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Chapter 3 - The Role of Foot Structure in Germanic

from Part I - Phonology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 March 2020

By
Laura Catharine Smith
Edited by
Michael T. Putnam  and
B. Richard Page
Michael T. Putnam
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
B. Richard Page
Affiliation:
Pennsylvania State University
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Summary

This chapter demonstrates the varied role the foot has played in shaping phonological and morphophonological patterns across the Germanic languages. Data from German and Dutch dialects highlight how features are licensed differently in strong versus weak branches of feet paving the way for a range of patterns including medial consonant cluster simplification and consonant lenition which often result in worsened phonetic cues. The trochee is shown to shape morphological processes such as Dutch and German plural formation via prosodic templates in both the standard languages and dialects. Lastly, vowel balance in Frisian and Scandinavian, a process often argued to result from stress patterns and stem shapes, is reinterpreted in terms of the trochaic foot. The foot-based approach provides a unified account for various manifestations of vowel balance across the dialects. Scratching the surface of Germanic phenomena, the chapter serves to invite the reader to consider other patterns which may also be prosodically driven in terms of the foot and foot-based templates.

Keywords

foot structureprosodic templatestrocheesconsonant cluster simplificationconsonant lenitionHessian subtractive pluralsplural formationvowel balance
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Germanic Linguistics , pp. 49 - 72
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2020

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