sound changes Flashcards
regular change
change occurs every time the appropriate context is met
sporadic change
change only affects some words without regularity
conditioned/combinatory change
change occurs in certain phonetic environment
unconditioned/spontaneous change
change occurs irrespective of phonetic environment
Sound Changes WGmc => OE
Anglo-Frisian Comp. Lengthening
Qualitative Changes of WGmc Diphthongs
i-Mutation
Sound Changes OE => ME
Lengthening before CCv,h
Open syllable Lengthening
Shortening before CC
Trisyllabic Shortening
Southern Rounding
Sound changes ME => PDE
GVS
Raising/Lowering of short vowels
early & late shortenings
Loss of /x/
Reduction of CC
Anglo-Frisian Compensatory Lengthening
WGmc => OE
WGmc *[a, i, u] + *[n, m] + *[f, θ, s] > OE [o:, i:, u:] + [f, θ, s]
Qualitative Changes of WGmc Diphthongs
WGmc => OE
WGmc *[ai] > OE [ɑː]
WGmc *[au] > OE [æːɑ]
i-Mutation
WGmc => OE
if following unstressed syllable contains *[i, j]:
Gmc *[u(:)] > OE [y(:)]
Gmc *[o(:)] > OE [e(:)]
Gmc *[ɑ:] > OE [æː]
Gmc *[ɑ] > OE [æ / e]
relevance of i-mutation
derivation of verbs: WGmc *[jan] (tale vs tell)
derivation of nouns: WGmc *[iþu] (strong vs strength)
plural of nouns: athematic declension/ stem element missing (man vs men)
comparison of adjectives: WGmc *{-ira}, * {-ist} (long vs lenger)
Lengthening before homorganic voiced CC
OE => ME
stressed short vowels were lengthened before [m, n, ŋ, l] + [b, d, g]
NO lengthening if third consonant follows or in words with low phrasal stress
NO lengthening before [ŋg] and for non-high vowels before [nd]
Shortening before CC
OE => ME
long vowels were shortened in closed syllables (except before CCv,h)
Trisyllabic Shortening
OE => ME
long vowels were shortened in the first syllable of trisyllabic words
Open Syllable Lengthening
OE => ME
in open syllables of disyllabic words
OE stressed short vowels [ɑ/ɒ, e, o] were lengthened to ME [aː, ɛː, ɔː]
Southern Rounding
OE => ME
[ɑ:] was raised to [ɔː]
Great Vowel Shift
ME => PDE
raising/diphthongisation of long stressed vowels
GVS: ME [iː]
> PDE /aɪ/
GVS: ME [eː]
> PDE /iː/
GVS: ME [ɛː]
> PDE /iː/
GVS: ME [aː]
> PDE /eɪ/
GVS: ME [uː]
> PDE /aʊ/
GVS: ME [oː]
> PDE /uː/
GVS: ME [ɔː]
> PDE /əʊ/
ME /x/ > PDE ?
Loss of /x/
Short vowels ME => PDE?
ME [a] > PDE /æ/ (raising) OR /ɒ/ after /w/ (velarisation and rounding), e.g. what
ME [u] > PDE /ʌ/ (lowering and centralisation), e.g. sonne, OR /ʊ/ after labial plosives (lowering), e.g. bush
early shortening
ME => PDE
ME [o:] > [u:] GVS, raising
[u:] > /ʌ/ early shortening
late shortening
ME => PDE
ME [o:] > [u:] GVS, raising
[u:] > /ʊ/ late shortening
Reduction of CC
ME => PDE
ME [kn-]> PDE /n-/
ME [wr-]> PDE /r-/
ME [hw-]> PDE /w-/
ME [-st(ə)l]> PDE /-sl/
ME [-mb]> PDE /-m/
ME [-ŋg]> PDE /-ŋ/
