Old Icelandic vs. Modern Icelandic (or even Old Norse - Old Iceland

Hello,

Can anyone describe/list to me the differences between Old Icelandic (e.g.
in its classical era) and Modern Icelandic (if modern is the right attribute
:-)) , please? I have only read that there are some differences in
pronunciation, phonology and syntax, but I have not found any examples,
prooves, etc. Thank you.

Peter

----- Original Message -----
From: "Lisa" <eris@...>
To: <cybalist@yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Saturday, May 22, 2004 9:48 PM
Subject: Re: [tied] Final -r in Old Norse.


> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Piotr Gasiorowski"
> <piotr.gasiorowski@...> wrote:
> > --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Lisa" <eris@...> wrote:
> >
> > > Sorry to come back to this, but so I'm clear:
> > >
> > > - In ON the -r was your garden-variety, alveolar trill, correct?
> >
> > In my opinion (which I will justify in an article I'm writing right
> > now), the pronunciation of Northwest Germanic /r/ has always been as
> > variable as it is in Modern English or in the modern Scandinavian
> > languages -- a trill here, a tap there, and an approximant or
> > fricative perhaps in most places. The notion of the apical trill as
> > the "standard" variety of /r/ in all old languages and of other
> > variants as modern corruptions is a myth.
>
> Interesting...
>
> (I mainly ask because I have read elsewhere from someone who claims
> to know Old Norse that the final -r was not pronounced at all, merely
> written.)
>
> > > - Was it syllabic, or some vowel + alveolar trill?
> >
> > In the beginning (I mean, after the period of unstressed vowel
> > dropping) it was asyllabic, just like the final /-r/ in my first
> name
> > (asyllabic in Polish).
>
> And here I assumed the r in your name was more or less syllabic
> (along with the t, I mean). ;)
>
> So I'm clear, would an example be 'Alfr' = /'alfr/ (just using the
> trill for an example)?
>
> >Syllabicity and vowel epenthesis (as in Modern
> > Icelandic: -r > -ur) was a later development.
>
> Thank you very much once again, Piotr. I look forward to reading all
> your upcoming articles!
>
> - Lisa
>
>
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>
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