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    Old English Phonetics

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    Gregorio Romera González
    This document provides an overview of Old English spelling and phonology. It discusses several key points: 1. Spelling irregularities that existed between Old English spelling and pronunciation. 2. Major vowel and consonant changes that occurred in Old English, including breaking, palatal mutation, diphthongization, back mutation, and mutation before 'h'. 3. Specific consonant changes such as voicing of fricatives, palatalization, assimilation before 't', and loss of consonants in certain positions. The document aims to help readers understand these phonetic irregularities and sound changes between Old English and modern English spelling and pronunciation. It provides terminology and examples to illustrate each phonological

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    Old English Phonetics

    Uploaded by

    Gregorio Romera González
    536 views47 pages
    This document provides an overview of Old English spelling and phonology. It discusses several key points: 1. Spelling irregularities that existed between Old English spelling and pronunciation. 2. Major vowel and consonant changes that occurred in Old English, including breaking, palatal mutation, diphthongization, back mutation, and mutation before 'h'. 3. Specific consonant changes such as voicing of fricatives, palatalization, assimilation before 't', and loss of consonants in certain positions. The document aims to help readers understand these phonetic irregularities and sound changes between Old English and modern English spelling and pronunciation. It provides terminology and examples to illustrate each phonological

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    Old English Spelling and Phonetics useful for Old English students

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    This document provides an overview of Old English spelling and phonology. It discusses several key points: 1. Spelling irregularities that existed between Old English spelling and pronunciation. 2. Major vowel and consonant changes that occurred in Old English, including breaking, palatal mutation, diphthongization, back mutation, and mutation before 'h'. 3. Specific consonant changes such as voicing of fricatives, palatalization, assimilation before 't', and loss of consonants in certain positions. The document aims to help readers understand these phonetic irregularities and sound changes between Old English and modern English spelling and pronunciation. It provides terminology and examples to illustrate each phonological

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    536 views47 pages

    Old English Phonetics

    Uploaded by

    Gregorio Romera González
    This document provides an overview of Old English spelling and phonology. It discusses several key points: 1. Spelling irregularities that existed between Old English spelling and pronunciation. 2. Major vowel and consonant changes that occurred in Old English, including breaking, palatal mutation, diphthongization, back mutation, and mutation before 'h'. 3. Specific consonant changes such as voicing of fricatives, palatalization, assimilation before 't', and loss of consonants in certain positions. The document aims to help readers understand these phonetic irregularities and sound changes between Old English and modern English spelling and pronunciation. It provides terminology and examples to illustrate each phonological

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    of 47

    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

    4. Consonants Changes in
    Old English

    2. The Phonetic Alphabet

    4.1. Voicing of fricatives in


    intervocal position

    3. Vowel changes in Old


    English

    4.2. Palatalization of the


    Sounds (c,sc,c)

    3.1. Breaking (Fracture)

    4.3. Assimilation before t

    3.2. Palatal Mutation (iumlaut)

    4.4. Loss of consonants in


    certain positions

    3.3. Diphthongization after


    Palatal Consonants

    4.5. Metathesis of r

    3.4. Back, or Velar Mutation


    3.5. Mutation before h.
    3.6. Contraction

    4.6. West Germanic


    gemination of consonants
    Conclusion

    Key Terms to Know

    monophthongs

    Back/Velar Mutation

    diphthongs

    Mutation before h

    Assimilation

    Contraction

    Breaking (fracture)

    Voicing of Fricatives

    Palatalization

    Palatalization of j

    Assimilation before t

    Palatal mutation (iumlaut)


    Diphthongization

    Gemination of
    Consonants

    Recommended Literature
    Obligatory
    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. 7192

    L.Verba. History of the English language. - Vinnitsa, 2004. - PP. 3038

    Additional:
    . . . - ., 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 (sourceunknown)


    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:
    a

    b
    c [k], [k']
    d
    e
    f [f], [v]
    [], ['], [j], []
    h [x], [x'], [h]
    j
    y [y]

    L
    m
    n
    o
    /
    p
    r
    s [s], [z]
    [] ,[]
    u
    w

    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

    hlforde ['xla:vrd]
    cynine ['kynig]

    Nom. case

    hlford ['xla:vord]
    cynin ['kynig].

    Polysyllabic words, especially compounds,


    may have had two stresses, chief and
    secondary. The was fixed on the first rootmorpheme. 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.:
    -'risan, mis-'faran v (NE arise, 'go
    astray');
    'mis-dd, 'u-en 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-in n on-'inna 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(beforeh)
    +h+cons
    e+hfinal

    ea

    ea
    eo

    (Germanicmonophthongizationsweresubstitutedinto
    OldEnglishdiphthongs)

    a > ea

    Gothic arms > OE earm > NE arm


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

    > ea

    OHGSaltz>*slt > OE sealt > NE salt


    OHE haltan > *hldan > OE healdan > NE hold
    OHG sah > sh > OE seah > NE saw
    OHG nah > *nh > OE nah > NE near

    e > eo

    OHG 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 > ; a>e

    Goth. sandjan > OE sendan > NE send


    OE framian > OE fremman > NE frame

    >

    OE hlian > OE hlan > NE heal


    OE n > OE ni > NE any, one

    o > oe, e (Dat., singular)

    OE dohtor > OE dehter < L. *dohtri > NE daughter


    OE ofstian > OE efstian > NE to hurry

    >

    OE s > OE s < L. osiz > NE goose


    OE t > OE t < G. *toiz > NE tooth-teeth

    u>y

    OE full > OE fyllan < *fullian> NE full


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

    >

    OE ms > OE ms <* msiz > NE mouse mice


    OE cian > OE can > NE to announce
    Palatal mutation

    diphthongs

    ea > ie

    OE eald > OE ieldra > NE elder


    OE hleahian > OE hliehhan > NE laugh

    eo > ie

    OE feor > OE fierra > NE further


    OE eon > OE ienra > NE younger

    > e

    OE harian>OEheran>NEhear
    OEelafa>OEelefan>NEbelieve

    Ancient Mutations
    Some English word pairs
    showing the effects of a
    phonological change which
    took place over 1,200 years ago.

    goose geese
    tooth teeth
    man men
    mouse mice
    hale health

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

    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

    e > eo

    OE hira > OE hiora >


    NE their

    OE hefon > OE heofon


    > NE heaven

    OE silufr > OE siolufr >


    NE silver

    OE efor > OE eofor >


    NE boar

    OE sifon > OE siofon >


    NE seven
    OE limu > OE liomu >
    NE limbs

    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, )

    a > ea

    Lat. castra > OE ceaster > NE town


    OE scacan > OE sceacan > NE shake
    OE scamu > OE sceamu > NE shame

    e > ie

    OE efan > OE iefan > NE give


    OE etan > OE ietan > NE get

    > ea (the sound was actually


    derived from a).

    OE f > OE eaf > NE gave


    OE t > OE eat > NE year

    o > eo

    OE scort > OE sceort > NE short


    OE yong > OE eon > 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 maan (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
    betweentwovowelsthefollowingchangesoccurred:
    ethtvowel>OEsehen>seon>NEsee

    ithtvowel>OEtihan>tn>NEaccuse

    othtvowel>OEfohan>fn>NEcatch

    3.7. Lengthening of vowels before the


    clusters nd, ld, mb

    Explainstheexceptionintherulesofreading
    thesoundsintheclosedsyllablesinthe
    presentdayEnglish:
    e.g.climb,find,bold,told,comb.

    4. Consonants Changes in Old English

    TheOEsystemofconsonantsphonemeshavechanged
    but little in comparison with other Germanic
    languages. The system of consonants of the Old
    English period is presented in the following table
    (everyshortconsonantinOEhadacorrespondinglong
    one):

    4.1. Voicing of fricatives in intervocal


    position

    f>v

    OE ofer [over] NE over


    OE hlf hlfas ['hlvas]
    NE leaf leaves
    OE wif wfe, wfa [wv,
    wva] NE wife wives

    >

    OE er [er] NE
    other
    OE rae [ra] NE
    quickly

    Voiced sibilant z was very unstable in OE (and other westGermanic languages) and very soon changed into r
    (rhotacism)
    wesun weren (now were, but was)
    maiza mra (now more, but most)
    It is due to rhotacism that common Indo-European suffix
    -iza (Ukr. -i) used to form the degrees of comparison is so
    different now in Ukrainian. and English, but comparing
    such words as:
    Goth. softiza Ukr.
    OE 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 c) developed in assibilation, that is
    formation of a sibilant in places before front vowels.

    c > [k] > [] > ch

    cild > child


    ceosan > choose
    hwilc > which

    sc [sk] > [] > sh

    sceap > sheep


    scip > ship
    sceotan > shoot
    sceort > short

    c ['] > [d] > d


    bryc > bridge
    hryc > ridge
    wec > wedge

    4.3. Assimilation before t


    Thesoundtwhenitwasprecededbyanumberofconsonants
    changedthequalityofaprecedingsound.

    velar + t > ht

    scan (scte) > shte


    NE seek sought
    brinan > brhte NE
    bring brought

    labial + t > ft

    esceapan > easeaft


    NE creature

    fn > mn

    stefn > stemn (voice)

    dental + t > ss

    witan > wisse (instead of


    witte-knew)

    fm > mm

    wifman > wimman


    (woman)

    d > t

    bind > bint (binds)

    4.4. Loss of consonants in certain positions


    Besides h that was lost in intervocal position,
    the sounds n and m were lost before h, entailing the
    lengthening of the preceding vowel:
    bronhte brhte NE brought
    fimf fif NE fire
    oner - er NE other
    mun m NE mouth
    Other examples of similar loss was the loss of before d
    and n; the vowel was lengthened, too:
    mden mden NE maiden
    sde sde NE said

    4.5. Metathesis of r
    InseveralOEwordsthefollowingchange
    ofthepositionofconsonantstakesplace:
    cons + r + vowel > cons + vowel + r
    OE ridda irda 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

    4.6. West Germanic gemination of


    consonants
    Intheprocessofpalatalmutation,
    whenjwaslostandtheprecedingvowelwasshort,
    theconsonantafteritwasdoubled(geminated):
    OE
    OE
    OE
    OE

    fullian fyllan > NE fill


    stjan settan > NE set
    salian sellan > NE sell, origionall give
    talian tellan > NE tell

    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
    What
    What
    What
    What

    vowel change is called breaking?


    vowel change is called diphthongization?
    vowel change is called palatal mutation?
    vowel change is called velar mutation?
    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?

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