Universität BayreuthInstitut für AnglistikDr. Thomas Schönweitz

History of the English Language(WS 2013/2014)

TOPICS:

1. INTRODUCTION2. LANGUAGE RELATIONSHIPS3. HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY4. HISTORICAL MORPHOSYNTAX5. HISTORICAL PHONOLOGY6. ORIGINS OF STANDARD ENGLISH

Appendix:• Diachronic Varieties Illustrated• Selective Bibliography

Version 3.1Copyright Thomas Schönweitz 2000 Mail to: thomas.schoenweitz@uni-bayreuth.de

1. INTRODUCTION

(1) WORD ORDER

OLD ENGLISH MODERN ENGLISH(a) se hunta sloh Þone beran (SVO) (a) the hunter killed the bear (SVO)(b) Þone beran sloh se hunta (OVS) (b) the bear killed the hunter (SVO)(c) se hunta Þone beran sloh (SOV) (c) * the hunter the bear killed(d) Þone beran se hunta sloh (OSV) (d) * the bear the hunter killed(e) sloh se hunta Þone beran (VSO) (e) * killed the hunter the bear(f) sloh Þone beran se hunta (VOS) (f) * killed the bear the hunter

(a) - (f) grammatically acceptable (a) and (b) grammatically acceptable(a) - (f) identical in meaning (a) and (b) NOT identical in meaning

(2) INFLECTIONAL ENDINGS

OLD ENGLISH MODERN ENGLISH

Sg. Nom. se stan the stone

Gen. ÞQs stanes of the stone

Dat. ÞQm stane (to) the stone

Acc. Þone stan the stone

Pl. Nom. Þa stanas the stones

Gen. Þara stana of the stones

Dat. Þam stanum (to) the stones

Acc. Þa stanas the stones

(3) GRAMMATICAL GENDER

(a) OLD ENGLISH MODERN ENGLISHMasc. se mann the man Masc.Masc. se wifman the woman Fem.Masc. se mona the moon Neut.Masc. se grund (‘soil’) the ground Neut.

(b) Fem. seo cwen (‘girl’) the queen Fem.Fem. seo hlQfdige the lady Fem.Fem. seo sunne the sun Neut.Fem. seo eorÞe the earth Neut.

(c) Neut. ÞQt mQgden the maiden Fem.Neut. ÞQt wif the wife Fem.Neut. ÞQt tungol the star Neut.Neut. ÞQt land the land Neut.

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(4) CONVERSION (a.k.a. ZERO-DERIVATION)

(a) like (full verb) e.g. I really like your new dress(b) like (prep.) e.g. He collects odd things like old newspapers(c) like (adj.) e.g. He always gets drunk on weddings and like occasions(d) like (noun) e.g. I don’t want to argue with the likes of you(e) like (conj.) e.g. It looks like it’s going to rain soon (informal)(f) like (adv.) e.g. The boy went to his mother all innocent like (nonstandard.)(g) like (aux. verb) e.g. I like to have killed him when he said that (US dialect)

(5) SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION I

(a) Phoneme (RP) vs. Grapheme:/:/ <aw> as in law, <au> as in autumn, <al> as in walk, <a> as in fall,

<ar> as in war, <or> as in order, <ore> as in store, <oa> as in broad, <oor> as in door, <our> as in four, <aur> as in dinosaur, <ough> as in bought, <augh> as in caught

(b) Grapheme vs. Phoneme (RP):<ea> /i:/ as in clean, /e/ as in dead, /eI/ as in great<ear> /Î:/ as in heard, /I«/ as in fear, /e«/ as in bear, /a:/ as in heart

(6) SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION II

(a) HOMOPHONES:

sea - see, meat - meet, beach - beech, made - maid, tale - tail, plane - plain, roe - row, sole - soul, sloe - slow, dew - due, threw - through, two - too - to, caught - court, alms - arms, sauce - source, forth - fourth, write - right - rite, knight - night, sight - site, know - no, axis - axes, I - eye, you - ewe, here - hear, Wales - whales, weather - whether - wether, witch - which, flower - flour, metal - mettle, draft - draught, etc.

(b) HOMOGRAPHS:

sow: /U/ (N.) vs. /«U/ (V.)read: /:/ (Inf.) vs. /red/ (Past)wound: /wu:nd/ (N.) vs. // (V./Past)wind: // (N.) vs. /waInd/ (V.)slough: // (N.) vs. // (N.)live: // (V.) vs. // (Adj.)bass: // (N.) vs. // (N.)minute: // (N.) vs. /:/ (Adj.)resume: /:/ (V.) vs. // (N.)etc.

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(c) HOMONYMS:

I. ear: OE eare vs. OE earlast: OE latost (Adj.) vs. OE lQstan (V.)bear: OE beran (V.) vs. OE ber (N.)meal: OE mele vs. OE mQlhide: OE hydan (V.) vs. OE hyd (N.)

II. bank: ON banca vs. OF banquerace: ON ras vs. OF race

III. seal: OE sele vs. OF seelarms: OE earmas vs. OF armesfile: OE feol vs. OF file

etc.

(7) MIXED VOCABULARY I: SYNONYMY

NATIVE FRENCH CLASSICAL

womanish, womanly female feminine

manly, mannish male masculine

speech, tongue language discourse, diction

ask question interrogate

folk people population

holy sacred consecrated

gift present donation

word-hoard vocabulary lexicon

help aid assistance

fair beautiful attractive

foe, fiend enemy adversary

(8) MIXED VOCABULARY II: DISSOCIATION

NOUN ADJ. NOUN ADJ.mouth - oral town - urbanmind - mental nose - nasaleye - ocular sight - visualmoon - lunar sun - solarear - aural word - verbalhouse - domestic tooth - dentalhand - manual cat - felinedog - canine horse - equineNATIVE LOAN NATIVE LOAN

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2. LANGUAGE RELATIONSHIPS

2.1. THE INDO-EUROPEAN FAMILY OF LANGUAGES

(1) THE FAMILY TREE (cf. ALGEO 2010, pp. 56-57)

(2) MODERN EXAMPLES

Reconstructed IE *dwo Reconstructed IE *dekm

English: two, German: zwei, Dutch: twee, Danish: to

English: ten, German: zehn,Dutch: tien, Danish: ti

Latin: duo, French: deux, Spanish: dos, Italian: due

Latin: decem, French: dix, Spanish: diez, Italian: dieci

Irish: do, Welsh: dau Irish: deich, Welsh: deg

Greek: duo Greek: deka

Russian: dva, Polish: dwa,Bulgarian: dva

Russian: desyat, Polish: dziesiec,Bulgarian: deset

Lithuanian: du Lithuanian: desimt

Persian: do Persian: dah

Hindustani: do Hindustani: das

(3) THE GERMANIC LANGUAGE FAMILY

Language Cognates for head Cognates for mouth

Old English heafod muÞ

Modern English head mouth

Old High German houbit mund

Modern German Haupt Mund

Gothic haubiÞ munÞs

Old Saxon hobid muth

Old Frisian haved muth

Dutch hoofd mond

Old Norse hofu munnr

Icelandic [hOfyD] [mynnyr]

Danish [ho:D«] [mon/]

Norwegian hode munn

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2.2. COMPARATIVE LINGUISTICS

(1) THE FIRST SOUND SHIFT (“Grimm´s Law”)

Sound Change

Indo-European Germanic

/p/ → /f/ Sanskrit: p«ter / Latin: paterSanskrit: pisk- / Latin: piscis

English: father / German: VaterEnglish: fish / German: Fisch

/t/ → /T/ Sanskrit: treyes / Latin: tresSanskrit: tu / Latin: tu

English: three / German: dreiEModEng: thou / German: du

/k/ → /h, x/ Sanskrit: kerd- / Latin: cordisSanskrit: okto / Latin: octo

English: heart / German: HerzEnglish: eight / German: acht

/b/ → /p/ ? / Latin: labium? / Ancient Greek: kannabis

English: lip / German: LippeEnglish: hemp / German: Hanf

/d/ → /t/ Sanskrit: ed- / Latin: edereSanskrit: dem«- / Latin: domare

English: eat / German: essenEnglish: tame / German: zahm

/g/ → /k/ Sanskrit: genu- /Latin: genuSanskrit: agro- / Latin: ager

English: knee / German: KnieEnglish: acre / German: Acker

(2) THE SECOND SOUND SHIFT (“High German Consonant Shift”)

Sound Change

Examples

/p/ → /f/ open / offen, sleep / schlafen, ripe / reif, help / helfen, sharp / scharf, up / auf

/p/ → /pf/ pound / Pfund, pan / Pfanne, pipe / Pfeife, drop / Tropfen, apple / Apfel

/t/ → /s/ eat / essen, hot / heiß, that / daß, water / Wasser, white / weiß, let / lassen

/t/ → /ts/ town / Zaun, sit / sitzen, tell / (er)zählen, tame / zahm, tongue / Zunge, tide / Zeit

/k/ → /x/ make / machen, seek / suchen, book / Buch, break / brechen, sick / siech(en)

/d/ → /t/ drive / treiben, day / Tag, lead / leiten, side / Seite, flood / Flut, word / Wort

/T, D/ → /d/ three / drei, think / denken, thing / Ding, thick / dick, earth / Erde, oath / Eid

/f/ → /b, p/ wife / Weib, deaf / taub, thief / Dieb, life / Leben, loaf / Laib, leaf / Laub

/v/ → /b/ love / Liebe, seven / sieben, live / leben, have / haben, dove / Taube, heave / heben

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3. HISTORY OF THE ENGLISH VOCABULARY

3.1. THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD

(1) HISTORICAL BACKGROUND (cf. map from SCHELER 1977, p.164)

(2) CHARACTERIZATION OF ENGLISH NATIVE VOCABULARY

n Approach 1 : Functional and lexical fields with a very low number of loan-words (accord-ing to SCHELER 1977, pp.75ff)n function words (articles, pronouns, prepositions, auxiliary verbs, numerals etc.)n the most frequent verbs (particularly those which are used to form phrasal verbs)n irregular verbsn words for parts of the human bodyn basic colour terms, the four seasons, the points of the compassn basic vocabulary of farming, flora, and fauna

n Approach 2 : The general relationship of English and German cognatesn Group 1: no difference in (basic) meaning between English and German words (e.g.

cow / Kuh, mother / Mutter, laugh / lachen, house / Haus, stone / Stein, etc.)n Group 2: differences in (basic) meaning between related English and German words

(e.g. town / Zaun, strike / streichen, dog / Dogge, cough / keuchen, read / raten, write / ritzen - reißen, chicken / Küken, play / pflegen, etc.)

n Group 3: etymological relationship between modern English and extinct German words (e.g. little - OHG luzil, smile - MHG smielen, know - OHG chnaan, etc.)

n Group 4: modern Standard English vs. archaic words in German (e.g. smoke / Schmauch(en), breath / Brodem, ask / heischen, etc.)

n Group 5: etymological relationship between modern Standard English and regional German words (e.g. womb / Wampe, pull / pulen , tail / Zagel, etc.)

n Group 6: native vocabulary, which is peculiar to English, not present in German, but not borrowed from other languages (e.g. bad, kill, buy, keep, bird, etc.)

n CAUTION: words borrowed from other languages into English and German (e.g. uncle / Onkel, aunt / Tante, interpret / interpretieren, linguistics / Linguistik, etc.)

(3) EARLY INFLUENCE ON ENGLISH VOCABULARY

• Latin influence on Germanic languages (“Latin influence of the zero period”, also called “continental borrowing”, before 5th century):

e.g. street (< L via strata), wall (< L wallum), wine (< L vinum), kitchen (< L cocina), dish (< L discus), cup (< L cuppa), butter (< L butyrum), cheese (< L caseus), mile (< L milia passum), pound (< L pondo), mill (< L molina), anchor (< L ancora), ...

• Latin influence through Celtic transmission (“Latin influence of the first period”, approx. 5th century):

e.g. -chester / -caster / -cester (< L castra), mount (< L montem), port (< L portus)

• Direct Celtic influence (approx. 5th century):e.g. down (as N., later Adv./Prep.), lead /led/ (N.), ass, bin, rich

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• Latin influence due to the christianization of the Anglo-Saxons (“Latin influence of the se-cond period”, sometimes of Ancient Greek origin, approx. 7th century)

e.g. noon (< L nona hora), clerk (< L clericus), mass, demon, organ, psalm, church, devil, angel, disciple, master, temple, priest, school, hymn, bishop, ...e.g. cat, fork, plum, rose, candle, cock, mule, plant, sock, (prob.) beer, ...

(4) SCANDINAVIAN INFLUENCE (8th century and after)

• Examples of Scandinavian (Old Norse) loan-words:• frequent everyday words: give (pronunciation only), get, fellow, husband, law,

wrong, want, window, low, die, sister, skin, sky, awe, ugly, call, hit, cast, bank (of river), egg, leg, anger, dirt, race (competition), odd, scare, sly, trust, wing, ...

• function words: they, till, though, same, both, (prob.) she• verbal endings: (prob.) -s in 3rd Person Sg. Present Tense• place name elements: -by, -thorpe, -thwaite, -toft• (Northern) dialect words: kirk (vs. church), garth (vs. yard), lake (vs. play), skere

(vs. sheer), big (vs. build), hoast (vs. cough), benk (vs. bench), ...

• Native words passing out of use:ON LOAN NATIVE WORD ON LOAN NATIVE WORDsister † sweostor bank † ofertake † nimman egg † Qg [aI, QI]anger † torn cut † snifanwindow † fenester birth † gebyrde

• Semantic differentiation:ON LOAN NATIVE WORD ON LOAN NATIVE WORDwant will (V.) skirt shirtsky heaven leg footskin hide (N.) skill craftill sick hit strikedie starve call name (V.)

3.2. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD

(1) EXAMPLES OF FRENCH LOAN-WORDS

• Government and Administratione.g. government, state, empire, reign, rule, council, people, budget, tax, property, constable, marshal, office, country, city, citizen, minister, crown, majesty, sovereign, power, police, messenger, peasant, village, ...

• Military termse.g. war, peace, truce, arms, army, soldier, navy, battle, enemy, danger, peril, treaty, alliance, armour, castle, fortress, company, regiment, defence, conquest, command, obey, sergeant, lieutenant, attack, …

• Law and jurisdictione.g. judge, judgement, justice, court, jury, crime, accuse, condemn, prison, counsel, complain, fraud, adultery, evidence, charge, sentence, verdict, advocate, jail/gaol, liberty, heir, estate, arrest, cause, heritage, marry, prove/proof ...

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• Church and religione.g. saviour, sermon, prayer, service, charity, pity, mercy, grace, chapel, faith, miracle, repent, devotion, temptation, abbey, preach, pray, sacrifice, confess, envy, saint, virgin, desire, …

• Courtly lifee.g. palace, tower, table, chamber, curtain, ceiling, couch, pleasure, dance, melody, flute, romance, chronicle, mirror, recreation, gentle, ...

• Fashione.g. fashion, robe, coat, button, fur, pearl, gown, cloak, diamond, jewel, dress, costume, garment, lace, veil, wardrobe, ...

• Huntinge.g. chase/catch, track, lure, falcon, leash, scent, harness, ...

• Food and cookerye.g. dinner, supper, taste, sausage, salad, boil, roast, orange, salmon, feast, vinegar, oyster, sauce, salad, juice, fruit, appetite, biscuit, mustard, ...

• Art and sciencee.g. art, beauty, figure, colour, story, paint, music, medicine, pain, proof, study, university, college, comedy, volume, title, page, image, design, ...

• Everyday lifee.g. age, face, air, flower, beast, hour, river, arrive, enter, change, pay, money, carry, charge, move, large, poor/poverty, nice, coast, forest, lake, mountain, example, danger, exercise, honour, labour, marriage, foreign, sure, manner, nourish, place, point, price, fault, number, easy, safe, simple, ...

• Limited areas• nobility: sir, (ma)dame, count(ess), baron(ess), duke/duchess, prince(ss), ... (vs.

native nobility: king, queen, lord, lady, earl, etc.)• family relations: aunt, uncle, cousin, niece, nephew, ... (vs. direct relations: mother,

father, son, daughter, brother, child, etc.)• animals/meat: veal (vs. calf), beef (vs. cow/bull), bacon (vs. ham), pork (vs. pig/

swine), venison (vs. deer), poultry (vs. hen/chicken), mutton (vs. sheep), ...• crafts and trades: tailor, butcher, barber, carpenter, chandler, mason, painter, ...

(vs. native crafts/trades: baker, miller, smith, cook, brewer, saddler, hatter, etc.)

(2) DOUBLETS: Anglo-Norman vs. Old French

• VL /ka-/ → OF /tS-/ chase, chattel(s), chieftain, charge VL /ka-/ → AN /ka-/ catch, cattle, captain, carry

• Germ. /w-/ → OF /g-/ guardian, regard, guarantee, (en)gage Germ. /w-/ → AN /w-/ warden, reward, warrant, wage(s)

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(3) NATIVE WORDS PASSING OUT OF USE

OF LOANWORD NATIVE WORD OF LOANWORD NATIVE WORDsaviour † hQland army † hereduke † hertoge peace † friÞletter † bokstaf hour † stundage † Qldu air † lyftprayer † gebed victory † sigecustom † sidu people † leodecountry † rice uncle † eamstrange † fremed poor † earmbeautiful † scene catch/chase † fangansave † hreddan forge † smiÞian

(4) SEMANTIC DIFFERENTIATION

OF LOANWORD NATIVE WORD OF LOANWORD NATIVE WORDliberty freedom chamber roomsense meaning language speechcordial hearty aid helpmarriage wedding guide leadarms weapon(s) city townpeople folk saint holysolitude loneliness commence begin, startmansion house conceal hidequestion ask nourish feed

3.3. THE EARLY MODERN ENGLISH PERIOD

(1) EXAMPLES OF LATIN AND (ANCIENT) GREEK LOAN-WORDS DURING THE RENAISSANCE (cf. “Fremdwörter” in Modern German)

• Latin: area, abdomen, absurd, anticipate, contradict, compensate, data, decorum, delirium, denominate, disrupt, editor, emancipate, folio, gradual, imitate, interest, lapse, medium, notorious, obnoxious, orbit, peninsula, quota, resuscitate, series, strict, superintendent, transient, ultimate, urban, urge, vindicate, ...

• Ancient Greek (sometimes through Latin transmission): allegory, anaemia, anaesthesia, aristocracy, barbarous, chaos, climax, dilemma, drama, enthusiasm, epithet, epoch, metaphor, paradox, phenomenon, rhapsody, rhetoric, spasm, stratagem, symmetry, tyrant, ...

(2) DOUBLETS: French vs. Latin

OF LOAN LATIN LOAN OF LOAN LATIN LOANroyal regal loyal legaltreason tradition ray radiuspurvey provide count computeblame blaspheme fancy fantasyransom redemption caitiff captivesure secure respite respect

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3.4. OTHER ISSUES CONCERNING ENGLISH VOCABULARY

(1) FURTHER SOURCES OF ENGLISH WORDS (selective)

Language / Group of Languages

Examples

Modern Celtic whiskey, collie, banshee, brogue, leprechaun, slogan, shamrock, druid

Modern Scandinavian ski, rune, ombudsman, fjord, geyser, saga, lemming, slalom

Modern French fiancee, limousine, negligee, garage, etiquette, hors d’oeuvre, rouge

Spanish cannibal, potato, tortilla, sherry, banana, rodeo, canyon, junta

Portuguese flamingo, buffalo, commando, palaver, teak, veranda, marmalade

Italian concerto, gondola, gorgonzola, opera, soprano, volcano, malaria

Dutch / Low German cruise, smuggle, booze, coleslaw, boss, dope, sleigh, stoop, yacht

High German zinc, cobalt, noodle, waltz, Weltanschauung, blitzkrieg, leitmotif, yodel

Arabic alchemy, assassin, hashish, sultan, harem, almanac, alcohol, coffee

Hebrew hallelujah, rabbi, kosher, kibbutz, Sabbath, shekel, Satan, shibboleth

Turkish yoghurt, fez, caftan, kebab, jackal, kiosk, pasha, turban, effendi

Persian bazaar, caravan, mogul, shah, divan, baksheesh, dervish, sofa

Sanskrit swastika, yoga, karma, mahatma, nirvana, indigo, tantra

Hindustani bungalow, maharaja, pyjamas, guru, jungle, shampoo, sahib

Chinese; Tibetan silk, ketchup, ginseng, tea, typhoon, chop suey; Sherpa, yeti, yak

Japanese kimono, soy, samurai, judo, geisha, karaoke, kamikaze, tycoon, tofu

Malay-Polynesian taboo, tattoo, ukulele, orang-utan, amok/amuck

Australian kangaroo, boomerang, budgerigar, wombat, koala, aborigine, kiwi

African voodoo, jazz, gumbo, safari, gnu, chimpanzee, zebra

Russian steppe, samovar, vodka, rouble, czar, Bolshevik, glasnost, sputnik

Hungarian paprika, goulash, vampire, hussar

Native American (North) moccasin, opossum, squaw, woodchuck, tomahawk, totem, hickory; (Inuit) anorak, igloo; (South) guano, llama

For further information on foreign words in English and additional examples see:SCHELER 1977, Part I; ALGEO 2010, Chapter 12.

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(2) ETYMOLOGICAL STUDIES

Language(s) CED (80096) OALD (27241) GSL (3984)

GERMANIC• Native• Scandinavian• Dutch/Low German• High German

(26.2%)22.2% 2.1% 1.4% 0.5%

(31.7%)27.4% 2.5% 1.6% 0.2%

(50.8%)47.0% 3.1% 0.7%

---

ROMANCE• French• Other Romance

(30.3%)28.4% 1.9%

(37.4%)35.9% 1.5%

(38.2%)38.0% 0.2%

LATIN• (Classical) Latin• Anglo-Latin

(28.4%)28.3% 0.1%

(22.1%)22.0% 0.1%

(9.6%) 9.5% 0.1%

GREEK 5.3% 1.6% 0.3%

CELTIC 0.4% 0.3% 0.1%

OTHER EUROPEAN 0.1% 0.1% ---

NON-EUROPEAN 2.0% 1.1% 0.1%

∅-ETYMOLOGY 4.0% 3.8% 0.9%

PROPER NAMES 3.3% 1.9% ---

(Table based on SCHELER 1977, p.72; percentages have been rounded)

Legend: CED Chronological English Dictionary (based on the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary); OALD Ox-ford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary; GSL General Service List of English Words (by Michael West)

(3) THE BASIC TYPES OF SEMANTIC CHANGE

• Generalization / Extension : development of a wider range of meaningse.g. OE dogga ‘Dogge’ → ModE dog ‘Hund’

OE brid ‘Nestling’ → ModE bird ‘Vogel’OE mann ‘Mensch’ → ModE man ‘Mann’ + ‘Mensch’

• Specialization / Reduction : development of a narrower range of meaningse.g. OE hund ‘Hund’ → ModE hound ‘Jagdhund’

OE fugol ‘Vogel’ → ModE fowl ‘Geflügel’OE steorfan ‘sterben’ → ModE starve ‘verhungern’

• Amelioration : development of a (more) positive association / meaninge.g. OE cniht ‘Knecht’ → ModE knight ‘Ritter’

ME nice ‘dumm’ → ModE nice ‘nett, hübsch’ME minister ‘Diener’ → ModE minister ‘Staatsdiener’

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• Pejoration : development of a (more) negative association / meaninge.g. OE sQlig ‘glücklich’ → ModE silly ‘dumm’

OE knapa ‘Knabe, Diener → ModE knave ‘Schurke’OE slQgr ‘schlau, geschickt’ → ModE sly ‘gerissen’

• Transfer : shift of meaning from one concept to anothere.g. ME carre ‘Karren’ → ModE car ‘Auto’

ME paper ‘Papyrus’ → ModE paper ‘Papier’OE tun ‘Gehöft, (Zaun)’ → ModE town ‘Stadt’

(4) WORD-FORMATION

Process Description Example Historical Status

major types

Compounding (usually) free + free morpheme classroom prob. Indo-European

Derivation free + bound morpheme(s) unfriendly prob. Indo-European

Zero-Derivation free + zero morpheme clean (V.) Early Middle English

minor types

Back-Derivation shortening / class-changing edit (V.) approx. 13th century

Clipping shortening / class-maintaining phone approx. 16th century

Blending blending of two words smog approx. 17th century

Acronymy initial words NATO approx. 19th century

Eponymy words from proper names zeppelin approx. 14th century ??

Reduplication repetition; rhyming; ablaut Ping-Pong approx. 16th century

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4. HISTORICAL MORPHOSYNTAX

4.1. OVERVIEW: loss of inflection and its reasons

4.2. NOUNS

(1) SOME OLD ENGLISH NOUN DECLENSIONS

a-declension

o-declension

u-declension

n-declension

r-declension

root-declension

cyning‘king’

giefu‘gift’

sunu‘son’

tunge‘tongue’

fQder‘father’

mann‘man’

Sg. Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc.

cyningcyningescyningecyning

giefugiefegiefegiefe

sunusunasunasunu

tungetungantungantungan

fQderfQderfQderfQder

mannmannesmennmann

Pl. Nom. Gen. Dat. Acc.

cyningascyninga

cyningumcyningas

giefagiefenagiefumgiefa

sunasuna

sunumsuna

tungantungenatungumtungan

fQderasfQdera

fQderumfQdera

mennmanna

mannummenn

(2) GENERALIZATION OF ONE FORM

Old English had the following possibilities of marking the plural of nouns (cf. Modern German, Latin):

• -as stan → stanas ‘stones’• -u scip → scipu ‘ships’• -∅ word → word ‘words• -a giefu → giefa ‘gifts’• -an tunge → tungan ‘tongues’• ‘umlaut’ fot → fet ‘feet’• -ru cild → cildru ‘children’• -e cwen → cwene ‘girls’

Similar: generalisation of the -s ending in the Genitive case.

(3) PHONOLOGICAL PROCESSES CONTRIBUTING TO THE LOSS OF ENDINGS (in chronological order)

• -a, -e,-o, -u (NOT -i) in final/inflectional syllables change to unstressed /«/, mostly spelt -e;• -n in final syllables vanishes;• /«/ in final syllables is deleted;(for further information on these processes see Chapter 5 ‘Historical Phonology’)

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(4) CONSEQUENCES

• Loss of inflectional endings + fixation of word order to SVO (cf. Introduction).• Transition from a synthetic structure (use of endings) to an analytic structure (based on the

position of the verb in a sentence).

4.3. ADJECTIVES AND ADVERBS

(1) TYPICAL DECLENSION OF AN OLD ENGLISH ADJECTIVE

Singular Strong declension Weak declension

Masc. Fem. Neut. Masc. Fem. Neut.

NominativeGenitiveDativeAccusative

blindblindesblindumblindne

blindblindreblindreblinde

blindblindesblindum

blind

blindablindanblindanblindan

blindeblindanblindanblindan

blindeblindanblindanblinde

Plural Strong declension Weak declension

Masc./Fem. Neut. Masc./Fem./Neut.

NominativeGenitiveDativeAccusative

blindeblindrablindumblinde

blindablindrablindum

blind

blindanblindrablindumblindan

NOTE: the strong declension was used after indefinite articles, numerals, and ∅; the weak de-clension after definite articles/demonstratives and possessives; cf. ModG ein braver Junge vs. der brave Junge.

(2) COMPARISON

• synthetic (“Germanic”) comparison: use of endings; cf. big, bigger, biggest• analytic (“Romance”) comparison: use of grade adverbs; cf. important, more important,

most important (imitation of French)

(3) REGULARLY DERIVED ADVERBS

• OE -lice → ModE -ly e.g. quickly, fairly, hardly, etc.• OE -e → ModE -∅ e.g. fast, hard, etc. (more frequent in American English)

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4.4. PRONOUNS AND ARTICLES

(1) PERSONAL PRONOUNS

OE ME EModE ModE

1 st Person Sg. Subject Object Possessive Adj

icmemin

I / ikme

mi / min

Ime

my / mine

Imemy

2 nd Person Sg. Subject Object Possessive Adj

ÞuÞeÞin

thouthee

thi / thin

thou / youthee / you

thy / thine / your

youyouyour

3 rd Person Sg. M. Subject Object Possessive Adj

hehine / him

his

hehimhis

hehimhis

hehimhis

3 rd Person Sg. F. Subject Object Possessive Adj

heohierehiere

she / shohir / herhir / her

sheherher

sheherher

3 rd Person Sg. N. Subject Object Possessive Adj

hithim / hit

his

hit / ithit / it

his

itit

his / its

ititits

1 st Person Pl. Subject Object Possessive Adj

weusure

weus

oure

weusour

weusour

2 nd Person Pl. Subject Object Possessive Adj

geeow

eower

yeyouyour

ye / youyou / ye

your

youyouyour

3 rd Person Pl. Subject Object Possessive Adj

hi / hiehim / hem

hiera / hira

hi / theyhem / themher / their

theythemtheir

theythemtheir

NOTE: only the possessive adjectives have been included in the table above; the possessive pronouns are mostly formed by the addition of a suffix, cf. my - mine, your - yours, etc.

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(2) MAJOR PROBLEM AREAS

• 2nd person in general: thou, thee, thy vs. ye, you, your: imitation and generalisation of the French honorific (vous, votre, etc.), leveling of the ye - you distinction;

• 3rd person plural: hie, him, hiera vs. they, them, their: borrowing from Scandinavian;• 3rd person singular feminine: heo vs. she: (most probably) internal borrowing.

(3) ARTICLES AND DEMONSTRATIVES

Declension of the Old English weak and strong demonstratives

Singular Weak demonstrative Strong demonstrative

Masc. Fem. Neut. Masc. Fem. Neut.

NominativeGenitiveDativeAccusative

se (1)ÞQsÞQmÞone

seo (1)ÞQreÞQreÞa

ÞQt (4)ÞQsÞQmÞQt

ÞesÞissesÞissumÞisne

ÞeosÞisseÞisseÞas

Þis (2)ÞissesÞissum

Þis

Plural Weak demonstrative Strong demonstrative

Masc./Fem./Neut. Masc./Fem./Neut.

NominativeGenitiveDativeAccusative

Þa (5)ÞaraÞQmÞa

Þas (3)Þissa

ÞissumÞas

Development:(1) OE se / seo → ModE definite article the(2) OE Þis → ModE demonstrative/proximity this(3) OE Þas → ModE demonstrative/proximity these(4) OE ÞQt → ModE demonstrative/distance that(5) OE Þa → ModE demonstrative/distance those (analogy: ME tho)

4.5. VERBS

(1) BASIC VERB CLASSIFICATION

• Modern: Regular add -(e)d to the stem of the verbIrregular any other pattern

• Historical: Weak ending (incl. vowel/consonant alternation plus ending)Strong ablaut

NOTE: Regular/weak and irregular/strong do NOT overlap !!!

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(2) HISTORICAL VERB CLASSIFICATION

(a) WEAK VERBS: the traditional weak verb classes

Class Infinitive Preterit Past Participle

1 -an -(e)de or -te -ed or -t

2 -ian -ode -od

3 -an -de -d

Class 1: fyllan, fylde, (ge)fylled fill regularcyssan, cyste, (ge)cyst kiss regularwyrcan, worhte, (ge)worht work regularisedsettan, sette, (ge)seted set irregular: zero alternationsendan, sendde, (ge)sended send irregular: consonant alternationhieran, hierde, (ge)hiered hear irregular: vowel alternation + endingcepan, cepte, (ge)cept keep irregular: vowel alternation + endingmetan, mette, (ge)meted meet irregular: vowel alternationÞencan, Þohte, (ge)Þoht think irregular: vowel/consonant alt. + endingClass 2:lufian, lufode, (ge)lufod love regularendian, endode, (ge)endod end regularmacian, macode, (ge)macod make irregular: agglutination of stem and endingClass 3:habban, hQfde, (ge)hQfd have irregular: agglutination of stem and endinglibban, lifde, (ge)lifd live regularsecgan, sQgde, (ge)sQgd say pseudo-regular

(b) STRONG VERBS: the traditional strong verb classes

Class Ablaut Stem ends in:

1 i - a - i - i ---

2 eo - ea - u - o ---

3a3b3c

i - a - u - ue - ea - u - oeo - ea - u - o

nasal + consonantlateral + consonantr/h + consonant

4 e - Q - Q - o single nasal, lateral, r

5 e - Q - Q - e single consonant (not nasal, lateral, r)

6 a - o - o - a ---

7a7b

a - eo - eo - aQ - e - e - Q

------

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Class 1: ridan, rad - ridon, (ge)riden rideClass 2: fleogan, fleah - flugon, (ge)flogen fly

leosan, leas - luron, (ge)loren lose (strong → weak)Class 3a: drincan, dranc - druncon, (ge)druncen drinkClass 3b: swellan, sweall - swullon, (ge)swollen swell

helpan, healp - hulpon, (ge)holpen help (regularisation)Class 3c: feohtan, feaht - fuhton, (ge)fohten fight

ceorfan, cearf - curfon, (ge)corfen carve (regularisation)Class 4: stelan, stQl - stQlon, (ge)stolen stealClass 5: sprecan, sprQc - sprQcon, (ge)sprecen speakClass 6: standan, stod - stodon, (ge)standen stand

wascan, wosc - woscon, (ge)wascen wash (regularisation)Class 7a: cnawan, cneow - cneowon - (ge)cnawen knowClass 7b: rQdan, red - redon, (ge)rQden read

slQpan , slep - slepon, (ge)slQpen sleep (strong → weak)

(c) PRETERITIVE-PRESENT VERBS (cf. modal auxiliaries)

e.g. cunnan, cann - cunnon, cuÞe can, couldsculan, sceal - sculon, scolde shall, shouldmagan, mQg - magon, mihte may, might

(d) SUPPLETIVE VERBS

n go: go, went, gone ← OE gan - eode - gan; OE wenan - wentn be: be, being, been ← OE beon (no preterit, present meaning)

was, were ← OE wesan (no preterit, but past meaning)am, are, is ← PrOE sindan (already suppletive, rivaling

with forms of beon)

(3) VERBAL ENDINGS (Indicative only)

OLD ENGLISH MIDDLE ENGLISH

weak strong weak strong

Infinitive fyllan singan fillen singen

Present Sg. 1.P. 2.P. 3.P.

fyllefyllestfylleÞ

singesingestsingeÞ

fillefillestfilleth

singesingestsingeth

Present Pl. all P. fyllaÞ singaÞ fillen singen

Past Sg. 1.P. 2.P. 3.P.

fyldefyldestfylde

sangsungesang

filledefilledestfillede

sangsungesang

Past Pl. all P. fyldon sungon filleden sangen

Present Participle -iende, -enne -iende, -enne filling singing

Past Participle (ge)fylled (ge)sungen (y)filled (y)sung

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NOTE: The subjunctive forms in both present and past in OE and ME were generally not as numerous as the indicative forms (OE and ME: singular -e, plural -en, both weak and strong verbs). The use of the subjunctive has already been strongly reduced in the EModE period.

EARLY MODERN ENGLISH MODERN ENGLISH

weak strong weak strong

Infinitive fill sing fill sing

Present Sg. 1.P. 2.P. 3.P.

fillfillest / fillfilleth / fills

singsingest / singsingeth / sings

fillfillfills

singsingsings

Present Pl. all P. fill sing fill sing

Past Sg. 1.P. 2.P. 3.P.

filledfilledest / filled

filled

sangsangsang

filledfilledfilled

sangsangsang

Past Pl. all P. filled sang filled sang

Present Participle filling singing filling singing

Past Participle filled sung filled sung

(4) MODAL AUXILIARIES

Consider the following Early Modern English examples:

(a) Most of the inhabitants can no word of Cornish. (travel report, 1603)(b) She could the Bible in the holy tongue. (Ben Johnson, 1632)(c) You may away by night ... (Shakespeare, Romeo & Juliet)(d) I must to Coventry ... (Shakespeare, King Richard II)(e) I will tomorrow (...) to the weyard [= weird] sisters. (Shakespeare, Macbeth)(f) I will after straight and tell him so. (Shakespeare, King Henry IV Part 2)(g) What would these strangers? (Shakespeare, Love’s Labour Lost)(h) I am not mad, I would to heaven I were. (Shakespeare, King John)(i) Thou shalt not from this grave till I torment thee for this injury. (Shakespeare, Midsummer

Night’s Dream)

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4.6. MAJOR DEVELOPMENTS IN ENGLISH SYNTAX

The process of grammaticalisation: lexical content words developing into grammatical items; here especially the OE verbs don, beon and habban becoming the ModE primary auxiliaries do, be and have.

(1) NEGATION

• OE: ic ne ride (S + Part + LV; neutral)ic ne ride nat (S + Part + LV + Part; emphasis)

• ME and EModE: I ride not (S + LV + Part)• EModE and ModE: I do not ride (S + Aux + Part + LV)

(2) INTERROGATIVE SENTENCES

• OE, ME, and EModE: inversionSeest thou these things? (LV + S + O)

• EModE and ModE: periphrasisDo you see these things? (Aux + S + LV + O)

(3) EXPANDED FORM (progressive aspect)

• OE: (a) he wQs huntiende S + beon + (often) inflected participle as AGENTIVE NOUN ‘he was (one who) hunted’(b) he wQs on huntunge S + beon + Prep + inflected gerund as NOUN ‘he was (involved in the process of) hunting’

• ME: (a) he was hunting(b) he was a-hunting (difference in meaning is obscure)

• EModE and ModE: (a) he was hunting S + be + uninflected participle (b) he was a-hunting (only in regional/social dialects)

(4) COMPOUND TENSES (perfective aspect)

• OE: (a) ic hQfde hit gebunden (Sg./Neut.) ic hQfde him gebundenne (Pl.) S + habban + O + inflected participle as ADJECTIVE ‘I had (possessed) it/them (in the state of being) bound’(b) he wQs gecumen (Sg.) hie wQron gecumene (Pl.) S + beon/habban + inflected participle as ADJECTIVE ‘he/they was/were (one(s) who) came’

• ME, EModE, and ModE: (a) restricted use (cf. I had my hair cut)(b) he/they has/have come S + have (generalized) + uninflected participle

(decreasing frequency of be + verbs of movement)

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(5) THE PASSIVE

• OE: he wearÞ gebroht to Þam bisceope (Sg.)hie wurdon gebrohte to Þam bisceope (Pl.)S + beon/weor Þ an + inflected participle as ADJECTIVES ‘he/they was/were (one(s) who was/were) brought ...’

• ME, EModE, and ModE: he/they was/were brought to the bishopS + be + uninflected participle

4.7. GRAMMATICAL VARIATION IN EARLY MODERN ENGLISH

The following major syntactic/grammatical structures still variable in Shakespeare’s days have been fixed in the development from EModE to ModE mostly due to the influence of prescriptive/normative grammar (cf. GÖRLACH 1991, p. 102).

a) Accordance of noun and verb (mostly) after collective nouns (e.g. government, police, etc.) and so-called presentatives (e.g. here/there is/are).

b) Differentiation of use between the s-genitive and the periphrastic of-genitive; avoidance of the his-genitive (e.g. the king his wife).

c) Consistent marking of adverbs regularly derived from adjectives (-ly).d) Generalisation of the do-periphrasis in negative and interrogative sentences.e) Inversion of subject and verb after negative adverbs in initial positions (e.g. Never have I

heard such a stupid question).f) Avoidance of double (or multiple) negation.g) Avoidance of double (or multiple) comparison of adjectives (cf. ... the most unkindest cut

of all; Shakespeare, Julius Caesar).h) Differentiation of use between who and which as personal/non-personal relative pronouns.i) Avoidance of redundant pronouns used to repeat (or anticipate) subjects and objects in

written language (e.g. my brother, he ...).j) Rules for the use of shall and will as auxiliaries of the prospective aspect (1st person vs. all

the other persons; mostly abandoned by the end of the 20th century, except in very formal styles).

k) Stronger differentiation in meaning between past tense and present perfect.l) Progressive aspect becomes obligatory when it is required.m) Reduction of the use of the subjunctive (some exceptions, cf. I wish class were over).

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5. HISTORICAL PHONOLOGY

5.1. THE OLD ENGLISH PERIOD

(1) A significant Old English sound change: THE I-UMLAUT (FRONT MUTATION) (approx. 8th century)

SOUND CHANGE

Early Old English Late Old English Modern English

/u/ → /y/, later /i/ Sg. mus, Pl. musisAdj. ful, V. fuljan

Sg. mus, Pl. mysAdj. ful, V. fyllan

mouse / micefull / fill

/o/ → /O/, later /e/ Sg. fot, Pl. fotiPT tolde, Inf. tolljan

Sg. fot, Pl. fetPT tolde, Inf. tellan

foot / feettold / tell

/a/ → /Q/ Num. an, Pron. anigAdj. hal, V. haljan

Num. an, Pron. QniAdj. hal, V. hQlan

one - an / anywhole / heal

/Q/ → /e/ Sg. mQnn, Pl. mQnni Sg. mQnn, Pl. menn man / men

/e/ → /i/ V. beran, (heo) beriÞ V. beran, (heo) birÞ bear / birth

(2) Starting Point: PHONOLOGICAL INVENTORY OF OLD ENGLISH (9th century) (following LASS 1987, p.121)

VOWELS

SHORT /I/, /y/, /U/, /e/, /O/, /o/, /Q/, /A/

LONG /i:/, /y:/, /u:/, /e:/, /O:/, /o:/, /Q:/, /A:/

DIPHTHONGS /QA/, /QA:/, /eo/, /eo:/

CONSONANTS

PLOSIVES /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/

FRICATIVES /f/, /T/, /s/, /S/, /x/

AFFRICATES /tS/, /dZ/

NASALS /m/, /n/

OTHER /w/, /r/, /l/, /j/

NOTE: Old English consonants (with the exception of /S/, /w/, and /j/) could be both short and long.

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5.2. THE MIDDLE ENGLISH PERIOD (incl. the transition from OE to ME)

5.2.1. VOWEL CHANGES

(1) THE LOSS OF INFLECTIONAL ENDINGS

• STEP 1: (LATE OLD ENGLISH) -a, -e, -o, -u (NOT -i) in inflectional endings are reduced to /«/ (mostly spelt -e).

• STEP 2: (LATE OLD ENGLISH) final -n in inflectional endings is lost.• STEP 3: (approx. 14th century) -e /«/ in inflectional syllables is lost.

EXAMPLE STEP 1 STEP 2 STEP 3 (ME)

sunu ‘the son’ (Nom. Sg.) sune /sUn«/ --- son /sUn/

stanas ‘the stones’ (Nom. Pl.) stanes /sta:n«s/ --- stones /sto:nz/

ridan ‘to ride’ (Inf.) riden /ri:d«n/ ride /ri:d«/ ride /ri:d/

tungan ‘(to) the tongue’ (Acc. Sg.) tungen /tUng«n/ tunge /tUng«/ tongue /tUng/

• The reduction of vowels in unstressed syllables did not only affect inflections but also the second or final syllables of a number of compounds; in OE these had long vowels in both stressed and unstressed syllables, the latter was then reduced to /«/ or /®/ in ME,e.g. wisdom (OE /wi:zdo:m/), husband (OE /hu:zbu:nda/), shepherd (OE /Se:phe:rde/), lady (OE hlafdige /hla:fdi:je/), daisy (OE dQges eage /dQ:jesQ:je/), and a number of others.

(2) LENGTHENING I (9th to 10th century)

Short vowels are lengthened before certain groups of consonants, esp. -ld, -nd, -mb (most cog-nate words in German still have the short vowel).

e.g. OE haldan /a/ → ME holden /o:/ (ModE hold, cf. ModG halten)OE feld /e/ → ME feeld /e:/ (ModE field, cf. ModG Feld)OE findan /I / → ME finden /i:/ (ModE find, cf. ModG finden)OE grund /U/ → ME grund /u:/ (ModE ground, cf ModG Grund)OE climban /I/ → ME climben /i:/ (ModE climb, cf. ModG (er)klimmen)OE camb /a/ → ME camb /a:/ (ModE comb, cf. ModG Kamm)

(3) SHORTENING I (10th to 11th century)

Long vowels are shortened in checked syllables while remaining long in open syllables, esp. in weak verbs (cf. historical verb classification).

e.g. OE cepan (open syllable) → ME ff. keep (long vowel)OE cepte (checked syllable) → ME ff. kept (short vowel)OE rQdan (open syllable) → ME ff. read (long vowel)OE rQdde (checked syllable) → ME ff. read (short vowel)OE fife (open syllable) → ME ff. five (long vowel)OE fiftig (checked syllable) → ME ff. fifty (short vowel)

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(4) SHORTENING II (at about the same time as (3))

Long vowels are shortened when followed by two syllables (‘tri-syllabic shortening’); they re-main long in simple(r) words.

e.g. OE suÞ (one syllable) → ME ff. South (long vowel)OE suÞerne (three syllables) → ME ff. Southern (short vowel)

OE crist (one syllable) → ME ff. Christ (long vowel)OE cristendom (three syll.) → ME ff. Christendom (short vowel)

OE halig (two syllables) → ME ff. holy (long vowel)OE halig dQg (three syll.) → ME ff. holiday (short vowel)

(5) MONOPHTHONGIZATION OF OE DIPHTHONGS (11th century)

OE /Qa/ → ME /Q, e/ e.g. OE beamu (> beam), OE eahta (> eight)OE /eo/ → ME /e, o/ e.g. OE deop (> deep), OE ceosan (> choose)

e.g. OE steorfan (> starve), OE eorÞe (> earth)OE /ie/ → ME /e, I/ e.g. OE hiere (> her), OE giefu (> gift)

(6) DEVELOPMENT OF CLOSING DIPHTHONGS (at about the same time as (5))

Postvocalic /j/ and /w/ merge with preceding vowels to produce a new kind of diphthongs: the closing diphthongs ending in /I/ and /V/.

ME /aU/ e.g. OE clawu /klawU/ → ME clawe /klaU«/ME /oU/ e.g. OE cnowan /knowen/ → ME knowen /knoU«n/ME /IU/ e.g. OE niwe /nIwe/ → ME newe /nIU/ME /EU/ e.g. OE feawe /feawe/ → ME fewe /fEU/

ME /aI/ e.g. OE dag /daj/ → ME day /daI/ME /I/ is (mostly) of French origin (imitation)

(7) “SÜDHUMBRISCHE BESEITIGUNG” (12th century)

South of the river Humber /a:/ changes to /:/ (Modern English /«V/).

e.g. OE ban → ME bon (ModE bone)OE stan → ME ston (ModE stone)OE gast → ME gost (ModE ghost)

North of the river Humber /a:/ developed similarly to the Great Vowel Shift (see below), which resulted in either /Q:/ or /e:/ in these words, a typical characteristic of (some) Northern English and (most of all) Scottish dialects.

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(8) LENGTHENING II (13th century)

The mid and low vowels /e, Q, a, o/ are lengthened in open syllables (‘Middle English Open Syllable Lengthening’, MEOSL).

e.g. OE nama /a/ → ME name /a:/, (ModE name)OE metan /e/ → ME meten /e:/, (ModE meet)OE stQlan /Q/ → ME stealen /Q:/, (ModE steal)OE nose /o/ → ME nose /o:/, (ModE nose)

5.2.2. CONSONANT CHANGES

(1) PARTIAL LOSS OF /x/ (12th century; also see below)

The fricative /x/ is lost in certain environments, esp. occurring before /t/.

e.g. OE nict /ni:xt/ → ME night /ni:t/, ModE /naIt/, etc.

(2) PHONEMIZATION OF FRICATIVES AND AFFRICATES (approx. 14th century)

• In OE only the voiceless fricatives /f/, /T/, and /s/ can be called phonemes, the voiced vari-ants /v/, /D/, and /z/ already existed, but only as allophones in certain environments (com-plementary distribution): the voiceless fricatives only occurred in initial and final position (never in medial position), the voiced variants only occurred in medial/intervocalic posi-tion. Minimal pairs were therefore not possible.

PHOMEME ALLOPHONE

INITIAL MEDIAL FINAL

/f/ /f/ e.g. ful /v/ e.g. lifes /f/ e.g. lif

/T/ /T/ e.g. ÞQt /D/ e.g. baÞian /T/ e.g. baÞ

/s/ /s/ e.g. sellan /z/ e.g. leosan /s/ e.g. leos

• Due to the influence of French loan-words with initial /v/ and /z/ the voiced variants became phonemes in ME (cf. few vs. view, seal vs. zeal, etc.).Due to the dropping of inflectional endings all the voiced variants gained phonemic status in final position in ME (cf. leaf vs. leave, teeth vs. teethe, lose vs. loose, etc.).

• The influence of French loan-words also resulted in a new consonant phoneme /Z/ as a voiced partner for the fricative /S/, which already existed in OE; in this case the French con-sonant group /-zj-/ merged to /-Z-/.

e.g. OF vision /vIzjon/ → ME /vIZn/ OF mesure /mezjyr/ → ME /meZ«/

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• Again due to the influence of French loan-words the affricates /tS/ and /dZ/, which existed as positional allophones in OE (the voiceless variant only occurred in initial position, the latter only in medial and final position), became phonemes in initial position (cf. chest vs. jest, and other OF loan-words like gentle, just, judge, etc.)

5.2.3. PHONOLOGICAL INVENTORY OF MIDDLE ENGLISH (end of 13th century) (following LASS 1987, p.128)

VOWELS

SHORT /I/, /U/, /e/, /o/, /A/

LONG /i:/, /u:/, /e:/, /o:/, /:/, /Q:/, /A:/

DIPHTHONGS /aI/, /I/, /IU/, /EU/, /aU/, /U/

CONSONANTS

PLOSIVES /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/

FRICATIVES /f/, /v/, /T/, /D/, /s/, /z/, /S/, /x/

AFFRICATES /tS/, /dZ/

NASALS /m/, /n/

OTHER /w/, /r/, /l/, /j/

5.3. THE EARLY MODERN ENGLISH PERIOD (and later developments)

5.3.1. THE GREAT VOWEL SHIFT (GVS)

(1) OVERVIEW

• FIRST STAGE (approx. 15th and 16th century): ME mid and low long vowels move one step upwards in the vowel diagram, high vowels are diphthongized; this first stage, which is often the only stage included in diagram descriptions of the GVS, gives this sound change a regular and symmetric look.

• SECOND STAGE (approx. 17th century, during the rest of the EModE period): After the first stage some ME mid-low and low vowels still continue to rise in the vowel diagram (esp. B1 and B3).

• FINAL STAGE (approx. 18th and 19th century): two long vowels of EModE are diphthon-gized in their development toward ModE; this process is not yet finished in most national varieties outside RP (B2 and B3).

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(2) DESCRIPTION OF THE GVS

ME 1st stage 2nd stage final stage Examples Spelling

A1 /i:/ /aI/ /aI/ /aI/ time, write, by, right <iCe, y, igh>

A2 /u:/ /aU/ /aU/ /aU/ house, proud, cow <ou, ow>

A3 /e:/ /i:/ /i:/ /i:/ field, chief, see <ee, ie>

A4 /o:/ /u:/ /u:/ /u:/ moon, cool, tooth <oo>

B1 /Q:/ /e:/ /i:/ /i:/ deal, beast, sea <ea>

B2 /:/ /o:/ /o:/ /«U/ stone, coat, rose <oCe, oa>

B3 /a:/ /Q:/ /e:/ /eI/ name, case, tale <aCe>

(3) EXCEPTIONS

Although the GVS is normally considered a strongly regular and comprehensive sound change, there occurred a small number of more or less systematic exceptions, in which ME long vowels were shortened:

ME e. EModE EModE / ModE Examples Spelling

A 4 /o:/ /u:/ /U/ or /Ã/ look, good, blood, flood <oo>

B 1 /Q:/ /e:/ /e/ head, breast, breath, dead <ea>

(4) DIPHTHONGS AND THE GVS

Most of the diphthongs “produced” during the GVS were not new; words on these positions moved to different places (often those which were left “vacant” by preceding changes) and in some cases followed the original development of these particular vowels.

ME EModE Development ModE Examples Spelling

C1 /aI/ /a:/ cf. B3 /eI/ day, play, tail <ai, ay>

C2 /«U/ /:/ cf. B2 /«U/ grow, low, soul <ow, ou>

C3 /aU/ /a://a://:/

cf. B3cf. B3 (in part)arrested

/eI//a:, Q//:/

changedance, auntlaw, cause

<anCe, au, aw>

C4 new diphthong /eI/

Diphthongs not involved in the GVS include /IU/, /EU/, /I/, and the rare /UI/.

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5.3.2. PHONOLOGICAL INVENTORY OF EARLY MODERN ENGLISH (end of 16th century; following GÖRLACH 1991, p.65 and GÖRLACH 2002, p. 37)

VOWELS

SHORT /I/, /U/, /e/, /Q/, //, /Ã/, /«/, /A/

LONG /i:/, /u:/, /e:/, /o:/, /:/, /Q:/, /A:/

DIPHTHONGS /aI/, /I/, /UI/, /eI/, /IU/, /EU/, /aU/, /U/

CONSONANTS

PLOSIVES /p/, /b/, /t/, /d/, /k/, /g/

FRICATIVES /f/, /v/, /T/, /D/, /s/, /z/, /S/, /Z/, /h/

AFFRICATES /tS/, /dZ/

NASALS /m/, /n/, /N/

OTHER /w/, /r/, /l/, /j/

5.3.3. OTHER CHANGES AMONG VOWELS

(1) ME short /a/ (approx. 17th/18th century)

• ME /a/ changed quite regularly to EModE /Q/; this did not change any further in the deve-lopment toward ModE in most cases: cf. cat, bad, man, happy, catch, etc.

• Important exceptions:(a) EModE /Q/ changed to ModE /a:/ in several environments:

before nasals + a following plosive (cf. can´t - but NOT can or cannot - , dance, aunt, etc.), before fricatives (cf. path, last, class, half, etc.); this only happened in RP not in GA;

(b) ME /a/ changed to ModE // after /w/ (cf. was, what, watch, want, etc.);(c) ME /a/ changed to ModE /:/ before /l/ (cf. all, walk, fall, salt, etc.).

(2) ME short // (Phoneme split, approx. 17th/18th century)

• In ME /U/ and /Ã/ were allophones of the phoneme /U/, it did not really matter which vowel was used in those days (no minimal pairs).

• Due to the shortening of /u:/ during the GVS (see above) some words with ME /u:/ came to be pronounced either with /U/ (cf. good, look) or /Ã/ (blood, flood) in EModE.

• In a very small number of cases words with short /V/ and similarly structured words which were already pronounced with /Ã/ began to coexist, so that the first minimal pairs came into existence: cf. look vs. luck, could vs. cud (one of a very small number of modern minimal pairs includes put vs. putt). Both vowels are consequently considered phonemes in ModE.

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5.3.4. CONSONANT CHANGES

(1) COMPLETE LOSS OF /x/ (17th century)

• /x/ → ∅ as in night, light, etc. (see above), but also in high, sigh, etc.• /x/ → /f/ as in enough, cough, rough, tough, etc.

(2) LOSS OF /l/ (approx. 17th/18th century)

• /l/ in postvocalic position is lost, cf. walk, half, calm, would, etc.• exceptions (unpredictable): bulk, wolf, film, cold, etc.

(3) LOSS OF /r/ (approx. 17th/18th century)

• /r/ is lost in postvocalic position during the 17th century: this resulted in(a) the lengthening of the preceding vowel as in car /kar/ → /ka:/, etc.,(b) the occurrence of centring diphthongs ending in /«/ (NEW PHONEMES !!!)

as in beer /bIr/ → /bI«/, bear /ber/ → /be«/, sure /SUr/ → /SU«/, etc.,(c) schwa only in unstressed syllables as in father /fa:D«r/ → /fa:D«/, etc.

This sound change occurred in RP only, not in GA.

• During this period a new vowel phoneme /Î:/ (only occurring in the environment of /r/) emerged in both British and American English:

e.g. ME /-er-/ (as in German) ME /-Ir-/ (as in first) → EModE /-Îr-/ME /-or-/ (as in world)ME /-Ur-/ (as in burst)

(4) SIMPLIFICATION OF CONSONANT GROUPS (during EModE period)

• nasal + consonants: thumb, sing• nasal + nasal: autumn, column• k / g + nasal: knee, gnaw• w + r: write, wrong• s / t + w: sword, two, answer• f / s + t: listen, castle, often• wh-: which, whale

and many more.

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5.3.5. REMARKS ON ORTHOGRAPHY

English orthography has been fixed quite strongly beginning in the 15th century due to the in-troduction of the printing press (Caxton 1476); the following spelling problems still existed during the EModE period and have been fixed in the development to ModE (prescriptive grammar):

• <i> vs <y>: spirit, spyrit, spyryt• single vs. double consonant: spirit, spiritt• silent <e> vs. ∅: spirit, spirite (and all possible combinations)

Often a silent <e> or a double consonant (or both) were inserted in texts by the printers in order to produce right margins.Another printers´ convention: the letters <u> and <v> could be used to represent vowels, i.e. mostly /u:, V/ as well as combinations (e.g. <ou>), and the consonant /v/; <u> occurred only in the interior of words, e.g. court, neuer, <v> only in initial position, e.g. vnto, vain.

6. STANDARD ENGLISH

(1) RECEIVED PRONUNCIATION (British English)

The East Midlands dialect of Middle English as the historical precursor of RP.

(2) GENERAL AMERICAN (North-western or Network English)

Northern and North Midland (“General American”) vs. Eastern New England, South Midland, and Southern (Regional Standards).

DIACHRONIC VARIETIES ILLUSTRATED

The Gospel according to Luke (XV, 11-17 and 20-24)

Old English (approx. 10th century, source is obscure)Middle English (approx. 1380, Wycliffe Bible)Early Modern English (1611, King James Bible)

(11) SoÞlice sum man hQfde twegen suna.(11) A man hadde twei sones.(11) A certaine man had two sonnes:

(12) Þa cwQÞ se gingra to his fQder, “FQder, syle me minne dQl minre Qhte Þe me to gebyreÞ.” Þa dQlde he him his Qhta.(12) And the yonger of hem seide to the fadir, “Fadir yiue me the porcioun of catel that fallith to me.” And he departide to hem the catel.(12) And the yonger of them said to his father, Father, giue me the portion of goods that falleth to me. And he diuided vnto them his liuing.

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(13) Þa Qfter feawum dagum ealle his Þing gegaderode se gingra sunu and ferde wrQclice on feorlen rice and forspilde ÞQr his Qhta, lybbende on his gQlsan.(13) And not aftir many daies, whanne alle thingis weren gederid togider, the yonger sone wente forth in pilgrymage in to a fer cuntre; and there he wastide hise goodis in lyuynge lecherously.(13) And not many dayes after, the yonger sonne gathered al together, and tooke his iourney into a farre countrey, and there wasted his substance with riotous liuing.

(14) Þa he hy hQfde ealle amyrrede, Þa wearÞ mycel hunger on Þam rice and he wearÞ wQdla.(14) And aftir that he hadde endid alle thingis, a strong hungre was maad in that cuntre, and he bigan to haue nede.(14) And when he had spent all, there arose a mighty famine in that land, and he beganne to be in want.

(15) Þa ferde he and folgode anum burhsittendum men ÞQs rices; Þa sende he hine to his tune ÞQt he heolde his swin.(15) And he wente, and drough hym to oon of the citeseyns of that cuntre. And he sente hym in to his toun, to fede swyn.(15) And he went and ioyned himselfe to a citizen of that countrey, and he sent him into his fields to feed swine.

(16) Þa gewilnode he his wambe gefyllan of Þam beancoddum Þe Þa swyn Qton, and him man ne sealde.(16) And he coueitide to fille his wombe of the coddis that the hoggis eeten, and no man yaf hym.(16) And he would faine haue filled his belly with the huskes that the swine did eate: and no man gaue vnto him.

(17) Þa beÞohte he hine and cwQÞ, “Eala hu fela yrÞlinga on mines fQder huse hlaf genohne habbaÞ, and ic her on hungre forwurÞe! ...”(17) And he turnede ayen to hym silf, and seide, “Hou many hirid men in my fadir hous han plente of looues; and Y perische here thorough hungir. ...”(17) And when he came to himselfe, he said, How many hired seruants of my fathers haue bread inough, and to spare and I perish with hunger. ...

(20) And he aras Þa and com to his fQder. And Þa gyt Þa he wQs feorr his fQder, he hine geseah and wearÞ mid mildheortnesse astyred and ongean hine arn and hine beclypte and cyste hine.(20) And he roos vp, and cam to his fadir. And whanne he was yit afer, his fadir saigh hym, and was stirrid bi mercy. And he ran, and fel on his necke, and kisside hym.(20) And he arose and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ranne, and fell on his necke, and kissed him.

(21) Þa cwQÞ his sunu, “FQder, ic syngode on heofon and beforan Þe. Nu ic ne eom wyrÞe ÞQt ic Þin sunu beo genemned.”(21) And the sone saide to hym, “Fadir, Y haue synned in to heuene, and bifor thee; and now Y am not worthi to be clepid thi sone.”(21) And the sonne said vnto him, Father, I have sinned against heauen, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy sonne.

(22) Þa cwQÞ se fQder to his Þeowum, “BringaÞ hrQÞe Þone selestan gegyrelan and scrydaÞ hine, and syllaÞ him hring on his hand and gescy to his fotum.(22) And the fadir seide to his seruauntis, “Swithe brynge ye forth the firste stoole, and clothe ye hym, and yiue ye a ryng in his hoond, and schoon on hise feet.

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(22) But the father saide to his seruants, Bring foorth the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shooes on his feete.

(23) And bringaÞ an fQtt styric and ofsleaÞ, and uton etan and gewistfullian.(23) And brynge ye a fat calf, and sle ye, and ete we, and make we feeste.(23) And bring hither the fatted calfe, and kill it, and let us eate and be merrie.

(24) For Þam Þes min sunu wQs dead, and he geedcucode; he forwearÞ, and he is gemet.”(24) For this my sone was deed, and hath lyued ayen; he perischid, and is foundun.”(24) For this my sonne was dead, and is aliue againe; hee was lost, and is found.

SELECTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY

1. History of the English language: overviews

Algeo, John. 2010. The origins and development of the English language. Boston: Wadsworth.Barber, Charles. 2005. The English language: a historical introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge

University Press.Baugh, Albert C.; Thomas Cable. 2002. A history of the English language. London: Routledge.Berndt, Rolf. 1989. A history of the English language. Leipzig: Verlag Enzyklopädie.Brinton, Laurel J.; Leslie K. Arnovick. 2006. The English language: a linguistic history. Oxford:

Oxford University Press.Fennell, Barbara A. 2001. A history of English: a sociolinguistic approach. Oxford: Blackwell.Freeborn, Dennis. 1992. From Old English to Standard English: a course book in language va-

riation across time. London: Macmillan.Görlach, Manfred. 2002. Einführung in die englische Sprachgeschichte. Heidelberg: Quelle &

Mayer.Gramley, Stephan. 2012. The history of English: an introduction. London: Routledge.Hogg, Richard; David Denison (eds.). 2006. A history of the English language. Cambridge: Cam-

bridge University Press.Jucker, Andreas H. 2000. History of English and English historical linguistics. Stuttgart: Klett.Knowles, Gerry. 1997. A cultural history of the English language. London: Arnold.Lass, Roger. 1987. The shape of English: structure and history. London: Dent.McIntyre, Dan. 2009. History of English: a resource book for students. London: Routledge.Millward, Celia M. 1989. A biography of the English language. Fort Worth, TX.: Holt, Rinehart and

Winston.Momma, Haruko; Michael Matto (eds.). 2008. A companion to the history of the English language.

Oxford: Blackwell.Moessner, Lilo. 2003. Diachronic English linguistics: an introduction. Tübingen: Narr.Mugglestone, Lynda (ed.). 2006. The Oxford history of English. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Shay, Scott. 2008. The history of English: a linguistic introduction. San Francisco: Wardja

Press.Singh, Ishtla. 2005. The history of English: a student's guide. London: Hodder Arnold.Smith, Jeremy. J. 1999. Essentials of early English. London: Routledge.Van Gelderen, Elly. 2006. A history of the English language. Amsterdam: Benjamins.

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2. Old English

Baker, Peter S. 2003. An introduction to Old English. Oxford: Blackwell.Campbell, A. 1983. Old English grammar. Oxford: Clarendon.Hogg, Richard M. (ed.). 1992. The Cambridge history of the English language Vol. 1: The Be-

ginnings to 1066. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Hogg, Richard M. 2002. An introduction to Old English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.Lass, Roger. 1994. Old English: a historical linguistic companion. Cambridge: Cambridge Uni-

versity Press.Mitchell, Bruce; Fred C. Robinson. 2007. A guide to Old English. Oxford: Blackwell.Moore, Samuel; Thomas A. Knott; James R. Hulbert. 1977. The elements of Old English. Ann Ar-

bor, MI.: Wahr.Obst, Wolfgang; Florian Schleburg. 2004. Lehrbuch des Altenglischen. Heidelberg: Winter.Quirk, Randolph; Charles L. Wrenn. 1994. An Old English grammar. DeKalb, IL.: Northern Illi-

nois University Press.

3. Middle English

Blake, Norman (ed.). 1992. The Cambridge history of the English language Vol. 2: 1066-1476. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Horobin, Simon; Jeremy Smith. 2002. An introduction to Middle English. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Markus, Manfred. 1990. Mittelenglisches Studienbuch. Tübingen: Francke.Moessner, Lilo; Ursula Schäfer. 1987. Proseminar Mittelenglisch: Lehrbuch mit Texten, Gram-

matik und Übungen. Tübingen: Francke.Mossé, Fernand. 1988. Mittelenglische Kurzgrammatik: Lautlehre, Formenlehre und Syntax. Mün-

chen: Hueber.Obst, Wolfgang; Florian Schleburg. 1999. Die Sprache Chaucers: Ein Lehrbuch des Mittelengli-

schen auf der Grundlage von 'Troilus and Criseyde'. Heidelberg: Winter.

4. Early Modern English

Barber, Charles. 1997. Early Modern English. London: Deutsch.Görlach, Manfred. 1991. Introduction to Early Modern English. Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press.Lass, Roger (ed.). 1999. The Cambridge history of the English language Vol. 3: 1476-1776. Cam-

bridge: Cambridge University Press.Nevalainen, Terttu. 2007. Introduction to Early Modern English. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Scheler, Manfred. 1982. Shakespeares Englisch: Eine sprachwissenschaftliche Einführung. Berlin:

Schmidt.

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Beal, Joan C. 2004. English in modern times. London: Arnold.Görlach, Manfred. 1999. English in nineteenth-century England: an introduction. Cambridge: Cam-

bridge University Press.Görlach, Manfred. 2001. Eighteenth-century English. Heidelberg: Winter.Mair, Christian. 2006. Twentieth century English: history, variation, standardization. Cambridge:

Cambridge University Press.Romaine, Suzanne (ed.). 1998. The Cambridge history of the English language Vol. 4: 1776-1997.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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6. Historical Phonology and Morphology

Faiß, Klaus. 1989. Englische Sprachgeschichte. Tübingen: Francke.Faiß, Klaus.1992. English historical morphology and word-formation: loss vs. enrichment. Trier:

Wissenschaftlicher Verlag.Jones, Charles. 1989. A history of English phonology. London: Longman.Welna, Jerzy. 1996. English historical morphology. Warschau: Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Wars-

zawskiego.

7. Historical Syntax

Dension, David. 1993. English historical syntax: verbal Constructions. London: Longman.Fischer, Olga et al. 2000. The syntax of early English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

8. Etymology

Durkin, Philipp. 2009. The Oxford guide to etymology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Hughes, Geoffrey. 2000. A history of English words. Oxford: Blackwell.Scheler, Manfred. 1977. Der englische Wortschatz. Berlin: Schmidt.Stockwell, Robert; Donka Minkova. 2001. English words: history and structure. Cambridge: Cam-

bridge University Press.

9. Varieties of English

Algeo, John (ed.). 2001. The Cambridge history of the English language Vol. VI: English in North America. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Burchfield, Robert (ed.). 1994. The Cambridge history of the English language Vol. V: English in Britain and overseas: origins and development. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Crystal, David. 1997. English as a global language. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Hansen, Klaus; Uwe Carls; Peter Lucko. 1996. Die Differenzierung des Englischen in nationale

Varianten. Eine Einführung. Berlin: Schmidt.

10. Dictionaries

An Anglo-Saxon dictionary, ed. Joseph Bosworth, T. Northcote Toller, 2 Vols., Oxford: Clarendon, 1972-76.

Middle English dictionary [MED], eds. Hans Kurath et al., Ann Arbor, MI.: University of Michigan Press, 1952-2001.

The Barnhart dictionary of etymology, eds. Robert K. Barnhart, Sol Steinmetz, New York: H.W. Wilson Company, 1988.

The Oxford dictionary of English etymology [ODEE], eds. Charles T. Onions et al., Oxford: Clarendon, 1966.

The Oxford English dictionary [OED], eds. John A. Simpson; E.S.C. Weiner. 20 Vols. Oxford: Clarendon, 1989. [also available on CD-ROM and online]

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