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An Acoustic Investigation of R-Umlaut in Old Norse

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2014

Robert K. Painter  and
Jeruen E. Dery
Robert K. Painter*
Affiliation:
Northeastern University
Jeruen E. Dery*
Affiliation:
Zentrum für Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft
*
Linguistics Program, 546 Nightingale Hall, Northeastern University, 360 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA, [r.painter@neu.edu]
Zentrumfür Allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft, Schützenstrasse 18, D-10117 Berlin, Germany, [dery@zas.gwz-berlin.de]
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Abstract

The fronting of back vowels before the segment represented by the rune algwiz in Old Norse (Runic: kūR ON: kýr‘cows’) is problematic because there is no consensus on the phonetic value to be reconstructed for the conditioner, a reflex of Proto-Germanic+/z/. This study presents an acoustic experiment testing the fronting effect of codas [z], [ʒ], and [ɹ] on realizations of the representative back vowel /u/, as these are possible reconstructed values of algwiz. Based on observed coarticulation, we argue that a voiced alveolar fricative [z]—and not postalveolar [ʒ] or rhotic [ɹ]—is the best reconstruction for the conditioner of R-umlaut, and that this reflex of PGmc+/z/ in North Germaniccaused umlaut before rhotacism and merger with PGmc+/r/.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Germanic Linguistics , Volume 26 , Issue 2 , June 2014 , pp. 156 - 181
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Germanic Linguistics 2014 

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