LL-L "Phonology" 2004.11.23 (14) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 23.NOV.2004 (14) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
L=Limburgish LS=Lowlands Saxon (Low German) N=Northumbrian
S=Scots Sh=Shetlandic V=(West)Flemish Z=Zeelandic (Zeêuws)
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From:  Gary Taylor <gary_taylor_98 at yahoo.com>
Subject:  Phonology

Hi Criostóir and all,

you asked the following

"The mention of glottal stops also calls to mind a characteristic feature of
Nottingham English and some other northern English variants that I would
like explained if anyone could, namely the substation of [r] for  standard
[d] in sentences like _gor it_ ("Got it")."

A quote from Wells, Accents of English 2; The British Isles, p370 (hope he
doesn't mind me quoting him):

""A widespread but stigmatized connected-speech process in the middle and
far north involves the use of /r/ instead of /t/ in phrases such as _shut
up_ [SUr\'Up], _get off_ ['gEr\Qf]. The T-to-R rule takes as its input /t/
in the environment of a preceding short vowel and following boundary plus
vowel, as shown in (194).

(194) t>r / [short V]_#V

Other examples include _but he ain't got it_ [b at r\  i'eIn? 'gQr\I?] (which I
noted in a speaker from
Barnsley, South Yorkshire); _what about him?_ ['wQr\ @'baUt Im], _not
having_ ... ['nQr\ avIn...] (which shows the T-to_R rule triggered after
application of H dropping), _sit on my knee_ ['sIr\Qn mi nIi]. The
historical origin of the T-to-R rule must lie in the Tapping of /t/ as [4],
and then the phonological reinterpretation of [4] as /r/, followed then by
the use of the prevailing /r/ variant, [r\], in place of earlier [4]. Very
occasionally the rule applies word-internally, as in _what's the matter_
['mar\@]?""

Explains it better than I could...

You also mentioned about glides being used between vowels - this isn't
restricted to the North - it's the usual in London and I think most parts of
England.

The use of a glottal stop in front of a word beginning with a vowel is only
applied in my dialect when a word is being stressed, or if it starts a
sentence, otherwise there is always some sort of semi-vowel liaison. I think
this is partly because the glottal stop in London (and lots of other places
around Britain, but not elsewhere) is interpreted as a /t/ and if words
ending in a vowel (followed by another word starting with a vowel) were
separated with a glottal stop then it would cause confusion.

Anyway, that's my input

Gary

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From: R. F. Hahn <sassisch at yahoo.com>
Subject: Phonology

By the way, a related d > r (and in some dialects t > r)* rule applies in
many Lowlands Saxon (Low German) dialects as well, though they do not apply
across word boundaries.  In some dialects this applies sporadically, in
others regularly.  In actual fact, I believe it is a relative of the
American "flap" or "tap" (as in "better" and "butter").

[* In most dialects /t/ and /d/ surface identically between vowels, just not
word-initially.]

Typically, the tapping rule requires a short vowels on each side (in some
dialects any sort of vowel); e.g., _bodder_ ~ _botter_ ~ _budder_ ~ _butter_
['bOr6] ~ ['bUr6] 'butter', _vadder_ ['far6] 'father', in some dialects
_beter_ ['be:r6] ~ ['bE:r6] 'better', etc.

Interesting developments:

_wedder_ ['vEd6] 'again' has become _werrer_ ['vEr6] in some dialects.  In a
few dialects, the Saxon shift /er/ > /ar/ (e.g., _berg_ > _barg_ 'mountain')
then applied: _warrer_ ['var9].

In some dialects, the word _bed_ [bEt] is pluralized as _bedden_ ['bEd=n].
Interestingly, "flapping" / "tapping" has come to apply to the plural form
and then been treated as an /r/: _berren_ [bE.3n], and this has affected the
singular form in some: _ber_ [bE.3].  This is interesting in that _berren_
[bE.3n] is phonetically not intervocalic, since the dialects are
"non-rhotic" (_berren_ being pronounced much like "bairn" is in "non-rhotic"
English).  I wonder if this is is a historical hangover (thus is
phonemicized as /ber at n/) or is due to some productive rule sequence.

As a final note, let me say that the sound involved here is pretty much the
same as the American flap, also much like what in Japanese is Romanized as
<r>: (SAMPA [4]), a voiced alveolar tap.  It is perceived as [r] and in some
varieties may have become /r/.  It is very close to a [d], seems to be the
"tapped" variant of [d].

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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