UC Berkeley UC Berkeley Electronic Theses and Dissertations Title Selected Problems in Germanic Phonology: Production and Perception in Sound Change Permalink https://escholarship.org/uc/item/7dd798c7 Author Estes, George Alexander Publication Date 2018 Peer reviewed|Thesis/dissertation eScholarship.org Powered by the California Digital Library University of California Selected Problems in Germanic Phonology: Production and Perception in Sound Change By George Alexander Estes A dissertation submitted in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in German in the Graduate Division of the University of California, Berkeley Committee in charge: Professor Irmengard Rauch, Chair Professor Thomas Shannon Professor Susan Lin Spring 2018 Selected Problems in Germanic Phonology: Production and Perception in Sound Change Copyright 2018 By George Alexander Estes 1 Abstract Selected Problems in Germanic Phonology: Production and Perception in Sound Change by George Alexander Estes Doctor of Philosophy in German University of California, Berkeley Professor Irmengard Rauch, Chair This dissertation investigates three sound changes in the early history of Germanic with an approach grounded in phonetics. Historical phonology has traditionally focused on the articulatory aspects of change (e.g., Hoenigswald 1960; King 1969). However, more recent work in phonetics on sound change has emphasized the acoustic and auditory aspects of sound change, alongside the articulatory (e.g., Beddor 2009; Blevins 2004; Ohala 1981). The present work has two goals: first, to advance the state of research on the sound changes in question; and second, to show how the findings of modern laboratory phonetics can complement the study of historical phonology. In Chapter 2, I review past approaches to sound change, as well as more recent work in phonetics. In Chapter 3, I consider OHG i-umlaut, a longstanding problem in the field. Although ​ ​ umlaut-type changes are common in Germanic, and other types of vowel harmony are widely attested in diverse languages, I show that by attending to all the relevant phonetic factors, the change can profitably be reanalyzed, despite the vast literature surrounding it. I conclude that OHG i-umlaut was a type of hypo-correction, and that the phonological conditions in the late ​ ​ OHG period, coupled with individual variation in coarticulation, conspired to form the necessary circumstances for the change to occur. In Chapter 4, I investigate the raising of nasalized mid vowels in the early Germanic dialects. This change has been well documented in the literature, but there have been very few attempts to actually explain why nasals condition the change. By surveying the articulatory, acoustic, and perceptual properties of vowel nasalization, I show that the change is best understood as an instance of hyper-correction. This model predicts the observed changes, as well as some of the variation in the change’s conditioning environment among the dialects. In Chapter 5, I evaluate two different interpretations of the orthographic sequence <gg> in Gothic. I argue that Gothic <gg> represents [ŋɡ] in all instances, regardless of etymology. The literature on this subject has generally rejected such a view, because it presupposes an earlier change of *[ɡɡ] > [ŋɡ], which many scholars have viewed as implausible. By evaluating [ɡɡ] in the light of the aerodynamic voicing constraint relative to the structure of Gothic phonology, I conclude that such a change was in fact highly plausible, thereby strengthening the argument for the single interpretation of <gg> as [ŋɡ]. Each of the analyses of the individual sound changes stands on its own, but also serves a larger theoretical goal: to demonstrate the value of the study of both phonetic production and 2 phonetic perception to historical phonology. In each of the chapters I identify how phonetics can help solve a more general type of problem, not just the specific sound change investigated in that chapter. OHG i-umlaut, discussed in Chapter 3, exemplifies sound changes in which the basic ​ ​ mechanism is already well understood. The raising of nasalized vowels, discussed in Chapter 4, is an instance of a sound change where the environment has been identified, but the conditioning is not well understood. The issue of Gothic <gg> discussed in Chapter 5 raises the question of phonetic plausibility. In Chapter 6, I review the analyses of the preceding chapters, and outline possible avenues of further research. i Table of Contents Abstract 1 Table of Contents i Abbreviations ii Acknowledgements iii Chapter 1: Introduction 1 Chapter 2: Historical Approaches to Sound Change 4 Chapter 3: OHG i-Umlaut 34 ​ ​ Chapter 4: Nasal Vowel Raising in Early Germanic 53 Chapter 5: The Phonetic Interpretation of <gg> in Wulfila’s Gothic 65 Chapter 6: Conclusion 78 References 80 ii Abbreviations C consonant EGmc. East Germanic ENHG Early New High German Gk. Greek Gmc. Germanic Go. Gothic Ingv. Ingvaeonic Lat. Latin MHG Middle High German N nasal consonant NGmc. North Germanic NHG New High German NWGmc. Northwest Germanic OE Old English OF Old Frisian OHG Old High German ON Old Norse OS Old Saxon PGmc. Proto-Germanic PIE Proto-Indo-European Pre-Go. Pre-Gothic Skt. Sanskrit Span. Spanish V vowel WGmc. West Germanic iii Acknowledgements I have observed that many dissertators begin this section by remarking on a profound personal insight that they uncovered in the process of writing. I do not believe I have any such insight; perhaps I owe this to an underdeveloped faculty of introspection. However, I will make the following two observations. First, it has been said that linguistic history is “basically the darkest of the dark arts,” because it is “the only means to conjure up the ghosts of vanished centuries.” Although I deeply appreciate the sinisterness of this characterization and its evocation of the paranormal, the reason I cite it here is that it touches on a feeling that I experienced while writing part of this dissertation. In Chapter 5 I argue—decisively, I believe—for a certain pronunciation of a certain segment in Gothic. Realizing that, with careful study, a young man sitting in a library in California could establish that another man living on another continent over a millennium and a half ago must have pronounced certain words with a very specific configuration of articulatory gestures—it was here that I felt I was participating in something transcendent. I am immensely thankful to have felt this. Second, what I most appreciate from my study of historical linguistics is the richness that has been added to my life through my exposure to such a wide range of languages and texts. No matter what comes, I will carry this with me forever. I will take the rest of this space to acknowledge and express my gratitude to some of those who, directly or indirectly, made this dissertation possible, or otherwise played a role in my becoming a historical linguist. There is much more that could be said of them here, but I would rather say less, and know it is too little, than attempt to say it all, and fall short. I would like to first of all thank Irmengard Rauch, my dissertation chair. Thank you for your support and encouragement from the very beginning of my graduate career, and at every step of the way, and through the very end. I cannot imagine having studied under anyone else. Thank you to Thomas Shannon, for the wonderful classes, for the insightful conversations, and for being my fellow Patriots supporter through the years. I will miss our lengthy talks in your office, sometimes about linguistics, sometimes about the game. Go Pats! Thank you to Susan Lin, perhaps most importantly for having the bravery to be an outside member on my qualifying exam committee and for answering my occasionally mysterious questions. You are truly an outstanding teacher and advisor, and without your classes and guidance I would never have had the confidence to incorporate phonetics to such a degree in my dissertation. Thanks to my friends in the German Department who were along for the ride. Thanks to Chris Hench for being my closest friend here. There’s no one I would have rather read the original Tatian with. Thanks to Lindsay Preseau (sp?) for being a model of professionalism and stateliness, and a valuable resource when I was too lazy to figure things out for myself. Thanks to Christine Vais, the very first friend I made in the department. Thanks also to my office mates, Jon and Dagmar, and to all the other graduate students in the department. And thanks to the German Department at UC Berkeley for providing me with funding, teaching opportunities, and the necessary administrative support. I’d also like to thank some of my professors from the University of Washington. Thanks to Olga Levaniouk, for teaching me Greek, teaching me classical linguistics, reading my strange iv stories, and somehow pretending to never get tired of them. Thanks to Alex Hollmann, my very first Greek teacher, who inspired my fascination with historical languages. Thanks to Ellwood Wiggins, Brigitte Prutti, and Deborah Kamen for being phenomenal professors. Thank you to Chuck Barrack and Joe Voyles. Thank you for taking me in and mentoring me. I absolutely would not be where I am today were it not for you and your incredible generosity, kindness, and constant encouragement. Thank you to Devin Gleeson—for convincing me to take Ancient Greek; for taking German with me; for the endless hours at my dining room table writing out paradigms, translating difficult passages, quibbling over the most arcane points of grammar, and, most importantly, learning a great deal of words, most of which have fallen out of use. Finally, thanks to all the dead men and their palatal glides, without whom we would have nothing to say, and no words with which to say it.