The diachrony and synchrony of vowel quantity in English and Dutch

Author: Page, B. Richard

Source: Diachronica, Volume 23, Number 1, 2006 , pp. 61-104(44)

Publisher: John Benjamins Publishing Company

Buy & download fulltext article:

Price: $36.33 plus tax (Refund Policy)

Abstract:

This investigation of Open Syllable Lengthening in Middle English and Middle Dutch treats the changes as the result of listener-based reinterpretations of coarticulatory effects on vowel duration. OSL in English is a result of compensatory lengthening, which is analyzed as a hypocorrection. OSL in Middle Dutch involves a hypercorrection in which the duration of etymologically long vowels is reinterpreted as a purely phonetic correlate of stress in open syllables. The different phonological bases for OSL provide a diachronic explanation for the retention of contrastive vowel quantity in Modern English and its absence in Modern Dutch.

Keywords: hypercorrection; hypocorrection; listener-based theory of sound change; Middle Dutch; Middle English; Open Syllable Lengthening; vowel quantity

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1075/dia.23.1.05pag

Affiliations: 1: Pennsylvania State University

Publication date: 2006-01-01

More about this publication?