User:Gilgamesh~enwiki/Evolution of Icelandic vowels

This is a user page project. As such, it may not be in an appropriate state for use as a reference.

This condensed illustration of the evolution of vowels in the Icelandic language is based largely (but not entirely) on Hreinn Benediktsson (1959) The Vowel System of Icelandic: A Survey of Its History, WORD, 15:2, 282-312, DOI: 10.1080/00437956.1959.11659700.

The reference used linguistic terminology that is unusual for Wikipedia:

It is the hope that these notes can someday assist in the improvement of Wikipedia articles on the subject.

Short monophthongs
Front Back
Unrnd. Rnd. Unrnd. Rnd.
Close ⟨i⟩ [i] ⟨y⟩ [y] ⟨u⟩ [u]
Mid ⟨e⟩ [e] ⟨ø⟩ [ø] ⟨o⟩ [o]
Open ⟨ę⟩ [ɛ] ⟨a⟩ [ɑ] ⟨ǫ⟩ [ɔ]

Short nasal monophthongs were allophones of their oral counterparts and are not differentiated here.

Long oral monophthongs
Front Back
Unrnd. Rnd. Unrnd. Rnd.
Close ⟨í⟩ [iː] ⟨ý⟩ [yː] ⟨ú⟩ [uː]
Mid ⟨é⟩ [eː] ⟨œ⟩ [øː] ⟨ó⟩ [oː]
Open ⟨æ⟩ [ɛː] ⟨á⟩ [ɑː] ⟨ǫ́⟩ [ɔː]
Long nasal monophthongs
Front Back
Unrnd. Rnd. Unrnd. Rnd.
Close ⟨i̇́⟩ [ĩː] ⟨ẏ́⟩ [ỹː] ⟨u̇́⟩ [ũː]
Mid ⟨ė́⟩ [ẽː] ⟨œ̇⟩ [ø̃ː] ⟨ȯ́⟩ [õː]
Open ⟨æ̇⟩ [ɛ̃ː] ⟨ȧ́⟩ [ɑ̃ː] ⟨ǫ̇́⟩ [ɔ̃ː]
Diphthongs
Front Back
Unrnd. Rnd.
⟨ei⟩ [ɛ͡i] ⟨ey⟩ [œ͡y] ⟨au⟩ [ɔ͡u]

Evolution

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  Early
12 c.
Mid
12 c.
Late
12 c.
13 c. 14 c. 15 c. 16 c. 20 c.  
  ⟨a⟩ [ɑ] ⟨a⟩ [ä] ⟨a⟩ [ä] ⟨a⟩ [ä] ⟨a⟩ [äː]  
  ⟨a⟩ [ä]  
  ⟨a⟩gi [ä͡i]  
  ⟨a⟩ng [ɒː] ⟨a⟩ng [ɑːᵘ] ⟨a⟩ng [ɑ͡u]  
  ⟨ę⟩ [ɛ] ⟨e⟩ [e̞] ⟨e⟩ ʲ[e̞] ⟨e⟩ ʲ[e̞] ⟨e⟩ ʲ[ɛ] ⟨e⟩ ʲ[ɛː] ⟨e⟩ ʲ[e͡ɛː~ɪ͡ɛː]  
  ⟨e⟩ ʲ[ɛ] ⟨e⟩ ʲ[e̞]  
  ⟨e⟩ [ˈe] ⟨e⟩gi ʲ[ɛ͡i]  
  ⟨e⟩ng ʲ[e̞ː] ⟨e⟩ng ʲ[e̞ːⁱ] ⟨e⟩ng ʲ[ɛ͡i]
  ⟨i⟩ [.e] ⟨i⟩ [ɪ] ⟨i⟩ ʲ[ɪ] ⟨i⟩ ʲ[ɪ] ⟨i⟩ ʲ[ɪ] ⟨i⟩ ʲ[ɪː] ⟨i⟩ ʲ[ɪ͡eː~ɪ͡ɛː]  
  ⟨i⟩ ʲ[ɪ]  
  ⟨i⟩ [i] ⟨i⟩gi ʲ[ɪ͡i] ⟨i⟩gi ʲ[i]  
  ⟨i⟩ng ʲ[iː] ⟨i⟩ng ʲ[i]
  ⟨ǫ⟩ [ɔ] ⟨ǫ⟩ [ɵ̞] ⟨ö⟩ [ɵ̞] ⟨ö⟩ [ɵ̞] ⟨ö⟩ [ɞ] ⟨ö⟩ [ɞː] ⟨ö⟩ [ɵ͡ɞː~ᵿ͡ɞː]  
  ⟨ö⟩ [ɞ] ⟨ö⟩ [ɵ̞]  
  ⟨ø⟩ [ø] ⟨ø⟩ [ø̞] ⟨ö⟩gi [ɞ͡i]  
  ⟨ö⟩ng [ɵ̞ː] ⟨ö⟩ng [ɵ̞ːʸ] ⟨ö⟩ng [ɞ͡i]  
  g⟨jö⟩ ʲ[ɵ̞] g⟨jö⟩ ʲ[ɵ̞] g⟨jö⟩ ʲ[ɞ] g⟨jö⟩ ʲ[ɞː] g⟨jö⟩ ʲ[ɵ͡ɞː~ᵿ͡ɞː]  
  g⟨jö⟩ ʲ[ɞ] g⟨jö⟩ ʲ[ɵ̞]  
  g⟨jö⟩gi ʲ[ɞ͡i]  
  g⟨jö⟩ng ʲ[ɵ̞ː] g⟨jö⟩ng ʲ[ɵ̞ːʸ] g⟨jö⟩ng ʲ[ɞ͡i]  
  Early
12 c.
Mid
12 c.
Late
12 c.
13 c. 14 c. 15 c. 16 c. 20 c.  
  ⟨o⟩ [ˈo] ⟨o⟩ [o̞] ⟨o⟩ [o̞] ⟨o⟩ [ɔ] ⟨o⟩ [ɔː] ⟨o⟩ [o͡ɔː~ʊ͡ɔː]  
  ⟨o⟩ [ɔ] ⟨o⟩ [o̞]  
  ⟨o⟩gi [ɔ͡i]  
  ⟨o⟩ng [o̞ː] ⟨o⟩ng [o̞ːᵘ] ⟨o⟩ng [ɔ͡u]
  ⟨u⟩ [.o] ⟨u⟩ [ʊ] ⟨u⟩ [ʊ] ⟨u⟩ [ᵿ] ⟨u⟩ [ᵿː] ⟨u⟩ [ᵿ͡ɵː~ᵿ͡ɞː]  
  ⟨u⟩ [ᵿ]  
  ⟨u⟩ [u] ⟨u⟩gi [ᵿ͡i]  
  ⟨u⟩ng [uː] ⟨u⟩ng [u]
  ⟨y⟩ [y] ⟨y⟩ [ʏ] ⟨y⟩ ʲ[ʏ] ⟨y⟩ ʲ[ʏ] ⟨u⟩ [ᵿ] ⟨u⟩ [ᵿː] ⟨u⟩ [ᵿ͡ɵː~ᵿ͡ɞː]  
  ⟨u⟩ [ᵿ]  
  ⟨u⟩gi [ᵿ͡i]  
  g⟨ju⟩ ʲ[ᵿ] g⟨ju⟩ ʲ[ᵿː] g⟨ju⟩ ʲ[ᵿ͡ɵː~ᵿ͡ɞː]  
  g⟨ju⟩ ʲ[ᵿ]  
  g⟨ju⟩gi ʲ[ᵿ͡i]  
  ⟨y⟩ ʲ[ɪ] ⟨y⟩ ʲ[ɪː] ⟨y⟩ ʲ[ɪ͡eː~ɪ͡ɛː]  
  ⟨y⟩ ʲ[ɪ]  
  ⟨y⟩gi ʲ[ɪ͡i] ⟨y⟩gi ʲ[i]  
  ⟨y⟩ng ʲ[yː] ⟨y⟩ng ʲ[iː] ⟨y⟩ng ʲ[i]
  Early
12 c.
Mid
12 c.
Late
12 c.
13 c. 14 c. 15 c. 16 c. 20 c.  
  ⟨ó⟩ [oː] ⟨ó⟩ [o̞ː] ⟨ó⟩ [o̞ːᵘ] ⟨ó⟩ [ɔ͡u] ⟨ó⟩ [ɔ͡uː]  
  ⟨ȯ́⟩ [õː]  
  ⟨ó⟩ [ɔ͡u]  
  ⟨ǫ̇́⟩ [ɔ̃ː]  
  ⟨ǫ́⟩ [ɔː] ⟨á⟩ [ɒː] ⟨á⟩ [ɑːᵘ] ⟨á⟩ [ɑ͡u] ⟨á⟩ [ɑ͡uː]  
  ⟨á⟩ [ɑː]  
  ⟨á⟩ [ɑ͡u]  
  ⟨ȧ́⟩ [ɑ̃ː]  
  ⟨ę́, æ⟩ [ɛː] ⟨æ⟩ [æː] ⟨æ⟩ ʲ[æː] ⟨æ⟩ ʲ[æː] ⟨æ⟩ ʲ[æːⁱ] ⟨æ⟩ ʲ[a͡i] ⟨æ⟩ ʲ[a͡iː]  
  ⟨ę̇́, æ̇⟩ [ɛ̃ː]  
  ⟨ǿ, œ⟩ [øː] ⟨ǿ, œ⟩ [ø̞ː] ⟨œ⟩ ʲ[œː] ⟨æ⟩ ʲ[a͡i]  
  ⟨ø̇́, œ̇⟩ [ø̃ː]  
  ⟨é⟩ [eː] ⟨é⟩ [e̞ː] ⟨é⟩ ʲ[e̞ː] ⟨é⟩ ʲ[e̞ːⁱ] ⟨é⟩ ʲ[i͡ɛ] ⟨é⟩ [jɛː] ⟨é⟩ [je͡ɛː~jɪ͡ɛː]  
  ⟨ė́⟩ [ẽː] ⟨é⟩ [jɛ] ⟨é⟩ [je̞]  
  ⟨í⟩ [iː] ⟨í⟩ [iː] ⟨í⟩ ʲ[iː] ⟨í, ý⟩ ʲ[iː] ⟨í, ý⟩ ʲ[iː]  
  ⟨i̇́⟩ [ĩː]  
  ⟨ý⟩ [yː] ⟨ý⟩ [yː] ⟨ý⟩ ʲ[yː] ⟨í, ý⟩ ʲ[i]  
  ⟨ẏ́⟩ [ỹː]  
  ⟨ú⟩ [uː] ⟨ú⟩ [uː] ⟨ú⟩ [uː]  
  ⟨u̇́⟩ [ũː] ⟨ú⟩ [u]  
  Early
12 c.
Mid
12 c.
Late
12 c.
13 c. 14 c. 15 c. 16 c. 20 c.  
  ⟨ei⟩ [ɛ͡i] ⟨ei⟩ [e̞͡i] ⟨ei⟩ ʲ[e̞͡i] ⟨ei, ey⟩ ʲ[ɛ͡i] ⟨ei, ey⟩ [ɛ͡iː]  
  ⟨ey⟩ [œ͡y] ⟨ey⟩ [ø̞͡y] ⟨ey⟩ ʲ[ø̞͡y] ⟨ey⟩ ʲ[e̞͡y] ⟨ei, ey⟩ [ɛ͡i]  
  ⟨au⟩ [ɔ͡u] ⟨au⟩ [ɵ̞͡u] ⟨au⟩ [ɵ̞͡y] ⟨au⟩ [ɞ͡i] ⟨au⟩ [ɞ͡iː]  
  ⟨au⟩ [ɞ͡i]  
  • The entries ⟨jö⟩ and ⟨ju⟩ that appear in this table specifically refer to those instances of the vowels ⟨ö⟩ and ⟨u⟩ that occur directly after palatal consonants that are spelt ⟨gj⟩ and ⟨kj⟩; the ⟨j⟩ does not otherwise independently surface in these circumstances.
  • Not included in the table is the evolution of the Old Norse vowel ⟨ø⟩ specifically in its capacity as the grammatical i-umlaut of the vowel ⟨o⟩. In modern Icelandic this use of ⟨ø⟩ has mostly become ⟨e⟩ instead of the vowel's more regular evolution towards ⟨ö⟩ or ⟨jö⟩, and the reference does not explain when the change took place.
  • The 20th c. row covers flámæli, a major phonological merger of the near-close long vowels with their mid long vowel counterparts that developed during the early half of the 20th century, and is mentioned in the reference as (at the time of publication) having been well under way. (Flámæli does not affect short vowels.) But since the reference was published, flámæli was vigorously opposed throughout the Icelandic media and education system (dialect speakers were in particular banned from being heard on national stage or on broadcast airwaves), and the merger was forcibly reverted in younger generations, but completed unopposed in diaspora dialects spoken by Icelandic Americans and Icelandic Canadians.

Further reading

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