Preaspiration in the Nordic Languages: Synchronic and Diachronic ...

are discussed below, and an overview of the words and the variables they
represent is given in Table 4–11.
The word átta [h] ‘eight’ is used to represent word-medial fortis
stops in VC syllables. For the corresponding lenis stops, the word oddur
[] ‘point, tip’ will be used. The orthographic forms are indicative of
the historical roots of these stops in the ON geminates pp, tt, kk and
bb, dd, gg respectively. As we shall see, fortis geminates in function
words are less likely to be preaspirated than are fortis geminates in content
words. This applies particularly to the demonstrative pronouns hetta
‘this’ and hatta ‘that’ and the indefinite pronoun okkurt ‘something’,
which are frequent in the data. The most frequent, hatta, is used to represent
fortis geminates in such function words.
To exemplify fortis stops in the onset of stop + sonorant clusters, the
word vatnið [vh] ‘water, lake’ is used. The corresponding lenis stop
is exemplified by fjallið [fj] ‘ the mountain.’ The fortis stops in such
clusters have their origins in ON pp, tt, kk + l, r, m, n clusters as well as
t, k + n and tl clusters. In the data at hand, the majority of the lenis stops
in such clusters come from ON ll and nn, i.e., geminate dental or alveolar
laterals and nasals that have undergone “pre-stopping” and become []
and [] respectively. 1 The Old Norse cluster rn, which usually becomes
[], is also a source for such clusters.
As we saw in section 3.3, the phonological distribution of preaspiration
in VC syllables has not been established in the literature. The representations
used here follow the Area 1 distribution described in section
3.3 (see Table 3–3). Thus, if the vowel preceding the stop ends as a close
vowel (i.e., as [i] or [u]), the stop is unaspirated and there is no fortis vs.
lenis distinction. This group of words will be exemplified by the word
fótur [f] ‘foot.’ In other contexts (i.e., following [, , e, ø, o]),
a fortis vs. lenis distinction is made by some speakers. Two words are
used to exemplify fortis stops in such contexts, one for content words
and one for function words. For content words, the word matur
1 Changes similar to this have occurred in various Nordic dialects, as well as in Saami
and Scots Gaelic, and thus constitute an areal feature like preaspiration. Further
abroad, a similar change seems to have occurred in the Pama-Nyungan language
Arabana-Wangganguru (cf. Hercus 1973 ; see also Helgason 1997 and discussion of
pre-stopped nasals in Ladefoged & Maddieson 1996, p. 129f).
– 149 –