Lausberg area

The Lausberg area is a part of southern Italy that covers much of Basilicata and the northern edge of Calabria. In it are found Neapolitan dialects characterized by vowel developments that are atypical for Italo-Romance languages. It is named after the German philologist Heinrich Lausberg, who brought the area to the attention of mainstream scholarship in 1939.[1]

Approximate isogloss lines.

Stressed vowel outcomes

There are three main subdivisions, as can be seen on the map to the upper right.

Romanian-like
Vowel changes from Latin to Romanian.

Dubbed the Vorposten ('outpost') by Lausberg, this area encompasses the towns of Castelmezzano, Potenza, and Picerno; here the Latin vowel /i/ merged with /eː/, while /u/ merged with /uː/. The same asymmetric vowel development characterizes Balkan Romance languages such as Romanian.[2] Unlike them, the dialects of the Vorposten proceeded to merge the outcome of Latin /e/ with the combined outcome of /i/ and /eː/.[lower-alpha 1]

Transitional
Vowel changes from Latin to Sicilian.

The western part of Lausberg's Mittelzone ('middle area') encompasses the towns of Lauria, Maratea, Scalea, Diamante, and Verbicaro; here the majority of words show a stressed vowel development similar to that of Sicilian, although many words have Sardinian-like outcomes as well.[3] In much of the Mittelzone, both in the west and east, Latin final /s/ and /t/ survive in certain verb endings.[lower-alpha 2]

Sardinian-like
Vowel changes from Latin to Sardinian.

The eastern part of the Mittelzone encompasses the towns of Senise, Tursi, and Oriolo; here the tonic vowels developed approximately as in Sardinian. There is evidence, however, of an earlier distinction between Latin /eː oː/ and /e o/. In the variety spoken in Senise, for instance, the outcomes of Latin /e/ and /o/ were subject to diphthongization when stressed and followed by a syllable containing a close vowel (namely /i/ or /u/), while the outcomes of /eː/ and /oː/ were not. Cf. Latin /fokum, nepoːteːs/ > */ˈfɔku, neˈpoti/ > [ˈfwokə, nəˈpʊtə].[4]

Selected lexical comparisons

Below are the (non-metaphonic) stressed vowel outcomes in the three regions, each represented here by one dialect.[5]

Latin fiːlum niwem teːlam pedem paːnem kanem kor soːlem krukem luːnam
Castelmezzano filə nevə tela perə panə kanə korə solə kruʧə lunə
Verbicaro fɪlə nɪva tɪla pɛtra panə kanə kɔrə sʊlə krʊʧa lʊna
Senise filə nivə tɛlə pɛrə panə kanə kɔrə sɔlə kruʧə lunə
English thread snow canvas foot bread dog heart sun cross moon

Here is a comparison of conjugated forms of the verb meaning 'die' (in the present indicative) in various parts of the Mittelzone.[6] Asterisks indicate forms that cause syntactic doubling in a following word.

San Chirico Aliano Castelluccio Noepoli Amendolara Papasidero
1SG ˈmɔrə ˈmɔrəjə ˈmɔrəkə ˈmɔrə~ˈmuərə ˈmɔrrə ˈmɔru
2SG ˈmwerəsə ˈmɔrəsə ˈmuːrəsə ˈmuərəsə ˈmuːrəsə ˈmuːrisi
3SG ˈmwerətə ˈmɔrətə ˈmurə* ˈmuərədə ˈmuːrədə ˈmuri*
1PL muˈriəmə muˈrɛmə muˈrimə muˈriəmə muˈrimə muˈrimu
2PL muˈriəsə muˈrɛsə muˈrisə muˈriətəsə muˈritəsə muˈrisi
3PL ˈmɔrənə ˈmɔrənə ˈmɔrənə ˈmɔrənə ˈmuːrənə ˈmɔrunu

Notes
  1. See first table below.
  2. See second table below.

References
  1. Loporcaro 2011: 114
  2. Loporcaro 2011: 114
  3. Ledgeway 2011: 248
  4. Loporcaro 2011: 113
  5. Ledgeway 2016: 248
  6. Trumper 1997: 362

Bibliography
  • Lausberg, Heinrich. 1939. Die mundarten Südlukaniens. Halle: Niemeyer.
  • Loporcaro, Michele. 2011. Phonological processes. In Maiden, Maiden & Smith, John Charles & Ledgeway, Adam (eds.), The Cambridge history of the Romance languages, vol. 1, 109–154. Cambridge University Press.
  • Ledgeway, Adam. 2016. The dialects of southern Italy. In Ledgeway, Adam & Maiden, Martin (eds.), The Oxford guide to the Romance languages, 246–269. Oxford University Press.
  • Trumper, John. 1997. Calabria and southern Basilicata. In Maiden, Martin & Parry, Mair (eds.), The dialects of Italy, 355–364. London: Routledge.
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