Variation and the reconditioning of phonological rules

The application of the notion of variation to different domains of linguistics is discussed with reference to a long-standing problem in Germanic. Phonological raising & lowering changes in North-West Germanic & Gothic are compared with changes also conditioned by umlaut or metaphony in a group of macrodialects termed Italo-Western Romance. The notions of variable rule & variable conditioning are discussed. The concept of reconditioning - variation in a particular variable conditioning over spatial or temporal axes - is explored, as is the completed loss of conditioning, or deconditioning. The concept of reconditioning is found to be particularly appropriate for discussing related conditioning phenomena such as those examined here. 90 References. B. Annesser Murray