Lecture 1. 2 History of the English

Lecture 1. 2 History of the English Language

Old English Sounds System 1. Alphabet and Pronunciation 2. OE Consonants 3. OE Vowels 4. Changes in OE Vowel System 5. Changes in OE Consonant System

Old English Alphabet

Old English Sounds

1. a [a] zān (go) and (and) 2. æ [æ] δæt (that) 3. b [b] bān (bone) 4. c [k] caru (care) and [tj] before front vowels cild (child) 5. d [d] dēor (deer; in old times animal) 6. e [e] mete (meat; in old times food) 7. f [f] findan (find) and [v] in intervocal position lufu (love) 8. Ʒ was one of the remnants of the runic alphabet called joh (yoke), and it had several readings [g] Ʒān (go) [j] Ʒēar (year) [γ] at the beginning of the word before back vowels and after n and between two back vowels: sorƷian (sorrow), folƷian (follow), Ʒuma (man, human), daƷas (days) 9. h [h] hām (home), him (him), huntoδ (hunting) 10. i [ι] hit (it), him (him), lim (limb) 11. l [l] lytel (little), līf (life), lufu (love)

12. m [m] man (man), macian (make) 13. n [nj nama (name), neah (near) 14. o [o] fan (catch), mona (moon) 15. p [pj pera (pear), up (up) 16. r [r] riht (right), rinjan (ring), wyrcan (work) 17. s [s] sittan (sit), sinƷan (sing) 18. t [tj treo (tree), tellan (tell) 19. Ђ was developed from the rune thorn [ ] Ђæt (that), Ђridda (third), ЂinƷ (thing); [ ] in the intervocal position ōЂer (other) , brōЂor (brother) 20. u [u] wudu (wood) 21. w [w] in original Old English texts it was p wynn from the rune meaning joy: winnan (win), weorЂan (become) 22. x [ks] oxa (ox) 23. y [u] fyllan (fill), lytel (little)

Old English Consonants Manner Place Noise Sonorants occlusive constricti ve nasal lateral Cacumi nal Labial p b w m Labio-dent al f-v Forelingual Interdental Þ -Ð Forelingual Dental t d s-z n l r Mediolingu al k’ g’ x’ j γ ’ Backlingu al k g x γ Glottal h

Vowel Systems Compared Language Monophthongs Diphthongs Indo-European i e a o u ī ē ā ō ū Germanic i/e e/i a o/u ī ē ō ū ai au eu iu Old English i e æ aå o u y ī ē æ ā ō ū ÿ ea eo ie io éa éo íe ío

Breaking (Fracture) æ → ea e → eo + r/l/h+cons. a → ea + h final hard → heard (hard) ahta → eahta (eight) ærm → earm (arm) lirnan → liornan half → healf (half) herte → heorte (heart) BUT æld → ald ( Northumbrian, Kentish)

Palatal Mutation before X’ eo, ea → ie, i/y + ht naht →neaht →nieht →nyht (night)

I-umlaut ( before i, j) Monophthongs Diphthongs a > e framian > fremman “perform” sandian > sendan Anglus > Engle æ > e tælian > tellan sælian > sellan ā > æ lārian > læran o > e ofstian > efstan “hurry” ō > ē dōmian > dēman “judge” wōpian > wēpan “weep” u > y fullian > fyllan “fill” ū > ÿ cūþian > cÿþan ea > ie earmiþu > iermþu “poverty” hleahian > hliehan “laugh” ēa > ïe elefian > eliefan Ʒ Ʒ “ believe” hēarian > hïeran “hear” eo > ie afoerian > afierran “ remove” ēo > ïe etreowi > etriewe Ʒ Ʒ “true”

Diphthongization Due to Initial Palatal Consonant k’, j+ front vowel sk’ + any vowel ( c, sc, z ) a → ea skal →sceal (shall) scamu →sceamu (shame) a → ea skaggwon →sceawian (to show) e → ie Ʒ efan → Ʒ iefan (to give) æ → ea Ʒ æf → Ʒ eaf (gave) æ → ea Ʒ ar → Ʒ ear (year) o → eo scort → sceort (short)

Back (velar) Mutation the next vowel o/u, a i → io hira → hiora (their) e → eo hefon→ heofon (heaven) a → ea saru → searu (armour)

Contraction + h+ vowel a → ea slahan → sl é an (slay) e/i → eo sehen → s é on (see) o → o hohan → h ō n (hang)

Grimm’s Law bh dh gh → b d g Sanscrit bhrata → Goth brōδar, OE brōδor (brother) Sanscrit madhu → OE mēdu (mead) Latin (g)hostis → Goth gast b d g → p t k Lith. bala, Ukr. болото → OE pōl Latin edere → Goth itan, OE ētan p t k → f θ h Latin pater → Goth fadar, OE fæder Latin tu → Goth δū, OE δū Latin octo → Goth ahtau, OE eahta EXCEPTION: s + p t k → f θ h tres → δreo BUT sto → standan Verner’s Law p t k → b d g if preceded by an unstressed vowel Latin pater → Goth fadar, OE fæder

Voiceless Fricatives in the Intervocal Position [f] [v] wulf, wulfas [ ] [ δ ] cwe Þan to say [s] [z] wesan to be

Loss of Consonant [n], [m], [h] before [f], [ T] , [s] *finf fíf 5 *ton Þ tōÞ (tooth) * *seohan séon (to see)

Palatalisation of Backlingual Consonants [k’] [t ] cild child, cinn chinn, ceowan chewan (chew) [sk’] [ ] fisc fish [g’] [d ] brujio bryc Ʒ bridge

Reduction/Simplification of initial [hr], [hn], [hl] hrin ring (ring) hnutu nute (nut) hlūd (loud) [hw] OE hwæt M Е what (what) OE hwít M Е whít (white)

Se wisa wer timbrode his hus ofer stan. Þa com þær micel flod, and þær bleowon windas, and ahruron on þæt hus, and hit ne feoll: soþlice, hit wæs ofer stan getimbrod. Þa timbrode se dysiga wer his hus ofer sandceosol. Þa rinde hit, and þær com flod, and bleowon windas, and ahruron on þæt hus, and þæt hus feoll; and his hryre wæs micel. The wise man built his house on stone. Then a great flood came there, and winds blew there, and fell down upon the house, and it did not fall: truly, it was built on stone. Then the foolish man built his house on sand [lit sand-gravel]. Then it rained, and a flood came there, and winds blew, and fell down upon the house, and the house fell; and its fall was great.

Further Practice http: //www. arts. gla. ac. uk/stella/readings/i ndex. htm

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