Short Diphthongs Research Articles

A structural approach to short diphthongs

A structural approach to short diphthongs

Incipient /ay/-Raising in Baton Rouge

Canadian raising targeting the /ay/ diphthong has been reported for a number of dialects of U.S. English. In the United States and elsewhere, however, the incipient—or purely phonetic—stage of diphthong raising, wherein it is triggered only by consonants that are phonetically voiceless, has been notoriously difficult to capture. In such a stage, raising is expected before the /t/ in cite (/saɪt/ → [sʌɪt]) but not before the flapped-/t/ in citing (/saɪtɪŋ/ → [saɪɾɪŋ]). Berkson, Davis, and Strickler (in press) recently discovered incipient phonetic raising in northeastern Indiana, however, and have suggested that extremely short diphthongs immediately preceding a primary stress (as in citation, psychology) may be the very first to undergo raising. We investigate this hypothesis with data from Louisiana. While Yat English spoken near New Orleans has been reported as an /aw/-raising dialect (Carmichael, 2012), we also find /ay/-raising in New Orleans. Furthermore, the question of whether raising is present in...

The augment of vowel-initial roots and vṛddhi–derivation in the Indo–Iranian languages

Abstract The augment of vowel-initial roots in Old Indo-Aryan consists in the vṛddhi grade of the initial vowel of the verbal stem. Although the origin of this feature can basically be explained in phonological terms, as described by Lubotsky (1995) and others, it is pointed out that the analogy of verb stems with full or lengthened grade root might have played a role as well. On the other hand, in absence of relevant forms in Avestan and Old Persian, the parallelism between the augment and vṛddhi‑derivation has to be taken into account if we want to describe the augment of vowel-initial roots in the Old Iranian languages. It is argued that the vṛddhi‑derivation in Old Persian was similar to the situation in Avestan, i. e. simple vowels were replaced by short diphthongs (not by long ones, as in Old Indo-Aryan) and this has to be assumed for the Old Persian augment of vowelinitial roots as well.

Short and long diphthongs in Hainan Cham

This paper focuses on the acoustic features in the contrast between two pairs of phonemically distinctive diphthongs in Hainan Cham, /ai/ versus /a:i/ and /au/ versus /a:u/. The data from six native speakers of Hainan Cham show that the overall duration of long diphthongs does not statistically differ from the overall duration of short diphthongs. The differences, instead, lie in the durational differences between onsets and offsets. In Hainan Cham, the long diphthong onsets are longer than the short diphthong onsets, while their offsets are shorter. The transition duration does not differentiate short and long diphthongs. In Hainan Cham, it occupies only 25–34% of the duration of the whole diphthong, short or long. Another acoustic feature examined in diphthongs is the range and rate of F2 change. In Hainan Cham, /ai/ is well differentiated from /a:i/: The short diphthong /ai/ has a greater F2 range of change and a faster F2 rate of change than the long diphthong /a:i/. However, /au/ and /a:u/ have very similar F2 rate of change.

Vowels and diphthongs in Icelandic

A factor model for midsagittal x rays of the Icelandic long and short vowels [i, I, e, y, ø, u, o, a] [M. Pétursson, Phonetics 29 (1–2), 22–79 (1974); M. Pétursson, Les Articulations de l'Islandais à la Lumière de la Radiocinématographie (Klincksieck, Paris, 1974)] was constructed. The factor model is based on single frames from the center of the vowels, and accounts for 95% of the variance in tongue positions with three factors. Sequences of x rays of the long and short diphthongs [ei, øi, ai, ou, au] including portions of the consonantal on‐ and off‐glides can be described by the same factors (> 80% of the variance accounted for). We approximate the trajectories of the diphthongs by constructing curves that interpolate the measured positions in factor space. Examining the trajectory through factor space suggests an articulatory parametrization of diphthongs. [Work supported by NIH.]

К вопросу о статусе дифтонгов преломления

The phonetic and phonological homogeneity of OE long and short diphthongs can be discovered first of all from their identical graphic representation. It should be noted that the graphic parallelism not only between long and short diphthongs but also between long and short monophthongs speaks for our line of interpretation. The graphic evidence is not the only data which supports our approach. Delabilization of the second element of the short diphthong /æu/ followed the delabilization of the long /æu /. There was also a great similarity between the processes of monophthongization of both types of diphthongs at the end of OE period.Length in OE diphthongs calls for additional comment. OE diphthongs can be characterized as long and short purely from the functional point of view because their exact quantitative characteristics are beyond our ability to reconstruct them.

Scribal Practice: Some Assumptions

In a recent article in LANGUAGE,1 Charles F. Hockett has presented an analysis of the stressed syllabics of the Vespasian Psalter and Hymns.2 Hockett opposes the traditional view which interprets ea, eo, io, and ie as short diphthongs, and offers a solution of his own which within the limitations of one MS is in part convincing. In general, he equates each vowel letter or digraph with a phoneme. In agreement with us, with Moss6, and with Daunt, but in contradiction of the established tradition, he regards the digraphs ea, eo, io, and ie as spellings for monophthongs; he believes, however, that these short digraphs represent separate short vowel phonemes; we believe that in early OE they represented allophones of the front vowels /i/, /e/, and /ase/; we believe that eo, io, and ie represented allophones ONLY in the earlier period. These allophones later became phonemes, whereas the allophone represented by ea did not. Hockett's speculations about the motivations of the scribes who first selected these particular digraphs in these particular values are appealing. Especially ingenious is his theory about the origin of the letter y in OE, which he considers to have been originally a digraph (591-4). Although we agree to a limited extent with the conclusions of Hockett's article (which might better be entitled The Stressed Syllabics of the Vespasian Psalter and Hymns), we wish to reaffirm the stand taken in our monograph and our subsequent article,3 in particular with regard to me-ea, but also with regard to the structure of OE vowels in general. Concerning the long diphthongs and long vowels we are more nearly in agreement with the position Hockett took in the book that appeared before this article :4 'there were complex nuclei consisting of one or another of the eleven vowels [we do not think there were as many as eleven vowels] plus a glide element. The details are not clear.' There are, however, other basic, more axiomatic assumptions with which we do not agree at all. They are discussed below.

The Stressed Syllabics of Old English

In recent years, a number of scholars have expressed dissatisfaction with the traditional view of the Old English vowel system, particularly with the customary interpretation of the OE spellings ea, eo, io, and ie, and have presented more or less coherent alternative theories.l The arguments of the malcontents have received an excellent critical review by Kuhn and Quirk,2 who, however, give no new analysis of their own, seeming rather to suggest that the traditional view is essentially correct. The present paper is an attempt at an exploration of the problem de novo. Although I shall occasionally cite forms from other sources, my focus is on the testimony of the Old English in the Vespasian Psalter and Hymns, officially Cottonian MS. Vespasian A.1. I have seen neither the original manuscript nor a facsimile, but have worked exclusively with Henry Sweet's careful rendition in his Oldest English texts 183-420 (London, 1885). Sweet's meticulous fidelity in editing is well known, as is his disgust (often strongly expressed) for the thoughtless normalizations indulged in by some of his predecessors and contemporaries, especially in Germany. Cottonian MS. Vespasian A.1 is a Latin Psalter of uncertain age to which an interlinear OE gloss has been added. On the basis of the hand and the language, the gloss is ascribed by Sweet to approximately the first half of the 9th century. The dialectal provenience is apparently more doubtful. It is most certainly not West Saxon, and almost certainly not Northumbrian. The external evidence points to Mercian. Sweet at one time suspected that it might be Kentish (OET 184), but was later not so sure. In this paper I have, perhaps rather glibly, called it 'Midlands' or 'Anglian'; but I believe that no part of my argument really rests on that assignment. Concerning the Old English recorded in this source-but only this variety-I shall argue four propositions. (1) The spellings ea, eo, and io represent, among other things, short syllabics phonemically distinct from those represented by ae, e, and i (or any other oneletter spelling)-the so-called 'short diphthongs'. This is the traditional view, contested by Stockwell and Barritt.

The Original Diphthongs in Hittite

The development of the original diphthongs in Hittite has seemed to be a peculiarly difficult problem; but evidence has gradually accumulated' until something like a system has emerged. We may now say that all the original short diphthongs appear in Hittite as monophthongs, whereas the original long diphthongs retain their diphthongal character. It is not always possible to distinguish with certainty between the several diphthongs; but it will promote clearness if I treat them separately, as far as possible. Primitive Indo-Hittitel ai (ai) appears in the nominative plural neuter of the pronominal declension (kue 'quae', ke 'haec', ape 'illa', i, 8e 'ea', te ne 'et ea', udne 'countries') and in the medial ending -ti, which corresponds with Greek -rae and Sanskrit -te (op. cit. 144). Probably another example is afforded by the adjective idalu' 'bad', which I would connect with Gk. aZhaXos 'smoky flame', ailahX6M 'soil with soot', passive 'be laid waste by fire', Old Saxon Tdal, idil, Old English idel, Old High German ital 'idle'. The variation in orthography (e:i) will be discussed below.