LIN376H5 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Diphthong, Vowel Breaking, Joule
Document Summary
Chapter 1 the evolution of stressed vowels part 3. The great merger, common to almost all the romance languages, produced a seven- vowel system, which then evolved in different ways. Many of these changes depend upon whether the stressed syllable is blocked or free. This suggests another format for organizing the facts. The seven-vowel system resulting from the great merger evolves as shown below: In italian, even where the conditions for a primary diphthong are met (stressed low mid in free syllable), the diphthongization usually fails in proparoxytones (i. e. words stressed on the third syllable from the end) Q u e s t i o n : answer: judging from the spelling, /a/ before a nasal consonant apparently went through a stage where it diphthongized to [aj], but only in a free syllable, for example: Chelle pain faim: high mid /e/ behaves just like /a/
