Phonological neighborhood complexity and sound change

Abstract

The significance of the phonological neighborhood on lexical processing has been documented by decades of studies in the field, and it has become clear that the phonological connectivity of the mental lexicon is a crucial facilitator for word learning in both the production and perception domains. What has remained underrepresented in the literature to date is the question of how phonological or phonetic changes are accommodated by phonological neighborhoods, or put differently, what the implications of language processing are for language change. The present study investigates how two changes in voice onset time (VOT) in Austrian German onset plosives have appeared in certain types of phonological neighborhoods. Inferences about which phonological neighborhood characteristics are most conducive to sound change are drawn. Results vary by fortis/lenis articulation, with changes in lenis VOT shortening and fortis VOT lengthening being linked to different types of neighborhoods in two different generations of speakers.