LL-L "Language varieties" 2001.11.01 (04) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 01.NOV.2001 (04) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian L=Limburgish
 LS=Low Saxon (Low German) S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic Z=Zeelandic (Zeeuws)
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From: Sandy Fleming [sandy at scotstext.org]
Subject: "Language varieties"

> From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Language varieties
>
> > From: Criostoir O Ciardha <paada_please at yahoo.co.uk>
> > Subject: LL-L "Language varieties" 2000.10.27 (02) [E]
> >
> > "Finally (surely not), Dutch has changed the  sequence
> > /old/ to /oud/,
> > while Low Saxon has not; e.g., ...
> >
> > Dutch = Low Saxon
> > oud = old 'old'
> > koud = kold 'cold'
> > goud = gold 'gold(en)'"
> >
> > This is remarkable from the point of view of Northern
> > English variants including, yes, my own. In my
> > variant, and I think in most variants along a line
> > Manchester-Yorkshire, the following occur:
> >
> > old = oewd ['o:wd] ("old")
> > cold = koewd ['ko:wd] ("cold")
> > gold = goewd ['go:wd] ("gold")
>
> Indeed!  I hear many Americans say [k`oUd] for _cold_.  Also remember
> examples such standardized pronunnciations like _almond_ ['?Q:m at nd],
> _Holmes_ [hoUmz] and _Lincoln_ ['lINk at n].  This is a "natural" or
> "tempting" rule to apply where a non-initial /l/ is "thick" (as in
> _ball_ or _bald_, which is also in the inventory of many Low Saxon
> dialects).  Such an /l/ is easily changed into a [w] or [U] sound.  You
> will also notice this in many Portuguese varieties, bearing in mind that
> Portuguese, too, has this "thick" /l/; e.g., _Portugal_ [pUrtU'gaL] ~
> [pUrtU'gaw] and _Brasil_ [br@'ziL] ~ [br@'ziw].

All this is taken to its logical conclusion in Scots, where
the "l" exists only in an historical sense and the words are
no longer thought of as having an "l", either in speech or in
writing:

Scots            English

gowd [gVud]      gold
rowe [rVu]       roll
howe             hollow
cowt             colt
smowt            smolt

aa [Q:]          all
baa [bQ:]        ball
waa              wall
caa              call
smaa             small
faa              fall
haa              hall

saut [sQ:?]      salt
maut             malt
faut             fault

pou [pu:] (but also [pVl])   pull
fou [fu:] (but also [fVl])   full

Although this is a general rule, it doesn't happen at all in certain
formations:

cauld [kQ:ld]    cold
auld             old
bauld            bold
fauld            fold

and there are exceptions (possibly later loans from English?):

shawl [SQ:l]     shawl

Sandy
http://scotstext.org
A dinna dout him, for he says that he
On nae accoont wad ever tell a lee.
                          - C.W.Wade,
                    'The Adventures o McNab'

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