Imperfect language learning vs. dynamic sound change
The shift [i]>[e] in the verbal template hifʕil in Modern Hebrew
Modern Hebrew provides an idiosyncratic case for historical linguistic study: due to the discontinuity of its use as a spoken
language, differences between contemporary structures and classical ones do not necessarily reflect change processes, but may
instead result from imperfect language learning by the original L2 speakers of Modern Hebrew at the initial stages of speech
revival. This article offers a new research direction for delineating the boundaries between the two types of phenomena based on
the recent discovery of two collections of recordings of spontaneous Hebrew speech made in the 1960s. Focusing on one conspicuous
sound change in contemporary Modern Hebrew, namely the transition from [i] to [e] in the prefix of the verbal pattern
hif’il, we show that the variability in contemporary language between hif’il and
hef’il has two distinct sources: (i) an initial state of variability between [i] and [e] in forms derived
from weak root verbs (initial-[n] and middle-[w/y] roots, e.g. higi’a-hegi’a ‘arrived’) due to imperfect language
learning in the initial phases of the formation of Modern Hebrew; and (ii) a recent change from [i] to [e] in forms derived from
regular roots (e.g. hitxil-hetxil ‘started’). In this category, the 1960s recordings attest to a stable
realization of [i] amongst all age groups, with deviations from the rules of traditional Hebrew grammar occurring only marginally.
Based on this data, the measure of synchronic variation documented in the 1960s recordings is analyzed as a precursor of the sound
change that developed in the language at a later stage.
Article outline
- 1.Linguistic change in spoken Modern Hebrew
- 2.The research question
- 3.Phonology, morphology, and changes in the morphophonological system of Hebrew
- 4.The verbal template hifʕil
- 5.The research corpus
- 6.The data
- 6.1Weak root verbs
- 6.2Regular roots
- 7.Conclusion
- Acknowledgments
- Note
-
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Gonen, Einat
2020.
Conservation or change? Exploring trends in Modern Hebrew in light of new spoken corpora of the first two generations of speakers.
Folia Linguistica 54:s41-s1
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