Degemination strategies in new high German and Swabian

Abstract

Word-final geminate (long) consonants in Middle High German went through two distinctly different processes of degemination in New High German (East Central German) and in Swabian (Upper German). In New High German, the loss or shortening of the consonant resulted in a syllable with a short vowel; while in Swabian, the phenomenon resulted in a syllable with a long vowel. After an introduction to dynamic phonology, these strategies are examined and compared in traditional segmental (phonemic), nonlinear (metrical), and dynamic analyses. These analyses reveal that the consonant must have still been geminate at the end of the Middle High German period; that the perception of one strategy (New High German) as being inherently simpler than the other (Swabian) has nothing to do with the changes themselves, but only with the segmental and nonlinear descriptions; and that the entire concept of ‘compensatory lengthening’ is likewise an illusion of segmental and nonlinear description. The implications of dynamics analysis for phonological theory are discussed.