I-Mutation

Independent Changes. Development of Monophthongs

CHANGES IN OE VOWEL SYSTEM

The PG short [a] and the long [a:], which had arisen in West and North Germanic, underwent similar alterations in Early OE:

they were fronted arid, in the process of fronting, they split into several sounds.

The principal regular direction of the change— [а]>[æ] and [а:]>[æ:] — is often referred to as the fronting or palatalisation of [a, a:]. The other directions can be interpreted as positional deviations or restrictions to this trend: short [a] could change to [o] оr [a] land long [a:] became [o:] before a nasal; the preservation (or, perhaps, the resto­ration) of the short [a] was caused by a back vowel in the next syllable — see the examples in the following table (sometimes [a] occurs in other positions as well, e.g. OE macian, land, NE make, land).

Splitting of [a] and [a:] in Early Old English

Gt pata OE pæt NE that

Gt maõan OE maõan NE may

The PG diphthongs (or sequences of monophthongs) — [ei, ai, iu, eu, au ] —underwent regular independent changes in Early UE; they took place in all phonetic conditions irrespective of environ­ment. The diphthongs with the i-glide were monophthongised into [i:] and [a:], respectively; the diphthongs in -u were reflected as long diphthongs [io:], [eo:] and [ea:].

Old English Reflexes of Proto-Germanic Diphthongs (or Bi-Phonemic Sequences)

Gt ains OE an NE one

Gt reisan OE risan NE rise

O Icel austr OE east NE east

The most important type of mutation is that caused by an i (or j) of the following syllable. This type is usually referred to as mutation.

Mutation brings about a complete change in vowel quality: one phoneme is replaced by another.

In the earliest OE documents mutation has already been completed. So, we conclude, that the process began in the 5^th or 6^th c. In OE i-mutation affects practically all vowels. Only short -e and -i have no connection with it. The result is the vowel -y. Similar explanation can be given of the other cases of mutation.

Monophthongs	Diphthongs
a > e framian > fremman “perform” sandian > sendan x > e txlian > tellan sxlian > sellan ā > å lārian > låran o > e ofstian > efstan “hurry” ō > ē dōmian > dēman “judge” wōpian > wēpan “weep” u > y fullian > fyllan “fill” ū > ÿ cūþian > cÿþan	ea > ie earmiþu > iermþu “poverty” hleahian > hliehan “laugh” ēa > ïe Zelefian > Zeliefan “believe” hēarian > hïeran “hear” eo > ie afoerian > afierran “REMOVE” ēo > ïe Zetreowi > Zetriewe “true”   Zeþëode > Zeþïode

The i-mutation was significant for the phonemic structure of OE. As a result of it a new phoneme arouse which was different from the original one.

Дата добавления: 2014-01-11