The Lexical Diffusion of Phonetically Abrupt Changes

Abstract

Chapter 1 demonstrated that a usage-based grammar incorporating exemplar theory is currently the most appropriate model for accommodating the lexical diffusion of sound change. In particular, it was shown that some lexically diffused changes are also phonetically gradual, which contradicts Labov’s (1994: 541–2) hypothesis that lexically diffused changes are confined to the Lexical Phonology and phonetically gradual changes to the postlexical phonology. This chapter demonstrates that even among changes such as stress shifts, which are by their very nature not phonetically gradual (and which are always treated within the lexical component of Lexical Phonology), different types of lexical diffusion present themselves. Some affect the least frequent words first, while others affect the most frequent words first. Such distinctions are not predicted by Lexical Phonology or Optimality Theory, but are consistent with a usage-based phonology into which word frequency, reflected by lexical strength, and the notion of lexical analysis have been incorporated.