Reflexiones finales

There are two ways in which Vowel Dissimilation shows variation for underlying front mid vowels preceding a vocalized /l/, and both types of variation can occur for a single speaker. The first type of variation concerns vowel height. Specifically, an underlying mid front /e/ or /ɛ/ in the context before a vocalized /l/ may be produced as either the high back vowels [u, ʊ] or the mid back vowels [o, ɔ]. Representative data can be seen in (35). In (35a), there is an alternation between [e, ɛ] and the high back vowels [u, ʊ] (from

underlying /e, ɛ/), such as in the words Erzähler and erzählen. In (35b), the alternation of vowels does not involve height, but simply the dimension of PLACE: /e, ɛ/ are realized as either [e, ɛ] or as [o, ɔ], even within the same words Erzähler and erzählen, where the alternation is mid front and high back in (35a). Again, all of this variation can occur within one speaker.

(35) Data for Mid Vowel Variation

Ramsau German Standard German English a. High Vowel Output

[ɛɐ̯ .tsuɪ̯n ~ ɛɐ̯.tse.lɐ] erzählen ~ Erzähler ‘to narrate ~ narrator’

[vuɪ̯ n ~ ve.lɐ] wählen ~ Wähler ‘to vote ~ voter’

[heɐ̯ .ʃtʊɪ̯n ~ heɐ̯.ʃtɛ.lɐ] herstellen ~ Hersteller ‘to make ~ maker’

b. Mid Vowel Output

[ɛɐ̯ .tsoɪ̯n ~ ɛɐ̯.tse.lɐ] erzählen ~ Erzähler ‘to narrate ~ narrator’

[mo.dɔɪ̯ ~ mo.dɛ.lə] Modell ~ Modelle ‘model ~ models’

[heɐ̯ .ʃtɔɪ̯n ~ heɐ̯.ʃtɛ.lɐ] herstellen ~ Hersteller ‘to make ~ maker

RG also has similar height variation involving back vowels before a vocalized /l/.

Data are given in (36), where the stem vowel in the word voll is optionally produced as [ɔ]

or [ʊ] before [ɪ̯ ].

(36) Height Variation for Back Mid Vowels

Ramsau German Standard German English

[fɔɪ̯ ~ fʊɪ̯] voll ‘full’

The second type of variation involving underlying front mid vowels before a vocalized /l/ is the optionality of Vowel Dissimilation. Even for the same speaker, there are certain morphemes with a front vowel followed by vocalized /l/ in which the front

vowel surfaces as [u] in one sentence, and in the next sentence, the same morpheme contains [e]. Data displaying this variation are given in (37).

(37) Data for Vowel Dissimilation Variation

Ramsau German Standard German English

The data in (37a) illustrate the application of Vowel Dissimilation: an underlying front mid vowel which precedes a vocalized /l/ surfaces as a LABIAL vowel. For example, in the word Fehler, the underlying /e/ is present before a syllable-initial [l]; in the verb form fehlen, the stem vowel appears as the high back vowel [u] before vocalized /l/. The data in (37b) show examples of the same morphemes in (37a), but in (37b), a vowel preceding a vocalized /l/

does not become LABIAL. For example, the verb fehlen in (37b) has a vocalized /l/, but the underling stem vowel /e/ remains front; it does not undergo Vowel Dissimilation to become a LABIAL vowel.

This section has shown two types of variation which affect the front mid vowels [e]

and [ɛ] when the following /l/ vocalizes to front [ɪ̯ ]. The stem vowel may optionally undergo Vowel Dissimilation and become a back vowel (as shown in (36)), and for those data which undergo Vowel Dissimilation, the resulting back vowel may be either mid [o, ɔ] or high [u, ʊ] (as shown in (35)). These facts are true only for RG mid front vowels, but not for RG high front vowels. When a high front vowel precedes an /l/ which vocalizes,

Vowel Dissimilation always occurs, and the resulting stem vowel is always high. That is, there is never variation in application of Vowel Dissimilation or the height of the stem vowel when the underlying vowel is high and front /i/ or /ɪ/.

The optionality of Vowel Dissimilation for mid vowels appears to be attested in data given in the literature for other varieties of Bavarian German. Merkle (2005) lists the following data which hold for speakers in Bavaria:⁶⁶

(38) L-Vocalization Data from Merkle (2005:23)

As the data in (38a,b) show, in other Bavarian German dialects high front vowels which precede a vocalized /l/ surface as a high back [u]. The <u> in these words suggests that Vowel Dissimilation also applies. The mid front vowels in (38c,d), however, apparently do not undergo Vowel Dissimilation, but rather both tense /e/ and lax /ɛ/ are neutralized to lax [ɛ] when they precede vocalized /l/.

66 These data are presented with Merkle’s (2005) symbols. IPA transcriptions in slanted and square brackets are my own.

The data in (39) summarize the difference in application of Vowel Dissimilation in the BG dialects spoken in Bavaria and Styria.⁶⁷ As can be seen with the word spielen in (39a), Vowel Dissimilation applies uniformly to high front vowels in both BG dialect regions. The data in (39b), however, show that application of Vowel Dissimilation to mid front vowels differs between the BG spoken in Styria (RG) and that spoken in Bavaria (DG). Namely, Vowel Dissimilation applies to front mid vowels in RG, thereby producing [uɪ̯ ], [ʊɪ̯], [oɪ̯], or [ɔɪ̯], but dissimilation does not apply to mid front vowels in DG. indicated in (39)), the distribution described in the descriptive grammars more closely matches the variety spoken in Bavaria than the one which is spoken in Styria. This fact, coupled with the variation in application of Vowel Dissimilation in RG described above, makes the RG data even more interesting. The variation indicates that Styrian speakers have generalized the rule to a natural class that is more inclusive: mid and high vowels.

67 The data from Bavaria in (39) are taken from my own study of speakers in Dachau and accurately reflect the types of data given in BG grammars for Bavaria.

This broader context for Vowel Dissimilation (i.e. mid and high vowels, not simply high vowels) can help explain the height variation seen in the data in (35). As discussed above, speakers always dissimilate the place of high vowels which precede a vocalized /l/, and the resulting vowel is always a high back vowel. Now that speakers also (optionally) dissimilate the place of mid vowels which precede vocalized /l/, they may be unsure of which back vowel to dissimilate to – either the mid back vowels [o, ɔ], or high back vowels [u, ʊ], which are already the vowels used when high vowels dissimilate place. From a phonological standpoint, a mid front vowel which becomes back would most naturally result in the mid back vowel because only place would change, not height; however, the precedent for Vowel Dissimilation in BG is with high vowels. Thus, data such as [vuɪ̯ n ~ ve.lɐ] wählen ~ Wähler, where the vowels [e] and [u] alternate within a morpheme, show a type of analogy to the regular output of [u] with high vowels which undergo Vowel Dissimilation.