LL-L "Phonology" 2004.10.13 (11) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 13.OCT.2004 (11) * 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: denis dujardin <dujardin at pandora.be>
Subject: LL-L "Phonology" 2004.10.13 (08) [A/D/E]

Jo,

Voor zover ik weet hebben ze het in die verre uithoek (de streek rond
Sint-Omaars (St-Omer)) enkel over " de mulloare, n'maawt de bleumme" (de
molenaar , hij maalt de bloem)).
De -a- is zeer lang en open.
Ik zal eens nagaan of er nog vormen zijn.

Denis

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

I assume that the shift l -> w can only happen where an /l/ is velar(ized)
("thick," as in "ball"), that it cannot happen in languages that do not have
this rule.  Does everyone agree?  You can get "bill" [bIw] but not normally
"billing" *['bIwIN].

The general shift l -> w is often noted in children's English and as a
speech defect of adults in whose dialects this shift does not apply
generally.  I knew a young adult in Australia who pronounced /l/ as [w] in
any environment.

As in Dutch (-old > -oud), English has formalized, standardized this shift
in words and names like "folk" [foUwk], "Holmes" [hoUmz] and "stalk"
([stQ:wk] >] [stQ:k], in some dialects also "cold" [koUwd], etc.

Note that in Portuguese this applies (in casual speech) quite often, if not
regularly, and in those cases only in back-vocalic environments and at the
end of a word (in which velarization applies); e.g., _falta_ ['faLt@] ~
['fawt@] 'lacks', _Portugal_  [pUrtU'gQL] ~ [pUrtU'gQw], Brazil [bra'zIL] ~
[bra'zIw] (but [br at zi'lEIrU] ~ [br at zi'AIrU] 'brazilian').  But I have never
heard it pronounced as [w] between vowels (e.g., _falo_ ['faLU] '(I)
speak').

Someone mentioned that the slashed "l" (Ł, ł) in Polish is pronounced [w].
he same applies in both Sorbian languages, by the way.  A friend of mine in
Israel pronounced the [w] as [L], i.e., as a velar/"thick" "l" in Polish
(sounding like in Russian), which she considered her first language
(although I think Yiddish was her true first language) and loved with all
her heart.  I asked other Polish speakers who knew her and like her came
from the city of Lodz (Łódż).  A couple of them thought it was due to a
Yiddish accent (which she did not have otherwise), and the others said it
was an affectation, a hypercorrection brought on by her love of the written
word taken to the extreme.  One person thought it was due to Russian
influenced picked up while fleeing ahead of the German front into Siberia.
(Generally speaking, Polish "ł" corresponds to velar "l" in Russian.)   I
never asked her because I did not want to embarrass her.

Lowlands Saxon (Low German) used to have a rule that velarized /l/
(pronounced as in English) in syllable-final position after back vowels
(/a/, /o/, /u/); e.g., _tal_ <Tall> [ta.L] 'number', _haal_ [hQ:L] 'fetch!',
_holt_ <Holt> [hO.Lt] ~ _hult_ <Hult> [hU.Lt] 'wood', 'woods'.  In some
dialects it applied after any type of vowel; e.g., _melk_ <Melk> [mE.Lk]
'milk', _kül(d)_ <Kül(d)> [kY.L(t)] 'cold(ness)', _mööl_ <Möhl> [mø:L] ~
[mœ:L] 'mill'.  This has pretty much fallen to the wayside now, though you
do still hear it in the pronunciation of some old folks that are less
affected by Germanization.  So it's now predominantly _tal_ <Tall> [ta.l],
_haal_ [hQ:l], _holt_ [hO.lt] ~ _hult_[hU.lt],   _melk_ <Melk> [mE.lk],
_kül(d)_ <Kül(d)> [kY.l(t)] and _mööl_ <Möhl> [mø:l] ~ [mœ:l] respectively.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron

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