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History of English > Early Modern English: Phonology > Flashcards

Early Modern English: Phonology Flashcards

1
Q

Great Vowel Shift

A
  • massive change of long vowels
  • during the Great Vowel Shift all the Middle English long vowels (7) were raised
  • vowels moved from the open area of the mouth to the closed area
  • the vowels that could not be raised any further became diphthongs and moved towards the center
    > this happened SLOWLY over three phases
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2
Q

three Phases of the Great Vowel Shift
- time frame

A
  1. from 1400 - 1550
  2. from 1550 - 1700
  3. from 1700 - 1800
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3
Q

/i:/
- e.g. in fly, child, tide
- spelling in ModE: i,y,iCe
- C = any Consonant

A
  • In Middle English: /i:/
  • In Early Modern English:
    1. from 1400 - 1550: /əi/
    2. from 1550 - 1700: /ai/
    3. from 1700 - 1800: -
  • In Modern English: /ai/
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4
Q

/e:/
- e.g. in meet, field
- spelling in ModE: ee, ie

A
  • In Middle English: /e:/
  • In Early Modern English:
    1. from 1400 - 1550: /i:/
    2. from 1550 - 1700: -
    3. from 1700 - 1800: -
  • In Modern English: /i:/
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5
Q

/ɛː/
(meet - meat merger)
- e.g. in meat, complete
- spelling in ModE: ea, eCe
- C = any Consonant

A
  • In Middle English: /ɛː/
  • In Early Modern English:
    1. from 1400 - 1550: /e:/
    2. from 1550 - 1700: /i:/
    3. from 1700 - 1800: -
  • In Modern English: /i:/
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6
Q

/a:/
- e.g. in make
- spelling in ModE: aCe
- C = any Consonant

A
  • In Middle English: /a:/
  • In Early Modern English:
    1. from 1400 - 1550: /æ:/ to /ɛ:/
    2. from 1550 - 1700: /e:/
    3. from 1700 - 1800: /eɪ/
  • In Modern English: /eɪ/
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7
Q

/ɔː/
- e.g. in boat, hope
- spelling in ModE: oa, oCe
- C = any Consonant

A
  • In Middle English: /ɔ:/
  • In Early Modern English:
    1. from 1400 - 1550: /o:/
    2. from 1550 - 1700: -
    3. from 1700 - 1800: /əʊ/
  • In Modern English: /əʊ/
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8
Q

/oː/
- e.g. in food, goose
- spelling in ModE: oo

A
  • In Middle English: /o:/
  • In Early Modern English:
    1. from 1400 - 1550: /u:/
    2. from 1550 - 1700: -
    3. from 1700 - 1800: -
  • In Modern English: /u:/
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9
Q

/uː/
- e.g. in house, how
- spelling in ModE: ou, ow

A
  • In Middle English: /u:/
  • In Early Modern English:
    1. from 1400 - 1550: /əʊ/
    2. from 1550 - 1700: /aʊ/
    3. from 1700 - 1800: -
  • In Modern English: /aʊ/
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10
Q

Potential Reasons for the Great Vowel Shift

A

1 Language-Inernal reasons
If vowel quality of one vowel changes, this has effects on neigbouring vowels
2 Hypothesises
- Push-Chain Reaction
- Drag-Chain Reaction
2 Language-External reasons
Sociolinguistics: Middle and Upper class wanted to distance themselves from the lower class by using a distinct pronunciation

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11
Q

Push-Chain Reaction
- Language-Internal Reason

A
  • /e:/ and /o:/ pushed to the close area
  • close vowels /i:/ and /u:/ were pushed away
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12
Q

Drag-Chain Reaction
- Language internal Reasons

A
  • empty slot was occupied by /e:/ and /o:/
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13
Q

Phonology in Early Modern English

A
  • massive changes concerning vowels
  • minor changes concerning consonants
    > the dicrepancy between spelling and pronuciation grows
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14
Q

Strut/but- vowel
- Other Vowel Changes (1)

A
  • 17th century: ctrut/but vowel /ʌ/ developed
  • Split: one phoneme /ʊ/ splits into two phonemes /ʊ/ and /ʌ/
    > e.g. ModE: cut (but butcher) & blood (but book)
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15
Q

Why same spelling (u, oo) but different pronunciation? (1.source)
- 2 sources for /ʌ/
- Strut/but- vowel (/ʌ/)
- Other Vowel Changes (1)

A

ME /ʊ/ lost its rounding and was lowered to /ʌ/
e.g.: ME:cut /kʊt/ to EModE /kʌt/

BUT: Certain surroundings:
- not developement to /ʌ/
1. if /ʊ/ was followed by /l/: bull or pull
2. if /ʊ/ was followed by /w,p,b,f/: wolf, put, butcher, full

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16
Q

Why same spelling (u, oo) but different pronunciation? (2.source)
- 2 sources for /ʌ/
- Strut/but- vowel (/ʌ/)
- Other Vowel Changes (1)

A

Me /o:/ spelt frequently with oo
- during the Great Vowel Shift /o:/ is raised to /u:/
- /u:/ is sometimes shortened to /ʊ/
- Two time slots for the shortening:
> Early shortening: /ʊ/ was lowered to /ʌ/
> Late shortening: /ʊ/ did not change

> This explains todays discrepancies
Spelling: oo
/ʌ/ blood, flood
/ʊ/ book, good, foot, look

17
Q

Pronunciation of fast in BrE and AmE
- Other Vowel Changes (2)

A
  • Middle English /a:/ became /æ/
  • e.g. hat fat, cat
    18th century /æ/ became /ɑː/ in certain environments and only in British English
  • /æ/ in front of voiceless fricatives:
  • e.g.: fast. past, staff, class, half
    American English kept pronunciation with /æ/

BrE: fast /fɑːst/, staff /stɑːf/
AmE: fast /fæst/, staff /stæf/

18
Q

Consonants were no longer pronounced

A
  • voiceless palatal fricative /c̩/: bright or sigh
  • voiceless velar fricative /x:/: taught or bought
    > phonemes are no longer there
  • word-final /b/ and /g/: thumb, long
  • /k/ und /g/ before /n/: knee or gnaw
  • Lateral /l/ i some words: talk ord half
  • /w/ in some words: sword, answer, write
    > silent letters just in these particular words, phonemes still exist
19
Q

Consonants that were pronounced differently

A

Voiceless, velar, ficative /x/ to /f/: enough, laugh

20
Q

Vocalisation of /r/ after vowels and word-finally

A
  • BrE: herb, birth, fur, here, there, poor
21
Q

Two new consonant phonemes in EModE

A
  • /ŋ/
  • /ʒ/
22
Q
  • /ŋ/
A
  • /ŋ/ already existed in Middle English but only as an allophone [ŋ]
  • in EModE word-final /-g/ was lost
  • /ŋ/ reaches phonemic status, distinguishes meaning

sing: /sɪŋ/ ans sin: /sɪn/ are minimal pairs

23
Q
  • /ʒ/
A
  • /ʒ/ developed from /z/ + /j/ or /ɪ/
  • Vluster /zj/ or /zi/ became palatalised in the 17th century
  • Result: new phoneme /ʒ/
    > Coalescence

Occurence:
- in Frechn loan words: rouge, prestige
- in cluster /zj/ or /zi/: measure, usual, occasion

Process is still active today
- ModE: different pronunciation for azure
- /ˈæzjʊə ˈæʒə ˈeɪʒə/ → development of /zj/to/ʒ/

24
Q

1 Please briefly describe what happened during the Great Vowel Shift.

A
  • massive change of long vowels
  • during the Great Vowel Shift all the Middle English long vowels (7) were raised
  • vowels moved from the open area of the mouth to the closed area
  • the vowels that could not be raised any further became diphthongs and moved towards the center
    > this happened SLOWLY over three phases
25
Q

2 Today spelling is a good indication of Middle English pronunciation. Which Middle English vowel phonemes occurred in the sea and see and meat and meet? How are the vowels pronounced today?

A
  • /ɛː/
    (meet - meat merger)
  • e.g. in meat, complete
  • spelling in ModE: ea, eCe
  • C = any Consonant
  • In Middle English: /ɛː/
  • In Early Modern English:
    1. from 1400 - 1550: /e:/
    2. from 1550 - 1700: /i:/
    3. from 1700 - 1800: -
  • In Modern English: /i:/
26
Q

3 Which vowel phoneme occurs in Modern English pronunciation of great, steal, and break? Which vowel phoneme do these words contain in Middle English?

A
  • they don’t followed the Great Vowel shift, an exception to the rule
  • ME: /ɛː/
  • ModE: /eɪ/
27
Q

4 The word look or blood are both spelled with <oo>. Why is <oo> pronounced in Mod. E. with /ʊ/ in look, but with/ʌ/ in blood?</oo></oo>

A

Me /o:/ spelt frequently with oo
- during the Great Vowel Shift /o:/ is raised to /u:/
- /u:/ is sometimes shortened to /ʊ/
- Two time slots for the shortening:
> Early shortening: /ʊ/ was lowered to /ʌ/
> Late shortening: /ʊ/ did not change

> This explains todays discrepancies
Spelling: oo
/ʌ/ blood, flood
/ʊ/ book, good, foot, look

28
Q

5 Which two consonant phonemes emerged in Early Modern English?

A
  • /ŋ/
  • /ʒ/
29
Q

6 Give three words were the consonants occur in the word’s spelling but are no longer pronounced!

A
  • voiceless palatal fricative /c̩/: bright or sigh
  • voiceless velar fricative /x:/: taught or bought
    > phonemes are no longer there
  • word-final /b/ and /g/: thumb, long
  • /k/ und /g/ before /n/: knee or gnaw
  • Lateral /l/ i some words: talk ord half
  • /w/ in some words: sword, answer, write
    > silent letters just in these particular words, phonemes still exist

History of English (14 decks)

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