No compensatory lengthening in OE after loss of /x/ in /lx rx/ clusters
Résumé
This paper argues that the loss of the Old English (hence OE) velar fricative /x/ in intervocalic /lx, rx/ clusters did not result in the non-local compensatory lengthening (hence CL) of the vowel preceding the cluster, in opposition to assumptions in the literature on Old English phonology and compensatory processes. A simple analysis is proposed instead where /x/ in /lx, rx/ clusters gets deleted, with subsequent resyllabification of the liquid into the onset of the following syllable. Arguments against this CL analysis come from phonological theory and manuscript (and comparative) data.