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

lock (ibid:267; boldface mine). Weakly aspirated stops occur in wordmedial
position before vowels, as well as following fricatives in any position,
e.g. sko, muskel, stoppa, skratta, harpa and halta (ibid:267; boldface
mine). In a rather fanciful account of the distribution of these stop
variants, Lyttkens & Wulff attribute the differences in the degree of aspiration
to articulatory factors:
In the former case [i.e. in the case of stops following fricatives] the
diminished force can be so explained that, as the fricative has
expended a great deal of air, and the stop has such a short duration,
there is not enough time for new air to accumulate while the stop is
being articulated. If the stop comes between two vowels, a strong air
pressure could be built up, but this is mitigated through the influence
of the vowels on each side, which have a weak expiration and
therefore cause an equalisation [of air pressure].
(Lyttkens & Wulff, 1885:267f; my translation)
Noreen (1903–7) appears to make a more categorical distinction between
aspirated and unaspirated variants. For example, in his discussion
of the pronunciation of labial stops in Swedish (ibid:409) he says:
Between p and a following voiced sound the aspiration reveals itself in
such a way that the voiced sound loses its voicing. […] Only in wordmedial
position immediately following s as well as before voiceless
and aspirated sounds, at least fricatives and sonorants [resonanter],
does p lack aspiration […] and is then similar to the p-sounds of
Finnish and French; compare, for example, the unaspirated p in spå,
sprida, split, spjäla, vispa, snaps, psykisk, knapphål with the aspirate
in på, pris, plit, pjunk, visp (in which the p comes after s, but is not
word-medial), knapp.
(Noreen, 1903–7:409; my translation)
Here, Noreen makes a clear distinction between the aspirated and unaspirated
variants, noting that the unaspirated variants are similar to
those we generally find in Finnish and French. However, notice that examples
of intervocalic p are conspicuous by their absence. This apparent
evasiveness is repeated in his discussion of other stops (ibid: pp. 421,
461 and 481). One possible interpretation of this is that Noreen felt that
intervocalic stops were aspirated. Alternatively, he may have ascribed
the differences in aspiration to an effect of stress. A stop followed by a
stressed vowel was more forcefully articulated, and thus had more aspiration,
than a stop followed by an unstressed vowel.
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