Maastrichtian dialect phonology

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The phonology of the Maastrichtian dialect, especially with regards to vowels is quite extensive due to the dialect's tonal nature.

Contents

Consonants

Maastrichtian consonants [1]
Labial Alveolar Palatal Velar Uvular Glottal
Nasal m n ( ɲ ) ŋ
Plosive voiceless p t ( tʃ ) k ( ʔ )
voiced b d ɡ
Fricative voiceless f s ( ʃ ) x
voiced v z ( ʒ ) ɣ ɦ
Liquid l ʀ
Approximant w j
Example words for consonants
VoicelessVoiced
SoundIPAOrthographyMeaningSoundIPAOrthographyMeaning
[ m ][ˈmiw]miew'gull'
[ n ][ˈnœj]nui'new'
[ ɲ ][koˈɲɑk]cógnac'brandy'
[ ŋ ][ˈeŋ]ing'scary'
[ p ][ˈpʀiːs]pries'price'[ b ][ˈbʀoːʀ]broor'brother'
[ t ][ˈtiːt]tied'time'[ d ][ˈdaːk]daak'roof'
[ tʃ ][ˈbɑtʃɑkəʀ]batjakker'rascal'
[ k ][ˈklɒːʀ]klaor'ready'[ ɡ ][ˈlɛɡə]lègke'lay'
[ f ][ˈfiːn]fien'fine'[ v ][ˈvaːn]vaan'of'
[ s ][ˈɑs]as'ash'[ z ][ˈziː]zie'sea'
[ ʃ ][ˈʃeːp]sjeep'schip'[ ʒ ][ʒywəˈleːʀ]zjuweleer'jeweller'
[ x ][ˈɔwx]ouch'also'[ ɣ ][ˈɣoːt]good'good'
[ ɦ ][ˈɦɛj]hei'here'
[ ʀ ][ˈʀoːnt]roond'round'
[ w ][ˈwiːn]wien'whine'
[ l ][ˈleŋks]links'left'
[ j ][ˈjɒː]jao'yes'

Vowels

Monophthongs of the Maastrichtian dialect, from Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999:159) Maastrichtian Limburgish monophthong chart.svg
Monophthongs of the Maastrichtian dialect, from Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999 :159)
Phonological diphthongs of the Maastrichtian dialect, from Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999:159) Maastrichtian Limburgish diphthong chart.svg
Phonological diphthongs of the Maastrichtian dialect, from Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999 :159)
Maastrichtian vowels (vowel space) [5]
Front Central Back
unrounded rounded
shortlongshortlongshortshortlong
Close i iː y yː u uː
Close-mid e eː ø øː ə o oː
Open-mid ɛ ɛː œ ( œː ) ɔ ( ɔː )
Open æ aː ɶː ɑ ɒː
Diphthongs ɛj œj ɔw

Taking all of that into consideration, the vocalic phonemes of Maastrichtian can be classified much like those found in other Limburgish dialects:

Maastrichtian vowels (phonemic classification)
Front Central Back
unrounded rounded
shortlongshortlongshortshortlong
Close i iː y yː u uː
Close-mid e eː ø øː ə o oː
Open-mid ɛ ( ɛː ) œ ɶː ɔ ɒː
Open æ ɑ aː
Diphthongs ɛjœjɔw

Phonetic realization

Vowel+glide sequences

The possible short vowel+glide sequences in the Maastrichtian dialect are /yj,uj,ɔj,æj,ɑj,iw,ɑw,æw/. The long vowel+glide sequences are /eːj,øːj,oːj,ɶːj,ɒːj,aːj/. The labial /w/ combines only with short vowels, whereas the palatal /j/ can be preceded by both short and long vowels. The sequences /eːj/ and /øːj/ contrast with diphthongal allophones of /eː/ and /øː/. Thus, beej[ˈbeːj] '(I) offer' does not rhyme with dee[ˈdeɪ] 'that (one)', nor does keuj[ˈkøːj] 'cows' rhyme with keu[ˈkøʏ] 'billiard cue'. These are among the subtlest phonetic distinctions in the dialect. [15]

As noted above, the distinction between diphthongs and vowel+glide sequences is not clear-cut. Among the phonological diphthongs, especially /ɛj/ and /ɔw/ combined with Accent 1 phonetically resemble the vowel+glide sequences. The difference between [ɛj] and [æj] as well as [ɔw] and [ɑw] lies purely in the quality of the first element. There is no *[ɶj] sequence to rival the diphthong [œj]. In that regard, Maastrichtian is much like the Weert dialect, in which the three phonemic closing diphthongs are also associated with vowel+glide sequences in words with Accent 1, although they begin more open in Weert: [æj,ɶj,ɑw]. This does lead to a merger with /æj/ (written /ɛj/ in IPA transcriptions of Weert Limburgish on Wikipedia) and /ɑw/, unlike in Maastricht. Furthermore, the term Accent 1 stands merely for a short vowel in Weert, with the vowel+glide sequences /ɛj,œj,ɑw/ being the shorter than the diphthongs /ɛɪ,œʏ,ʌʊ/. [15] [21]

Furthermore, /ɔw,ɑw/ (the first one combined with Accent 1) vary with /ɔj,ɑj/ with no evident social correlate. Thus, vojl 'dirty' can be pronounced as either /ˈvɔwl/ or /ˈvɔjl/, whereas gajdeef 'crook' can be pronounced as either /ˈɣɑwdeːf/ or /ˈɣɑjdeːf/. [22]

Phonotactics

Stress and tone

Stress location is the same as in the Standard Dutch cognates. Main stress is regularly on the penultimate syllable. The intonational system is much like that of Standard Dutch and Standard German. [23]

As many other Limburgish dialects, the Maastrichtian dialect features a distinction between Accent 1 and Accent 2, limited to stressed syllables. The former can be analyzed as lexically toneless, whereas the latter as an underlying high tone. Phonetically, syllables with Accent 2 are considerably longer. An example of a minimal pair is /ˈspøːlə/ 'to rinse' vs. /ˈspøː˦lə/ 'to play'. The difference is not marked in the orthography, so that both of those words are spelled speule. [24]

Van Buuren claims that the difference lies only in length, and that there is no tonal contrast anywhere. [25] However, research shows that there is a crucial difference between words like vuur/ˈvyːʀ˦/ 'fire' and those like broet/ˈbʀuːt/ 'bride', as words of the former type have the pitch features typical of Accent 2, whereas the latter do not. [26] Despite that, the Mestreechter Taol dictionary transcribes it as a length distinction, with Accent 2 being transcribed as longer than Accent 1. [27]

The distribution of the tonal contrast is rather erratic. It occurs in the following contexts: [28]

This means that neither the short tense /i,y,u/ nor the long lax /ɛː,ɶː,ɒː/ participate in the tonal contrast, being toneless by default.

Sample

The sample text is a reading of the first sentence of The North Wind and the Sun.

Phonetic transcription

[dəˈnoːʀ˦dəˌwent˦ændəˈzɔnɦɑdənənˈdʀœkədesˈkøsiˈøː˦vəʀdəˈvʀɒːx|ˈweːvaːnɦynənˈtwijədəˈstæʀ˦əkstəwɒːʀ|tunˈʒysiːmɑntvøːʀˈbɛː˦kɒːm|deːnənˈdekəˈwæʀəməˈjɑsˈɒːnɦɑt] [29]

Orthographic version

De noordewind en de zon hadde 'n drökke discussie euver de vraog wee vaan hunen twieje de sterkste waor, toen zjuus iemand veurbij kaom dee 'nen dikke, werme jas aonhad.

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References

  1. 1 2 Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), p. 155.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), p. 156.
  3. ↑ Gussenhoven (2007), pp. 336–337.
  4. ↑ Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), p. 157.
  5. 1 2 Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), pp. 158–159, 161–162.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), p. 158.
  7. 1 2 Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), pp. 158–159, 161–162, 164–165.
  8. ↑ Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), pp. 161–162.
  9. ↑ "Dictionair - Mestreechter Taol" . Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  10. ↑ "Rijmwäörd - Mestreechter Taol" . Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  11. ↑ "Rijmwäörd - Mestreechter Taol" . Retrieved 2 March 2022.
  12. ↑ Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), pp. 158, 161–162.
  13. ↑ "Verkleinwoordsvörm - Mestreechter Taol" . Retrieved 18 February 2022.
  14. ↑ "Klemtoen en umlaut - Mestreechter Taol" . Retrieved 28 February 2022.
  15. 1 2 3 4 5 Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), p. 159.
  16. ↑ Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), pp. 159, 162, 165.
  17. ↑ The symbol ⟨w̟⟩, which corresponds to a non-syllabic close central rounded [ ʉ ] is taken from Kristoffersen (2000). The Urban East Norwegian diphthong commonly written with ⟨æʉ⟩ (as in sau[ˈsæʉ] 'sheep' (sg.)), which has the same ending as the Maastrichtian diphthong [œj] is transcribed by him as [æw̟] in narrow phonetic transcription: [ˈsæw̟]. He omits the diacritic in most of the book (Kristoffersen (2000 :16–17, 19, 25)).
  18. ↑ Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), pp. 159, 161–162, 165.
  19. ↑ Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), pp. 159, 161–162, 164.
  20. 1 2 Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), pp. 159, 161.
  21. ↑ Heijmans & Gussenhoven (1998), pp. 110–111.
  22. ↑ Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), pp. 159–160.
  23. ↑ Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), p. 160.
  24. ↑ Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), p. 162.
  25. ↑ Van Buuren (1991)
  26. ↑ Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), pp. 164–165.
  27. ↑ "Home - Mestreechter Taol". www.mestreechtertaol.nl (in Dutch).
  28. ↑ Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), p. 161.
  29. ↑ Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), p. 165.

Bibliography

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