Palatalization of word-medial *g in Coastal Dutch

In this article, we argue that partial but widespread word-medial palatalization in (coastal) Middle Dutch can be explained by an already present tendency to palatalize being reinforced by speakers transferring Frisian sound changes when switching to Low Franconian varieties. This represents a partial deviation from a wave-like dispersion of palatalization fully within Dutch, as was originally proposed by de Vaan (2017) , who assumed a gradual spatial dispersion of a tendency towards palatalization. Specifically, we identify the following three rules for the Frisian sound change: (1) word-medial * g palatalized when directly followed by a non-dorsal coda in Proto-West Germanic; (2) it also palatalized intervocalically when neither of the surrounding vowels were back; (3) it did not palatalize when it was preceded by short * i .