Middle English Phonology Phonological change did not take place because of the Norman Conquest. It was already underway in late OE and continued in ME. However, after the demise of the West Saxon standard, phonological changes become easier to detect through spelling. Vowels OE ME Old English Middle English 1. /æ/ > /a/ þæt /æ/ that /a/ ‘that’ 2. /æ:/1 > /ɛ:/ sǣ /æ:/ sē2 /ɛ:/ ‘sea’ 3. /y/ > /i/ synn /y/ sin /i/ ‘sin’ 4. /y:/ > /i:/ hȳdan /y:/ hīden /i:/ ‘hide’ 5. /ɛə/3 > /a/ hearm /ə/ harm /a/ ‘harm’ 6. /ɛə:/ > /e:/ strēam /ɛə:/ strēme /ɛ:/ ‘stream’ 7. /eə/ > /ɛ/ heofon /eə/ heven /ɛ / ‘heaven’ 8. /eə:/ > /e:/ bēon /eə/ bēn /e:/ ‘to be’ 9. /a:/ > /ɔ:/ bān /a:/ bōn /ɔ:/ ‘bone’ Sound change (9) occurred after 1250 and only in the south of England. If we know a text is southern we can thus date it to before or after the mid thirteenth century by this criterion. We can also use this criterion for texts which we know were written after 1250 to determine whether they are northern or southern. Exercise Transcribe phonetically the OE words below; then indicate the ‘stressed vowel change’ by writing the number of the appropriate rule from the list of nine changes above. Transcribe phonetically the ME and MnE forms. Remember that unstressed OE vowels were reduced to /ə/ in ME. For MnE do not mark vowel length. The consonants for the most part remained unchanged. 1 This is the /æ:/ that resulted from i-mutation of /a:/ in OE. 2 In traditional notation a hook below a vowel indicates that the vowel is lax (open) and a dot indicates that the vowel is tense (close). 3 The pronunciations /ɛə(:)/ and /ɛə(:)/ for OE a and o represent slightly simplified approximations of the actual qualities of these vowels and do not give the best indication of why each vowel developed in the way it did. Most likely, the first elements of each of these diphthongs was different, although spelt the same, and this explains why they developed differently in early ME.Old English Stressed Vowel Middle English Modern English Change hǣþen __________ __________ heþen __________ heathen __________ cræft __________ __________ craft __________ craft __________ fȳr __________ __________ fir __________ fir __________ healf __________ __________ half __________ half __________ dēop __________ __________ dep __________ deep __________ stān __________ __________ ston __________ stone __________ stēap __________ __________ stepe __________ steep __________ cyssan __________ __________ kisse __________ kisse __________ seofon __________ __________ seven __________ seven __________ glēo __________ __________ gle __________ glee __________ dæl __________ __________ del __________ deal __________ hāl __________ __________ hol __________ whole __________ The above sound changes are changes of vowel quality. There were also changes of vowel quantity (length) with far-reaching consequences. 1. Lengthening in late OE before the consonant clusters ld, mb, nd. OE ċild /tʃild/ > ME chīld /tʃi:ld/. Lengthening did not occur before three consonants, e.g. children /tʃildrən/. 2. Shortening in early ME. a. Before double consonants and consonant clusters, except those that caused lengthening; e.g. OE cēpte /ke:ptə/ ‘he kept’ > ME kepte /kɛptə/. b. In the first syllable of trisyllabic words. Thus OE hāliȝdæȝ /ha:lijdæj/ ‘holiday’ > ME halidai /ha:lidɛi/. 3. Lengthening of a, e, and o in open syllables in disyllabic words. (Open syllables end in a vowel. In disyllabic words a single consonant between the vowels goes with the second syllable and leaves the first syllable open; two or more consonants make the syllable closed.) Thus OE nama /nama/ ‘name’ > ME nāme
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