Primera aproximació a la distribució de les vocals mitjanes tòniques a Berga

Abstract

The pronunciation of the mid-high tonic vowels is subject to considerable variation in the Catalan-speaking linguistic area, even within the major dialect divisions, as is the case of Central Catalan. Thus, in spite of it hardly being mentioned in previous work, we can observe differencies regarding the distribution of these vowels in Berga as opposed to what would be considered normal in Central Catalan and in the Catalan of Barcelona (barceloní). The present study, carried out from the perspective of traditional dialectology as a subsidiary branch of historical grammar, is an attempt to describe the distribution of mid-high tonic vowels in the berguedà capital and compare this distribution with what is considered the norm or unmarked in barceloní and, by extension, in Central Catalan. As we shall see, the scope of these pronunciation differences is, at the very least, remarkable and, in addition, in some cases we have been able to observe certain tendencies or regularities that explain their distribution; regularities or tendencies that could have somthing to do with the historical development of words, and also with context.