LINGUIST List 21.5169 Mon Dec 20 2010 Diss: Historical Ling: Schulze: 'Der i-Umlaut im Althochdeutschen ...' Editor for this issue: Mfon Udoinyang <mfonlinguistlist.org> New! Visit LL's Multitree project for over 1000 trees dynamically generated from scholarly hypotheses about language relationships:             http://multitree.linguistlist.org/ To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.cfm. Directory         1.     Jan Henning Schulze , Der i-Umlaut im Althochdeutschen. Theorie, Phonetik und Typologie sowie eine optimalitätstheoretische Analyse/The Old High German i-Umlaut: Theory, phonetics and typology as well as an Optimality Theoretic analysis Message 1: Der i-Umlaut im Althochdeutschen. Theorie, Phonetik und Typologie sowie eine optimalitätstheoretische Analyse/The Old High German i-Umlaut: Theory, phonetics and typology as well as an Optimality Theoretic analysis Date: 20-Dec-2010 From: Jan Henning Schulze <jan-henning.schulzeuni-bamberg.de> Subject: Der i-Umlaut im Althochdeutschen. Theorie, Phonetik und Typologie sowie eine optimalitätstheoretische Analyse/The Old High German i-Umlaut: Theory, phonetics and typology as well as an Optimality Theoretic analysis E-mail this message to a friend Institution: Otto-Friedrich Universität Bamberg Program: German Linguistics Dissertation Status: Completed Degree Date: 2009 Author: Jan Henning Schulze Dissertation Title: Der i-Umlaut im Althochdeutschen. Theorie, Phonetik und Typologie sowie eine optimalitätstheoretische Analyse/The Old High German i-Umlaut: Theory, phonetics and typology as well as an Optimality Theoretic analysis Dissertation URL: http://www.opus-bayern.de/uni-bamberg/volltexte/2010/292/ Linguistic Field(s): Historical Linguistics Subject Language(s): Old High German (goh) Dissertation Director: Stefanie Stricker Thomas Becket Dissertation Abstract: In this dissertation umlaut processes are reconstructed as intervocalic assimilation within a prosodic word triggered by unstressed vowels. These vowels in weak positions may still affect vowels in a more prominent position, e.g. in the stressed syllable of a stem. This distinguishes umlaut processes from vowel harmony. Intervocalic coarticulation constitutes the phonetic basis of umlaut. A crucial phonetic condition for the phonemization of i-umlaut in Old High German is that hearers cease to compensate for coarticulation. After this cognitive decoupling of coarticulation and coarticulation trigger, the umlauted vowels get lexicalized by successive generations of language learners so as to finally appear as new phonemes after the reduction of the triggers of coarticulation. Frequency of use plays a decisive role in the phonemization of umlaut allophones. Umlaut allophones in low-frequent word forms are replaced with the unumlauted stem vowels prior to their lexicalization. The lack of umlaut in the preterit subjunctive forms of Rückumlaut verbs, which seems to be morphologically motivated at first sight, can thus be explained without reference to morphological constraints. Finally, the Old High German i-umlaut is reconstructed within Optimality Theory. For that purpose, markedness constraints of the AGREE-family and a local self-conjunction of an IDENT-constraint are used. Some of these constraints are active only within the boundaries of a prosodic word or foot, which accounts for the well-known distribution of primary and secondary umlaut. New! Visit LL's Multitree project for over 1000 trees dynamically generated from scholarly hypotheses about language relationships:             http://multitree.linguistlist.org/ Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue Page Updated: 20-Dec-2010       About LINGUIST    |   Contact Us       While the LINGUIST List makes every effort to ensure the linguistic relevance of sites listed on its pages, it cannot vouch for their contents.