Preaspiration in the Nordic languages : synchronic and diachronic aspects

Abstract

Preaspiration -- the production of glottal friction at the juncture of a vowel and a consonant--appears to be typologically rare but is an areal linguistic feature of Northwestern Europe. This study contains a survey of the known geographical spread of prcaspiratcd stops, their phonological distribution and phonetic expressions in some Nordic dialects. The study also suggests a reconstruction of the phonetics of the Proto-Nordic stop contrasts based on synchronic data as well as a more general framework of historical sound change. Following an