The Great vowel shift

Vowel Shift was a major change in the pronunciation of Germanic languages, generally accomplished in the 15th century and early 16th century, both in Europe and England. It represented a change in the long vowels (i.e. a vowel shift).

/a:/ -> /e:/ (in e.g. make)

/E:/ -> /e:/ or /i:/ (in e.g. break, beak)

/e:/ -> /i:/ (in e.g. feet)

/i:/ -> /ai/ (in e.g. mice)

/O:/ -> /o:/ (in e.g. boat)

/o:/ -> /u:/ (in e.g. boot)

/u:/ -> /au/ (in e.g. mouse)

This means that the vowel in the English word make was originally pronounced as in modern English father, but has now become a diphthong, as it is today in standard pronunciations of British English (see Received Pronunciation); the vowel in feet was originally pronounced as a long Latin-like e sound; the vowel in mice was originally what the vowel in feet is now; the vowel in boot was originally a long Latin-like o sound; and the vowel in mouse was originally what the vowel in moose is now, but has now become a diphthong.

The Great Vowel Shift was first studied by the Danish linguist Otto Jespersen (1860 - 1943), who coined the term.

The effects of the shift were not entirely uniform, and differences in degree of vowel shifting can sometimes be detected in regional dialects, both in written and spoken English. The surprising speed and the exact cause of the shift are continuing mysteries in linguistics and cultural history

Because English spelling was becoming standardized in the 15th and 16th centuries, the Great Vowel Shift is responsible for many of the peculiarities of English spelling. Spellings that made sense according to Middle English pronunciation were retained in Modern English.

9. Chronological division in the history of English. Short survey of periods. The history of the English language really started with the arrival of three Germanic tribes who invaded Britain during the 5th century AD. These tribes, the Angles, the Saxons and the Jutes, crossed the North Sea from what today is Denmark and northern Germany. At that time the inhabitants of Britain spoke a Celtic language. But most of the Celtic speakers were pushed west and north by the invaders - mainly into what is now Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The Angles came from England and their language was called English - from which the words England and English are derived.

Old English (450-1100 AD) The invading Germanic tribes spoke similar languages, which in Britain developed into what we now call Old English. Old English did not sound or look like English today. Native English speakers now would have great difficulty understanding Old English. Nevertheless, about half of the most commonly used words in Modern English have Old English roots. The words be, strong and water, for example, derive from Old English. Old English was spoken until around 1100.

Middle English (1100-1500) In 1066 William the Conqueror, the Duke of Normandy conquered England The new conquerors (called the Normans) brought with them a kind of French, which became the language of the Royal Court, and the ruling and business classes. For a period there was a kind of linguistic class division, where the lower classes spoke English and the upper classes spoke French. In the 14th century English became dominant in Britain again, but with many French words added. This language is called Middle English. It was the language of the great poet Chaucer (c1340-1400), but it would still be difficult for native English speakers to understand today.

Early Modern English (1500-1800) Towards the end of Middle English, a sudden and distinct change in pronunciation (the Great Vowel Shift) started, with vowels being pronounced shorter and shorter. From the 16th century the British had contact with many people from around the world. This, and the Renaissance of Classical learning, meant that many new words and phrases entered the language. The invention of printing also meant that there was now a common language in print. Books became cheaper and more people learned to read. Printing also brought standardization to English. Spelling and grammar became fixed, and the dialect of London, where most publishing houses were, became the standard. In 1604 the first English dictionary was published.

Late Modern English (1800-Present) The main difference between Early Modern English and Late Modern English is vocabulary. Late Modern English has many more words, arising from two principal factors: firstly, the Industrial Revolution and technology created a need for new words; secondly, the British Empire at its height covered one quarter of the earth's surface, and the English language adopted foreign words from many countries.

10. New English Phonetics: loss of unstressed –e, the change of –er into –ar, a into ǽ. Rise of new phonemes.

At the outset of of the MnE period the vowel eof unstressed endings was lost. This vowel was on the verge of loss in th 14^th c already, in the 15^th c it disappeared. The vowel e was lost when it was final and also when it was followed by a consonant, as in the plural forms of substantitives(tables, hats, books), in the 3d person sing present indicative(likes, sits, begs), and in the past tense 2d participle in –ed(lived, filled). But the e was preserved and later changed inyo I in some adjectives and adjectivized participle in –ed (learned, wicked, ragged).The letter e was also preserved in words with long root-vowel, in this way the so-called ‘mute’ e arose, which denotes length of the preseding vowel( house, stone, wrote).

The change –er into -ar began in the 14^th c and was completed in the 15^th. Spelling in most cases reflected the change. Steorra- sterra- star, heorte – herte – heart. In some cases the spelling doesn’t reflects the change(clerk, sergeant, Derby). The ME substantive person has yielded 2 variants in MnE: parson and person. In some words -er didn’t developed in –ar(certain, University).

The change a into ǽ affected all words containing [a]except those where it was preceded by w(ѣǽt- that – that).

The rise of new phonemes α:, o:, έ: took place in the 16^th c. 1)[ α: ǽ> ǽ: >α: ] before fricatives and th 9[Ѳ]:father, rather, aftermath; [s]: glass, gruss, but lass, mass[ǽ]; [st]: last, cast, but elastic, plastic[ǽ]; [sk]: ask, mask but masculine[ǽ]. 2) from [aυ] + l+consonant: calm, palm.

But in the 16^th c [aυ> o] but the spelling remained unchanged – au, aw: cause, p draw.

In tthe 16^th c a new vowel appears [έ:]. It rises in the following cases: i+r – sir, u+r – fur, e+r –lern, o+r after w – word, worse

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 1386