Historical Phonology
History of Sound Developments
PDE pronunciation and spelling
Very different from all other Western
European languages!!!
time
<i>
moonboots,
fool
<oo>
surfen,
feet
<ee>
computer
name
<a>
but
<u>
man
<a>
Nine PDE ways of spelling //
key, keep, leap, Caesar, lever,
perceive, retrieve, oblique, city
Five PDE ways of spelling /ei/
gay, name, Morgan La Fey, brae, gauge
PDE Placenames
Greenwich, Harwich, Hawick, Alnwick
Gloucester, Worcester, Leicester,
Leominster
If you want to know why this is
so, you need to study
Historical Phonology!!!
Six important „rules“
responsible for the dramatic
change of pronunciation from
OE > PDE
1) linear reduction of unstressed
syllables
English lexical stress: / \ 
OE hlāf-weard-as > lord-s
unstressed vowels
i
u
æ

i
u
a
e
o

linear
reduction
2) Loss of length correlation of
consonants (OE > ME) and
vowels (EModE > PDE)
OE: difference of quality AND quantity >
PDE difference in quality only, i.e. length is
not distinctive
OE vowel system:
monophthongs in stressed syllables
closed
front/
palatal
//
//
//
//
//
/ø΅ώ/

˝ϋ
two diphthongs: /o/ and /a/
back/
velar
open
ME vowel system in the
stressed syllable
/ī/
long
/ū/
/ọ΄/
/΅/
/ē/
//
/ā/
/i/short /u/
/e/ /o/
/a/
Monophthongs
Diphthongs
ai
oi
---
au
ou
eu
iu
Vowels in American English
Front
High
Central

i beet
boot u
Low
(Tense)
roses
(Lax)
 bit
Mid
Back
(Rounded)
put u
e bait

E bet
 but
æ bat
Rosa‘s
a father
pot
The Simple Vowel
(Tense)
boat o (Lax)
bought 
Diphthongs in American
English
y boy
ay
aw
buy
cow
system of PDE vowels in stressed
syllables
//
//
/e/ /d/ // /o/
/æ/
/a/
//
pit
put
pet pert putt port
pat part pot
9 monophthongs
system of PDE vowels in stressed
syllables
/ii/
/ui/
/uu/
/ei/
/oi/
/ou/
/ai/
peat
buoy
pate
Poe
kite
8 diphthongs
pout
Pooh
boy
schwa-diphthongs and triphthongs
peer /i/
layer /ei/
pear /e/
pyre /ai/
pore /o()/
lower /ou/
poor /u/
power /au/
3) Lengthening of vowels before
homorganic consonant clusters (ME)
OE
gold
milde
findan
wilde
haldan
feld
climban
ME
gōld
mīld(e)
fīnd(e)
wīld(e)
họ˝ld(e)
feeld /ẹ˛/
clīmb(e)
PDE
gold /gould/
mild /ai/
find /ai/
wild /ai/
hold /ou/
field //
claim /klaim/
cf. Gm.
Gold
mild
finden
wild
halten
Feld
klimmen
lengthening consonant clusters
OE short vowels were lengthened in front of
certain lengthening consonant clusters
which contain resonant consonants:
/mb/, /nd/, /ng/[g], /ld/,
/rd/, /rl/, /rn/, /rð/, /rz/
4) ME syllable type/shape type
rule
V
C
CC
VC
VCC
Vų VųC
VųCC
VV
VVC
VVCC
ME syllable type/shape types
V
Vų
VV
C
Cų
= short vowel
= long vowel
= diphthong
= single consonant
= long consonant
(very early ME only)
CC = consonant cluster.
monosyllabic combinations in
matrix presentation
V
C
CC
VC
VCC
Vų VųC
VųCC
VV
VVC
VVCC
Examples
1. -VC:
2. -VųC:
"great"
3. -VVC:
4. -VCC:
5. -VųCC:
6. -VVCC:
man
great
noise
forþ
feeld
seynt
/grt/
/nois/
/fēld/
/saint/
"noise"
"forth"
"field"
"saint"
di-syllabic words:
complementary distribution of syllable types
- VĸǺCV
: fāĴdir, nēĴdy, hūĴses
(gen.sg./pl.)
- VĹCCV : ónger, cástel, húswif
(compound)
exception: /i/
CV sone /sun/, living
/u/
tri-syllabic words
-VĹC[C]VCV:
géderide "gathered",
quýkened "quickened",
párished "perished".
This explains PDE alternations
such as:
sheep
house
child
wife
nation
~
~
~
~
~
shepherd
husband
children
woman
national
1)
2)
3)
4)
Linear reduction of unstressed
syllables
Loss of length correlation of
consonants (OE > ME) and
vowels (EModE > PDE)
Lengthening of vowels before
homorganic consonant
clusters (ME)
ME syllable type/shape type
rule
5) Tudor Vowel Shift (EModE)
Henry VII Tudor (1485-1509)
Henry VIII Tudor (1509-1547)
Mary I Tudor (1553-1558)
Elisabeth I Tudor (1558 -1603)
Tudor / Great Vowel Shift
/i/
/ai/
/ei/
/ii/
/uu/
/ī/
/ii/
/uu/
/ū/
/ọ˝/
/ẹ˝/
//
/˝/
/ā/
/u/
/au/
/ou/
short vowels
/i/
/u/
//
/e/
/o/
/æ/
//
/a/
Long vowels
ME
ī
>
lif
PDE
/ai/
life
ū
>
/au/
hus/hous house
Exceptions:
ū remains /ū/ after /w/ and before nasals
ME roum, PDE room; ME wound, PDE wound
Long vowels
ME
ẹ˝ >
deep
PDE
/ī/
deep
Exceptions:
“accelerated development”
ME ẹ˝ > Late ME ī > PDE /ai/ only in the following
words: ME brẹ˝re, frẹ˝re, quẹ˝re, dẹ˝, umpẹ˝re,
contrẹ˝ve
> PDE briar, friar, choir, die, umpire, contrive
Long vowels
ME
ọ΄ >
food
PDE
/ū/
food
ę˝ >
clēne
heeth
/ī/
clean
heath
Exceptions:
“retarded development” of the following words:
ME brę˝ke, grę˝t, stę˝ke > PDE break, great, steak
Long vowels
ME
΄ >
h΄m
moone
PDE
/ou/
home
moan
Exceptions:
“accelerated development”
ME ΄ > Late ME ọ΄ > PDE /ū/ in who, whom, two
Also irregular development of ME n΄, n΄thing,
΄n and br΄de > PDE none, nothing, one, broad
Long vowels
ā
>
// >
ME: name
flame
plane
pale
paste
haste
/ẹ˝/ >
/ei/
PDE: name
flame
plane
pale
paste
haste
Diphthongs
ME
ai
tail, bait
>
ou
=
bow /bou/
PDE
/ei/
tail, bait
/ou/
bow, low, show
au
>
//
law, raw
law, raw
Exceptions:
before nasals: ME dauncen
PDE dance
ME chaumbre PDE chamber
Diphthongs
ME
üǻ/iu/eu
new /niu/
blue /bliu/
fewe /feu/
oi
noise
voice
=
>
=
=
PDE
/ju/, /u/
new
blue
few, music
oi
noise
voice
short vowels
/i/
/u/
//
/e/
/o/
/æ/
//
/a/
ME Short Vowels
ME
i
>
e
=
o > /a/ >
PDE
// ship, sit, pit, hip
/e/ set, hen, fen, shed, knell
// pot, cock, frock (Gm. “Frack”
borrowed from English in 17th
century)
u
> //, //
cut, shut, shun, bun
a
>
/æ/ cat, fat, tat, bat
Exceptions: /a/ after /w/ > //,
what, wasp, warp, wallet
/u/ after labials unchanged in PDE //
full, bull, butcher, pudding, bush
6) Major Loss of Consonants
(EModE > PDE)
Initial consonant clusters:
knight, know, knife, gnaw, gnat
wrong, Wrangler, wretch, wring
sword
Initial consonant clusters
which, what, where, why, whether, when
cf. OE:
hrōf > roof, hrfn > raven, hlūd > loud,
hwylc > which, hwā > who /hu/
Final consonant clusters
walk, talk, chalk, would, should, could
fork, ford, birch, heard, third, board, born
taught, caught, fought, fight, light, night
strong, long, wrong, throng, bang, slang
lamb, thumb
indict
receipt, indept, dept
Lincoln
Loss of final -r
bear, beer, bier, for, forty-four,
lower, higher, fire
RP is r-less,
General American is r-full
Medial consonant clusters
windmill, landlady, government
almost
Nota bene

singer ≠ finger, England
ˊ
ˊ
Hrōþwulf > Hrōþulf > Hrolf > Rolf