LL-L "Phonology" 2005.06.15 (06) [E]

[Lowlands-L]

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L O W L A N D S - L * 15.JUN.2005 (06) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: Críostóir Ó Ciardha <paada_please at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject: LL-L "Phonology" 2005.05.14 (11) [E]


Ron wrote:
"Rule No. 3 applied as well, in some varieties of Icelandic -- or so I
vaguely remember."

I suppose [K] must also be found in Faroese, then, due to its closeness to
Icelandic. I am surprised the sound is comparatively rare given its
predictable development from the /tl/ cluster. Is it not known in any other
Lowlandic languages and variants? I would expect it to have survived word
medially in Cornish English (it hasn't) and word initially in at least one
of the Welsh Englishes (it hasn't).

Also:
"In English-speaking communities Welsh [K] used to be heard as akin to
/f(l)/ (hence e.g. Lloyd > Floyd, Llewelyn > Flello) or /hw/ (e.g. Llewelyn
 > Whellin > Wellin(g))."

There seems to have been a development here from a perception of [K] as [fl]
in the sixteenth century to one of [K] as [T] or [tl] by the eighteenth and
nineteenth centuries. This can be seen in the comparison of Lloyd (Llwyd
'grey') / Floyd (c. sixteenth century, remember Shakespeare used Fluellen
for Llywellyn) with Sealth for Seattle (eighteenth or nineteenth century).

Lastly:
"Nahuatl < Nahuatl/Aztec _naawaK_ > _naawas'_ )..."

I am pleased you mentioned this example - a correct pronunciation of the
/tl/ grapheme as a lateral fricative in Nahuatl led me to realise that I
used [K] regularly in this position, hence my sudden post yesterday about
phonemic isolates.

Go raibh maith agat,

Criostóir.

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From: Elsie Zinsser <ezinsser at icon.co.za>
Subject: LL-L

Hi Ron and all!

But now you've whet my appetite.

Give me an example of an Afrikaans word in which this
' "unique" voiceless /h/ occurs.

Cheerio,
Elsie

[... It's a voiced /h/ (pronounced as voiced in
most environments): SAMPA [h\], IPA hooktop h.
Other Germanic varieties have only voiceless /h/ (SAMPA/IPA [h]).
While in Afrikaans this voiceless /h/ is an allophone of /h/, ]

----------

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

Críostóir (above):

> I suppose [K] must also be found in Faroese, then, due to its closeness to
> Icelandic.

I don't know, and we shouldn't assume such a thing.  Very closely related
varieties can develop very different phonologies (taking, for example,
Danish versus Danish-derived Dano-Norwegian (bokmål)).

(See farther down, Críostóir.)

Elsie (above):

> But now you've whet my appetite.
>
> Give me an example of an Afrikaans word in which this
> ' "unique" voiceless /h/ occurs.

Haha!  Actually, the *default* pronunciation of /h/ in Afrikaans is voiced.
(See, e.g., http://www.omniglot.com/writing/afrikaans.htm)  Thus, if you say
_heel_, for instance, voicing (which you can feel as a "buzz" if you touch
your throat) begins not with the /e/ (as in Dutch) but already with the /h/:
[h\e at l].  I believe that non-voicing occurs only in some dialects in certain
environments, such as right after a voiceless consonant (e.g., _ek het_).  I
can hear the voiced /h/ also in most Afrikaans speakers' English.  Most
non-South-Africans aren't aware of exactly where the "strangeness" comes
from, going hand in hand with features like non-aspiration of voiceless
stops (the latter of which is also a feature of a Dutch "accent").

By the way, this is not just my personal observation.  It has been described
far and wide, and better textbooks mention it too.

What interests me particularly is this question: Did Afrikaans develop this
voiced /h/ independently, or is it due to external influence?

Well, I kept looking at "Malay," since it's role in the evolution of
Afrikaans is well noted, also because I hear many speakers of (Malaiic)
Phillipino languages pronounce /h/ voiced.  However, I have never noticed
voiced /h/ in either Indonesian or Malaysian, nor do I find references to it
in descriptions of Javanese and Sundanese.  However ... Both Zulu and Sotho
have the sound!  In Zulu it is the default pronunciation of <h> (versus [h]
for <hh>), and in Sotho it seems to be the default for <h> as well, with the
allophone [h] in voiceless environments.  I understand (though am not sure)
that it applies to Ndebele as well.  Since it does not seem to apply to
Northern Ntu (Bantu) languages, I wonder if it is due to a non-Ntu (or
non-Nguni) substrate, possibly a Khoisan one.

By the way, Críostóir, the Nguni (Southern (Ba)Ntu) languages is another
group in which the said [K] occurs (usually written <hl>); e.g., Zulu
_isihlahla_ [isi"Ka:Ka] 'tree', Xhosa _enhle_ ["enKe] 'beautiful'.

Bye!
Sala kahle ["sa:la "ka:Ke]! (Zulu)
Sala kakuhle ["sa:la ka"ku:Ke]! (Xhosa)

Reinhard/Ron

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