Re: Powers that be were Re: Newbie says hi
| From: | Jeff Jones <jeffsjones@...> |
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| Date: | Sunday, November 3, 2002, 9:46 |
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On Sat, 2 Nov 2002 20:26:27 -0500, John Cowan <jcowan@...>
wrote:
>Jeff Jones scripsit:
>
>> Really? I always thought that the "raised" form was older: [i:] > [@i] >
>> [ai].
>
>Yes, you are probably right and I'm shooting from the hip. I've always
>assumed that "Canadian" (Scots, Pennsylvania) ai-raising was an innovation,
>but maybe it's a survival.
That's an interesting question. A couple of points first: 1) Canadian
raising is conditional (only before voiceless consonants), 2) Canadian
English is otherwise typically Northamerican. It's because of these, I
think, that Canadian raising has been considered an innovation. But the
idea of influence/intrusion by conservative Scots, or alternatively the not
quite complete Americanization of Scots, is intriguing. In the latter case,
would there be a conditioned _lowering_, or an inhibition of raising?
Jeff