DOCTORAL DISSERTATION Suprasegmental sound changes in the Scandinavian languages Áron Tési 2017 Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences Faculty of Humanities DOCTORAL DISSERTATION Áron Tési SUPRASEGMENTAL SOUND CHANGES IN THE SCANDINAVIAN LANGUAGES SZUPRASZEGMENTÁLIS HANGVÁLTOZÁSOK A SKANDINÁV NYELVEKBEN Doctoral School of Linguistics Head: Dr. Gábor Tolcsvai Nagy MHAS Doctoral programme in Germanic Linguistics Head: Dr. Károly Manherz CSc Members of the thesis committee Dr. Károly Manherz CSc (chairman) Dr. Roland Nagy PhD (secretary) Dr. Valéria Molnár PhD (officially appointed opponent) Dr. Ildikó Vaskó PhD (officially appointed opponent) Dr. László Komlósi CSc (member) Further members Dr. Péter Siptár DSc Dr. Miklós Törkenczy DSc Supervisor Dr. Péter Ács CSc Budapest, 2017 Table of contents List of abbreviations ................................................................................................................... 0 Foreword .................................................................................................................................... 1 1. Theoretical considerations .................................................................................................. 2 1.1. Some notes on sound change ....................................................................................... 3 1.2. The problem of teleology ............................................................................................ 5 1.2.1. A philosophical overview ..................................................................................... 5 1.2.2. Teleology in linguistics ........................................................................................ 8 1.3. The problem of markedness ...................................................................................... 10 1.3.1. Multiple senses ................................................................................................... 10 1.3.2. Contradictory claims .......................................................................................... 11 1.3.3. Frequency and predictability .............................................................................. 12 1.3.4. The sources and effects of frequency ................................................................. 13 1.3.5. Universality ........................................................................................................ 15 1.3.6. A summary of the main tenets ............................................................................ 16 1.4. Functional phonology ................................................................................................ 17 1.4.1. An overview ....................................................................................................... 17 1.4.2. The functions of language .................................................................................. 18 1.4.3. Sound change and the three pillars of the communicative function................... 19 1.4.4. The functionalist tradition .................................................................................. 20 1.4.5. Critical points ..................................................................................................... 25 1.4.5.1. Optimization ..................................................................................................... 25 1.4.5.2. Eternal optimization ......................................................................................... 27 1.4.5.3. The Darwinian paradox .................................................................................... 28 1.4.5.4. Mergers ............................................................................................................. 28 1.5. Functional principles at work .................................................................................... 29 1.5.1. Segmental changes ............................................................................................. 30 1.5.2. Suprasegmental changes .................................................................................... 31 1.5.3. A non-teleological account ................................................................................. 34 1.5.4. Language contact ................................................................................................ 37 1.5.5. The identification of external factors ................................................................. 38 2. The prosodic features of the modern languages ............................................................... 43 2.1. A note on classification ............................................................................................. 43 2.2. Swedish and Norwegian ............................................................................................ 44 2.2.1. Underlying representations ................................................................................ 44 2.2.2. Quantity .............................................................................................................. 45 2.2.3. Stress .................................................................................................................. 53 2.2.4. The tonal distinction ........................................................................................... 58 2.2.4.1. The nature of the opposition ....................................................................... 59 2.2.4.2. Word accents in non-focal position ............................................................ 60 2.2.4.3. No lexical tones required?........................................................................... 63 2.2.4.4. The problem of markedness ........................................................................ 64 2.2.4.5. Tonal distribution in simplex forms and the role of suffixes ...................... 67 2.2.4.6. Compounds in Standard Swedish and Norwegian ...................................... 72 2.2.4.7. Southern Swedish compounds .................................................................... 73 2.2.4.8. The functions of the opposition .................................................................. 75 2.2.4.9. Building blocks reconsidered ...................................................................... 77 2.2.4.10. Lexical and post-lexical rules ..................................................................... 79 2.3. Danish ........................................................................................................................ 81 2.3.1. Quantity .............................................................................................................. 81 2.3.2. Stress .................................................................................................................. 84 2.3.2.1. Degrees of stress ......................................................................................... 84 2.3.2.2. Default stress ............................................................................................... 85 2.3.3. Stød ..................................................................................................................... 87 2.3.3.1. Distribution and markedness ....................................................................... 87 2.3.3.2. Change in progress ...................................................................................... 92 2.3.3.3. Danish compounds ...................................................................................... 94 2.3.3.4. The functions of the opposition .................................................................. 95 3. A diachronic review .......................................................................................................... 97 3.1. Changes in terms of stress and quantity .................................................................... 97 3.1.1. The Germanic Stress Rule (GSR) ...................................................................... 97 3.1.2. The impact of loanwords and the loss of Germanic stress ............................... 100 3.1.3. The stress pattern of compounds ...................................................................... 104 3.1.4. The quantity shift and the problem of moras ................................................... 108 3.1.5. Traces of language contact ............................................................................... 111 3.1.6. Danish as a West-Germanic language .............................................................. 112 3.2. The history of tone and stød .................................................................................... 116 3.2.1. Tonogenesis ...................................................................................................... 117 3.2.1.1. Secondary stress in Proto-Nordic .............................................................. 118 3.2.1.2. Level stress in Old Scandinavian .............................................................. 120 3.2.2. The birth of stød ............................................................................................... 121 3.2.2.1. Stød first .................................................................................................... 121 3.2.2.2. Parallel developments ............................................................................... 123 3.2.2.3. Tones first ................................................................................................. 125 3.2.3. The tonal typology ..........................................................................................