Initial mutation
A ( initial ) mutation , (-) permutation or initial change is the name given to changes or appendages of consonants in the initial sound of a word that cannot be fully described by synchronous sound rules ( sandhi ).
Mutations in the Island Celtic languages
Initial mutations are one of the essential features of all island Celtic languages and form a central element in the development of a family tree for the Celtic languages , as these occur on the one hand in all island Celtic languages and on the other hand are very different in the individual languages concerned. Therefore, it is usually assumed that the British Isles reaching Celtic languages , although already had a strong tendency to Anlautmutationen, these were not yet fully developed. They differ in terms of the number of different mutation classes, the phonological effects of these mutation classes and the syntactic context in which the respective mutations occur. The mainland Celtic languages probably did not show initial mutations or did not show them systematically.
Irish
Old Irish
The Old Irish recognizes three types of consonant mutation: lenition , nasalization and aspiration . The left column shows the unmutated initial sound ( radical ), the middle and right columns show the mutated consonants , first in written form, then in phonetic transcription. The pronunciation of palatalized consonants is not taken into account.
| radical | Leniert | Nasalized | Aspirated |
|---|---|---|---|
| p / p / | ph / φ / | p / b / | p / p / |
| t / t / | th / θ / | t / d / | t / t / |
| c / k / | ch / χ / | c / g / | c / k / |
| b / b / | b / β / | mb / mb / | b / b / |
| d / d / | d / δ / | nd / nd / | d / d / |
| g / g / | g / γ / | ng / ŋg / | g / g / |
| m / m / | m / μ / | m, mm / m / | m, mm / m / |
| n / n / | n / ν / | n, nn / n / | n / n / |
| l / l / | l / λ / | l, ll / l / | l / l / |
| r / r / | r / ρ / | r, rr / r / | r / r / |
| f / f / | ḟ, f, _ / _ / | f / β / | f / f / |
| ſ / s / | ẛ, ſ / h / | ſ / s / | ſ / s / |
| ſ / s / | f, ph / f / | ſ / s / | ſ / s / |
| V | V | nV | V, hV |
New Irish
The following table shows the mutations for the New Irish .
| radical | Leniert | Nasalized |
|---|---|---|
| p / p / | ph / f / | bp / b / |
| t / t / | th / h / | dt / d / |
| c / k / | ch / x / | gc / g / |
| b / b / | bra / w / | mb / m / |
| d / d / | dh / γ / | nd / n / |
| g / g / | gh / γ / | ng / ŋ / |
| m / m / | mh / w / | - |
| f / f / | fh / Ø / | bhf / w / |
| s / s / | sh / h / | - |
In Scottish Gaelic , nasalization is used less often and is used slightly differently than in New Irish .
Welsh
In the British languages , three ( Welsh , see table) and four to five ( Breton and Cornish ) mutation classes are distinguished. The languages mentioned last show only remnants of nasalization , but also the so-called mixed mutation - with features of several mutation classes in a separate class - and provection , in which voiced consonants are detached. Here is the table for Welsh :
| radical | Leniert | Nasalized | Aspirated *** |
|---|---|---|---|
| p / p / | b / b / | mh / m̥ * / | ph / f / |
| t / t / | d / d / | nh / n̥ * / | th / θ / |
| c / k / | g / g / | ngh / ŋ̊ * / | ch / x / |
| b / b / | f / v / | m / m / | - |
| d / d / | dd / ð / | n / n / | - |
| g / g / | _ ** / Ø / | ng / ŋ / | - |
| m / m / | f / v / | - | - |
| ll / ɬ * / | l / l / | - | - |
| rh / r̥ * / | r / r / | - | - |
(*) These sounds are voiceless (an unvoiced "l" is an unvoiced alveolar lateral fricative .
(**) No letter is written (the "g" is omitted).
(***) In the case of a vowel initial sound, the mutated word an "h": arian → ei harian
Breton
The table for Breton looks like this:
| radical | Leniert | Provided | Aspirated | Mixed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| p / p / | b / b / | - | f / f / | - |
| t / t / | d / d / | - | z / z * / | - |
| k / k / | g / g / | - | c'h / x / | - |
| b / b / | v / v / | p / p / | - | v / v / |
| d / d / | z / z * / | t / t / | - | t / t / |
| g / g / | c'h / ɣ, h / | k / k / | - | c'h / ɣ, h / |
| gw / gw / | w / w / | kw / kw / | - | w / w / |
| m / m / | v / v / | - | - | v / v / |
(*) The reflexes of Middle Breton / θ / and / ð / coincide in / z /. Remnants of nasalization can be found in Breton z. B. in dor > an nor (door> the door).
Cornish
The system of initial mutations in Middle Cornish is similar to that in Breton:
| radical | Leniert | Provided | Aspirated | Mixed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| p / p / | b / b / | - | f / f / | - |
| t / t / | d / d / | - | th / θ / | - |
| k, c / k / | g / g / | - | h / h / | - |
| qu / kw / | gw / gw / | - | wh / ʍ / | - |
| b / b / | v / v / | p / p / | - | f, v / f, v / |
| d / d / | dh, th / ð / | t / t / | - | t / t / |
| g / g / | _, w / Ø, w / | k, c / k / | - | h, wh / h, ʍ / |
| gw / gw / | w / w / | qu / kw / | - | w, wh / w, ʍ / |
| ch / tʃ / | j / dʒ / | - | - | - |
| m / m / | v / v / | - | - | f, v / f, v / |
Mutations in Artificial Languages
Even J. R. R. Tolkien , a professor of German literature and well-known author, reached into his Welsh seemingly artificial language Sindarin (and their predecessors or development stages Goldogrin and Noldorin ) on Anlautmutationen back, the most important is also the Lenition as well as the spirants are to be pulling Nasalmutation:
| Basic form | Lenition | Nasal mutation |
|---|---|---|
| p / p / | b / b / | ph / f, f: / |
| t / t / | d / d / | th / θ / |
| c / k / | g / g / | ch / x / |
| b / b / | v / v / | m / m / |
| d / d / | ie, ð / ð / | n / n / |
| g / g / | '/ * ʔ / | ng / ŋ / |
| m / m / | mh / β /, v / v / | m / m: / |
| h / h / | ch / x / | ch / x / |
| s / s / | h / h / | s / * s: / |
Examples: galadh ("tree")> i 'aladh ( "the tree"), gelaidh ("trees")> in gelaidh > i ngelaidh (" the trees")
Initial mutations in German
The mainly in the southern Germans in the widespread failure of the vowel prefix overall has meant that in many dialects the past participle often a morpheme boundary within the Anlauts contains what some still assimilation has been blurred, so for example in Lucerne German : make - p does make - ge makes ' Nee - t noo , take - ge taken'. In the extreme case, the prefix is completely disappeared, such as bairisch geem - geem - give ge enter ', dringgà - drunggà , drink - ge drunk' Zurich German traume - Dream , dreaming - ge dreams'; in some dialects one following the prefix is Lenis fortisiert been, so the past participle of the other verb forms that, when the relevant words now by a mutation of the initial consonant is different, such as at alemannisch b Laase - p Laase , bubbles - ge blow ', d IENet IENet , serve - ge serves', g raven - gg raven , dig - ge dig'.
Initial mutations in non-European languages
The phenomenon of initial mutation is also known in various non-European languages:
- Fulfulde (West Africa; see West Atlantic Languages )
- Nivchic language (Eastern Siberia)
- Guaraní (South America)
A list of languages and language families across the globe that have initial mutations can be found in Holst 2008.
Individual evidence
- ↑ David Stifter: Sengoídelc: Old Irish for Beginners. Syracuse NY 2006, p. 30 ff.
- ↑ Source: Williams 2000
- ↑ See "Mutations" in the Sindarin Lexicon .
- ↑ Ludwig Fischer : Lucerne German grammar and guide to good dialect. Zurich 1960, p. 79.
- ↑ Ludwig Merkle: Bavarian grammar. Munich 1975, ISBN 3-7765-0198-7 , p. 56.
- ^ Albert Weber , Eugen Dieth : Zurich German grammar and guide to good dialect. 2nd edition, Zurich 1964, p. 170.
- ^ Holst: Reconstructing the mutation system of Atlantic . 2008, pp. 40-46.