Broadbent, Judith M. 2008. t-to-r in West Yorkshire English. English Language and Linguistics 12(01). 141–168. doi: 10.1017/S1360674307002523.
@article{468850, author = {Broadbent, Judith M.}, journal = {English Language and Linguistics}, number = {01}, pages = {141–168}, title = {t-to-r in West Yorkshire English}, volume = {12}, year = {2008}, abstract = {This article investigates t-to-r in West Yorkshire (WY) English and traces its course from a productive process in the nineteenth century to a lexically restricted fossil in contemporary WY. Nineteenth-century sources suggest that by the end of that century this process was already in decline. During the course of the twentieth century t-glottalling became a feature of the variety and so this article explores the possibility that as the frequency of use of t-glottalling increased, this would quickly overshadow t-to-r usage. Paradoxically, frequency of use is also responsible for the t-to-r phenomenon manifested today. More specifically, t-to-r remains in a small group of frequent words which are related by phonological shape. As a consequence of their frequency and shape, they have lexical strength and this is why a t-to-r fossil is maintained in WY today.}, doi = {10.1017/S1360674307002523}, src = {haspelmath} }