1 A study of analogical change! vowel alternation in the verb in the Low German and Dutch dialects Judith Mary Knott Thesis submitted for the degree of Ph.D. School of Oriental and African Studies University of London ProQuest Number: 10672634 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a com plete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 10672634 Published by ProQuest LLC(2017). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States C ode Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106- 1346 2 Abstract The purpose of the thesis is to identify the analogical changes which have occurred within a large body of data, and to reduce these changes to a small number of types. Equally importantly, certain conceivable types of change which do not occur w ill be specified. To this end, the thesis investigates the history of various types of alternation affecting the root vowels of verbs in the Low German, Dutch and Flemish dialects (using data collected from grammars of approximately 80 such dialects). Particular attention is paid to the levelling of alternations and the replacement of one alternation by another. The f ir s t three chapters deal with certain important preliminaries. Chapter 1 contains an introduction to the data, followed by a brief account of the methodology employed, and the aims of the thesis. Chapter 2 discusses markedness theory, and its relevance to analogical change. Chapter 3 deals with aspects of the historical phonology of the dialects, from Proto-Germanic onwards, which are important for the subsequent discussion of the alternations. The next three chapters are each devoted to one of the types of alternation. In chapter 4 the history of the ablaut alternations is examined, from Pre-OS to the modern dialects. Chapter 5 deals with the "ej-raising" and umlaut alternations; and chapter 6 traces the development of alternations in vowel length. In the fin al two chapters, conclusions are drawn from the preceding discussion. Chapter 7 b rie fly considers the characteristics of the different types of alternations, and the relationships between them. In chapter 8, an analysis, of the analogical changes observed in the data is attempted. Within the two broad categories of interparadigmatic and intraparadigmatic change, various types of change are isolated, their characteristic features are identified, and their motivation is discussed. 3 Contents Acknowledgements 6 Part ones Preliminaries 7 Chapter is Introduction 8 1. 1 Data B 1.2 Methodology 13 1.3 Aims 16 Notes to chapter 1 17 Chapter 2s Markedness IB 2.1 Markedness c rite ria 18 2.2 Diachronic manifestations of markedness relations 29 Notes to chapter 2 33 Chapter 3: Historical phonology 35 3.1 PBmc 35 3.2 OS 37 3.3 Umlaut 38 3.4 Vowel lengthening/shortening 40 3.5 Other changes 41 Notes to chapter 3 45 Part twos The alternations 47 Chapter 4s Ablaut 48 4.1 Pre-OS 48 4.2 OS 54 4.3 MLG 55 4.4 MDu 59 4.5 The modern dialects 63 4.5.1 The preterite indicative (B and C) alternants 64 4.5.2 The past participle (D) alternant 138 Notes to chapter 4 146 Chapter 5s E-raising and umlaut 151 5.1 The e-raising and umlaut alternations in the present tense of strong verbs 151 5.1.1 OS 151 5.1.2 MLG 153 5.1.3 MDu 156 5.1.4 The modern dialects 157 5.2 The umlaut alternation in the preterite of strong verbs 168 5.2.1 From OS to MLG 168 5.2.2 The modern dialects 169 5.3 The "Ruckumlaut" alternation in certain types of weak verb 175 5.3.1 From PGmc to OS 175 5.3.2 MLG 182 4 5.3.3 MDu 186 5.3.4 The modern dialects 190 Notes to chapter 5 203 Chapter 6s Vowel length 204 6.1 MLB 204 6.2 MDu 207 6.3 The modern dialects 208 Notes to chapter 6 219 Part three: Conclusions 221 Chapter 7s Conclusions on thealternations 222 7.1 The relative strength of the alternations 222 7.2 Characteristics of major versus minor -formations with respect to the alternations 225 Notes to chapter 7 228 Chapter 8: Conclusions on analogical change 229 8.1 The movement of verbs between major and minor formations 229 8.2 Other analogical changes 236 8.2.1 Interparadigmatic 236 8.2.2 —Intraparadigmatic 263 8.3 Final comments 271 Notes to chapter 8 274 Appendix: Index of verbs 279 A Strong verbs 280 Strong verbs by class 300 B Verbs belonging to minor weak conjugations in the modern dialects 302 Bibliography A Dialect grammars 309 B Other works 314 Maos The locations of the dialects 9 Dialect areas mentioned in the text 12 The merger of e and i_, □ and u. in open syllables 43 The merger of #ej_ and *ai_, * qjl and #au_ 44 Class I 67 Class II 70 The merger of #au_ and * o: in relation to the spread of * o: throughout the preterite of class II 72 Class II - umlaut 74 Class 111 (a) 79 Class III <a) -- umlaut 81 Class IIH b i) 83 Class IIH bl> - umlaut 86 5 Class I II (b2) 87 Class I II (b2) ~ umlaut 91 Class IV/Vd) 96 Class IV/Vtl) - umlaut 102 Class IV/ V(2) 109 The relationship between class IV/V (2) and classes II and VI 110 Class IV/V<2) - umlaut 114 Class VI 117 Class VI - umlaut 120 WAHS and WASK 123 Class V II(2) 131 The distribution of the B and C alternants among forms 137 The vowel u. in the past participle of classes l l l t b l ) and III (b2) 139 Other phenomena affecting the past participle 142 Tables List of dialects and grammars 10 contd 11 Class V II(1) 127 contd 128 > sound change >> analogical change — > synchronic derivation The symbol e_ (Ita lic e) w ill be used for <>, except when i t is necessary to distinguish it clearly from e.. Similarly, a, (Italic a.) will be used for V. 6 Acknowledoements I would like to express ray gratitude to a number of people for their contributions to this thesis, My thanks must first go to my supervisor, Thea Bynon. She has been a constant source of encouragement and advice during the past four years, and w ill recognise many of her own suggestions in the thesis, I would also like to thank other members of the Department of Phonetics and Linguistics at SQAS, both staff and fel 1ow-students. I have benefited greatly from the opportunity of discussing ideas with them, and from the stimulating and friendly atmosphere within the Department. I might mention in particulars Dave Bennett, Kate Burridge, Eric B1over, Dick Hayward, Baz McKee, Katrina Mickey, Professor R.H. Robins, and Andy Spencer (of CSSD); but this lis t is by no means exhaustive. I was fortunate to be able to v is it the Porschungsinstitut fHr Deutsche Sprache (Deutscher Bprachatlas) in Marburg in the summer Df 1983, to consult material which was unavailable in England, including unpublished dissertations. I very much appreciated the warm welcome and help which I received from the staff of the in s titu te , and would like to thank them a ll. I also wish to acknowledge the DES/British Academy Major State Studentship which I received for three years, and the extra funds the DES provided for my v is it to Germany. Finally, I must thank my husband Simon; without his patient and enthusiastic support, I would not have completed this thesis. 7 Part ones Preliminari es 8 I Introduction 1.1 Data The data on which this study is based have been collected from grammars of approximately BO Low Berman and Dutch/Flemish dialects! The dialects are situated mainly in North Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium* but formerly German-speaking areas of Poland are included, as are two dialects spoken in German colonies in the Soviet Union. The map on p.9 shows the locations of the dialects, and the lis t on pp.10 and II gives details of the grammars used. Most of the grammars were written in the late 19th and early 20th century, and many of the dialects may since have died out. They w ill, however, be referred to as "the modern dialects" throughout, to distinguish them from older stages, to which reference w ill also be made: Old Saxon (OS), Middle Low German 2 (MLG) and Middle Dutch (MDu). Me w ill frequently also use broader terms to refer to larger areas than individual dialects. The approximate locations of the areas designated by such terms are illustrated on the map on p. 12. It should be emphasised that an exact division of the dialects into groups is not intended, and that there is some overlap between the areas. There are two traditional types of verbs in these dialects, as in all Germanic languages: weak and strong. They are principally distinguished by the fact that in the former the preterite and past participle are formed by the addition of a dental suffix to the root* whereas in the latter they are formed by vowel change.