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

3 PREASPIRATION IN NORTHWESTERN
EUROPE
3.1 Introduction
In this chapter, the stop systems of the known preaspirating Nordic
languages 1 and dialects are examined. The aim of this analysis is to get a
more detailed picture of the similarities and dissimilarities of these stop
systems, particularly with regard to the phonological distribution of
preaspiration. Ultimately, the comparison of these systems may give us
clues as to how Old Norse (henceforth ON) 2 differentiated between, e.g.,
word-medial b, d, g and p, t, k as well as their geminate counterparts,
bb, dd, gg and pp, tt, kk. We might also gain some insights into what
triggered the development of normative preaspiration in these dialects.
For each dialect, the focus is on four aspects of the stop system.
First, we examine how the dialect in question reflects the distinction between
ON p, t, k and pp, tt, kk in word-medial, postvocalic position.
Often, this question is inseparable from the question of how the quantity
system has developed. Second, and intimately related to the first, is the
development of ON clusters in which the first element is p, t, k. Third,
we consider how each dialect reflects ON sequences of sonorant + p, t, k.
And fourth, we try to determine whether ON word-medial b, d, g and
bb, dd, gg are reflected as voiced or voiceless in the dialect in question.
In Europe, normatively preaspirated stops have been reported to occur
only in Scandinavia and neighbouring regions in the Atlantic. Three
language families are involved, Germanic and Celtic (Indo-European)
1 The term “Nordic language” is used in this here to refer to those languages and
dialects that derive from Old Norse.
2 My use of the term “Old Norse” can be taken to refer to those features that are
common to the dialects spoken in Scandinavia, the Faroes and Iceland around
1000 AD (cf. discussion later in this section).
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