Phonetic peculiarities of the Middle English and Modern

Phonetic peculiarities of the Middle English and Modern English periods 1

What type and place of the word accentuation was typical to the Middle English? What were the most important Vowel and Consonant changes in ME? Why do we speak about the phonetic peculiarities of the Middle English and Modern English periods? Brainstorming activity 2

The sound system of the English language has undergone profound changes in the thousand years which have elapsed since the Old English period. The changes affected the: Word accentuation Vowels Consonants 3

WORD STRESS The place of word stress In Old English The position of the stress was Fixed on the first syllable The type of word stress In Old English syllable was made prominent by an increase in the force of articulation; in other words, a dynamic or a force stress was employed. In Middle English & Early New English The position of Word Stress has become relatively free and it’s phonological application has widened: it con be shifted in word derivation, though it is never moved in building grammatical form. In Middle English & Early New English A dynamic or a force type of word stress 4

Which Vowel Change was the most important in ME? Why was it the most important? Brainstorming activity 5

Vowel changes in Early Middle English and Late Middle English Quantitative Vowel changes Qualitative Vowel changes Monophthongs Diphthongs 6

Weakening of Unstressed Vowels An important change characteristic of the ME period affected the unstressed vowels. All unstressed vowels were as a rule weakened and reduced to a neutral vowel something like [ə], which was denoted by the letter e. Thus, for example, the infinitive suffix -an was reduced to -en, as in bindan binden, tellan tellen, etc. ; in a similar way, sunu sune, sone 'son' , e. g the nominative plural ending -as became -es, as in stanas stpnes, and the like. This weakening of unstressed vowels is closely connected with developments in declension and conjugation. From the 13 th century onwards, some dialects showed certain vacillation in spelling unstressed vowels, which probably reflected peculiarities of pronunciation. 7

Study the chart. Pay attention to the Quantitative Vowel Changes in Late OE and ME Phonetic conditions Before sonorant plus plosive (ld, nd, mb) Before other consonant sequences In open syllables OE feld Change illustrated ME field [fe: ld] OE fiftiʒ ME fifty [‘fifti] OE talu ME tale [‘ta: le] Vowels become long Vowels become short Vowels become Long & more open NE field NE fifty NE tale 8

QUALITATIVE VOWEL CHANGES IN EARLY MIDDLE ENGLISH As compared with quantitative changes, qualitative vowel changes in early ME were less important. They affected several monophthongs and displayed considerable dialectal diversity. On the whole they were independent of phonetic environment. 9

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To sum up the results of Early MD vowel changes the system of vowels in Late ME is given in the table 11

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Study the table. What sounds were concerned by it? What is the result of The Great Vowel Shift? 13

The Great Vowel Shift is the name given to a series of changes of long vowels between the 14 th and the 18 th c. During this period all the long became closer or diphthongised. The changes can be defined as “independent”, as they were not caused by any apparent phonetic conditions in the word, but affected regularly every stressed long vowel in any position. 14

What sound is [r] in Modern English? What is meant by the term “vocalisation”? Brainstorming activity 15

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In Old English there were no affricates and no sibilants except [s, z]. The new type of Consonants developed from Old English palatal plosives [k’, g’] and also from the Consonant cluster [sk’]. The three new Phonemes which arose from these sources were [t∫], [dʒ] and [∫] They appeared on the basis of the native words e. g. OE fisc → NE fish [fi∫] OE cild → NE child [t∫aild] 17

Development of Sibilants and Affricates in Early New English on the basis of borrowed words 18

Why is the Modern English called as the period of lost endings? How do we pronounce the following words? Brainstorming activity 19

What are the not pronounced consonants in the following words: climb year listen honour know dumb Brainstorming activity 20

LOSS OF CONSONANTS The consonants [j ] and [r] were vocalized under certain phonetic conditions — finally and before consonants — during the ME and Early NE periods, though they continued to be used in other environments. Some consonants were lost in consonant clusters, which became simpler and easier to pronounce, e. g. the initial [x] survived in ME as an aspirate [h], when followed by a vowel, but was lost when followed by a sonorant. In Early NE the aspirate [h] was lost initially before vowels— though not in all the words this sound is pronounced. In Early NE the initial consonant sequences [kn] and [gn] were simplified to [n]. Simplification of final clusters produced words in which [mb] lost the final [b]. 21

ME Sound Changes Vowel changes - Quantitative Vowel changes - Qualitative Vowel changes -Weakening of Unstressed Vowels - The Great Vowel Shift Consonant changes -Vocalisation of “r” - Appearance of Sibilants - Loss of Comsonants 22

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Study the table. What sounds were concerned by it? What is the result of The Great Vowel Shift? 25

What sound is [r] in Modern English? What is meant by the term “vocalisation”? Brainstorming activity 26

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