Preaspiration in the Nordic Languages: Synchronic and Diachronic ...

1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 Overview
This study deals, for the most part, with the stop systems of the languages
and dialects that derive from Old Norse, referred to here as
“Nordic languages.” Preaspiration (as opposed to postaspiration) of stops
is the central theme, from both a synchronic and a diachronic point of
view, and the largest part of the text is devoted to this subject. However,
the general characteristics of the stop systems of the Nordic languages
are also considered, especially those of Central Standard Swedish,
Faroese and Icelandic. In current descriptions, Swedish has two stop
series, voiced and voiceless, in which differing degrees of postaspiration
are seen as an effect of stress. This characterisation of the Swedish stop
system is reviewed and an alternative interpretation of the facts, rooted in
the historical development of the Swedish stop system, is proposed.
Chapter 2 deals with the typological aspects of preaspiration, particularly
its definition, the question of its relationship to postaspiration and
its global geographical spread. As we shall see, preaspiration appears to
be very rare in the languages of the world, at least preaspiration in the
normative sense (cf. section 2.3). We examine possible reasons for this
and particularly consider the claim that preaspiration is badly suited for
audition.
In Chapter 3, we focus on Northwestern Europe (see map, Figure 1–
1), and consider those languages and dialects preaspiration has been reported
to occur. The emphasis is on Nordic languages (i.e. those descending
from Old Norse), although both Celtic and Saami languages are
also considered. The map in Figure 1–1 gives an overview of the locations
where either normative or non-normative preaspiration in wordmedial
position has been reported to occur. Also shown are locations
where normative postaspiration in word-medial position has been re-
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