--- In cybalist@..., Piotr Gasiorowski <piotr.gasiorowski@...>
wrote:
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Richard Wordingham
> To: cybalist@...
> Sent: Friday, October 25, 2002 11:56 AM
> Subject: [tied] Re: OE *picga
>
>
> > I wasn't arguing against the gemination; it was the phonation
variation that interested me. I would have expected a phonation
shift to produce a less marked (= easier?) form, and thus not see a
voiced geminate plosive from a voiceless plosive.
>
> That's the preferred direction in natural phonetic processes, but
expressive word formation is a special phenomenon; it doesn't consist
in phonetic erosion only (most obviously, adding a diminutive suffix
is a form of reinforcement). In mediaeval German name a different
(and perhaps more "natural") phonation shift was common: Sigifrid,
Sigimar > Sicco, Eberhard > Eppe, Odemund > Otto (alongside Odo), etc.
Are there examples of the reverse phonation shift with Old English
proper names, e.g. Brihtric > *Bridda?
Richard.