T-DELETIE IN HASPENGOUW.

Over the past few years, t-deletion as a linguistic phenomenon has received quite some attention in the literature (cf. Goeman 1999, De Wulf & Taeldeman 2006, inter alia). In this paper I want to make a contribution to the study of this phenomenon by focussing on the possibilities of t-deletion in the south-west of Belgian Limburg, more specifically in Haspengouw. On the basis of data taken from my undergraduate dissertation, I will foreground Haspengouw as an interesting area with respect to the study of t-deletion and sketch the factors which play a role in the deletion of the final -t. After situating the investigated area, an overview of word internal deletion will be provided. Within this set-up, two conditioning factors are examined: (1) the phonological left side of -t and (2) the grammatical status of -t. The data will be further supported with material from the FAND (Fonologische Atlas van de Nederlandse Diaclecten) and the RND (Reeks Nederlandse Dialectatlassen). In the third part, the focus is shifted to word external deletion. In this particular section, the discussion mainly relies on data from the FAND and the RND. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]