Gemination Lenition and Vowel Lengthening

The processes of gemination lenition and vowel lengthening are central to the study of phonology as they reveal much about the treatment of quantity in a given language. Using data from older language stages modern dialects and standard languages this study examines the interdependence of vowel and consonant quantity in the history of the Germanic branch of Indo-European. Kurt Goblirsch focusses on the various geminations in Old Germanic languages (West Germanic gemination glide strengthening and expressive gemination) open syllable lengthening in German Dutch Frisian English and Scandinavian languages and the major lenitions in High German Low German and Danish as well as minor lenitions in Bavarian Franconian and Frisian dialects. All of these changes are related to the development of the Germanic languages from distinctive segmental length to complementary length to syllable cut. The discussion challenges traditional theoretical assumptions about quantity change in Germanic languages to argue for a new account whereby gemination lenition and vowel lengthening are interrelated.