8 Changes in alphabet and spelling in Middle English.

As we remember, the Old English spelling system was

mainly phonetic.1 However, the 13th and 14th centuries witnessed

many changes in the English language, including its alphabet and

spelling. As a result of these modifications the written form of

the word became much closer to what we have nowadays.

In Middle English the former Anglo-Saxon spelling tradition

was replaced by that of the Norman scribes reflecting the

influence of French and often mixing purely phonetic spelling

with French spelling habits and traditions inherited from Old

English. The scribes substituted the so-called "continental

variant" of the Latin alphabet for the old "insular writing". Some

letters came into disuse, replaced by new means of expressing the

sounds formerly denoted by them — thus the letters p ("thorn")

and p ("wen"), being of runic origin, unknown to the Norman

scribes, disappeared altogether. Some letters, already existing in

Old English but being not very frequent there, expanded their

sphere of use — like the letter k. New letters were added —

among them j , w, v and z. Many digraphs — combinations of

letter!? to denote one sound, both vowel and consonant —

appeared, mostly following the pattern of the French language.

The following letters disappeared:

צ, p [6/9] replaced by th: bat — that

צ [g. j] g צ od — god

or у зеаг — year

æ [e] e lsetan — leten (let)

P [w] w

The following letters were introduced:

gfor [g] in god and Щ] in singe

j for $3] in words of French origin: joy, judge

к for [k] instead о/ с before front vowels and n:

drincan — drinken, cnawan — taiowen.

у for [v] instead off as a separate phoneme:

lufu — love [luva]

q/ог [k] {followed by u) in quay

or [kw] in cwen—queen to replace OE cw2

г for [z] as a separate phoneme: zel (#я "

The following digraphs appeared:

consonant digraphs:

ch for the sound [tj] cild — child

dg У3] Ьгусз — bridge

§ h 1X3 ri3t—right,

th [5, 6] pencan — thinken,

modor — mother

sh [J] scip — ship

ph [f] щ w < ? r ^ borrowed from Latin'-

phonetics

ch [к] in words borrowed from Latin'-

chemistry

vowel digraphs — to show the length of the vowel:

еа [е] mete — meat

ее [е] fet — feet

оа [о] bat — boat

оо [о] fot — foot

ie [e:] feld — field

ou/ow [u:] hus — hous, tun — town

Some changes were made for ease of reading and for a better

visual image of the word:

к instead of с boc — book in the final position for

У i by, my better visual separation

w u now of words

Besides, у and w were considered more ornamental than i

and u at the end of the word, allowing to finish it with an elegant

curve.

о instead of u cumen — come close to letters

опзштеп — bigonne consisting only

sunu — sone of vertical

lufu — love strokes, such as

munuc — monk u/v, n, m

Tasks for seminar 10

Speak on:

1 Changes in phonetic system in Middle English

-Vowels in the unstressed position

-Vowels under stress (Qualitative changes/ Quantitative changes )

2 Consonants

3 General Survey of grammar changes in Middle English

4 Grammatical categories (Number/ Case)

5Vocabulary /General Characteristics

- Scandinavian Borrowings

-French borrowings

6 Changes in alphabet and spelling in Middle English