Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði - 01.01.2017, Síða 71

summary
‘The sound é in late Old Icelandic:
a diphthong or a semivowel–vowel sequence?’
Keywords: Old Icelandic, historical phonology, diphthongization, diphthongs, semivow-
el–vowel sequences, fricativization.
Old Icelandic long é [eː] underwent a change that is reflected in the spelling change “e” >
“ie” that is first seen occasionally in 13th-century manuscripts and widely in manuscripts
dated to the 14th century. A review of earlier scholarship on the development of é in
Icelandic shows that scholars have maintained different views regarding the nature of the
outcome of this change. Some have described the outcome as a semivowel–vowel sequence
which can be denoted as [jɛː] and viewed as parallel with other sequences of j + vowel in
Old Icelandic (in words like jata, jǫkull, ljótr and sjá). Others have maintained that the out-
come was a rising diphthong which can be denoted as [ɛ] and viewed as parallel with the
falling diphthongs au, ei and ey in that they constituted a single long vowel unit in the
sound system. A source of possible confusion is the fact that, in earlier linguistic literature,
the term diphthong was commonly used in a broad sense that included semivowel–vowel
sequences. In line with recent practice, the difference between diphthongs and semivow-
el–vowel sequences is here defined in terms of syllable structure. Evidence is provided to
support the assumption that sequences of j + vowel in Old Icelandic were sound sequences
rather than diphthongs. Furthermore, evidence from poetry and orthography is presented,
showing that the outcome in Old Icelandic of the aforementioned change in é was a semi-
vowel–vowel sequence. Part of the evidence that é was a sequence from early on is a 14th-
century innovation in poetry involving the rhyme of original long é with original short e.
It is argued that this innovation in rhyme is evidence that the Icelandic Quantity Shift
must have begun earlier than hitherto has been assumed. It is also commonly supposed
that Old Icelandic j underwent fricativization as it developed into modern Icelandic. It is
shown that this is doubtful and that changes in poetic rhyme and alliteration, as well as in
spelling, which this sound change was meant to explain, are satisfactorily accounted for in
other ways.
Aðalsteinn Hákonarson
Stofnun Árna Magnússonar í íslenskum fræðum
Laugavegi 13
IS-101 Reykjavík, ÍSLAND
adalsteinn.hakonarson@arnastofnun.is
Hljóðið é í yngri forníslensku 71