LL-L: "Phonology" LOWLANDS-L, 06.OCT.2000 (02) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 06.OCT.2000 (02) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: "Ian James Parsley" <parsleyij at yahoo.com>
Subject: LL-L: "Phonology" LOWLANDS-L, 05.OCT.2000 (05) [E]

> From: Criostoir O Ciardha [paada_please at yahoo.co.uk]
> Subject: LL-L: "Help needed" LOWLANDS-L, 04.OCT.2000 (06) [E]
>
> I wondered if any of you could help me by explaining a few things
> about phonology.

I'm no phonologist but I'll have a try!

> For a long time I've been trying to grapple with how
> the semi-vowel glide [j] in Ulster Scots developed so
> intrusively, particularly in the environment of [k]
> and [g]; this feature is at once striking and
> fascinating, and comparable with a number of features
> in my own dialect of English.

There's no surprise there actually, Cristoir. The feature is not a
Scots one at all. It was, however, present in the English of the
English Midlands at the time of Shakespeare, and it is from there than
it entered Ulster (via the south-east, spreading across Armagh and
Tyrone and into Donegal). It entered some dialects of Ulster-Scots
(though not the 'core' dialects of mid-Antrim) from Ulster-English,
rather than the other way around.

> So my question is this: where, when and why has Ulster
> Scots developed such its own phonology and why isn't
> it just "western" Lallans?

So, essentially, this is a perfect example of how Ulster-Scots has
come to vary (albeit very slightly) from 'Western Lallans Scots'.
Other such examples include the 'dentalization' of the middle
consonants, particularly dentals, in words such as 'danner/dander',
'creature' etc. A grammatical feature that has developed in such a way
is the use of the demonstrative 'them' in Ulster-Scots which, as far
as I'm aware, is not found regularly in any Scottish dialects.

Best for now,
-----------------
Ian James Parsley

----------

From: R. F. Hahn [sassisch at yahoo.com]
Subject: Help needed

Dear Lowlanders,

Given Críostóir's question about what seems to be a case of palatalization of
/k/ or of "j intrusion" in Ulster Scots, and given Ian's explanation that this
is likely an imported Northeastern English feature (and I assume it still
exists in some of those dialects of English), I am wondering if this can be
attributed to Scandinavization (going back to the Viking invasion).  After
all, in many Scandinavian varieties /k/ before front vowels undergoes what can
be loosely termed "palatalization", though there is no uniform kind of
phonetic output.  It is very similar to /k/ palatalization in Mennonite Low
Saxon (Plautdietsch, k -> kj ~ tj) and also to similar phenomena in Slavic.
Of course, consonant palatalization adjacent to front vowels, not unlike that
in Slavic, is also a Celtic feature, particularly in the Goidelic group, so
there is a slight chance that the Midland dialects have this as a part of a
Celtic substrate.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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