Un continuum phonétique et géographique insolite
2023; Issue: 37 Linguagem: Inglês
10.4000/scolia.2779
ISSN2677-4224
AutoresJanine Berns, Pierre Faure, Haike Jacobs,
Tópico(s)Linguistic and Sociocultural Studies
ResumoGradience is a concept that lies at the heart of phonetic and phonological variation and change. This paper explores the phenomenon of nasalisation, a process that takes its origin in phonetic coarticulation and that, as happened in French, may lead to the gradual development of phonemic nasal vowels. We will discuss the stages in which this process unfolded in the history of French and will then zoom in on the Poitevin-Saintongeais region, where the ancient nasal vowel [ɛ̃jn] was retained in some areas and later on spread to other communities. This development seems puzzling at first sight, but we will argue that the distribution can be better understood by invoking socio-economic factors.
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