Preaspiration In The Nordic Languages Synchronic And Diachronic Aspects Ptur Helgason by Pétur Helgason 9789172655355, 9172655356 instant download after payment.

Preaspiration—the production of glottal friction at the juncture of a vowel
and a consonant—appears to be typologically rare but is an areal linguistic
feature of Northwestern Europe. This study contains a survey of
the known geographical spread of preaspirated stops, their phonological
distribution and phonetic expressions in some Nordic dialects. The study
also suggests a reconstruction of the phonetics of the Proto-Nordic stop
contrasts based on synchronic data as well as a more general framework of
historical sound change.
Following an introduction (Chapter 1), Chapter 2 deals with the definition
and typology of preaspiration presenting a global overview of the known
geographical spread of preaspiration. The apparent rarity of preaspiration
is considered. Proposed, perceptually based explanations of this rarity are
evaluated.
Chapter 3 offers a fairly detailed account of the known areal spread of preaspiration
in Europe. Stop systems of several dialects in which preaspiration
occurs are analysed in terms of voicing conditions. These analyses are
based mainly on descriptions provided in the dialectological literature.
Chapter 4 presents data on durational variation and other phonetic patterns
of stop production in Central Standard Swedish, Tórshavn Faroese, Gräsö
Swedish and Western Åland Swedish. The results reveal a greater degree
of phonetic variation than has been assumed to date. In particular, speakers
of Central Standard Swedish are shown to use preaspiration as a regular
feature in their voiceless stop production.
In Chapter 5, finally, the results of the data analysis are used in an attempt
to reconstruct the phonetic expression of stop contrasts in Proto-Nordic. It
is argued that Proto-Nordic stop production was largely similar to the stop
production of today’s Central Standard Swedish. As regards phonological
structure, however, the Proto-Nordic stop contrasts appear to have been
largely preserved in all dialects considered. This conclusion is found to be
compatible with an expansion/contraction (E/C) model of historical sound
change.