Gripla - 01.01.1977, Page 155

JANEZ ORESNIK
MODERN ICELANDIC U-UMLAUT FROM
THE DESCRIPTIVE POINT OF VIEW
Survey. Par.l: The present study investigates the so-called u-umlaut
alternations /a—ö/ and /a—y/, and is arbitrarily limited to u-umlaut
alternations within morphological paradigms.
Par. 2: It is necessary to distinguish between u-umlaut in monosylla-
bic and u-umlaut in polysyllabic stems. Monosyllabic stems display
only the alternation /a—ö/, e.g. barn—börn. Polysyllabic stems mani-
fest two types of u-umlaut, Final and Initial umlaut. A stem shows
Final umlaut if the alternation /a—ö/ occurs in the last syllable of the
stem only, e.g. almanak■—almanök. This type of u-umlaut is normal
and productive in polysyllabic stems. A stem manifests Initial umlaut
if it undergoes the alternation /a—ö/ in its stressed syllable and-or the
alternation /a—y/ in its unstressed syllable(s), e.g. gamall—gömul.
There are astonishingly few reliable examples of Initial umlaut, and a
few classes of ambiguous examples. Beside Final and Initial umlauts
there is a special marginal type illustrated by hafald'—höföld. A few
lexical items, such as hérað, display more than one type of u-umlaut,
e-g. héruð—héröð.
Par. 3 describes the phonological properties of the environments in
which u-umlaut shows up. Stems which manifest u-umlaut are often
followed by w-initial desinences, e.g. göml-um, but just as often such
stems are not followed by anything, e.g. gömul, or by endings which do
not begin with u, e.g. börn-in. Par. 4 enumerates the morphological en-
vironments in which u-umlaut takes place in nouns, adjectives and
verbs. Par. 5 enumerates the inflexional classes of words in which the
basic vowel of the u-umlaut alternation is more likely /ö/ than /a/.
Par. 6 studies the u-umlaut alternation /au—öi/, which occurs before
palatal or velar nasal (e.g. langur—löngum), and the behaviour of the
diphthong /ai/ with respect to the u-umlaut.1
1 My thanks are due to Miss Margaret G. Davis, who has corrected my English,