Keywords

tense–lax front vowel convergence, lateral-driven vowel shift, trajectory-based vowel-shift analysis

Abstract

Overview

Front vowels: tense-lax pairs getting closer in apparent time.
Back vowels: three-way convergence of WOLF, JOLT, and MULCH.
This data suggests a merger by approximation.

Expanding to trajectories gives greater insight into this type of merger.

Kinda like a zipper.

Greater detail in this merger by approximation.

The nuclei don’t appear to trigger the shift
The lateral gradually increases its influence, and the nucleus follows.

Trajectories are potentially important for discovering how vowels shift.

More recent techniques can allow us to answer these questions.

Original Publication Citation

Joseph A. Stanley & Lisa Morgan Johnson. “Vowels can merge because of changes in trajectory: Prelaterals in rural Utah English.” The 96th Annual Meeting of the Linguistic Society of America. Washington, D.C. January 6–9, 2022.