Phonological change

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Phonological change
Historical Linguistics
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Types of sound change

1. Sporadic vs. regular
2. Conditioned vs. unconditioned
3. Phonemic vs. allophonic

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Sporadic change
spræc gt speech gt spring gt sprinkle
grammar gt glamour gt grain gt graps
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Regular change
Grimms law p t k gt f T h
Neogrammarian Hypothesis
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Unconditioned change
fif gt faif five wif gt waif wife
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Conditioned change
bed gt bed
German English Käse cheese Kind child Kinn
chin Kirsche cheery Kirche church König kin
g
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Allophonic change
All changes we have seen thus far are allophonic
changes (except for palatalization).
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Phonemic changes

1. Loss of phonemes
2. Addition of phonemes

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Phonemic changes

• Loss of phonemes
• Simple loss
• Merger

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Merger
PIE Latin Gothic OHG PDE
o okto- octo ahtau ahto eight
_at_ p_at_ter- pater fadar fater father
a agro- ager akrs ackar acre
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New phonemes

• Introduction of new phonemes
• Borrowing
• Splits

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Extensions Split 1
cat chaff chin
Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 katt katt katt keaff tSeaf tSaff kinn tSinn tSinn
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Extensions Umlaut (Split 2)
SG Mouse PL Mice
Original /mus/ mus /mus-i/ mus-i
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Extensions Umlaut
SG Mouse PL Mice
Original /mus/ mus /mus-i/ mus-i
/mus-i/ mys-i
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Extensions Umlaut
SG Mouse PL Mice
Original /mus/ mus /mus-i/ mus-i
/mus-i/ mys-i
/mus/ mus
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Extensions Umlaut
SG Mouse PL Mice
Original /mus/ mus /mus-i/ mus-i
/mus-i/ mys-i
/mus/ mus
/mis/ mis
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Extensions Umlaut
SG Mouse PL Mice
Original /mus/ mus /mus-i/ mus-i
/mus-i/ mys-i
/mus/ mus
/mis/ mis
/mais/ mais
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Extension (Split 3)
s r s z r s r
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Why do speech sound change?
Economy 1. assimilation 2. lenition
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Assimilation 1
(1) Latin Italian nocte nokte gt notte notte
(2) English German cheese Käse child Kind
chin Kinn church cyrice (Old English)
(3) nature ty gt tS education dy gt
dZ tissue sy gt S
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Assimilation 2
(4) pain pE bread fin fE end
(5) English mus mouse SG mys-i
mice PL
(6) Latin peÎkwe kweÎkwe
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Lenition
stop gt fricative gt approximate stop gt
liquid oral stop gt glottal stop voiceless gt
voiced geminate gt simplex
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Lentition Beispiele 1
(1) Spirantization Latin Italian habebat
he had gt aveva faba bean gt fava
(2) Stop gt liquid English American
English wOtr gt wOQr
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Lentition Beispiele 2
(3) Oral stop gt glottal stop English London,
Glasgow wOtr wO?r
(4) Voicing (assimilation!) Latin Italian st
rata gt strada lacu gt lago
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Lentition Beispiele 3
(5) Degemination Latin Spanish cuppa
cup gt copa wine glass gutta drop gt gota
drop siccu dry gt seco dry
(6) Old English English hnuti
nut gt nut hit it gt it where
hwere gt where were
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Deletions
French (consonant) English (consonant) lit
bed knee gros big knot murs
walls knife
English (vowel) chocolate medicine camera batt
ery police dictionary correct
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Additions
(1) sömpTIÎ something drEmpt dreamt tSö
mpski Chomsky
(2) fntsi fancy prints prince
(3) T_at_lIt
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(No Transcript)
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Additions Epenthetic vowel
Spanish esnobe snob eslalom
slalom estricnina strychnine Latin Span
ish spatha espada sword statu estado
state scala escala ladder
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Metathesis
Old English Modern English wps
gt wasp bridd gt bird frist gt first thridde gt t
hird ask /aks gt ask
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Compensentory Lengthening
Pre-Old English Middle English Modern
English finf gt fif gt faif gans gt
gus
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(No Transcript)
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k T æ k__u __je e__u __o a__i a__u
__u e__(e) e__o __a a__e a__o __e
e__i a__jo l__(e)
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kmtom
kjento
kemtom
tsento
tsent
kentom
kentum
sent
kentu
sen
kento
s?
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English plosives
Labial Alveolar Velar
Voiceless plosive p t k
Voiced plosive b d g
Nasal m n Î
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English fricatives
Labiod. Interd. Alveolar Palatal Velar
Voiceless f T s S h
Voiceless v D z Z
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English vowels
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Italian
i
u
U
I
o
e
E
O
iE
uO
a
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Sardinian
i
u
U
I
o
e
E
O
a
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The Great English Vowel Shift
brun brown deman deem dom doom d
un down fif five he he hus h
ouse is ice muT mouse rost roost
tid time late late
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The Great English Vowel Shift
i gt aI u gt aU e gt
i E gt e gt i (via
E/e) o gt u a gt e (via
) a gt o (OE to ME)
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The Great English Vowel Shift
Middle English Chaucer Shakespeare Modern i fi
f faIv five e mede mid mid E k
lEne klen clean a nama nem name u
dun daUn down o rot_at_ rut root
O gOt_at_ got goat
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The Great English Vowel Shift
i u aI aU e
o E O a
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Competing motivations

1. Ease of pronunciation
2. Ease of perception (symmetry)
3. Interaction with stress (vowel reduction)
4. Interaction with morphology (levelling)
5. Borrowing

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Competing motivations
A crucial observation has been that there are
always competing phonological pressures, both
syntagmatic and paradigmatic these can never all
be satisfied at once, and a great deal of
phonological change can be understood as endless
attempts at satisfying these competing pressures,
with each resulting change typically introducing
new strains into the system. (Trask 1996 95-96)