General view of the ME sound system

Spelling changes in the period after the Norman Conquest

Consonant changes

OE consonants also underwent some changes: OE ƥð in ME were superseded by the combination «th», OE ƥis (this) > ME - this. In OE initial «f» denoted the sounds [v], [f], as in fæder > vader ‘father’, fæt > væt. In the OE period the initial letter «c» before a front vowel gave the sound [tƒ] and the combination «sc» gave the sound [ƒ]: scip > ship; sceal > shal. In ME to denote these two sounds there were introduced the French combinations «ch», «sh»: OE cild > ME child. The letter «c» before a back vowel in OE was pronounced as [k], in ME «c» for the sound [k] was superseded by the letter «k»: OE drincan > ME drinken;

OE cyning > ME king. In the OE words niht, riht, brouhte in ME the letter «g» was introduced before «h» (it wasn’t pronounced in ME) we have night, right.

Vowel changes. For some centuries after the Norman Conquest the written language of England was in the hands of the French who applied to the English spelling the French spelling habits. The following changes took place in the English spelling: a) the sound [u:] which in OE was spelt with «u» changed its spelling, it became ou, ow:

OE hus > hous [hu:s]; ut > out [u:]; cu > cow [ku:]; dun > down [du:n];

[e:] in OE was spelt e, in ME under the influence of the French language words chief, relief changed their spelling e > ie: OE feld [fe:ld] > field [fe:ld]. In most cases the letter «u» was superseded by the letter «o»:

OE cumin > ME coman [ku:m];

OE sum > ME som (some);

OE sunu > ME sone (son);

Besides these changes which were mainly connected with the French borrowings, there were some other changes that can be traced even in MnE. In ME the final i was replaced by «y». In MnE there are a few words with i at the end (taxi). Likewise the letter «u» at the end of the words was superseded by «w», except for the pronouns «you» and «thou»: OE snou > snow.

The ME sound system differs materially from the OE system. We shall first state the main differences on a purely phonetic level, and then proceed to asses the phonetically relevant features of the change.

1. OE diphthongs of the of the ea or eo type, that is diphthongs containing a second open or half-open element, have disappeared.

2. Diphthongs of the ei, ai type have arisen, containing a closed second element.

3. Vowel quantity (shortness/length) has become dependent on phonetic environment.

4. The affricates [tʃ] and [d3] have arisen.

From the phonemic point of view, the following important points have to be stated:

1. Vowel quantity has lost its phonemic significance, that is, two vowel phonemes can no longer be distinguished by quantity: length/shortness. Thus the number of vowel phonemes has been reduced.

2. On the other hand, the appearance of the new diphthongs [ai], [ei], [au], [ou] marks the rise of four new vowel phonemes. In this way the reduction in the number of vowel phonemes due to changes in quantity is partly counteracted.

3. The number of consonant phonemes has increased. The sounds [f] and [v], which in OE had been allophones of one phoneme, dependent on the environment, have become separate phonemes, no longer dependent on environment. The same must be said about the sounds [s] and [z].

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