The Vocalic System of Kurpian Cover Image

System wokaliczny dialektu kurpiowskiego
The Vocalic System of Kurpian

Author(s): Jerzy Rubach
Subject(s): Language and Literature Studies
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: Kurpian phonology; vowels; Optimality Theory; Polish dialects; Polish phonology

Summary/Abstract: This article presents the vowel system of Kurpian, a dialect of Polish spoken in northern Poland. The data come from the fieldwork that I conducted in Kurpia over a period of many years. Kurpian has a much richer system of vowel contrasts than Standard Polish, with three high vowels, five mid vowels and two low vowels. While in most contexts these vowels are contrastive, there are also contexts in which they can be derived by general processes of Kurpian. Two such processes are discussed here: Nasal Tensing and Nasal Backing. They are analysed in terms of Optimality Theory.

  • Issue Year: 6/2011
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 81-98
  • Page Count: 18
  • Language: English