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Card 15

 

Historical characteristics of the Modern English phonetic system. The importance of the Modern phonetic change: weakening of unaccented vowels, Great Vowel Shift and Vocalization of ‘r’. Explain the Modern English pronunciation and spelling.

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). In English, the shift began toward the end of the 15th century and was mostly completed in the 16th century, although it continued for some time after that, spreading toward the non-metropolitan and non-port areas.

The values of the long vowels form the main difference between the pronunciation of Middle English and Modern English, and the Great Vowel Shift is one of the historical events marking the separation of Middle and Modern English. Originally, these vowels had "continental" values much like those remaining in liturgical Latin. However, during the Great Vowel Shift, the two highest long vowels became diphthongs, and the other five underwent an increase in tongue height and one of them came to the front.

The principal changes are roughly the following — though exceptions occur, the transitions were not always complete, and there were sometimes accompanying changes in orthography:

/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 shift was remarkable for how widespread it was (going through most of Europe and then Great Britain), as well as its rapidity. 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.



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]).

 

Practical task

 

· Find the analytical tenses in the text and speak about the evolution of the analytical tenses in English. (the most important) group of these verbs were so called “past-present” verbs. Originally the Present tense forms of these verbs were Past tense forms. Analytical tenses are simple tense: present, past and future.e.g.

· State the sound change in the word “time” from a historical point of view. (due to great vowel shift )

The Celts are important in British history because they are the ancestors of many of the people in Highland Scotland. Wales, Ireland, and Cornwall today. The Iberian people of Wales and took on the new Celtic culture. Celtic languages, which have been continuously used in some areas since that time, are still spoken. The British today are often described as Anglo-Saxon. It would be better to call them Anglo-Celt.

 

Card 20 1.The evolution of the grammatical categories of the Noun. The importance of the a-stem, n-stem and root-stem declensions in Modern English. Explain the grammatical form from historical point of view.

OEThe OE noun had two grammatical categories: number and case. There were five major cases: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, and instrumental.Îáùåå êîëè÷åñòâî òèïîâ ñêëîíåíèÿ 7: 1) ãëàñíûå îñíîâû: -a-, -ō-, -i-, -u-, 2) îñíîâû íà ñîãëàñíûé: -n-, -s-, -r-.OE nouns distinguished three genders: Masc., Fem. and Neut. Old English nouns are divided as either strong or weak. Weak nouns have their own endings. In general, weak nouns are easier than strong nouns, since they had begun to lose their declensional system. Strong (a,o,i,u -stem). Weak decl - n -m,f,n. es -n. room-stem (Root-stemm formed some cases not by an inflexional ending, but by the chance of the root vowel due to mutation)-no form suffixes. Mutation was used to define number and gender of noun. Stem - part of the word comparasing(connected) root and stem.

ME –Noun have no gender. 2 group exist in ME in Pl form. The one is the former a-declention and n-decl, which of former feminine noun( weak decl). The root-decl. has lost some words, but it cont to exist. The noun has 2 cases: the Common and Possessive. The weak decl. has no case forms at all. Noun was rejected into reduction of their flexion. All vowels endings –e-. OE a-stem, became the productive type. Grammatical gender was lost and difference between Weak and Strong decl. disappeared. (-n)/: -s- became for Pl all nouns (for G). Some nouns retain Pl with o-inflexions. For root-stem nouns their mutated forms were used only in Pl. Weak decl. –n- express the Pl.


Date: 2015-01-02; view: 1377


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English in the Germanic group of languages and in the Indo-European family. The English language in the world. | OE noun, its grammatical categories. Weak declension.
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