Theme 4. Old English Spelling. Old

English Phonology

Aims:

perceive phonetic irregularities between spelling and pronunciation; be able to account for major vowels and consonants changes that occurred in Old English

Points for Discussion:Introduction

1. Spelling Irregularities

2. The Phonetic Alphabet

3. Vowel changes in Old English

3.1. Breaking (Fracture)

3.2. Palatal Mutation (i-umlaut)

3.3. Diphthongization after Palatal Consonants

3.4. Back, or Velar Mutation

3.5. Mutation before h.

3.6. Contraction

4. Consonants Changes in Old English

4.1. Voicing of fricatives in intervocal position

4.2. Palatalization of the Sounds (c´, sc, cӡ)

4.3. Assimilation before t

4.4. Loss of consonants in certain positions

4.5. Metathesis of r

4.6. West Germanic gemination of consonants

Conclusion

Key Terms to Know

monophthongs diphthongs Assimilation Breaking (fracture) Palatalization Palatal mutation (i-

umlaut) Diphthongization

Back/Velar Mutation Mutation before h Contraction Voicing of Fricatives Palatalization of j Assimilation before t Gemination of

Consonants

Recommended LiteratureObligatory

David Crystal. The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language.– Cambridge, 1994.— PP. 16-19

Elly van Gelderen.A History of the English Language.- Amsterdam/ Philadelphia, 2006. -PP. 13-23

Valery V. Mykhailenko. Paradigmatics in the evolution of English. - Chernivtsi, - 1999. PP. 22-25; 30-35

T.A. Rastorguyeva. A History of English. - Moscow, 1983. - PP. 71-92

L.Verba. History of the English language. - Vinnitsa, 2004. - PP. 30-38

Additional:

Аракин В. Д. История английского языка. - М., 1985. - C. 31-45

Introduction“The English have no respect for their language, and will not teach their children to speak it. They cannot spell it because they had nothing to spell it with but an old foreign alphabet of which only the consonants – and not all of them – have any agreed speech value. Consequently no man can teach himself what it should sound like from reading it”.

/G.B. Shaw, Pygmalion, Preface/

The Poem on Spelling Irregularities (source-unknown)

I take it you already know

Of tough and bough and cough and dough?

Some many stumble but not you.

On hiccough, thorough, slough and through?

So now you are ready perhaps

to learn of less familiar traps?

Beware of heard, a dreadful word

that looks like beard and sounds like bird,

and dead is said like bed, not bead or deed.

Watch out for meat, great, and threat that

rhyme with suite, straight, and debt.

(Elly van Gelderen. A History of the English Language, p.14)

1. Spelling Irregularities. The

Phonetic Alphabet

The Old English Alphabet was created with the help of Latin and Runic

writing:

wy [y]ujþ [Ɵ] ,[ð]h [x], [x'], [h]s [s], [z]ʒ [ɡ], [ɡ'], [j], [ƴ]rf [f], [v]peọ/ådoc [k], [k']nbm¾La

Old English writing – phonetic principle: every letter indicated a separate sound.But, some letters indicated two or more sounds:

2. Word Stress

Word stress was fixed. In disyllabic and polysyllabic words the accent fell on the root-morpheme or on the first syllable. Word stress was fixed; it remained on the same syllable in different grammatical forms of the word.

e.g. Dat. case hlāforde ['xla:vɔrdǝ]

cyninʓe ['kyniηgǝ]

Nom. case hlāford ['xla:vord]

cyninʓ ['kyniηg].

Polysyllabic words, especially compounds, may have had two stresses, chief and secondary. The was fixed on the first root-morpheme. In words with prefixes the position of the stress varied: verb prefixes were unaccented, while in nouns and adjectives the stress was commonly thrown on to the prefix. Cf.:

ā-'risan, mis-'faran — v (NE arise, 'go astray');

'mis-dǣd, 'uð-ʓenʓ — n (NE misdeed, 'escape').

If the words were derived from the same root, word stress, together with other means, served to distinguish the noun from the verb, cf.:

'and-swaru n — and-'swarian v (NE answer, to answer)

'on-ʓin n — on-'ʓinnaη v (NE beginning, to begin)

3. 1. Breaking (fracture)

Formation  of  a  short  diphthong  from  a  simple  short vowel  when  it  is  followed  by  a  specific  consonant cluster.

e.g. a    +      r + cons, l + cons  (before h)     ea    æ +      h + cons      ea     e    +      h final     eo

(Germanic monophthongizations were substituted into Old English diphthongs)

a > eaGothic arms > OE earm > NE arm

OHG fallan > OE eahta (Kent, Wes.) > NE eight æ > ea

OHG Saltz > *sælt > OE sealt > NE salt

OHE haltan > *hældan > OE healdan > NE hold

OHG sah > sæh > OE seah > NE saw

OHG nah > *nǣh > OE nēah > NE near e > eoOHG fehtan > OE feohtan > NE fight

OHG fehu (fihu) > OE feoh > NE fee

Gothic sterra > OE steorra > NE star

OG herza > OE heorte > NE heart

3.2. Palatal Mutation (i-umlaut)

narrowing of the vowel in the stressed position syllable under the influence of i or j

of the following syllable

a > æ; a>e

Goth. sandjan > OE sendan > NE sendOE framian > OE fremman > NE frame

ā > ǣ

OE hālian > OE hǣlan > NE healOE ānīʒ > OE ǣniʒ > NE any, one

o > oe, e (Dat., singular)OE dohtor > OE dehter < L. *dohtri > NE daughter

OE ofstian > OE efstian > NE to hurry

ō > ēOE ʒōs > OE ʒēs < L. ʒosiz > NE goose

OE tōÞ > OE tēÞ < G. *toÞiz > NE tooth-teeth

u > yOE full > OE fyllan < *fullian> NE full

OE hnutu > OE hnyte >< *hnutiz > NE nut

ū > ȳOE mūs > OE mȳs <* mūsiz > NE mouse – mice

OE cūðian > OE cȳðan > NE to announce

Palatal mutation diphthongs

ea > ieOE eald > OE ieldra > NE elder

OE hleahian > OE hliehhan > NE laugh

eo > ieOE feor > OE fierra > NE further

OE ʓeonʓ > OE ʓienʓra > NE younger

ēā > īe

OE hēarian > OE hīeran > NE hear

OE ʓelēafa > OE ʓelīefan > NE believe

Ancient Mutations

goose – geese tooth – teeth man – men mouse – mice hale – health

doom – deem full – file whole – heal fall – fell (vb.) blood – bleed foul – filth

Some English word pairs showing the effects of a

phonological change which took place over 1,200 years ago.

3.3. Back, or Velar Mutation

Back vowels o/u (sometimes a) influencing the preceding syllable caused the formation of diphthongs.

The process was not universal (in west

saxon literary language it occurred only

before the sounds r, l, p, b, f, m)

e.g.

i > io

OE hira > OE hiora > NE their

OE silufr > OE siolufr > NE silver

OE sifon > OE siofon > NE seven

OE limu > OE liomu > NE limbs

e > eo

OE hefon > OE heofon > NE heaven

OE efor > OE eofor > NE boar

a > ea

OE saru > OE searu > NE armour

3.4. Diphthongization after Palatal Consonants

Diphthongs resulted diphthongization after palatal consonants sk', k' and j (in spelling c, sc, ʓ)

a > ea

Lat. castra > OE ceaster > NE townOE scacan > OE sceacan > NE shakeOE scamu > OE sceamu > NE shame

e > ieOE ʓefan > OE ʓiefan > NE give

OE ʓetan > OE ʓietan > NE get

æ > ea (the æ sound was actually derived from a).

OE ʓæf > OE ʓeaf > NE gave

OE ʓæt > OE ʓeat > NE year

o > eo OE scort > OE sceort > NE short

OE yong > OE ʓeon ʓ > NE young

3.5. Mutation before h

Sounds a and e that preceded h underwent several changes:- mutating to diphthongs ea, ie and finally were reduced to i/y:

e.g.

OE naht > neaht > niht > nieht > nyht > NE night

The words with such mutation are not very numerous. It

is observed in the past tense of the verb maʓan (may)

meahte > miehte > mihte > myhte and several other

words.

3.6. Contraction

The  consonant  h  proved  to  have  interfered  with  the development  of  many  sounds.  When  h  was  placed between two vowels the following changes occurred:

 etht vowel > OE ēō – sehen > seon > NE see itht vowel > OE ēō – tihan > tēōn > NE accuse otht vowel > OE ō – fohan > fōn > NE catch

3.7. Lengthening of vowels before the clusters nd, ld, mb

Explains the exception in the rules of reading the sounds in the closed syllables in the present­day English:

e.g. climb, find, bold, told, comb.

4. Consonants Changes in Old English

The OE system of consonants phonemes have changed but  little  in  comparison  with  other  Germanic languages.  The  system  of  consonants  of  the  Old English  period  is  presented  in  the  following  table (every short consonant in OE had a corresponding long one):

4.1. Voicing of fricatives in intervocal position

f > v

OE ofer [over] – NE over

OE hlāf – hlāfas ['hlāvas] –

NE leaf – leaves

OE wif – wīfe, wīfa [wīvǝ,

wīva] – NE wife – wives

Ɵ > ð

OE ōðer [ōðer] – NE

other

OE raðe [raðǝ] – NE

quickly

Voiced sibilant z was very unstable in OE (and other west-Germanic languages) and very soon changed into r (rhotacism)

wesun – weren (now were, but was)

maiza – māra (now more, but most)

It is due to rhotacism that common Indo-European suffix

-iza (Ukr. -iш) used to form the degrees of comparison is so

different now in Ukrainian. and English, but comparing

such words as:

Goth. softiza – Ukr. тихішеOE softra – NE softer.

We may easily find that the suffix is essentially the same.

4.2. Palatalization of the sounds k', sk' and kg' (marked as c, sc and cʓ) developed in assibilation, that is formation of a sibilant in places before front vowels.

c > [k] > [ʧ] > chcild > child

ceosan > choose

hwilc > which

sc [sk] > [ʃ] > shsceap > sheep

scip > ship

sceotan > shoot

sceort > short cʓ [ɡɡ'] > [dʓ] > dɡ

brycʓ > bridge

hrycʓ > ridge

wecʓ > wedge

4.3. Assimilation before t

velar + t > htsēcan – (sōcte) > sōhte – NE seek – sought

brinʓan > brōhte – NE bring – brought labial + t > ftʓesceapan > ʓeaseaft –

NE creature fn > mnstefn > stemn (voice)

dental + t > sswitan > wisse (instead of witte-knew) fm > mmwifman > wimman

(woman) dð > t bindð > bint (binds)

The sound t when it was preceded by a number of consonants changed the quality  of a preceding sound.

4.4. Loss of consonants in certain positions

bronhte – brōhte – NE brought

fimf – fif – NE fire

onðer - ōðer – NE other

munð – mūð – NE mouth

Other examples of similar loss was the loss of ʓ before d and n; the vowel was lengthened, too:

mæʓden – mǣden – NE maiden

sæʓde – sæde – NE said

Besides h that was lost in intervocal position, the sounds n and m were lost before h, entailing the

lengthening of the preceding vowel:

4.5. Metathesis of r

cons + r + vowel > cons + vowel + r

OE ðridda – ðirda – NE third

OE brunnan – burnan – NE burn

OE hros – hors – NE horse

Metathesis of sounds is observed also with other sounds:

ascian – axian – NE ask

wascan – waxan – NE wash

In several OE words the following change of the position of consonants takes place:

4.6. West Germanic gemination of consonants

OE fullian – fyllan > NE fill

OE sætjan – settan > NE set

OE salian – sellan > NE sell, origionall give

OE talian – tellan > NE tell

In the process of palatal mutation, when j was lost and the preceding vowel was short,

 the consonant after it was doubled (geminated):

Questions for Self- Control

What was the main tendency of the changes of stressed long vowels? What was the main tendency of the changes of stressed short vowels? What vowel change is called “breaking”? What vowel change is called “diphthongization”? What vowel change is called “palatal mutation”? What vowel change is called “velar mutation”? What are the principal features of the OE vowels?

Questions for Self-Control (continued)

What peculiar features did the consonants have in OE?

What change is called “hardening”? What change is called “rhotacism”? What change is called “gemination”? What caused splitting of velar consonants

in OE? What vowels could be used in the

unstressed position in OE?