
 

	
-------------------------Message 1 ---------------------------------- 
Date: Mon, 20 Dec 2010 11:37:41
From: Jan Henning Schulze [jan-henning.schulze at uni-bamberg.de]
Subject: Der i-Umlaut im Althochdeutschen. Theorie, Phonetik und Typologie sowie eine optimalitätstheoretische Analyse/The Old High German i-Umlaut: Theory, phonetics and typology as well as an Optimality Theoretic analysis

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Institution: Otto-Friedrich Universität Bamberg 
Program: German Linguistics 
Dissertation Status: Completed 
Degree Date: 2009 

Author: Jan Henning Schulze

Dissertation Title: Der i-Umlaut im Althochdeutschen. Theorie, Phonetik und
Typologie sowie eine optimalitätstheoretische Analyse/The
Old High German i-Umlaut: Theory, phonetics and typology as 
well as an Optimality Theoretic analysis 

Dissertation URL:  http://www.opus-bayern.de/uni-bamberg/volltexte/2010/292/

Linguistic Field(s): Historical Linguistics

Subject Language(s): Old High German (goh)


Dissertation Director(s):
Stefanie Stricker
Thomas Becket

Dissertation Abstract:

In this dissertation umlaut processes are reconstructed as intervocalic
assimilation within a prosodic word triggered by unstressed vowels. These
vowels in weak positions may still affect vowels in a more prominent
position, e.g. in the stressed syllable of a stem. This distinguishes
umlaut processes from vowel harmony.

Intervocalic coarticulation constitutes the phonetic basis of umlaut. A
crucial phonetic condition for the phonemization of i-umlaut in Old High
German is that hearers cease to compensate for coarticulation. After this
cognitive decoupling of coarticulation and coarticulation trigger, the
umlauted vowels get lexicalized by successive generations of language
learners so as to finally appear as new phonemes after the reduction of the
triggers of coarticulation.

Frequency of use plays a decisive role in the phonemization of umlaut
allophones. Umlaut allophones in low-frequent word forms are replaced with
the unumlauted stem vowels prior to their lexicalization. The lack of
umlaut in the preterit subjunctive forms of Rückumlaut verbs, which seems
to be morphologically motivated at first sight, can thus be explained
without reference to morphological constraints.

Finally, the Old High German i-umlaut is reconstructed within Optimality
Theory. For that purpose, markedness constraints of the AGREE-family and a
local self-conjunction of an IDENT-constraint are used. Some of these
constraints are active only within the boundaries of a prosodic word or
foot, which accounts for the well-known distribution of primary and
secondary umlaut. 




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