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From: rte@elmo.lz.att.com (Ralph T. Edwards)
Subject: Re: Acquisition of phonemes thfough foreign influences
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Date: Mon, 25 Sep 1995 16:27:07 GMT
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In article <43skn7$q3l@netsrv2.spss.com>, markrose@spss.com (Mark
Rosenfelder) wrote:

> In article <43q7i7$93b@ixnews2.ix.netcom.com>,
> donald phillips  <philldon@ix.netcom.com> wrote:
> >Are languages known to acquire phonemes as a result of foreign
> >influence?  I am thinking specifically of English after the Norman
> >invasion and through the Renaissance.  It occurs to me that English has
> >the 'zh' phoneme, primarily (as far as I know) in French
> >borrowings'treasure', 'casual'.  German, English's close relative,
> >does not.  Did 'zh' exist in English pre-1066?
> 
> zh was acquired from French; so was v (as a phoneme-- the sound existed
> between vowels, but not at the beginning of words).
> 

Time out.  French does not have /Z/ in any of the words cited, so English
couldn't have acquired /Z/ from French in these words.  As far as I know,
French did not have /Z/ at the time most of these words were borrowed,
but had /dZ/ where modern French has /Z/.  Only much more recent borrowings
from French have /Z/.  Borrowings from 11-13th century have /dZ/ for modern
French /Z/.  The most likely source of /Z/ is /z/ +/j/ -> /Z/.

-- 
R.T.Edwards rte@elmo.att.com 908 576-3031
