176 Rosanna Sornicola and Silvia Calamai
The discussion will be limited here to the behavior of mid-high vowels /e/ and
/o/, both in open and in closed syllables, which diphthongize in /ai/ (/ei/) and /au/
( / ou/), respectively (cf. Freund 1933: 9 and 12; Rohlfs 1966–1969, §62 and §80).
In Rohlfs’ account of Upper Southern Italy diphthongization of mid-high
vowels a one-to-one mapping of variant and place is assumed, as it is shown in
Figures 2 and 3. This representation does not take into account the high polymor-
phism affecting each community.
a (upper Abruzzo, Marche)
ö (Matera, Pescasseroli)
i (Palena, Abruzzo)
i
ei (Lucera)
e (Molfetta)
e
ai
(a few dialects in
Abruzzo, Apulia –
Alberobello,
Canosa, Trani,
Ruvo – and
Campania – Ischia,
Procida, Pozzuoli)
(a few dialects in Abruzzo)
Figure 2. Geographical distribution of the variants of the mid-high front vowel
(source: Rohlfs 1966–1969: 84–85).
o
ou(dialects of Apulia, dialects
of Abruzzo: Barletta, Lucera,
Martina Franca, Fara
S.Martino, Palmoli)
au (Alberobello, Andria, Ruvo, Ischia,
Procida, Pozzuoli)
äu
(Trani)
(Avetrana, Bari)
Figure 3. Geographical distribution of the variants of the mid-high back vowel
(source: Rohlfs 1966–1969: 99).