The coarticulatory basis of diachronic high back vowel fronting
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Jonathan Harrington
Abstract
The study is concerned with the contribution of synchronic consonant-on-vowel coarticulation to the diachronic fronting of high back vowels. The first part of the paper makes use of an empirical analysis of German vowels to explain why high back vowels are more likely to front diachronically than high front vowels are to retract. This study is then linked to the changing coarticulatory relationships in the course of diachronic high back vowel fronting in the standard accent of England. The results show that this sound change in progress has resulted in a phonologization of the variants in a fronting context and a consequential realignment in perception of the back variants towards the front. The general conclusion is that the wide separation of phonetic variants induced by consonantal context provides the conditions for high back vowel fronting which can be fulfilled during a sound change in progress by their progressive approximation in perception and production.
Abstract
The study is concerned with the contribution of synchronic consonant-on-vowel coarticulation to the diachronic fronting of high back vowels. The first part of the paper makes use of an empirical analysis of German vowels to explain why high back vowels are more likely to front diachronically than high front vowels are to retract. This study is then linked to the changing coarticulatory relationships in the course of diachronic high back vowel fronting in the standard accent of England. The results show that this sound change in progress has resulted in a phonologization of the variants in a fronting context and a consequential realignment in perception of the back variants towards the front. The general conclusion is that the wide separation of phonetic variants induced by consonantal context provides the conditions for high back vowel fronting which can be fulfilled during a sound change in progress by their progressive approximation in perception and production.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword and acknowledgements vii
- List of contributors and discussion participants ix
- Editors’ introduction 1
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Part I. Perception
- The listener as a source of sound change 21
- Perception grammars and sound change 37
- A phonetic interpretation of the sound changes affecting dark /l/ in Romance 57
- The production and perception of sub-phonemic vowel contrasts and the role of the listener in sound change 77
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Part II. Production
- The coarticulatory basis of diachronic high back vowel fronting 103
- Natural and unnatural patterns of sound change? 123
- The gaits of speech 147
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Part III. Social factors, structural factors and the typology of change
- Prosodic skewing of input and the initiation of cross-generational sound change 167
- Social and personality variables in compensation for altered auditory feedback 185
- Patterns of lexical diffusion and articulatory motivation for sound change 211
- Foundational concepts in the scientific study of sound change 235
- Index of subjects and terms 247
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword and acknowledgements vii
- List of contributors and discussion participants ix
- Editors’ introduction 1
-
Part I. Perception
- The listener as a source of sound change 21
- Perception grammars and sound change 37
- A phonetic interpretation of the sound changes affecting dark /l/ in Romance 57
- The production and perception of sub-phonemic vowel contrasts and the role of the listener in sound change 77
-
Part II. Production
- The coarticulatory basis of diachronic high back vowel fronting 103
- Natural and unnatural patterns of sound change? 123
- The gaits of speech 147
-
Part III. Social factors, structural factors and the typology of change
- Prosodic skewing of input and the initiation of cross-generational sound change 167
- Social and personality variables in compensation for altered auditory feedback 185
- Patterns of lexical diffusion and articulatory motivation for sound change 211
- Foundational concepts in the scientific study of sound change 235
- Index of subjects and terms 247
