The new stability of unstable –e in French

Abstract

AbstractMuch recent work (e.g. Hansen 1994) is demonstrating that French schwa is becoming stable in many contexts where it formerly deleted freely. In this paper, I expand on Hansen's study of the new stability of schwa, extending consideration to the lexicalized conditioning of the stability as indicated in four contemporary pronouncing dictionaries of Standard French. This increasing stability also provides evidence for a reanalysis of schwa as underlying /œ/; the implications of this analysis for the distinction between lexical and post-lexical rules are briefly explored.