Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T13:01:24.524Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Darkening and vocalisation of /l/ in English: an Element Theory account

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 November 2019

KRISZTINA POLGÁRDI
KRISZTINA POLGÁRDI*
Affiliation:
Research Institute for Linguistics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Benczúr u. 33., 1068Budapest, [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The lateral approximant in General British English (GB) is realised as light when occurring in the onset (leaf), and as dark in the rhyme (help, feel, google). Non-prevocalic positions are typical contexts for lenition, analysed in Element Theory as decomposition in weak positions. However, it is unclear how velarisation can be characterised as element loss if light [l] is represented as |A I|, while dark [ɫ] is represented as |A U|. Therefore, I propose that laterals in GB contain both the coronal |I| and the velar |U| element underlyingly (in addition to |A|), but because these cannot combine in a compound segment in English, they are both floating. Their association at the phrase level is determined by the apophonic chain (Guerssel & Lowenstamm 1996), mapped onto the structure of the syllable: |I| is attracted to the prevocalic position, |A| to the vocalic position and |U| to the postvocalic position. Darkening thus does not involve lenition of /l/, but partial interpretation in all positions. In contrast, I analyse vocalisation of dark [ɫ] as lenition, involving loss of |A| in weak positions. I integrate the lateral into the system of glides in English, and establish a typology of its behaviour across different accents.

Keywords

/l/-darkeningvocalisationapophonic chainEnglishGovernment Phonology
Type
Research Article
Information
English Language & Linguistics , Volume 24 , Issue 4 , December 2020 , pp. 745 - 768
Check for updates
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2019

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

I would like to thank Péter Siptár, two anonymous ELL referees, and audiences of presentations at the 10th Government Phonology Round Table, at the 23rd Manchester Phonology Meeting, and at the Research Institute for Linguistics of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences for valued comments on previous versions of this article.

References

Allen, W. Sidney. 1978. Vox Latina: A guide to the pronunciation of Classical Latin, 2nd edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Anderson, John M. & Ewen, Colin J.. 1987. Principles of dependency phonology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Backley, Phillip. 2011. An introduction to Element Theory. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Google Scholar
Bakró-Nagy, Marianne. 2001. Elmélkedés a magyarázattípusokról. Egy zürjén hangváltozás elemzése közben [Reflections on types of explanations. During the analysis of a Zyrian sound change]. In Bakró-Nagy, Marianne, Bánréti, Zoltán & Kiss, Katalin É. (eds.), Újabb tanulmányok a strukturális magyar nyelvtan és a nyelvtörténet köréből: Kiefer Ferenc tiszteletére barátai és tanítványai, 376–88. Budapest: Osiris.Google Scholar
Bendjaballah, Sabrina. 2001. The ‘negative preterite’ in Kabyle Berber. Folia Linguistica 34 (3–4), 185–223.Google Scholar
Bendjaballah, Sabrina. 2012. La grammaire des gabarits [The grammar of templates]. Habilitation thesis, University of Paris 7.Google Scholar
Bermúdez-Otero, Ricardo. 2007. Word-final prevocalic consonants in English: representation vs derivation. Presented at OCP4, Rhodes. (www.bermudez-otero.com/OCP4.pdf)Google Scholar
Bermúdez-Otero, Ricardo. 2011. Cyclicity. In van Oostendorp, Marc, Ewen, Colin J., Hume, Elizabeth & Rice, Keren (eds.), The Blackwell companion to phonology, vol. 4, 2019–48. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.Google Scholar
Bermúdez-Otero, Ricardo & Trousdale, Graeme. 2012. Cycles and continua: On unidirectionality and gradualness in language change. In Nevalainen, Terttu & Traugott, Elizabeth Closs (eds.), The Oxford handbook of the history of English, 691–720. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Bladon, R. A. W. & Al-Bamerni, Ameen. 1976. Coarticulation resistance of English /l/. Journal of Phonetics 4, 135–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boyé, Gilles. 2014. Apophony and chiming words in Malay. In Bendjaballah, Sabrina, Faust, Noam, Lahrouchi, Mohamed & Lampitelli, Nikola (eds.), The form of structure, the structure of form: Essays in honor of Jean Lowenstamm, 57–65. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Google Scholar
Charette, Monik. 1989. The Minimality Condition in phonology. Journal of Linguistics 25, 159–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cruttenden, Alan (ed.). 2014. Gimson's pronunciation of English, 8th edn. London: Routledge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cser, András. 2003. The typology and modelling of obstruent lenition and fortition processes. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.Google Scholar
Djabbari, David, Fischer, Benjamin, Hassemer, Jonas, Hildenbrandt, Tina, Huber, Christian, Neubarth, Friedrich & Rennison, John. 2007. Liquid ‘vocalisation’ and related phenomena in Austrian Middle-Bavarian dialects. MS, University of Vienna.Google Scholar
Gibb, Lorna. 1992. Domains in phonology: With evidence from Icelandic, Finnish and Kikuyu. PhD dissertation, University of Edinburgh.Google Scholar
Gick, Bryan. 2003. Articulatory correlates of ambisyllabicity in English glides and liquids. In Local, Ogden & Temple, (eds.), 222–36.Google Scholar
Gick, Bryan & Wilson, Ian. 2006. Excrescent schwa and vowel laxing: Cross-linguistic responses to conflicting articulatory targets. In Goldstein, Louis M., Whalen, D. H. & Best, Catherine T. (eds.), Papers in laboratory phonology VIII, 635–59. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Greenberg, Marc L. 2000. A historical phonology of the Slovene language (Historical phonology of the Slavic languages 13). Heidelberg: Winter.Google Scholar
Guerssel, Mohand & Lowenstamm, Jean. 1996. Ablaut in Classical Arabic measure I active verbal forms. In Lecarme, Jacqueline, Lowenstamm, Jean & Shlonsky, Ur (eds.), Studies in Afroasiatic grammar, 123–34. The Hague: Holland Academic Graphics.Google Scholar
Gussmann, Edmund & Kaye, Jonathan. 1993. Polish notes from a Dubrovnik café: I. The yers. SOAS Working Papers in Linguistics and Phonetics 3, 427–62.Google Scholar
Harris, John. 1990. Segmental complexity and phonological government. Phonology 7, 255–300.Google Scholar
Harris, John. 1994. English sound structure. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Harris, John. 1997. Licensing Inheritance: An integrated theory of neutralisation. Phonology 17, 315–70.Google Scholar
Harris, John & Kaye, Jonathan. 1990. A tale of two cities: London glottalling and New York City tapping. The Linguistic Review 7, 251–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hausenberg, Anu-Reet. 1998. Komi. In Abondolo, Daniel (ed.), The Uralic languages, 305–26. London: Routledge.Google Scholar
Hayes, Bruce. 2000. Gradient well-formedness in Optimality Theory. In Dekkers, Joost, van der Leeuw, Frank & de Weijer, Jeroen van (eds.), Optimality Theory: Phonology, syntax, and acquisition, 88–120. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Honeybone, Patrick. 2005. Sharing makes us stronger: Process inhibition and segmental structure. In Carr, Philip, Durand, Jacques & Ewen, Colin J. (eds.), Headhood, elements, specification and contrastivity, 167–92. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaye, Jonathan. 1990. ‘Coda’ Licensing. Phonology 7, 301–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kaye, Jonathan, Lowenstamm, Jean & Vergnaud, Jean-Roger. 1990. Constituent structure and government in phonology. Phonology 7, 193–231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ladefoged, Peter. 2003. Commentary: Some thoughts on syllables – an old-fashioned interlude. In Local, Ogden & Temple, (eds.), 269–75.Google Scholar
Ladefoged, Peter & Maddieson, Ian. 1996. The sounds of the world's languages. Oxford: Blackwell.Google Scholar
Local, John, Ogden, Richard & Temple, Rosalind (eds.). 2003. Phonetic interpretation: Papers in laboratory phonology VI. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Lowenstamm, Jean. 1996. CV as the only syllable type. In Durand, Jacques & Laks, Bernard (eds.), Current trends in phonology: Models and methods, 419–41. Paris: CNRS.Google Scholar
Olive, Joseph P., Greenwood, Alice & Coleman, John. 1993. Acoustics of American English speech: A dynamic approach. New York: Springer.Google Scholar
Polgárdi, Krisztina. 1998. Vowel harmony: An account in terms of Government and Optimality. The Hague: Holland Academic Graphics.Google Scholar
Polgárdi, Krisztina. 2002. Hungarian superheavy syllables and the Strict CV approach. In Kenesei, István & Siptár, Péter (eds.), Approaches to Hungarian, vol. 8: Papers from the Budapest conference, 263–82. Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó.Google Scholar
Polgárdi, Krisztina. 2012. The distribution of vowels in English and trochaic proper government. In Botma, Bert & Noske, Roland (eds.), Phonological explorations: Empirical, theoretical and diachronic issues (Linguistische Arbeiten 548), 111–34. Berlin and New York: Mouton de Gruyter.Google Scholar
Polgárdi, Krisztina. 2015a. Syncope, syllabic consonant formation, and the distribution of stressed vowels in English. Journal of Linguistics 51, 383–423.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polgárdi, Krisztina. 2015b. Vowels, glides, off-glides and on-glides in English: A Loose CV analysis. Lingua 158, 9–34.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rennison, John & Kühnhammer, Klaus (eds.). 1999. Phonologica 1996: Syllables!? The Hague: Holland Academic Graphics.Google Scholar
Rowicka, Grażyna. 1999a. On trochaic Proper Government. In Rennison & Kühnhammer (eds.), 273–88.Google Scholar
Rowicka, Grażyna. 1999b. On ghost vowels: A Strict CV approach. The Hague: Holland Academic Graphics.Google Scholar
Scheer, Tobias. 2004. A Lateral theory of phonology: What is CVCV, and why should it be? Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ségéral, Philippe & Scheer, Tobias. 1998. A generalized theory of Ablaut: The case of Modern German strong verbs. In Fabri, Ray, Ortmann, Albert & Parodi, Teresa (eds.), Models of inflection, 28–59. Tübingen: Niemeyer.Google Scholar
Skjærvø, Prods O. 1989. Pashto. In Schmitt, Rüdiger (ed.), Compendium linguarum Iranicarum, 384–410. Wiesbaden: Reichert.Google Scholar
Sproat, Richard & Fujimura, Osamu. 1993. Allophonic variation in English /l/ and its implications for phonetic implementation. Journal of Phonetics 21, 291–311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stuart-Smith, Jane. 1999. Glasgow: Accent and voice quality. In Foulkes, Paul and Docherty, Gerard J. (eds.), Urban voices: Accent studies in the British Isles, 203–22. London: Arnold.Google Scholar
Szigetvári, Péter. 1999. VC Phonology: A theory of consonant lenition and phonotactics. PhD dissertation, Eötvös Loránd University & Hungarian Academy of Sciences.Google Scholar
Toft, Zoë. 2002. The phonetics and phonology of some syllabic consonants in Southern British English. ZAS Papers in Linguistics 28, 111–44.Google Scholar
Turton, Danielle. 2014. Variation in English /l/: Synchronic reflections of the life cycle of phonological processes. PhD dissertation, University of Manchester.Google Scholar
Turton, Danielle. 2017. Categorical or gradient? An ultrasound investigation of /l/-darkening and vocalization in varieties of English. Laboratory Phonology 8(1), 13, 1–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Turton, Danielle & Baranowski, Maciej. 2015. The presence of /u/-fronting before /l/ in Manchester: Absence of a blocking r[ʏɫ]? Presented at the 10th UK Language Variation and Change conference (UKLVC), University of York.Google Scholar
Vollmann, Ralf, Seifter, Thorsten, Hobel, Bettina & Pokorny, Florian. 2017. /l/-vocalization in Styria. In Moosmüller, Sylvia, Sellner, Manfred & Schmid, Carolin (eds.), Phonetik in und über Österreich, 123–36. Vienna: Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wells, J. C. 1982. Accents of English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wells, J. C. 1990. Longman pronunciation dictionary. Harlow: Longman.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yoshida, Shohei. 1999. Inter-nuclear relations in Arabic. In Rennison & Kühnhammer (eds.), 335–54.Google Scholar
Yuan, Jiahong & Liberman, Mark. 2009. Investigating /l/ variation in English through forced alignment. In INTERSPEECH 2009: 10th Annual Conference of the International Speech Communication Association, Brighton, UK, 6–10 September 2009, 2215–18.Google Scholar
Yuan, Jiahong & Liberman, Mark. 2011. /l/ variation in American English: A corpus approach. Journal of Speech Sciences 1, 35–46.Google Scholar