Early Modern English Phonology

Phonology in Early Modern English

• Massive changes concerning vowels

• Minor changes concerning consonants

• Growing discrepancy between spelling and pronunciation

Great Vowel Shift

Great Vowel Shift affects

• all seven vowels changed their quality

• at every point in the development of the GVS a distinction between the

vowels existed

A very general description of the Great Vowel Shift:

• long vowels were raised

• this means that the vowels moved from the open area to the close area

of the vowel chart

• closed vowels became diphthongs

Middle English long Vowels

Middle English Vowels

1st phase:

From 1400 – 1550

/i:/ → /əɪ/

/u/ → /əʊ/

/e:/ → /i:/

/o:/→ /u:/

/ɛ:/ → /e:/

/ɔ:/ → /o:/

/a:/ → /æ:/ → /ɛ:/

2nd phase

1550-1700

/əɪ/ → /aɪ/

/əʊ/ → /aʊ/

/e:/ → /i:/

/ɛ:/ → /e:/ from ME /a:/

3rd phase

1700-1800

/e:/ → /eɪ/

/o:/ → /əʊ/

from 1800 onwards

language-external reason

Sociolinguistics: Middle and upper class wanted to distance themselves from the lower class by using a distinct pronunciation

Language-internal Reasons

• If vowel quality of one vowel changes, this has effects on neighbouring vowels

• Hypothesis:

• /e:/ and /o:/ pushed to the close area

• close vowels /i:/ and /u:/ were pushed away: Push-chain Reaction

• empty slot was occupied by /e:/ and /o:/: Drag-Chain reaction

strut vowel

• 17th century: STRUT/but vowel (/ʌ/) developed

• Split: one phoneme /ʊ/ splits into two phonemes /ʊ/ & /ʌ/

• ModE examples: cut (but butcher); blood (but book)

• Why same spelling (<u>, <oo>) but different pronunciation?

• Two sources for /ʌ/

ME /o:/; spelt frequently with <oo>

In GVS /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 today‘s discrepancies:

/ʌ/: blood, flood

/ʊ/: book, good, foot, look

Pronunciation of fast in BrE and AmE?

• Middle English /a/ became /æ/

• Examples: hat, cat, fat

• 18th century: /æ/ became /ɑː/ in certain environments AND only in British English

• /æ/ in front of voiceless fricatives:

• Example: fast, path, staff, class, half

• American English kept pronunciation with /æ/

Consonants no longer pronounced

• voiceless palatal fricative /ç/: bright or sigh

• voiceless velar fricative /x/: taught or bough

• word-final /b/ and /g/: thumb, long

• /k/ and /g/ before /n/: knee or gnaw

• Lateral /l/ in some words: talk or half

• /w/ in some words: sword, answer, write

consonants pronounced differently

Voiceless velar fricative /x/ - /f/: enough or laugh

Vocalisation of /r/ after vowels and word-finally

• BrE: herb, birth, fur, here, there, poor

/ŋ/

already existed in Middle English

• was only an allophone: [ŋ]

• in EModE word-final /g/ was lost

• /ŋ/ reaches phoneme status; distinguishes meaning

/ʒ/

developed from /z/ + /j/ or /ɪ/

• Cluster /zj/ or /zɪ/ became palatised in the 17th century

• Result: new phoneme /ʒ/: Coalescence

• Occurrences:

• French loan words: rouge, prestige

• in cluster /zj/ or /zɪ/: measure, usual, occasion

• Process is still active today:

• ModE: different pronunciations for azure

/ˈæzjʊə ˈæʒə ˈeɪʒə/ → development of /zj/ to /ʒ/