Lecture 1 2 p History of the English

Lecture 1. 2 p History of the English Language

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

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 occlusive constrictiv e nasal lateral Labial p w m n l Sonorants b Labio-dental f-v Forelingual Interdental Cacumin al Þ -Ð d s-z Mediolingua k’ l g’ x’ j γ’ k g x γ Forelingual Dental Backlingual Glottal t h r

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

Breaking (Fracture) pæ → ea p e → eo p a → ea + r/l/h+cons. + 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’ p 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 Ʒelefian > Ʒeliefan “believe” hēarian > hïeran “hear” eo > ie afoerian > afierran “remove” ēo > ïe Ʒetreowi > Ʒetriewe “true”

Diphthongization Due to Initial Palatal Consonant k’, j+ front vowel sk’ + any vowel ( c, sc, z ) p a → ea skal →sceal (shall) scamu →sceamu (shame) p a → ea skaggwon →sceawian (to show) p e → ie pæ → ea p o → eo Ʒefan → Ʒiefan (to give) Ʒæf → Ʒeaf (gave) Ʒar → Ʒear (year) scort → sceort (short)

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

Contraction p + h+ vowel pa p → ea slahan → sléan (slay) p e/i p sehen → séon (see) po p → eo →o hohan → hōn (hang)

Grimm's Law p p p p 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 p [ ] [δ] cweÞan to say p [s] [z] wesan to be p

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

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

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

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. 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 Þa timbrode se dysiga wer his hus house on sand [lit sand-gravel]. ofer sandceosol. Þa rinde hit, and Then it rained, and a flood came þær com flod, and bleowon windas, there, and winds blew, and fell and ahruron on þæt hus, and þæt down upon the house, and the hus feoll; and his hryre wæs micel. house fell; and its fall was great.

Further Practice p http: //www. arts. gla. ac. uk/stella/readings/ index. htm

The END