The diachrony and synchrony of vowel quantity in English and Dutch

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 M...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Diachronica 2006, Vol.23 (1), p.61-104
Main Author: PAGE, B. Richard
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Diachrony and historical linguistics
Dutch language
Etymology
Linguistics
Middle English
Phonology phonetics relationship
Sound duration
Syllables
Vowels
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Summary: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.
ISSN:0176-4225
1569-9714
DOI:10.1075/dia.23.1.05pag