Preaspiration in the Nordic Languages: Synchronic and Diachronic ...
Preaspiration in the Nordic Languages: Synchronic and Diachronic ...
Preaspiration in the Nordic Languages: Synchronic and Diachronic ...
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Abstract<br />
<strong>Preaspiration</strong>—<strong>the</strong> production of glottal friction at <strong>the</strong> juncture of a vowel<br />
<strong>and</strong> a consonant—appears to be typologically rare but is an areal l<strong>in</strong>guistic<br />
feature of Northwestern Europe. This study conta<strong>in</strong>s a survey of<br />
<strong>the</strong> known geographical spread of preaspirated stops, <strong>the</strong>ir phonological<br />
distribution <strong>and</strong> phonetic expressions <strong>in</strong> some <strong>Nordic</strong> dialects. The study<br />
also suggests a reconstruction of <strong>the</strong> phonetics of <strong>the</strong> Proto-<strong>Nordic</strong> stop<br />
contrasts based on synchronic data as well as a more general framework of<br />
historical sound change.<br />
Follow<strong>in</strong>g an <strong>in</strong>troduction (Chapter 1), Chapter 2 deals with <strong>the</strong> def<strong>in</strong>ition<br />
<strong>and</strong> typology of preaspiration present<strong>in</strong>g a global overview of <strong>the</strong> known<br />
geographical spread of preaspiration. The apparent rarity of preaspiration<br />
is considered. Proposed, perceptually based explanations of this rarity are<br />
evaluated.<br />
Chapter 3 offers a fairly detailed account of <strong>the</strong> known areal spread of preaspiration<br />
<strong>in</strong> Europe. Stop systems of several dialects <strong>in</strong> which preaspiration<br />
occurs are analysed <strong>in</strong> terms of voic<strong>in</strong>g conditions. These analyses are<br />
based ma<strong>in</strong>ly on descriptions provided <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> dialectological literature.<br />
Chapter 4 presents data on durational variation <strong>and</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r phonetic patterns<br />
of stop production <strong>in</strong> Central St<strong>and</strong>ard Swedish, Tórshavn Faroese, Gräsö<br />
Swedish <strong>and</strong> Western Ål<strong>and</strong> Swedish. The results reveal a greater degree<br />
of phonetic variation than has been assumed to date. In particular, speakers<br />
of Central St<strong>and</strong>ard Swedish are shown to use preaspiration as a regular<br />
feature <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir voiceless stop production.<br />
In Chapter 5, f<strong>in</strong>ally, <strong>the</strong> results of <strong>the</strong> data analysis are used <strong>in</strong> an attempt<br />
to reconstruct <strong>the</strong> phonetic expression of stop contrasts <strong>in</strong> Proto-<strong>Nordic</strong>. It<br />
is argued that Proto-<strong>Nordic</strong> stop production was largely similar to <strong>the</strong> stop<br />
production of today’s Central St<strong>and</strong>ard Swedish. As regards phonological<br />
structure, however, <strong>the</strong> Proto-<strong>Nordic</strong> stop contrasts appear to have been<br />
largely preserved <strong>in</strong> all dialects considered. This conclusion is found to be<br />
compatible with an expansion/contraction (E/C) model of historical sound<br />
change.<br />
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