LL-L "Phonology" 2005.11.29 (05) [D/E]

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   L O W L A N D S - L * 29 November 2005 * Volume 05
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From:  "Roger Hondshoven" <roger.hondshoven at telenet.be>
Subject: LL-L "Phonology" 2005.11.28 (10) [E]

 Hello Ingmar,

You have an interesting theory on the origin of the tonal accent in
Limburgish and Rhinelandish. But you couldn't quite convince me. If the
cause of the rise of a tonal accent were to be found in Romance influence
("shifts in those areas: first from Celtic to Vulgar Latin + Celtic, then to
Romance, then to Romance + Franconian (West Germanic), and at last to
Limburgish/Middle German. "), it would also have been a feature of Western
Flemish (Brabant, Flanders) dialects, which have equally been in contact
with and widely influenced by French.
Another thing about tone in speech. I have always been under the impression
(correct me if I am wrong) that in Irish English there is a strong general
rising tone at the end of a sentence (even if it is a statement). Lately I
have been struck by a similar marked rising tone in the speech of the
English presentator of the BBC documentary series Egyptian Journeys with Dan
Cruickshank. Is this a new tendency in English?

Kind regards,

Roger Hondshoven

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From:   "Jo Thys" <jo.thijs1 at telenet.be>
Subject:  LL-L "Phonology" 2005.11.28 (10) [E]

> Thinking of what I wrote about "French tonal accent", I was wondering if
> this has anything to do with the famous tonal accents of the Limburgish,
> Rhinelandish and Letzeburgisch dialects. All these dialects are neigh-
> bouring French - or rather Walloon, and spoken on formerly Gallo-Roman
> or Celtic ground. So there must have been several shifts in those areas:
> first from Celtic to Vulgar Latin + Celtic, then to Romance, then to
> Romance + Franconian (West Germanic), and at last to Limburgish/Middle
> German. So this means also a shift from a language with stress like in
> Romance, usually at the last syllable, to one with stress on the first
> syllable, Germanic. My personal conclusion is that this stress shift is
> the reason for the tonal accent in those dialects, and also that something
> similar may be happening in present day French pronunciation, as I
> described. I'm curious if these theories have been investigated by ling-
> uists before, I'd like to read more about that, so if anyone knows...
> Ingmar
>
Hallo Ingmar,

> So this means also a shift from a language with stress like in
> Romance, usually at the last syllable, to one with stress on the first
> syllable, Germanic. My personal conclusion is that this stress shift is
> the reason for the tonal accent in those dialects

Ik denk niet dat een klemtoonverschuiving de oorzaak is voor de toonaccenten
omdat ze veelal voorkomen in éénlettergrepige woorden, waar ze een
betekenisonderscheidend kenmerk zijn. Met stoottoon wordt bal begrepen als
'feest' terwijl bal met sleeptoon als 'voetbal' wordt opgevat. Daarnaast
wordt het toonverschil ook gebruikt om enkelvoud (sleeptoon) en meervoud
(stoottoon) te onderscheiden zoals in knien (konijn/konijnen). Anderzijds
spelen klemtonen misschien toch een rol, zoals bij het onderscheid tussen
'die peer is geel' (sleeptoon) en ' een geel peer' (stoottoon).
In een studie door Cajot in 2001 werd vastgesteld dat dit betekenisverschil
verdwijnt, omdat sleep- en stoottonen een verandering in klank teweeg
brengen. In en rond Maastricht heeft de gestoten iê zich zo tot ei
ontwikkeld, terwijl de sleeptonige iê bewaard bleef, bv. priês (prijs)-preis
(prijzen) i.t.t. het Maaslands priês-priês met resp. sleep- en stoottoon.

Met vriêndelijke groeten,

Jo Thys 

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