LINGUIST List 23.1131: Diss: Phonetics/Occitan: Müller: 'Developments of the Lateral in Occitan Dialects and Their Romance and Cross-linguistic Context'

LINGUIST List 23.1131

Tue Mar 06 2012

Diss: Phonetics/Occitan: Müller: 'Developments of the Lateral in Occitan Dialects and Their Romance and Cross-linguistic Context'

Editor for this issue: Xiyan Wang <xiyanlinguistlist.org>

Date: 06-Mar-2012
From: Daniela Müller <daniela.mulleruniv-tlse2.fr>
Subject: Developments of the Lateral in Occitan Dialects and Their Romance and Cross-linguistic Context
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Institution: Université de Toulouse - Le Mirail Program: Sciences du Langage Dissertation Status: Completed Degree Date: 2011

Author: Daniela Müller

Dissertation Title: Developments of the Lateral in Occitan Dialects and Their Romance and Cross-linguistic Context

Linguistic Field(s): Phonetics
Subject Language(s): Occitan (oci)
Dissertation Director:
Edgar Radtke Patric Sauzet
Dissertation Abstract:

This thesis analyses sound changes that affected the lateral approximantinherited from Latin in Occitan dialects, in the Romance languages, and ina number of other languages from around the world. Chapter 1 gives acomprehensive overview of the research carried out on the lateralapproximant; it discusses articulation and acoustics as well as abstractrepresentations of the sound. Chapters 2 to 5 are devoted to specific soundchanges which occurred in Occitan dialects at different points in time.These developments are systematically compared to similar phenomena inRomance and other languages. In chapter 2, I discuss the vocalisation ofthe dark lateral in preconsonantal and word-final position as well asintervocalically. It is argued there that Occitan and more generallyRomance followed an unexpected pathway towards vocalisation, which cannotbe explained by phonetic factors alone. Chapter 3 deals with palatalisationof the lateral in onset clusters. Rather than in articulatory assimilation,I propose that the origin of this sound change is to be sought in thefrication which accompanied the obstruent + lateral onset clusters.Rhoticisation of the lateral, and its opposite, lambdacisation of therhotic, is the topic of chapter 4. In this chapter, I discuss durationfactors in these sound changes and present experimental evidence tosubstantiate the idea that duration plays an important role. Finally,chapter 5 looks at the developments of the Latin geminate lateral in Gasconand other Romance dialects; according to common opinion, the Latin geminatelateral underwent a retroflexion process, and I discuss how this might havebeen possible from a phonetic point of view.

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