- •Lecture 6
- •Spelling Changes in me. Rules of Reading.
- •Evolution of the Sound system from the 11th to 18th c.
- •Spelling changes in middle english. Rules of reading
- •Evolution of the sound system from the 11th to 18th c.
- •Vowel chances in middle english and early new english
- •Quantitative vowel changes in early middle english
- •Qualitative vowel changes in early middle english
- •Quantitative vowel changes in early new english
- •Evolution of consonants
- •In middle english and early new english
- •Voicing of Consonants in Early New English
- •Glossary
- •Literature
- •Evolution of the Grammatical System from the 11th to 18th c.
- •Verbals. The Infinitive and the Participle.
- •Development of new grammatical forms and categories of the verb
- •Interrogative and Negative Forms with Do.
- •In Middle English and Early New English
- •Literature
Quantitative vowel changes in early middle english
In later OE and in Early ME vowel length began to depend on phonetic conditions.
The earliest of positional quantitative changes was the readjustment of quantity before some consonant clusters; it occurred in Early ME or perhaps even in Late OE.
The changes of vowel quantity reduced the number of positions in which the opposition of long vowels to short ones could be used for phonemic contrast. Before a consonant cluster vowel quantity was now predetermined by the nature of the cluster; and in open syllables three vowels— [ב:], [a:] and [ε:] were always long. Consequently, opposition through quantity could be used for distinction, as a phonological feature, only in the absence of those phonetic conditions, namely: in closed syllables, in polysyllabic words, or with the vowels [i] and [u] in open syllables. Such is the contrast, e.g. in ME risen ['ri:z∂n] inf. and risen ['ri:z∂n] Part. II (NE rise, risen). The limitations in the application of vowel length as a distinctive feature undermined the role of vowel quantity in the language.
Table 2
Quantitative Vowel Changes in Late Old English and Early Middle English
|
|
Examples |
| |
Phonetic conditions |
Change illustrated |
OE |
ME |
NE |
Before homorganic |
Vowels become |
cild |
child [t∫i:ld] |
child |
consonant sequences: sonorant |
long |
findan |
finden ['fi:nd∂n) |
find |
|
climban |
climben ['klimb∂n] |
climb | |
plus plosive |
|
cold |
cold ['ko:ld] |
cold |
(ld, nd, mb) |
|
feld |
field [fe:ld] |
field |
|
|
fundon |
founden ['fu:nd∂n] |
found (Past of find) |
|
|
gold |
gold [go:ld] |
gold |
Before other consonant |
Vowels become |
flftis |
fifty ['fifti] |
fifty |
sequences |
short |
fēdde |
fedde ['fedd ∂] |
fed |
|
|
mētte |
mette ['mett∂] |
met |
|
|
wīsdōm |
wisdom ['wizd∂m] |
wisdom |
In open syllables |
Vowels become |
mete |
mete ['mε:t ∂] |
meat |
|
long and more open |
stelan macian |
stelen ['stε:l∂n] maken ['ma:k∂n] |
steal make |
|
talu |
tale ['ta:l∂] |
tale | |
|
|
nosu |
nose ['no:z∂] |
nose |
|
|
stolen |
stolen ['sto:l∂n] |
stolen |
|
|
yfel |
yvel, evel [i:], [e:| |
evil |
|
|
duru |
doore ['do:r∂] |
door |
Quantitative vowel changes in Early ME have given rise to a number of explanations and hypotheses.
All the changes in vowel quantity have been interpreted as manifestations of a sort of rhythmic tendency. In order to achieve an average uniformity in the length of the syllable, and also to use an average amount of energy for its pronunciation, the vowel was shortened before a group of consonants and was made longer if there were no consonants following, that is, in “open” syllables. Lengthening of vowels before homorganic groups looks as an exception or a contradiction; to account for this lengthening it was suggested that -nd, -ld and the like were virtually equivalent to single consonants, therefore a long vowel would not make the syllable too heavy.
This theory was criticised for attributing all the quantitative changes to one general cause — the effort to maintain a uniform syllable length — though in reality the changes were not simultaneous. Lengthening in open syllables occurred at a later period — some time in the 13th c. — and may have been caused by other factors. To cope with this difficulty, it was suggested that lengthening in open syllables was tied up with the weakening of final vowels; when the second, unaccented, syllable was weakened, the first syllable became more prominent and the vowel was made longer. Cf. OE talu and ME tale ['ta:l∂] — the average amount of energy required for the pronunciation of the word is the same but it, distribution is different.