What is it about?
The article explains ostensible exceptions to sound laws, notably when Old Norse or Old Swedish umlaut occurs where it is not expected to, and when it fails to occur where it should have been there. The article also explains the relative chronology and mechanisms of how different umlauts entered the contrastive phonology.
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Why is it important?
The solution to these problems has been sought for nearly 200 years and the failure to formulate an acceptable explanation has made a mockery of modern historical phonology since its inception nearly a century ago.
Perspectives
The new reconstruction of the Proto-Scandinavian vowels system will require a revision also of the Northwest Germanic one. The phonology of Old Scandinavian dialects may also merit a review, including the birth of Old Norwegian vowel harmony.
PhD Johan Schalin
Helsingin Yliopisto
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This page is a summary of: Scandinavian umlaut and contrastive feature hierarchies, NOWELE North-Western European Language Evolution, September 2017, John Benjamins,
DOI: 10.1075/nowele.70.2.03sch.
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