4. Quantitative and qualitative changes of vowels in me.

2. Old English vowels.

A large number of vowels were distinguished in OE spelling.

Monophthongs short – I e ae, a a0, o, u, y long – I,e,ae,a,o,u,y

Diphtongs – ea,eo,io,ie long ea,eo, io, ie

ME – the period of great change.

OE had both short & long v phonemes & each of these could occur in any phonetic env-ment, they were absly independent phonetic units.

In ME quantity of v-s becomes dependent on their env-ment – to be exact, on what follows.

In MnE the [∂] of unstr.endings was lost: likes, tables

The Greate vowel shift –the changed in the sys-m of long v.

In the Middle English period a great change affected the entire (полный) system of Vowel phonemes. As a result of important changes coming into the vowel system in the 10-12 c., the ME V system was basically different.

While in OE quantity (length/ shortness) was a distinctive phonetic feature, in ME (by the 13-th c.) this is no longer so. Quantity of Vs becomes dependant on their environment – to be exact, on what follows. With several exceptions the situation in ME is as follows: in some phonetic environments only short vowels can appear, while in other phonetic environments only long vowels can appear. The quantity of the V is predetermined by the environment. Thus, quantity ceases, (сокращения), being a phonemically relevant feature and becomes a merely phonetic peculiarity of a V sound.

1. Shortening

A long V before 2 Cs is shortened:

# c’epan (Inf) – cepte (Past tense)

The Vs are shortened before 2 Cs but remain long in other environments.

# long V+ ld, nd, mb= long V (w’enan (Inf. think) – w’ende (Past tense)

2. Lengthening

Affected the short Vs a,o,u

# caru (OE) – c’are (ME) ‘care’

# talu (OE) – t’ale (ME) ‘tale)

3. Levelling of unstressed Vs

All unstressed Vs weakened and reduced to a neutral vowel, something like [], which was denoted by a letter ‘e’.

Thus; the infinitive suffix –an was reduced to –en (bindan – binden, tellan – tellen)

Tendencies of vowel development.

I-E had the fol. V-s: long: e,o,a,I,u. short: e,o,a, neut, I,u. E,o,a – basic v-s as they mainly occur in stressed syllables. I,u have originated from reduced diphtongs & ocuured in unsteressed syl-s.

The change in the system of v-s were determined by the fol.reasons:

1. Breaking   a > ea before combinations of "r, l, h +cons.", and also before h final: arm > earm, 

e > eo: herte > heorte

2. Palatalization  This is the process which went under the influence of g, c, sc before vowels in the beginning of the word:   e > ie (gefan > giefan);  o > eo (scort > sceort) 3. mutation or umlaut  This interesting feature changed many of Old English words on a very early stage of the language's history. It is caused by vowel in the next syllable, it affects all vowels, except i and e. Vowels move from their back position to the new front one.

4.Contraction of vowels due to a dropped h: v +h, vv+h= long v.

ME – the period of great change.

OE had both short & long v phonemes & each of these could occur in any phonetic env-ment, they were absly independent phonetic units.

In ME quantity of v-s becomes dependent on their env-ment – to be exact, on what follows.

In MnE the [∂] of unstr.endings was lost: likes, tables

The Greate vowel shift –the changed in the sys-m of long v.