The Phonology of Icelandic and Faroese (The Phonology of the World's Languages)

This book presents a comprehensive, contrastive account of the phonological structures and characteristics of Icelandic and Faroese. It is written for Nordic linguists and theoretical phonologists interested in what the languages reveal about phonological structure and phonological change and the relation between morphology, phonology, and phonetics. The book is divided into five parts. In the first Professor Arnason provides the theoretical and historical context of his investigation. Icelandic and Faroese originate from the West-Scandinavian or Norse spoken in Norway, Iceland and part of the Scottish Isles at the end of the Viking Age. The modern spoken languages are barely intelligible to each other and, despite many common phonological characteristics, exhibit differences that raise questions about their historical and structural relation and about phonological change more generally. Separate parts are devoted to synchronic analysis of the sounds of the languages, their phonological oppositions, syllabic structure and phonotactics, lexical morphophonemics, rhythmic structure, intonation and postlexical variation. The book draws on the author's and others' published work and presents the results of original research in Faroese and Icelandic phonology. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 Acknowledgements......Page 14 Abbreviations......Page 16 Part I: The historical and theoretical setting......Page 18 1.1 The genetic relation: ‘Proto-West Nordic’......Page 20 1.2 West Nordic obstruents......Page 21 1.3 West Nordic sonorants......Page 23 1.4 West Nordic vowels......Page 24 1.6 Prosodic structure......Page 25 2 THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT......Page 28 2.1 Quantity and prosodic structure......Page 29 2.2 Overlong (superheavy) syllables and their development......Page 32 2.3 The components of the quantity shift......Page 34 2.4 Quality changes in the Icelandic vowel system......Page 37 2.5 Faroese vowel developments......Page 40 2.6 The short diphthongs......Page 42 2.7 The West Nordic consonant shift......Page 43 2.8 New postvocalic stops......Page 45 2.9 The skerping and hiatus......Page 48 2.10 Systemic arrangements and types of syllables......Page 50 3.1 Phonological levels of representation......Page 52 3.2 Alphabets for phonological representation......Page 56 3.3 The representation of time and precedence......Page 64 3.4 Saturation and fission in West Nordic diphthongs......Page 65 3.5 The modern diphthongal systems......Page 68 Part II: The modern sound systems......Page 72 4.1 The Icelandic vowel system......Page 74 4.2 The vowels of non-initial syllables......Page 83 5.1 An overview......Page 85 5.2 The phonetic and phonological analysis of the Faroese monophthongs and diphthongs......Page 91 5.3 More on dialect variation and vowel systems......Page 96 5.4 Hiatus phenomena in Faroese......Page 97 5.5 The unstressed vowels of Faroese......Page 103 6.1 An overview......Page 115 6.2 The stops......Page 116 6.3 The fricatives......Page 123 6.4 The sonorants......Page 126 6.5 Summary: the classes of consonants and their element analysis......Page 128 7.1 An overview......Page 131 7.2 The fortis and lenis plosives......Page 135 7.3 The fricatives......Page 139 7.5 The element analysis of the Faroese system......Page 141 Part III: Systemic relations and syllabic structure......Page 144 8.1 Trends towards a diasystem in Icelandic......Page 146 8.2 The Faroese vowel systems......Page 152 8.3 The element analysis of reduction: limits on information in restricted environments......Page 157 8.4 Conclusion: systemic relations in vowel systems......Page 159 9.1 Syllable structure in Icelandic......Page 161 9.2 Faroese syllables......Page 169 9.3 The consonantal phonotactics of Icelandic......Page 177 9.4 The consonantal phonotactics of Faroese......Page 190 9.5 Gemination of glides and consonants......Page 197 9.6 Conclusion: remarks on systemic structure and prominence......Page 199 10 LENGTH AND QUANTITY IN ACCENTUATION AND PHONOTACTICS......Page 202 10.1 Length and quantity in Icelandic......Page 203 10.2 The length rule on lexical and phonological levels in Icelandic......Page 220 10.3 The prosodic character of Faroese vowels......Page 225 10.4 Vowel shortness and the scale of prominence......Page 227 Part IV: Segments and syllables on phonological levels......Page 230 11 ASPIRATION IN SYLLABIC AND SEGMENTAL STRUCTURE......Page 232 11.1 Aspiration and the character of the fortis–lenis opposition......Page 233 11.2 Preaspiration in Icelandic......Page 236 11.3 Preaspiration in Faroese......Page 245 11.4 Representing the difference......Page 247 11.5 Preaspiration in morphophonemics......Page 248 12.1 Introduction......Page 251 12.2 Lexical and postlexical relations in paradigms......Page 252 12.3 Vocalic patterns in Icelandic......Page 255 12.4 Faroese vowel morphophonemics......Page 264 12.5 Consonantal patterns in Icelandic morphophonemics......Page 267 12.6 Consonantal patterns in Faroese......Page 269 12.7 Vowel deletion in paradigms......Page 270 12.8 Intersyllabic glides and fricatives in allomorphy......Page 274 12.9 Morphosyntax and phonology......Page 276 12.10 Conclusion......Page 282 Part V: Rhythmic structure......Page 286 13.1 Icelandic word stress patterns......Page 288 13.2 Word stress patterns in Faroese......Page 292 13.3 The accommodation of foreign stress patterns......Page 296 13.4 Morphological considerations: Faroese pseudo-morphology?......Page 299 14.1 Phonological phrasing......Page 302 14.2 Systematic exceptions......Page 303 14.3 Pragmatically motivated exceptions......Page 307 14.4 The phonological consequences of phrasing......Page 309 14.5 Demarcative signals......Page 317 14.6 Constituency and prominence......Page 320 15.1 Rhythm and constituency......Page 325 15.2 Icelandic intonation......Page 330 15.3 Faroese intonation......Page 341 15.4 The absence of word tones......Page 343 A note on phonetic data......Page 345 References......Page 346 D......Page 360 H......Page 361 M......Page 362 P......Page 363 S......Page 364 W......Page 365 Cover 1 Contents 8 Acknowledgements 14 Abbreviations 16 Part I: The historical and theoretical setting 18 1 THE TWO LANGUAGES AND THEIR HISTORICAL RELATION 20 1.1 The genetic relation: ‘Proto-West Nordic’ 20 1.2 West Nordic obstruents 21 1.3 West Nordic sonorants 23 1.4 West Nordic vowels 24 1.5 Diphthongs and semivowels 25 1.6 Prosodic structure 25 2 THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT 28 2.1 Quantity and prosodic structure 29 2.2 Overlong (superheavy) syllables and their development 32 2.3 The components of the quantity shift 34 2.4 Quality changes in the Icelandic vowel system 37 2.5 Faroese vowel developments 40 2.6 The short diphthongs 42 2.7 The West Nordic consonant shift 43 2.8 New postvocalic stops 45 2.9 The skerping and hiatus 48 2.10 Systemic arrangements and types of syllables 50 3 THEORETICAL PRELIMINARIES TO THE SYNCHRONIC ANALYSIS 52 3.1 Phonological levels of representation 52 3.2 Alphabets for phonological representation 56 3.3 The representation of time and precedence 64 3.4 Saturation and fission in West Nordic diphthongs 65 3.5 The modern diphthongal systems 68 Part II: The modern sound systems 72 4 THE ICELANDIC VOWEL COLOURS AND DIPHTHONGS 74 4.1 The Icelandic vowel system 74 4.2 The vowels of non-initial syllables 83 5 FAROESE VOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS 85 5.1 An overview 85 5.2 The phonetic and phonological analysis of the Faroese monophthongs and diphthongs 91 5.3 More on dialect variation and vowel systems 96 5.4 Hiatus phenomena in Faroese 97 5.5 The unstressed vowels of Faroese 103 6 ICELANDIC CONSONANTS 115 6.1 An overview 115 6.2 The stops 116 6.3 The fricatives 123 6.4 The sonorants 126 6.5 Summary: the classes of consonants and their element analysis 128 7 FAROESE CONSONANT SEGMENTS 131 7.1 An overview 131 7.2 The fortis and lenis plosives 135 7.3 The fricatives 139 7.4 Sonorants 141 7.5 The element analysis of the Faroese system 141 Part III: Systemic relations and syllabic structure 144 8 SYSTEMIC RELATIONS IN VOWELS 146 8.1 Trends towards a diasystem in Icelandic 146 8.2 The Faroese vowel systems 152 8.3 The element analysis of reduction: limits on information in restricted environments 157 8.4 Conclusion: systemic relations in vowel systems 159 9 SYLLABLE STRUCTURE AND PHONOTACTICS 161 9.1 Syllable structure in Icelandic 161 9.2 Faroese syllables 169 9.3 The consonantal phonotactics of Icelandic 177 9.4 The consonantal phonotactics of Faroese 190 9.5 Gemination of glides and consonants 197 9.6 Conclusion: remarks on systemic structure and prominence 199 10 LENGTH AND QUANTITY IN ACCENTUATION AND PHONOTACTICS 202 10.1 Length and quantity in Icelandic 203 10.2 The length rule on lexical and phonological levels in Icelandic 220 10.3 The prosodic character of Faroese vowels 225 10.4 Vowel shortness and the scale of prominence 227 Part IV: Segments and syllables on phonological levels 230 11 ASPIRATION IN SYLLABIC AND SEGMENTAL STRUCTURE 232 11.1 Aspiration and the character of the fortis–lenis opposition 233 11.2 Preaspiration in Icelandic 236 11.3 Preaspiration in Faroese 245 11.4 Representing the difference 247 11.5 Preaspiration in morphophonemics 248 12 ALLOMORPHY, MORPHOPHONEMICS, AND PHONOLOGICAL LEVELS 251 12.1 Introduction 251 12.2 Lexical and postlexical relations in paradigms 252 12.3 Vocalic patterns in Icelandic 255 12.4 Faroese vowel morphophonemics 264 12.5 Consonantal patterns in Icelandic morphophonemics 267 12.6 Consonantal patterns in Faroese 269 12.7 Vowel deletion in paradigms 270 12.8 Intersyllabic glides and fricatives in allomorphy 274 12.9 Morphosyntax and phonology 276 12.10 Conclusion 282 Part V: Rhythmic structure 286 13 WORD STRESS PATTERNS IN ICELANDIC AND FAROESE 288 13.1 Icelandic word stress patterns 288 13.2 Word stress patterns in Faroese 292 13.3 The accommodation of foreign stress patterns 296 13.4 Morphological considerations: Faroese pseudo-morphology? 299 14 PHRASING AND POSTLEXICAL PHONOLOGY 302 14.1 Phonological phrasing 302 14.2 Systematic exceptions 303 14.3 Pragmatically motivated exceptions 307 14.4 The phonological consequences of phrasing 309 14.5 Demarcative signals 317 14.6 Constituency and prominence 320 15 RHYTHM AND INTONATION 325 15.1 Rhythm and constituency 325 15.2 Icelandic intonation 330 15.3 Faroese intonation 341 15.4 The absence of word tones 343 A note on phonetic data 345 References 346 Index 360 A 360 B 360 C 360 D 360 E 361 F 361 G 361 H 361 I 362 J 362 K 362 L 362 M 362 N 363 O 363 P 363 Q 364 R 364 S 364 T 365 U 365 V 365 W 365 9780199229314 Oxford University Press Premium This book presents a comprehensive, contrastive account of the phonological structures and characteristics of Icelandic and Faroese. It is written for Nordic linguists and theoretical phonologists interested in what the languages reveal about phonological structure and phonological change and the relation between morphology, phonology, and phonetics. The book is divided into five parts. In the first Professor Árnason provides the theoretical and historical context of his investigation. Icelandic and Faroese originate from the West-Scandinavian or Norse spoken in Norway, Iceland and part of the Scottish Isles at the end of the Viking Age. The modern spoken languages are barely intelligible to each other and, despite many common phonological characteristics, exhibit differences that raise questions about their historical and structural relation and about phonological change more generally. Separate parts are devoted to synchronic analysis of the sounds of the languages, their phonological oppositions, syllabic structure and phonotactics, lexical morphophonemics, rhythmic structure, intonation and postlexical variation. The book draws on the author's and others'published work and presents the results of original research in Faroese and Icelandic phonology. The book presents a detailed comparative description of the phonological structure of Icelandic and Faroese and discusses problems in their analysis from a fairly broad theoretical perspective. The first part (Chapters 1-3) describes the historical relation between the languages and introduces some issues regarding their phonological analysis. Part II (Chapters 4-7) gives an overview of the segmental inventory of the two sound systems. Part III (Chapters 8-10) presents analyses of the syllable structure of the two languages and systemic relations between subsystems defined for different phonotactic positions. It also treats the rules for the distribution of long and short vowel nuclei. Part IV (Chapters 11-12) describes vocalic and consonantal morphophonemics, discussing the status, in inflectional paradigms and word formation, of umlaut and ablaut alternations and patterns such as those responsible for the distribution of preaspiration. Part V gives an overview of rhythmic relations in words and phrases in the two languages, ending with descriptions of intonational patterns in the two languages This Text Presents A Comprehensive Account Of The Phonological Structures And Characteristics Of Icelandic And Faroese. It Is Written For Nordic Linguists And Theoretical Phonologists Interested In What The Languages Reveal About Phonological Structure And Change And The Relation Between Morphology Phonology, And Phonetics. Kristján Árnason. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [329]-341) And Index.