Dialects: sound and spelling

Question 1

How did the pronunciation of palatalised velars ([k/g]) differ across Middle English dialects?

Answer 1

1. Northern: no palatalisation (kirk for church)
2. Midlands: mixed; some palatalised forms (church) and some not (frankis)
3. Southern (+ Kentish): palatalisation present (church, French).

Question 2

How was the sound [ʃ] (as in “shall”) pronounced in different dialects?

Answer 2

1. Northern: fronted to [s] (sal instead of “shall”).
2. Midlands: mixed forms, using both shal and sal.
3. Southern (Kentish): consistently used shal.

Question 3

How did the shortening of “on” vary by region?

Answer 3

1. Northern: became mon, ond
2. Midlands: mixed forms, sometimes on and sometimes an.
3. Southern (Kentish): consistently an (man instead of “mon”).

Question 4

How did the long [a:] vowel evolve in different dialects?

Answer 4

1. Northern: often shifted to [ɔ:], ham (home), mast (most).
2. Midlands: mostly shifted to [ɔ:], hom, most.
3. Southern: consistently shifted to [ɔ:], hom, most.

Question 5

How did initial fricatives ([f] and [s]) vary across regions?

Answer 5

1. Northern and Midlands: remained voiceless ([f], [s]), e.g., fox, song
2. Southern: voiced to [v] and [z] in some words, e.g., vox, zong.

Question 6

How did the hw/qu sounds (like in “what”) vary by dialect?

Answer 6

1. Northern: replaced hw with qu, as in quat (what).
2. Midlands and Southern: used hw or wh, as in what.