“Scottish vowel length rule”的意思、由来-开放百科全书

The Scottish vowel length rule (also known as Aitken's law after A. J. Aitken, the Scottish linguist who formulated it) describes how vowel length in Scots, Scottish English, and, to some extent, Mid-Ulster English^[1] is conditioned by the phonetic environment of the target vowel.

Certain vowels are long before {{IPA|/r/}}, voiced fricatives or a morpheme boundary. Also, vowels in word-final open syllables are long.

Phonemes

Aitken

IPA

/aɪ/}}

/i/}}

/iː/}}{{efn|Vowel 11, which occurs stem final, is diphthongised to {{IPA|[əi]}} or {{IPA|[ei]}} in Southern Scots.^[3]}}

/ei/}}{{efn|Vowel 3 remains a distinct phoneme {{IPA|/ei/}} only in some North Northern Scots varieties,^[4]^[5] generally merging with vowels 2 or 4 in other Modern Scots varieties.^[5]}}

/e/}}

/o/}}

/u/}}{{efn|Vowel 6, when stem final, is diphthongised to {{IPA|/ʌu/}} in Southern Scots.^[3]}}

/ø/}}{{efn|Most Central Scots varieties merge vowel 7 with vowel 4 in long environments and with vowel 15 in short environments, but most Northern Scots varieties merge vowel 7 with vowel 2.^[6] Vowel 7 generally remains {{IPA|/ø/}}, sometimes {{IPA|/y/}} in short environments, in the conservative dialects of Scots spoken in parts of Perthshire and Angus, Berwickshire, Roxburghshire, East Dumfrieshire, Orkney and Shetland.^[7] Before {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/x/}} vowel 7 is often realised {{IPA|/(j)u/}} or {{IPA|/(j)ʌ/}} depending on dialect.^[8]}}

/eː/}}{{efn|In most Central and Southern Scots varieties vowel 8 merges with vowel 4. Some other varieties distinguish, at least partially, vowels 4 and 8.^[9] In Ulster Scots the realisation may be {{IPA|[ɛː]}}.^[10]}}

/oe/}}

/ɑː, ɔː/}}

/ʌu/}}{{efn|Vowel 13 may be monophthongised to {{IPA|/o/}} before {{IPA|/k/}} in many Modern Scots varieties.}}

/ju/}}

/ɪ/}}{{efn|Some eastern and Southern Scots varieties may have more or less {{IPA|/ɛ/}}.^[11]}}

/ɛ/}}

/ɑ, a/}}{{efn|In some Modern Scots varieties vowel 17 may merge with vowel 12 in long environments.^[12] (see below)}}

/ɔ/}}{{efn|Vowel 18 may merge with vowel 5 in Central and Southern Scots varieties.^[13]}}

/ʌ/}}

Standard Scottish English (Wells)

{{sc2|FLEECE}}, {{sc2|NEAR}}

FACE}}

GOAT}}

GOOSE}}, {{sc2|FOOT}}

SQUARE}}

CHOICE}}

THOUGHT}}

MOUTH}}

CURE}}

KIT}}

DRESS}}

TRAP}}, {{sc2|BATH}}, {{sc2|START}}

LOT}}, {{sc2|CLOTH}}

STRUT}}

Vowel length

The Scottish vowel length rule affects all vowels except 15 and 19 and, in many Modern Scots varieties, vowels 8 and 12.^[14] The further north a Scots dialect is from central Scotland, the more it will contain specific words that do not adhere to the rule.^[15]

History

The Scottish Vowel Length Rule is assumed to have come into being between the early Middle Scots and late Middle Scots period.^[21]

References

1. ^Harris J. (1985) Phonological Variation and Change: Studies in Hiberno English, Cambridge. p. 14
2. ^Aitken A.J. (1984) ‘Scottish Accents and Dialects’ in ‘Language in the British Isles’ Trudgill, P. (ed). pp.94-98.
3. ^¹Scottish National Dictionary, Introduction p. xxx
4. ^Scottish National Dictionary, Introduction p. xxxvi {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517181927/http://www.dsl.ac.uk/INTRO/intro2.php?num=27 |date=17 May 2013 }}
5. ^¹²A History of Scots to 1700, pp. xcviii
6. ^Aitken A.J. (1984) ‘Scottish Accents and Dialects’ in ‘Language in the British Isles’ Trudgill, P. (ed). p.99.
7. ^Aitken A.J. (1981) 'The Scottish Vowel-Length Rule' in 'So meny People Longages and Tonges' Benskin, M. and Samuels M.S. (eds). p.144-145.
8. ^Scottish National Dictionary, Introduction p. xix
9. ^Aitken A.J. (1981) 'The Scottish Vowel-Length Rule' in 'So meny People Longages and Tonges' Benskin, M. and Samuels M.S. (eds). p.151.
10. ^Johnston P. Regional Variation in Jones C. (1997) The Edinburgh History of the Scots Language, Edinburg University Press, p. 465.
11. ^Aitken A.J. (1984) ‘Scottish Accents and Dialects’ in ‘Language in the British Isles’ Trudgill, P. (ed). p.101.
12. ^¹²Aitken A.J. (1981) 'The Scottish Vowel-Length Rule' in 'So meny People Longages and Tonges' Benskin, M. and Samuels M.S. (eds). p.150.
13. ^Aitken A.J. (1981) 'The Scottish Vowel-Length Rule' in 'So meny People Longages and Tonges' Benskin, M. and Samuels M.S. (eds). p.152.
14. ^¹²Aitken A.J. (1984) ‘Scottish Accents and Dialects’ in ‘Language in the British Isles’ Trudgill, P. (ed). p.98.
15. ^Coll Millar. 2007. Northern and Insular Scots. Edinburgh: University Press Ltd. p.20
16. ^Harris J. (1984) English in the north of Ireland in Trudgill P., Language in the British Isles, Cambridge p.120
17. ^¹A.J. Aitken in The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Oxford University Press 1992. p.894
18. ^Aitken A.J. (1981) 'The Scottish Vowel-Length Rule' in 'So meny People Longages and Tonges' Benskin, M. and Samuels M.S. (eds). p.147.
19. ^Aitken A.J. (1981) 'The Scottish Vowel-Length Rule' in 'So meny People Longages and Tonges' Benskin, M. and Samuels M.S. (eds). p.141.
20. ^A.J. Aitken in The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Oxford University Press 1992. p.910
21. ^Aitken A.J. (1981) 'The Scottish Vowel-Length Rule' in 'So meny People Longages and Tonges' Benskin, M. and Samuels M.S. (eds). p.137.