| Many scholars who follow the Generative phonological tradition have written about simplicity and generality in connection with rule transmission. King and Kiparsky, in the books referenced in this thesis, for example, expound the idea that a phonological rule becomes more simple as it transmits through dialects and time. No scholar to my knowledge, however, uses this as a basis to propose a relative chronological development of a particular sound as it travels through a related group of languages. This is what the author is attempting with this paper.;According to the evidence presented in this study, Old Frisian developed the Proto-Germanic /*ai/ first, followed by both Old High German and Old Low Franconian. Next in the chronological order are Old Saxon and Old English. The Proto-Germanic /*au/ developments seem to make more geographical sense, developing in the eastern Old High German territories first and progressing down toward the North Sea coast. |
