Phonic Convergence in Estonian Yiddish
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Abstract
Multilingualism is a characteristic feature of Yiddish speakers in the Baltic region, and contact-induced language change is natural in this case. To date, some Baltic German impact on the local varieties of Yiddish has been discussed in the literature. This article focuses on the phonic impact of Estonian on Estonian Yiddish. The study is based on acoustic analysis of Estonian Yiddish sound recordings. The North Baltic area forms a separate region in the Baltic Sprachbund; Yiddish spoken in Samogitia and Courland as well as Estonian Yiddish exhibit several features typical of this language area. It is demonstrated that there is an overlap of basic prosodic categories with co-territorial languages, such as centralized stress and a quantity opposition. A distinctive feature common to Estonian and Estonian Yiddish is the limited reduction of vowels and a tendency to maintain stable durational ratios of the primary stressed syllable and following unstressed syllables.
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Phonic Convergence in Estonian Yiddish
In: Journal of Jewish LanguagesSearch for other papers by Anna Verschik in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Search for other papers by Karl Pajusalu in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed
Abstract
Multilingualism is a characteristic feature of Yiddish speakers in the Baltic region, and contact-induced language change is natural in this case. To date, some Baltic German impact on the local varieties of Yiddish has been discussed in the literature. This article focuses on the phonic impact of Estonian on Estonian Yiddish. The study is based on acoustic analysis of Estonian Yiddish sound recordings. The North Baltic area forms a separate region in the Baltic Sprachbund; Yiddish spoken in Samogitia and Courland as well as Estonian Yiddish exhibit several features typical of this language area. It is demonstrated that there is an overlap of basic prosodic categories with co-territorial languages, such as centralized stress and a quantity opposition. A distinctive feature common to Estonian and Estonian Yiddish is the limited reduction of vowels and a tendency to maintain stable durational ratios of the primary stressed syllable and following unstressed syllables.
| All Time | Past Year | Past 30 Days | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Abstract Views | 95 | 70 | 4 |
| Full Text Views | 58 | 11 | 0 |
| PDF Views & Downloads | 88 | 19 | 0 |