On the Exception to the /ʊ/ to /ʌ/ Change in Early Modern English

초록

This paper deals with an exception of the diachronic change in the history of the English language, i.e., the change of the short high back (lax) rounded vowel /ʊ/ in Middle English to the mid back/central lax unrounded vowel /ʌ/in Modern English. This exception is best analyzed as the inalterability effect of partial geminate structure (in the sense of Hayes, 1986) due to spreading of the [labial] node of the preceding labial consonant to the following vowel. It provides support for Halle, Vaux and Wolfe’s (2000) revised articulator model, contra Clements’ (1991) unified feature model. It also presents arguments supporting Halle, Vaux and Wolfe’s (2000) claim that only terminal features spread in the geometrical representation of distinctive features. The analysis employs Calabrese’s (2005) correlation statement and the notion of economy (Chomsky, 2000; Calabrese, 2005).

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