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Final /d/-deletion

quickinfo

Some nouns and adjectives ending in a long vocalic sequence (predominantly a centring diphthong) + /d/ can also be realized without the latter. This /d/, however, always shows up in inflected and derived forms, so that it can be considered as basic.

General information
Overview of the contexts in which /d/ obligatorily shows up in the words in (1a)
Overview of the contexts in which /d/ obligatorily shows up in the words in (1b)

[+]General information

Some words ending in the centring diphthong /ɪə/ or /iə/ + /d/ have a variant without /d/. They are listed in (1):

Words ending in /ɪə/ or /iə/ + /d/ with a variant without /d/

Nouns

dead

/dɪəd/

death

died

/diəd/

act, action; deed

ried

/riəd/

advice; council

sied

/siəd/

seed; sperm

tried

/triəd/

thread; fibre; wire

Adjectives

dead

/dɪəd/

dead

read

/rɪəd/

red

Residual cases

goed

/ɡuəd/

good

paad

/pa:d/

path; track

steed

/ste:d/

spot

The nouns in (1a) can occur with or without final /-d/ in free usage, so dead, died, ried, sied, and tried can be realized as either [dɪət], [diət], [riət], [siət], [triət] or [dɪə], [diə], [riə], [siə], [triə]. This also holds when they are the left-hand member of a compound. The distribution of the variants is a dialectal and/or ideolectal matter.

extra

The underlying representations of the above nouns must be assumed to end in /-d/ (see below); the final [-t] of their phonetic representations is due to Final Devoicing.

In 'longer forms', however, /-d/ is always there, as indicated in the overview below.

[+]Overview of the contexts in which /d/ obligatorily shows up in the words in (1a)

In the plural: deaden /dɪəd+ən/ (in: fan/út de deaden opstean arise from the dead), dieden /diəd+ən/ deeds, rieden /riəd+ən/ councils, sieden /siəd+ən/ seeds, triedden /trjɪd+ən/ threads;
in the compound allomorph in /-ə/, as in triedde#boel /trjɪdə-/ all kinds of threads;
in the compound allomorph in /-s/, as in deads#bang /dɪəd+s-/ terrified (of), deadsberjocht /dɪəd+s-/ death announcement, obituary notice, rieds#beslút /riəd+s-/ decision of the council, rieds#seal /riəd+s-/ council chamber, rieds#man /riəd+s-/ adviser, counsellor;
in the compound allomorph with /-əl/, as in sieddel#sied /sjɪdəl-/ seed for sowing, sieddel#nôt /sjɪdəl-/ seed-corn;
in synthetic compounds ending in -ich ( /-əɣ/) and -s ( /-s/), like moarddiedich /moəd+diəd+əɣ/ murderous, wurkdiedich /vørk+diəd+əɣ/ energetic, ienriedich /iən+riəd+əɣ/ united, harmonious, twifelriedich /twifəl+riəd+əɣ/ irresolute, wavering, indecisive, langtriedderich /laŋ+trjɪd+ərəɣ/ long-winded, trijetrieds /trɛiə+triəd+s/ three-ply, twatrieds /twa:+triəd+s/ two-ply;
in noun-to-verb conversions: riede /riəd+ə/ to give advice, to advise, siedzje /sjɪd+jə/ to sow, triedzje /trjɪd+jə/ to string (for the /z/ in triedzje and siedzje, see /{s/z}/-insertion between /{t/d}/ and /jə/;
in agent nouns: dieder /diəd+ər/ perpetrator;
in other derivations, like triedderich /trjɪd+ərəɣ/ stringy, der is gjin riedensein /riəd+əns-/oan, ta it is impossible to rectify this deficiency, there is no help for it;
in fixed expressions with old case-endings, like by immen te riede /riəd+ə/gean take council with someone, consult with someone, te riede /riəd+ə/wurde to decide.

extra

In noun-to-verb conversions, /d/ is an undeletable part of the verb stem. So, whereas the noun ried /riəd/ advice; council can be realized as either [riət] or [riə], the verb form ik ried I give advice, I advise is realized as [riət], to the exclusion of [*riə].

Words which derive from the above conversion verbs also have /d/, as with rieder /riəd+ər/ advisor, riedling //r{iə/jɪ}d+lɪŋ/ riddle, riedsel /{r{iə/jɪ}d+səl/ riddle; mystery, enigma, riedsum //riəd+səm/ advisable, well-advised, siedder /sjɪd+ər/ sower, siedding /sjɪd+ɪŋ/ what has been sown, triedder /trjɪd+ər/ stringer.

extra

In the expression immen mei rie(d) en die(d) bystean assist someone by word and deed, rie(d) and die(d) are simultaneously realized with or without /-d/ ( [-t]).

The adjectives dead dead and read red ((1b)) also occur with or without final /-d/ in free usage, so they can be realized either as [dɪət] and [rɪət] or as [dɪə] and [rɪə]. This also holds when they are the left-hand member of a compound. Both adjectives, however, do not show identical behaviour in this respect, for whereas rea [rɪə] is far less common than read [rɪət], the opposite holds for dea [dɪə] and dead [dɪət]. The normal way of saying things is as in (2):

Examples of the normal usage of read 'red' and dea 'dead'

in read

[rɪət]

hûs

a red house

it hûs is read

[rɪət]

the house is red

in dea

[dɪə]

skiep

a dead sheep

it skiep is dea

[dɪə]

the sheep is dead

The variant rea, furthermore, is rather common as the left-hand member of (synthetic) compounds − with final stress −, examples of which are given in (3):

Examples of rea as the left-hand member of (synthetic) compounds

reabûter

/rɪə#butər/

grass-butter

reafallich

/rɪə+fɔl+əɣ/

red-cheeked

reahollich

/rɪə+hol+əɣ/

with a read head

reahûn

/rɪə#hun/

German measles

reariem

/rɪə#riəm/

shingles

With dead dead and read red as well, /-d/ is always there in 'longer forms', as indicated in the overview below:

[+]Overview of the contexts in which /d/ obligatorily shows up in the words in (1b)

in the inflected form: reade /rɪəd+ə/ [rɪədə] (it reade hûs the red house), deade /dɪəd+ə/ [dɪədə] (it deade skiep the dead sheep);
in the comparative: reader /rɪəd+ər/ [rɪədər] redder, deader /dɪəd+ər/ [dɪədər] deader;
in nominal use: in readen /rɪəd+ən/(ien) a red one, de readen /rɪəd+ən/ the red ones, in deaden /dɪəd+ən/(ien) a dead one, de deaden /dɪəd+ən/ the dead ones;
in adjective-to-verb conversions: readzje /rɪəd+jə/ to become red; to make red, deadzje /dɪəd+jə/ to kill (for the /z/ in triedzje and siedzje, see /{s/z}/-insertion between /{t/d}/ and /jə/);
in other derivations, like readens /rɪəd+əns/ redness, readich /rɪəd+əɣ/ reddish, readsje /rɪəd+tsjə/ potato with a red skin (diminutive form), readsjer /rɪəd+tsjər/ potato with a red skin, deadens /dɪəd+əns/ deathliness, deadichheid /dɪəd+əɣhid/ deathliness, deadsk /dɪəd+sk/ dead, dead-and-alive.

extra

Words which derive from the conversion verbs readzje /rɪəd+jə/ to become red; to make red and deadzje /dɪəd+jə/ to kill invariably have /d/, as with deadlik /dɪəd+lək/ deadly and deader /dɪəd+ər/ killer, slayer.

extra

It is unclear whether /d/ shows up in the superlatives readst /rɪəd+st/ reddest and deadst /dɪəd+st/ deadest. Since stem-final /-d/ deletes before the suffix -st (see /t/-deletion before the suffix st), the pronunciations, [rɪəst] and [dɪəst], do not give one a clue.

extra

From a historical point of view, the word deade dead person/man/woman derives from the inflected adjective dead: /dɪəd+ə/. However, it has become a full-fledged noun, with the plural form deaden /dɪəd+ən/ (the) dead, (the) deceased and the compound allomorph deade- /dɪədə-/, as in deade#betinking commemoration of the dead and deade#ryk underworld, shades. If de deaden is the plural of the nominalized adjective dead ( /dɪəd+ə+ən/), it is best translated as the dead ones, if it is the plural of the noun deade ( /dɪədə+ən/) as the dead, the deceased; in the former case, it may refer to animates and non-animates, in the latter case it refers to human beings only.

Finally, there are the residual cases in (1c), viz. the adjective goed /ɡuəd/ good and the nouns paad /pa:d/ path; track and steed /ste:d/ spot. Of these, goed always keeps its final /-d/. It only shows up as goe- /ɡuə-/ in compound words − with final stress − and lexicalized phrases (greetings), examples of which are given in (4):

Examples of compound words and lexicalized phrases (greetings) with goe-

goe#dei

goodday; goodbye

goe#keap

cheap

goe#freon

good friend

goe#fries

right-minded, true Frisian

goe#jûn

good evening; good night

goe#kunde

good acquaintances

goe#middei

good afternoon

goe#moarn

good morning

goe#nacht

good night

goe#rie

a piece of good advice

extra

The compound goe#died benefaction (lit. good deed) is the only one with stress on the left-hand part, which, however, may actually be goed, with a final /d/, so that the underlying representation is /ɡuəd#diəd/. Of the sequence /d#d/ one /d/ remains due to Degemination. Viewed like this, goe#died ‒ which then must be spelled as goeddied, with -dd- ‒ would no longer have an exceptional stress pattern.

extra

The word leed /le:d/ sorrow has the allomorph lee /le:/, which only shows up in the compounds lee#brief mourning card and lee#folk those going to a funeral'. These compounds are becoming, or have become, obsolete, the common forms being leedbrief and leedfolk.

According to the Frisian dictionaries, steed is in free variation with stee, though the latter, which is the most frequent form, is the main entry in most dictionaries. This is different for paad, whose allomorph pa /pa:/ has a limited dialectal distribution.

extra

The inflected form goede /ɡuəd+ə/ can be realized as either [ɡuədə] or [ɡu.jə], the latter of which is becoming the most frequent form. No doubt, it is a form influenced by Dutch. The greeting goeie good day; goodbye has developed from phrases like goeie dei good day; goodbye and goeie moarn good morning. In the southern part of the language area, goeie has given rise to the new base form goei, which occurs alongside goed. In that area, the adverb hjoed /juəd/ may have the variant hjoei /ju.j/, showing an analogous development.

extra

There are several past tense stems of strong/irregular verbs which ended in the sequence of one of the centring diphthongs /iə/, /uə/ or /ɪə/ + /d/, but which have lost this /d/ in the course of time, so that synchronically they end in a centring diphthong. These stems are:

die	/diə/	(with	dwaan	to do	; cf. Dutch	deed	and English	did	)
hie	/hiə/	(with	hawwe	to have	; cf. Dutch and English	had	)
snie	/sniə/	; with	snije	to cut	; cf. Dutch	sneed	)
stie	/stiə/	(with	stean	to stand	; cf. English	stood	)
koe	/kuə/	could	(with	kinne	can	; cf. English	could	)
soe	/suə/	would, should	(with	sille	will, shall	; cf. English	should	)
woe	/wuə/	wanted, wished	(with	wolle	to want, to wish	; cf. English	would	)
stoe	/stuə/	stood	(with Old Frisian	stonda	to stand	; cf. English	stood	)
bea	/bɪə/	offered	(with	biede	to offer	; cf. Dutch	bood	)
sea	/sɪə/	boiled	(with	siede	to boil	; cf. older Dutch	zood	)

The deletion of this stem-final /d/ is a historical process. Synchronic past tense stems like belied /beliəd/ confessed (with belide to confess), glied /ɡliəd/ slid (with glide to slide), ried /riəd/ rode, drove (with ride to ride, to drive), stried /striəd/ struggled (with stride to struggle) do not show any trace of /d/-deletion. At a time, however, it must have been a fairly general process.

extra

The word breed /bre:d/ broad used to have the /d/-less variant brie, which has become obsolete. The /d/ of breed is always realized. However, as the left-hand member of some (synthetic) compounds − examples of which are given in (6) − breed shows up as bree:

bree#dyk	wide, broad road
bree#rêgich	with a broad back, broad shoulders

The above are fixed expressions, with final stress.

extra

The Frisian dialect of Hindelopen/Hylpen has final /d/-deletion at a much vaster scale than Frisian, as can be seen in the alphabetical overview in the table below:

Table 1

Hylpersk	Frisian	Dutch	Translation
bloo	bloed	bloed	blood
braa	brea	brood	bread
brea	breed	breed	broad
daa	dea(d)	dood	death; dead
floo	floed	vloed	flood
fôrree	foarrie(d)	voorraad	stock; supplies
goo	goed	goed	good
goo#kaip	goe(d)#keap	goed#koop	cheap
laa	lead	lood	lead
moo	moed	(ge)moed	courage; mood
potlaa	poatlead	potlood	pencil
raa	rea(d)	rood	red
ree	rie(d)	raad	advice; council
saa	saad		well
see	sie(d)	zaad	seed; sperm
skaa	skea	schade	damage; harm
skea	skie	schede	sheath
slea	slide	slee/slede	sledge
snea	sneed	snee/snede	cut
sô	soad		a lot
stea	stêd/stee(d)	stad/stede	town; spot
tjoo	tsjoed		bad, evil
trea	tree	trede	step
tree	trie(d)	draad	thread, fibre
wrea	wreed	wreed	cruel