Middle English. The Development of Consonant System in Middle English and New 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 16^th – 17^th 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∫]

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