Bailey, George orcid.org/0000-0001-5137-8394 (2020) Insertion and deletion in Northern English (ng):Interacting innovations in the life cycle of phonological processes. Journal of Linguistics. p. 1. ISSN 0022-2267
Abstract
In north western varieties of British English the historical process of ng-coalescence that simplified nasal+stop clusters in words like wrong and singer never ran to completion, with surface variation between [ŋ] and [ŋɡ] remaining to this day. This paper presents an empirical study of this synchronic variation, specifically to test predictions made by the life cycle of phonological processes; a diachronic account of /ɡ/-deletion has been proposed under this framework, but crucially the life cycle makes hitherto-untested predictions regarding the synchronic behaviour of (ng) in North West England. Data from 30 sociolinguistic interviews indicate that these predictions are largely met: internal constraints on the variable are almost entirely accounted for by assuming cyclic application of /ɡ/-deletion across a stratified phonology. There is also evidence of apparent-time change in the pre-pausal environment, which is becoming increasingly [ɡ]-favouring contrary to the life cycle’s predictions. It is argued that this reflects a separate innovation in the life cycle of (ng), with synchronic variation reflecting two processes: the original deletion overlaid with a prosodically-conditioned insertion process. These results have implications for theories of language change and the architecture of grammar, and add to a growing body of evidence suggesting that the effect of pause on probabilistic phenomena can be synchronically variable and diachronically unstable.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Keywords: | life cycle of phonological processes,variation,sound change,phonology,velar nasal,dialects of English |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of York |
Academic Units: | The University of York > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (York) > Language and Linguistic Science (York) |
Depositing User: | Pure (York) |
Date Deposited: | 04 Aug 2020 12:50 |
Last Modified: | 17 Mar 2025 00:08 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1017/S0022226720000365 |
Status: | Published online |
Refereed: | Yes |
Identification Number: | 10.1017/S0022226720000365 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:164002 |
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Description: Insertion and deletion in Northern English (ng): Interacting innovations in the life cycle of phonological processes
Licence: CC-BY-NC-ND 2.5