Íslenskt mál og almenn málfræði - 01.01.2018, Page 179

However, the voiced pronunciation of /l,m,n/ before /p,t,k/ and of /ð/ before /k/ is
(or was) characteristic for the Northeast of Iceland. This latter feature has been called
“voiced pronunciation” as opposed to the more widespread “voiceless pronunciation”. In
the voiced pronunciation, the cluster /lt/ has a special status, which is the topic of this arti-
cle.
Some speakers always devoice /l/ before /t/ even though /l/ is voiced in the clusters
/lk/, /lp/. Other speakers sometimes have voiced and sometimes unvoiced /l/ before /t/
according to special rules. The third possibility, viz., that /l/ is always voiced before /t/,
does not exist. Stefán Einarsson (1928–29) described these special rules and Baldur Jóns -
son (1982) made some corrections to Einarsson’s description and added new material.
Professor Björn Guðfinnsson studied regional variation in Icelandic phonology in the
1940s. The main results were published in two books, Mállýzkur I and II, but the chapter
which deals with voiced and voiceless pronunciation does not give a clear picture of the
frequency and boundaries of voiced /lt/. It implies, however, a major difference between
this cluster and the others.
Closer scrutiny of the data, which is preserved at the National Library, shows that
although voiced /lt/ (in words where it may be expected) was less frequent than the other
clusters, it was nevertheless more frequent than voiceless /lt/ in a large region in Northern
Iceland, i.e. in Eyjafjarðarsýsla and a part of Suður-Þingeyjarsýsla. Voiced /lt/ was also
quite common in the eastern part of Skagafjarðarsýsla, which borders Eyjafjarðarsýsla to
the west. These old data do not, however, give clear answers about the boundaries of
voiced /lt/ east of the core area. Research from the 1980s implies that it must have existed
in a much larger region but to a less extent.
Margrét Guðmundsdóttir
Hugvísindasviði Háskóla Íslands
IS-101 Reykjavík
mgu@hi.is
Holt og bolt 179