Phonetic System in OE1.Word stress 2. The consonant shift3. The vowels

Word StressIt was inherited from Common GermanicIn OE a syllable was made prominent by an increase in the force of articulation (force stress).It fell on the first syllable or on the root morpheme.It was fixed because it didnt shift in different grammatical forms and in word-building either.

ExamplesHlforde [xlavorde]Cyninge [kninge]Dag [dej], dagas [daas]

Primary and Secondary StressCompounds had two stresses: chief and secondary.The main stress fell on the root morpheme.In words with prefixes the stress varied.Verb prefixes were unaccented, while in nouns and adjectives the stress was on the prefix.

Examples-risan -- (v.) to ariseor-eald -- (adj.) very oldmis-dd -- (n.) misdeed

The Function of the StressIf the words were derived from the same root, word stress served to distinguish the noun from the verb:E.g.: on-gin (n.) beginning on- ginnan (v.) to begin

Common Germanic Consonant ShiftAt first sight it may appear that C.G. consonants are similar to those of other IE languages. In fact, it is different. Lets compare:Latin pater, Italian padre, English father, German Vater This alteration of the consonants is known as the First Germanic consonant shift.

Jacob Grimm and His LawI row IE p(ph), t(th), k(kh) CG f, , x.IE voiceless plosive consonants became voiceless fricatives in CG.II row IE b, d, g CG p, t, k.IE voiced plosive non aspirated consonants are shifted to CG voiceless plosive consonants.

III rowIE Bh, Dh, Gh CG v, , IE voiced plosive aspirated consonants are reflected in Germanic as voiced fricative consonants.E. g.: [p] [f] (L) pater (E) father [t] [] (L) tres (E) three [k] [x] (L) canis (E) hound [d] [t] (L) decem (E) ten

Voicing of Fricatives The Danish scholar Carl Verner (in the 19th century) noticed that the fricative consonants became voiced depending on the position of the stress.His law: All the CG fricative consonants became voiced between vowels if the preceding vowel was unstressed and the immediately following vowel bore the IE and ECG stress. E.g.: OE fder NE father.

Qualitative Changes of Consonants in OECG [] was hardened to [d].E.g.: Gt. gos OE gd

Fricatives [v] and [] were hardened to [b] and [g] initially.E.g.: Gt. guma OE guma NE man

Rhotacism

CG [z] [g] [r] E.g.: Gt. wasjan OE werian NE wear

Quantitative Changes of Consonants in OEGemination: doubling of consonants (in spelling) before [j].It led to the appearance of many long consonants.Germination of consonants occurred only after a short syllable.E.g.: EOE fuljan OE fyllan (NE fill) Before disappearing j had also caused palatal mutation of the root vowel.

Loss of Consonants

This process affected not only the consonants but also the neighbouring vowels.Nasal sonorant consonants were regularly lost before fricative consonants, in the process the preceding vowel was lengthened.E.g.: Gt. fimf OE ff NE five

OE Consonants

[p, p:, b, b:, t, t:, d, d:, k, k:, g:, k, k:, g, g:, f, f:, , :, s, s:, x, x:, x, x:, v, , z, , m, m:, n, n:, r, l, j]

OE VowelsThe OE vowel system (8th-10th centuries) was the following:Short [ I, e, , a, o, u, y]Long [i:, e:, :, a:, o:, u:, y:]There were two sets of vowels which were symmetric and distinguished one from another through length, it means that they were contrasted though their quality.

The Splitting of [a] & [a:]In EOE the CG short a split into 1) , 2) o, a, 3) a.E.g.: Gt. ata OE t Mann(a) man Long a became: 1) :, o:.E.g.: OHG dar OE r (there) OHG mano OE mona (moon)

DiphthongsThey were:[ea, eo, ie] & [ea:, eo:, ie:]They were not diphthongs but a sequence of two separate phonemes in OE. They behaved like diphthongs because the second element of the vowel combination behaved like a glide.

DiphthongsThe development of diphthongs was caused by the influence of the succeeding and preceding consonants on the EOE monophthongs.If a front vowel stood before a velar consonant there developed a short glide between them.The glide together with the original monophthong formed a diphthong.

Diphthongs1) vowel + l + consonant Gt. alls OE eall ( ea)2) h or h + consonants Gt. ahtau OE eahta (: ea:)3) r + consonants: OHG arm OE earm 4) after sk & k: OHG scal OE sceal 5) j : OHG jar OE gear

Palatal MutationPM is the change of one vowel into another through the influence of a vowel in the succeeding syllable.In OE it was the influence of [i] & [j] from the suffixes upon the vowels from the preceding syllables. As a result of palatal mutation 2 new vowels appeared: [y] & [y:].

[y] & [y:]These vowels appeared from [u] & [u:].E.g.: Gt. fulljan OE fyllan (fill)

Traces of PM can be found in NE: mouse mice, foot feet

Unstressed OE vowelsThey were: i, e, a, o, u.They were found in final position.E.g.: Gen. pl. stne (of the stone) Dat. sg. stana (to the stone) bron (bare)