Simultaneously Variable and Fixed? The Status of Some Initial Sibilants in English and Proto-Indo-European

Abstract

Some Proto-Indo-European (PIE) words with consonant cluster onsets have been reconstructed with a variable sibilant word-initially because the daughter lects (dialects or languages) show a bewildering variation as to the presence or absence of this sibilant. Modern Standard English contains cognate pairs (such as smelt : melt) which reflect this earlier variation. In addition, variable word-initial sibilants are found in some modern non-standard dialects of English. This paper reports data from Newfoundland and southwestern England, the latter being a main source area for the former. As a variable segment, the sibilant exhibits much conditioning--linguistic, social, and regional. As a fixed segment, the sibilant acts as a derivational intensifier when present; or as a deintensifier where absent. This extremely complex situation in dialects of Modern English may throw light on the role of initial sibilants in the dialects of PIE. The striking acoustic and perceptual properties of sibilants may help explain the persistence or recurrence of their peculiar linguistic status.