ABSTRACT
The four French nasal vowels of the maximal system, lEI, Ire I, 151 and la!, developed over several centuries from a much larger set of vowels and diphthongs which were followed by nasal consonants, as shown in Table 2.1 below. Evolution of the nasal vowels continues in Modern French, where it is generally accepted that in most varieties lrel is in the process of merging with 1£/. Whereas the phenomena of liaison and schwa examined in Chapters 1 and 3 pose common problems for generative and non-generative phonologists alike, the issues raised by the nasal vowels are very different for different theoretical paradigms. This chapter therefore falls into three distinct parts, each examining a particular set of issues concerning these vowels. The first reviews their historical development and calls into question the reliability of standard interpretations of textual evidence. The second
Table 2.1 Orthographic and phonetic representations of VN sequences and corresponding V in Old and Modern French (after Hajek (1993:150»
aN [aN] banc [ha1Jk] [hal eN [eN] vent [vent] [va] oN [oN] pont [pont] [p3] iN [iN] vin [vin] [vel uN [yN] un [yn] [&] aiN [ajN] pain [pajn] [pel eiN [ejN] plein [pleijn] [pie] oiN [ojN] com [kojn] [lewe] ieN [ieN] bien [bim] [bje] uiN ruiN] Jum [d)Yjn] [3lje]
examines structuralist questions ansmg from the oppositions into which these vowels can be shown to enter. vVe then turn to generative analyses of their synchronic patterning, and the extent to which diachronic processes and morphophonological alternations should be incorporated into such a synchronic model. The chapter concludes with a brief examination of the implications for the analyses reviewed of the patterning of nasal vowels in one non-standard variety.
