Analysis of a Sound Group: SL and TL in Norwegian

• Published in: PMLA/Publications of the Modern Language Association of America
• Main Author: Haugen, Einar
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Modern Language Association (MLA) 1942
• Subjects: Aasen; Norway; Northern Norway
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/458776; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0030812900200308

It has long been known that the distinction between sl and tl , which existed in Old Norse, has been lost in the modern dialects of Norway. In his Norsk Grammatik of 1864 Ivar Aasen wrote: these sounds generally become one, and are rarely distinguished with any precision. In southeastern Norway [søndenfjelds] sl only is heard, thus esle instead of etla, lisle for litle, Fesling for Fetling. In western Norway [vestenfjelds] tl only is usually heard, thus hatl for hasl, kvitl for kvisl, reitla for reidsla. In northern Norway [nordenfjelds] they coalesce into a special sound, which resembles ltl, ltj, or lsch, but which cannot be otherwise designated with the usual letters.