Re: Orthography supporting sound changes?

Helmut Richter:

> Helmut Richter:
>
>>> Now in some German dialects, "das" is pronounced with a long vowel, and
>>> "dass" with a short one.
>>
>> In Bavarian, there even a trichotomy between article ("as"),
>> demonstrative pronoun or article with some emphasis ("dees") and
>> conjunction ("dass").
>
> I got a hint from Ludwig Zehetner, specialist of Bavarian at the
> University of Regensburg, that "dees" is not a cognate of das/that but
> of dies/this whereas "dass" and "(a)s" are basically the same word
> with different emphasis in the sentence and consequently different
> loss of pronounced consonants. This explains a part of the phenomenon
> of non-interchangeability between these words. It does not fully
> explain that "das" is not a viable substitute for the article, nor the
> development of "dass" out of "das". I'll try to get more information.
>
> Anyway, when Joachim speaks about "some German dialects, [in which]
> 'das' is pronounced with a long vowel, and 'dass' with a short one",
> Bavarian is a bad example. His point was whether the distinction in
> writing could have triggered a distinction in speech. In Bavarian,
> there is a distinction in speech but quite certainly with another
> genesis. Other dialect's mileage may vary.
>

Yes, I certainly lack the data and expertise to follow that up. Swabian
would be another example - perhaps.

Joachim

.

Relevant Pages

  • Re: Orthography supporting sound changes?
    ... Helmut Richter: ... I got a hint from Ludwig Zehetner, specialist of Bavarian at the ... writing could have triggered a distinction in speech. ...
    (sci.lang)
  • Re: yiddish
    ... On Wed, 31 Jan 2007, Joachim Pense wrote: ... This is not unusual for German dialects either. ... For instance in Bavarian: ... Helmut Richter ...
    (sci.lang)