Vocabulary:

The palatal mutation resulted in vowel interchange as a word-building means:

• in weak verbs derived from nouns, adjectives and strong verbs with the suffix -jan, in which the sound [I] caused the mutation and then was lost:

noun – dōm 'doom' > *dōmjan > dēman 'deem'

adjective – hāl 'healthy' > *hāljan > hællan 'heal'

strong verb (from the past-sg. form) – sæt 'sat' > *sætjan > settan 'set'

– in nouns derived from adjectives with the suffix *-iþu-, in which the sound [I] made the root vowel mutate and then was lost, too:

lanh ‘long' > *lanhiþu > lenhþu ‘length’

– Another combinative change in OE, called ‘breaking’ or ‘fracture’ caused the diphthongization of pure vowels. It took place in the 6th c. The process affected two vowels [x] and [F], which became diphthongs when they were followed by consonants [r, l, h] generally with another consonant. Breaking is typical of Wessex and Kentish.

*ærm > earm ‘arm’

*æhta > eahta ‘eight’

*herte >heorte ‘heart’

*selh > seolh ‘seal’

2. Sound changes in Middle English and New English

The sound system of the English language underwent profound changes in the following historic periods.

2.1 Changes of vowels in unstressed position

In ME all vowels in unstressed position underwent a qualitative change and were reduced to the vowel of the type of [q]. This phonetic change had a far-reaching effect on the system of grammatical endings of the English words which became homonymous due to the process of reduction. For example, in ME all the endings of the forms of strong verbs different only in the vowel component were levelled to one ending

OE wrītan – wrāt – writon – written

ME writen – wrot – writen – writen

In NE vowels that were reduced to the neutral sound in ME are dropped if they are found in the endings of words, for example:

OE	ME	NE
nama [Q]	name [q]	name [ø]
wrītan [Qn]	writen [qn]	write [ø]
sunu [V]	sone [q]	sun [ø]

However, the vowel in the endings are sometimes preserved – mainly for phonetic reason (without the vowel it would be very difficult to pronounce the endings in such words as wanted, dresses).

2.2 Quantitative changes of vowels in me

In ME vowels underwent changes in quantity in certain environment: they became either long or short.

• Lengthening of vowels

The first lengthening of vowels took place as late as OE in the 9th c. All vowels which occurred before the combination of consonants “sonorant + plosive” such as mb, ld, nd, etc. became long.

	OE	ME
[I] > [J]	climban [klImbQn] findan [fIndQn] cild [k’Ild]	climben [klJmbqn] finden [fJndqn] child [CJld]
[F] > [F:]	feld [fFld]	field [fF:ld]
[V] > [u:]	hund [hVnd]	hound [hHnd]

This lengthening didn’t take place, however, if the consonant group in question was followed by a third consonant. This accounts for the difference in vowel between child and children.

Another vowel-lengthening process took place in ME during the 13th c. The vowels [Q, O, and F] became long in open syllables in two-syllable words:

	OE	ME
[Q] > [Q:]	talu [tQlV]	tale [tQ:lq]
[F] > [F:]	sprecan [sprFkQn]	speken [spF:kqn]
[O] > [O:]	hopian [hOpIQn]	hopen [hO:pqn]

As for the short sounds [I] and [V] later in the 13th c. they acquired a new quality in the process of lengthening. They became more open.

	OE	ME
[I] > [e:]	wicu [wIkV]	weke [we:kq]
[V] > [o:]	dures [dVrFs]	dores [do:rqs]

This lengthening of vowels in open syllables has affected spelling-conventions. The silent -e often retained in spelling, though the sound represented by its letter was lost after the reduction of unstressed syllables: hope, bake, etc. Then it was simply inserted to show that the preceding vowel is long or a diphthong in the words that were originally monosyllabic like home (< OE hām), stone (< OE stān), etc. Moreover, due to the lengthening in open syllables, two consonant-symbols are written to show that the vowel is short: copper, backer, etc.

– Shortening of vowels

However, all long vowels were shortened in ME in the 11th c. if they occurred before two or more consonants

	OE	ME
[e:] > [F]	cēpte [ke:ptF]	kept [kFpt]
[i:] > [I]	wīsdōm [wJzdo:m]	wisdom [wIzdqm]

The phonetic process of the lengthening and the shortening of vowels left traces in grammar and vocabulary. Vowel interchange developed in many cases due to them:

– in different forms of the same word: child – children, keep – kept;

– in related words: wise – wisdom.