Middle English
Sibilants and Affricates
The Development of Consonant System in Middle English and New English
Lecture 12
Short Vowels
ME Sounds | NE Sounds | ME | NE |
[a] à à | [æ] [o]after [w]!! | that [qat] man [man] was [was] water [‘watə] | that [ðæt] man [mæn] was [woz] water [‘wotə] |
[u] à | [Λ] | hut [hut] comen [cumen] | hut [hΛt] come [cΛm] |
There were exceptions though, e.g. put, pull, etc.
Vocalisation of [r]
It occurred in the 16th – 17th c. Sound [r] became vocalised (changed to [ə] (schwa)) when stood after vowels at the end of the word.
Consequences:
· new diphthongs appeared: [εə], [iə], [uə];
· the vowels before [r] were lengthened (e.g. arm [a:m], for [fo:], etc.);
· triphthongs appeared: [aiə], [auə] (e.g. shower [‘∫auə], shire [‘∫aiə]).
H/w:
1. Ex. 4-6 on p. 218 in “История английского языка” by Т.А. Расторгуева (copies).
English consonants proved to be more stable than vowels. Nevertheless, new sets of consonants started to appear.
Sibilants – a type of fricatives, narrower and sharper than all other fricatives ([f, v, q, ð, h]) – [s, z, ∫, ζ].
Affricates – sounds consisting of a plosive immediately followed by a fricative – [t∫, dζ].
In OE there were only 2 sibilants – [s, z]. [∫] appeared in ME and [ζ] – in NE.
Affricates [t∫, dζ] appeared both in ME and in NE.
New consonants developed from palatal plosives [k’], [g’]and the cluster [sk’]:
OE Sounds | ME Sounds | In Writing | OE | ME |
[k’] à | [t∫] | tch, ch | cild [k’il’d] | child [t∫ild] |
[g’] à | [dζ] | g, dg | ecge [‘egg’ə] | edge [‘edζə] |
[sk’] à | [∫] | sh, ssh, sch | fisc[fisk’] | fish[fi∫] |