SOAS Research Online

Abstract

The purpose of the thesis is to identify the analogical changes which have occurred within a large body of data, and to reduce these changes to a small number of types. Equally importantly, certain conceivable types of change which do not occur will be specified. To this end, the thesis investigates the history of various types of alternation affecting the root vowels of verbs in the Low German, Dutch and Flemish dialects (using data collected from grammars of approximately 80 such dialects). Particular attention is paid to the levelling of alternations and the replacement of one alternation by another. The first three chapters deal with certain important preliminaries. Chapter 1 contains an introduction to the data, followed by a brief account of the methodology employed, and the aims of the thesis. Chapter 2 discusses markedness theory, and its relevance to analogical change. Chapter 3 deals with aspects of the historical phonology of the dialects, from Proto-Germanic onwards, which are important for the subsequent discussion of the alternations. The next three chapters are each devoted to one of the types of alternation. In chapter 4 the history of the ablaut alternations is examined, from Pre-OS to the modern dialects. Chapter 5 deals with the "ej-raising" and umlaut alternations; and chapter 6 traces the development of alternations in vowel length. In the final two chapters, conclusions are drawn from the preceding discussion. Chapter 7 briefly considers the characteristics of the different types of alternations, and the relationships between them. In chapter 8, an analysis of the analogical changes observed in the data is attempted. Within the two broad categories of interparadigmatic and intraparadigmatic change, various types of change are isolated, their characteristic features are identified, and their motivation is discussed.