8. Phonetics of the oe language.
The OE word-stress was a dynamic or force stress. In Ws with 2 or more syllables the stress fell on the root morpheme, which was often the 1st syllable. Word-stress was fixed. Prefixes & suffixes were unstressed & were constructed to the root morpheme phonetically, semantically and morphologically.
The system of OE vowels: There were short & long Vs & each short V had its long variant. There were simple Vs and diphthongs. Changes of Vs were of 2 kinds: independent (don’t depend upon the environment in which the given sound was found) & assimilative (those that happened under the influence of some other sounds). Changes: Splitting: the short [a] & the long [a:] were fronted & in process of fronting they split into several sounds. (dagr-dæz-day,dagos-dazas-days.) Developing of Diphthongs: [ei,ai,iu,eu,au] underwent regular independent changes - they took place in all phonetic positions irrespective of the environment. (reisan-risan-rise,auso-eare-ear,diups-deop-deep) Breaking: a change of Vs into a diphthong under the influence of the following consonants: “l”, ”h”, “r” or their combinations with 1 more consonant. (Vowel [ae] changed into [ea] before “l” plus a consonant. aeld>eald) Palatal Mutation: a V in a stressed syllable was immediately followed by the sound [i] or [j] in the next syllable - back vowels changed into front Vs (goose-geese, mouse-mice).
The system of OE Consonants: Grimm’s Law: A number of Сs appeared in OE due to some changes that occurred in Proto-Germanic Сs. Thus, the phenomenon known as the “First Germanic Consonant Shifting or Grimm’s Law caused the de-voicing of some of the Proto Germanic Сs. Verner’s Law: the voicing of some Сs (pater-father). There were two sets of fricative consonants that came into OE from P-G: voiceless /f,o,x,s/ and voiced /v,d,y,z/. Rhotacism: the appearance of “r” in those cases when /z/ stood between 2 Vs. The traces of these 2 laws are the 2 past forms of the verb “to be”: was and were. Hardening: “faeder”, where “d” appeared in place of P-G “th”. This phonetic modification existed only in OE, later “d” changed into “th” again (father). Gemination of Cs: most Cs were lengthened after a short V before [j]. long Cs are indicated by means of double letters (fuljan-fyllan (fill)). Loss of Consonants: nasal sonorants /m,n/ and /h/ were regulary lost before fricative Cs. As a result, the preceding Vs were lengthened (uns - us).
5. Changes in the verbal system:
1) The development of the Gerund and changes of other Non-finite forms: At the end of the Middle English period (11-15th c.) a new verbal developed — the Gerund, in addition to the Infinitive and the Participle. G. appeared as a result of a blend between the OE Present Participle & the OE Verbal noun. In the process of English history the verbals gradually shifted from the system of declension into the system of conjugation. So at the end of the ME period verbals lost their declension & acquired elements of conjugation - the gram. categories of order, voice & aspect (the infinitive) & the gram. categories of order & voice (the participle & the gerund).