26.07.2013 Views

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

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

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

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

duration (Pr) plotted aga<strong>in</strong>st <strong>the</strong> comb<strong>in</strong>ed duration of vowel <strong>and</strong> preaspiration<br />

(VPr) for all test words from all subjects. 1<br />

It is evident that Pr duration <strong>in</strong>creases with <strong>in</strong>creased VPr duration.<br />

The ratio of Pr to VPr (a measure of how much of <strong>the</strong> vowel + preaspiration<br />

<strong>in</strong>terval is taken up by preaspiration) even seems to <strong>in</strong>crease<br />

slightly with <strong>in</strong>creased VPr duration. These results are very similar to <strong>the</strong><br />

results from o<strong>the</strong>r preaspirat<strong>in</strong>g dialects, for example Faroese (cf. Ch. 4,<br />

section 4.3). One should keep <strong>in</strong> m<strong>in</strong>d that <strong>the</strong>se data come from read<br />

word lists while <strong>the</strong> data on Faroese are from spontaneous speech.<br />

Wolter did not consider <strong>the</strong> production of sonorants before stops <strong>in</strong><br />

his survey of <strong>the</strong> Stavanger-S<strong>and</strong>nes dialect. However, Oftedal (1972)<br />

describes <strong>the</strong> general characteristics of <strong>the</strong> dialect he calls Urban Jæren,<br />

which comprises only <strong>the</strong> town of S<strong>and</strong>nes, <strong>and</strong> Rural Jæren, which comprises<br />

all o<strong>the</strong>r parts of Jæren south of S<strong>and</strong>nes (<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g Gjesdal). Accord<strong>in</strong>g<br />

to Oftedal, <strong>the</strong> sonorants are partially voiceless <strong>and</strong> /r/ fully<br />

voiceless <strong>in</strong> both Rural <strong>and</strong> Urban Jæren.<br />

3.4.2 Gudbr<strong>and</strong>sdalen<br />

Hesselman (1905:10ff), Ross (1907:37ff) <strong>and</strong> Storm (1908:60, 150)<br />

describe preaspiration of fortis stops <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> dialects of several parishes <strong>in</strong><br />

<strong>the</strong> nor<strong>the</strong>rn part of Gudbr<strong>and</strong>sdalen <strong>in</strong> Norway (see map <strong>in</strong> Figure 3-4). 2<br />

The most extensive description is provided by Ross, who draws mostly<br />

on <strong>the</strong> community of Vågå for his examples. However, his text <strong>in</strong>cludes<br />

numerous examples from Lesja, Skjåk, Sel, Lom, Dovre <strong>and</strong> Fron. The<br />

<strong>in</strong>formants seem to come mostly from <strong>the</strong> ma<strong>in</strong> villages <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>se parishes.<br />

The dialects <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> nor<strong>the</strong>rn part of Gudbr<strong>and</strong>sdalen are, <strong>in</strong> fact,<br />

better known for <strong>the</strong>ir quantity system than for preaspiration. Most of <strong>the</strong><br />

languages <strong>and</strong> dialects that derive from Old Norse have a two-way<br />

1 S<strong>in</strong>ce preaspiration duration is partly be<strong>in</strong>g plotted aga<strong>in</strong>st itself, <strong>the</strong> trend l<strong>in</strong>e should<br />

not be taken to show a statistically valid. However it does provide a visual <strong>in</strong>dication<br />

of how preaspiration duration changes as a function of <strong>the</strong> duration of <strong>the</strong> vowel +<br />

preaspiration sequence (cf. Ch. 4, section 4.1.3).<br />

2 See also Marstr<strong>and</strong>er (1932), who provides no transcribed examples from <strong>the</strong>se<br />

dialects, but offers some impressionistic comments concern<strong>in</strong>g preaspiration.<br />

Accord<strong>in</strong>g to him, preaspiration is “very common” <strong>in</strong> Lesja <strong>and</strong> Dovre, “fairly clear”<br />

<strong>in</strong> Skjåk, “clear” <strong>in</strong> Sel, “fairly weak, but at times clear” <strong>in</strong> Vågå <strong>and</strong> “hardly<br />

noticeable” <strong>in</strong> Lom.<br />

– 65 –

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!