Positional Neutralization - Linguistics - University of California ...

elsewhere, depending on the informality of the situation. The reduction of /o/ is common
in the Sofia dialect, but reduction of /e/ is less usual there (Wood and Pettersson 1988:
240). In Pettersson and Wood (1987), they provide more details, but decide to describe
all the systems in terms of a single phonetic tendency: “However, we prefer to see the
regional distribution as a case of varying generalization of a single process, a reflection of
how the Bulgarian speaker’s willingness or unwillingness to make certain reductions is
subject to a complex of stylistic, sociolinguistic and dialect forces (P & W 1987: 268).
This holistic approach to the dialect continuum and social fabric is fine of course, for
certain aims, but is unacceptable as the basis for a model of the grammar of a single
speaker of a single dialect, if that speaker’s dialect simply lacks certain of the categorical
reductions represented in the holistic take. Crosswhite (to appear), who describes
“Bulgarian” with the three neutralizing reductions characteristic only of Eastern
Bulgarian dialects, notes in a footnote that “In the pronunciation norm of Sofia and other
western areas of Bulgaria, vowel reduction is weaker than in the eastern areas, or even
entirely absent. Since Sofia pronunciation defines the standard, many vowel-reducing
speakers attempt to suppress vowel neutralizations when speaking in formal registers. In
particular, suppression of /e/ > [i] is quite common, and the lack of this suppression is
rather stigmatized” (Crosswhite, to appear: 51) 15 . The general point concerning greater
15
Neutralizing reduction of all vowels, though /e/ in particular, as well as automatic palatalization of
consonants before front vowels are indeed features of eastern dialects subject to parody in other parts of the
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