The diachrony and synchrony of vowel quantity in English and Dutch

Page, B. Richard

doi:10.1075/dia.23.1.05pag

Article published In: Diachronica
Vol. 23:1 (2006) ► pp.61–104

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The diachrony and synchrony of vowel quantity in English and Dutch

B. Richard Page | Pennsylvania State University

Published online: 29 June 2006

https://doi.org/10.1075/dia.23.1.05pag

This investigation of Open Syllable Lengthening in Middle English and Middle Dutch treats the changes as the result of listener-based reinterpretations of coarticulatory effects on vowel duration. OSL in English is a result of compensatory lengthening, which is analyzed as a hypocorrection. OSL in Middle Dutch involves a hypercorrection in which the duration of etymologically long vowels is reinterpreted as a purely phonetic correlate of stress in open syllables. The different phonological bases for OSL provide a diachronic explanation for the retention of contrastive vowel quantity in Modern English and its absence in Modern Dutch.

Keywords: Open Syllable Lengthening, listener-based theory of sound change, Middle English, Middle Dutch, vowel quantity, hypercorrection, hypocorrection

Cited by (6)

Cited by six other publications

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