MIDDLE ENGLISH PHONETICS AND ORTHOGRAPHY.
Contents
I. Middle English Alphabet.
II. Changes in Spelling Habits.
III. Changes in Consonants.
IV. Phonetic changes. Vowels.
V. Types of M E literary documents
I. Middle English Alphabet.
During several centuries after the Norman Conquest the business of writing was in the hands of French scribes. They introduced into English some peculiarities of French graphic habits. Traces of French traditions in writing have stayed on in English to the present day.
First of all we must note some changes in the alphabet. Several letters typical for OE alphabet саmе out of use, and some new ones were introduced. The alphabet of the 14th century is basically the same that is in use in our days.
The letter z which was used in OE to denote several distinct consonant phonemes is gradually replaced by the letters g and y. Thus, OE zod now is as god and the OE zear as year.
The ligature æ also comes into disuse in ME. This change accompanies the phonetic change of short æ into a (and in some dialects into e), and that of long æ into e.
The new letters introduced, during the ME period are all consonantal The letter g (as hinted above) is introduced to denote the sound [g:] as in god and also the sound [dз] as in singe.
The sound [ dз] is also denoted (in words of French origin) by the letter jas in joy ,judge June. FR. joie, juger, juin
The letter v is introduced to denote the consonant [v], which in ME became a separate phoneme. However, this letter soon сamе to be treated as an allograph of the letter u, which had been use since the earliest OE times. The allographs u and v became interchangeable. Thus, we can find the following spellings in ME : over, ouer, use, vse,love, loue,etc.
The letter q, always accompanied by u, is introduced to denote either the consonant [k], as in quay, or the cluster [kw],as in quarter or queen. In the latter case it replaces OE cw. OE cw→ME qu
The letter z is introduced to denote the consonant [z], which in ME became a separate phoneme. However, the letter z itnot used systematically. It does appear in such words as zel 'zeal', Zepkyrus, 'Zephir’ but the sound [z]is still spelt s in cesen ‘choose’;losen ‘lose’ and in many others.
II. Changes in Spelling Habits .
In the sphere of vowels French influence made itself felt in the following points:
1.The sound [u:],which represented by the letter u in Old English,
came to be spelt ou, the way it was spelt in French. This French spelling was due to the fact that in Old French the diphthong [ou] had changed into [u:] but the spelling had remained the same. From borrowed French words such as trouble, couch, this spelling was transferred to native English words: hous (OE hus), out (OE ut); loud (OE hlǖd), etc. In final position, and occasionally in medial position as well instead of ou the spelling ow was introduced: cow (OE cu); how (OE hu): down (OE dum), etc.
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2.The vowel [u] is often represented bythe letter o. In many modern
grammars this о isaccompanied by a tack: ŏ. This spelling is probably partly due to graphic considerations. The letter о denoting [u] is found mainly in the neighborhood of such letters as u (v), n, m, that is, letters consisting of vertical strokes.Along series of vertical strokes might be confusing: thus, itmight be hard to distinguish between cume, cmue, cimie, etc. Replacing u by о would avoid this difficulty.
Another factor favoring the introduction of the letter о to denote [u] might be the narrow quality of Anglo-Norman [o], which was close to [u].Examples: come [‘kumэ] (OE cuman) som [sum] (OE sum), sone [‘sunэ] (OE sunu), love [luvэ] (OE lufu),bigonne [bi’gunə] (OE onzinnen) - second раrticiple of the verb "onizinnan".
3.The vowel [e:] is sometimes denoted by the digraph ie. In Old French this digraph had originally denoted the diphthong [ie], which inAnglo-Norman changed into [e] in the 12th century, the spelling remaining the same.
From French loan words like chief [tf e:f|, relief [re’le:f] this spelling penetrated into native English words like field [fe:ld] (OE field), thief [Өe:f ] (OE ђeof), lief [Ie:f] (OE leof).
4. To denote the vowel [u] in the dialects where it was preserved the let
ter и was used, as in fur ‘fire’(OE fyr).
III. Changes in Consonants.
1. The spelling ђ and ðfor the sounds [Ө] and [ð]were gradually super-
seded by the digraph th: thus for OE ђis, three for OE ђreo.
2.For the consonant [v], which had been a mere positional variant of
the [f] phoneme in OE and which in ME became a separate phoneme, the let
ter v was considered to be merely as allograph of u, both allographs could be used indiscriminately: over, ouer (OE ofer), love, loue (OE lufu ); in French words: very, avengen.
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3. The affricate[tf]was denoted by the digraph ch : from such French
loan words as chair, chambre it penetrated into native English words: techen ’teach' child, etc. The corresponding voiced affricate [dj] was spelt in the French way either j, g, or dg: courage, joy, bridge,
4. The consonant [f] was spelt shand sometimes sch: ship, schip, shal
schaL
5. The consonant [h]was first spelt z, and later ‘gh: lizt, light nzit,
пight,t , brozute, broughte.
6. The letter с when denoting the consonant [k] was replaced by the let
ter k before e,I, and also before n: drinken (OE drincan) king (OE cyninz),
knowen (OE cnawan}. This was due to the fact that the letter с before e or i
would suggest the pronunciation [s]:It should be noted that the letter was
widely used in Old French, for example in the pronoun ki 'who'(Modern
French spelling qui),
7. The cluster [kw] was spelt qu instead of Old English cw, as in quellen ‘kill’ (OE cwellan), quethen ‘say’ (OE cwepan).
8. The consonant [j], which in Old English was spelt z now саmе to be
spelt у : yer ‘year’(OE zear), yet(OE ziet), ye’you (OE ze).
Besides these features, due to French influence, ME spelling has some more peculiarities, which have partly been preserved down to thepresent day.
Itbecame a habit in ME to replace final -i by -y. The motive was purely graphic, у being more ornamental than i? and eventually this became one of the most characteristic features of English spelling. In MnE there are only a few words ending in -i: rabbi taxi, and afew plural forms of Latin words, such as bacilli and genii. The letter у was also often used instead of i in medium position; ryden (OE ridan), wryten(OE writan). This habit didnot survive.
Similarly, the letter u when final was replaced by w, which was more ornamental. Again, words ending in -u in MnE are very few: you, thou, gnu, emu.
The use of ou and ow to denote long [u:]resulted in ambiguity, which is still felt in English spelling. The digraph ow could also denote the diphthong [ou], When itcame to be used for [u:], the result was two series of words: one with [ou]: slow, snow,crow, low, the other with [u:]:cow, now, down.
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On the whole ME spelling is far from uniform. Purely phonetic spellings mix French spelling habits and also with traditions inherited from OE. Besides, there are differences between dialects in this respect, too.
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