The analysis of Westphalian German Spirantization

Westphalian German Spirantization refers to the change from an original prevocalic long vowel to the corresponding short vowel plus fricative (i.e. [ɣ]). For example, the [ɪɣ] sequence in the Westphalian word [klɪɣə] “bran” derived historically from [iː]. The present article offers a new treatment for the historical shift from [iː] to [ɪɣ] — as well as similar ones involving other vowels — which breaks the process down into five separate changes. It is argued that each of these changes modified non-linear representations involving syllables, moras and segmental features. A crucial component of the proposed analysis is that each of the five changes is seen as a repair to a constraint.