Vowel hiatus resolution in Scottish varieties

In many varieties of English, vowel hiatus is resolved in different ways depending on the nature of the preceding segment to give patterns such as see[j] it, do[w] it and (typically for non-rhotic speakers) saw[r] it. Phonological models account for such patterns in different ways (e.g. ‘spreading’ models of glide formation or the selection of an optimal segment for resolving hiatus). However, some varieties have a simplified or levelled system in which, for example, vowel hiatus triggers the use of a glottal stop regardless of the nature of the preceding vowel. It is also generally the case that rhotic varieties, including most Scottish accents, do not have intrusive-r processes, so examples such as saw it will either have a hiatus or lead to some alternative resolution strategy.

This project would investigate the nature of vowel hiatus resolution in Scottish Englishes to discover whether a levelled system applies here, or whether different preceding vowels do indeed trigger different means of resolving hiatus. In particular, the status of the FACE and GOAT vowels, which are typically monophthongs [e] and [o] in Scottish varieties, might prove problematic for certain models which consider RP [ei] and [ou] diphthongs in order to imply a spreading of features into a glide.

While a range of approaches could be taken to these questions, working in Scotland would enable the compilation of a corpus of recordings, and the use of dialect data would be a key methodology.

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