2.5.7. Unstressed Vowels

Stress in OE mostly fell on the first syllable of a word. Words beginning with a prefix had their stress on the root syllable: wrītan - ʒe΄wrītan. Final syllables were unstressed.

Unstressed long vowels were gradually shortened in all Germanic languages. In English, this process was completed during the earliest part of the OE period. All the long vowels became short, and all the diphthongs were monophthongized in an unstressed position:

Gt namō – OE nåma (name)

Gt dagōs – OE daʒas (days)

Gt ahtau – OE eahta (eight)

Gt sunau – OE suna (sons)

Unstressed vowels often fluctuated, which is evident from their representation in spelling: OE woruld, worold; wǣrun, wǣron.

The weakening of unstressed vowels: took shape of changes such as the change of [æ] to [e], [i] to [e], [u] to [o], etc

OE tunʒæ > tunʒe (tongue)

OE meri > mere (E. poet. mere «lake»)

OE fuʒul > fuʒol (fowl)

Very often, the weakening resulted in the loss of an unstressed vowel. After long syllables it occurred earlier and much more often than after short ones.

Gt flōdus – OE flōdu, flod (flood)

Compare: OE scip (sg) – scipu (pl) (ship – ships), OE scēap (sg) – scēap (pl) (u was lost) (sheep – sheep).

Note. This is the reason why the plural of the nouns sheep, deer and swine is identical in form with the singular.

Sometimes new unstressed vowels developed, especially before r, l, n, e.g.

Gt wintrus – OE winter

OE finʒr – finʒer

Gt fugis, OI fugl – OE fuʒul, fuʒol (fowl)

OE tācn – tācen (token).

In spite of the long process of weakening, the OE final unstressed syllables contain various vowels – a, o, u, e, i: helpan (to help), huntoþ (hunting), sunu (son), writen (written), Frencisc (French)

In comparison with the later stages of its development, OE strikes one as language with developed endings, which justifies the name given to it by the well-known English philologist H. Sweet – the period of full endings.

2.5.8. Consonants

The OE consonant system included the following sounds: labial: p, b, m, f, v; forelingual (dental): t, d, þ, ð, n, s, r, l; mediolingual (palatal): k΄, g΄, x΄, ΄ j; back lingual (velar) k, g, x,, h, ŋ.

There were no separate voiced phonemes [v], [z], [ð]. Voiceless phonemes [f], [s], [θ] were voiced in intervocal position and between a vowel and a voiced consonant [f>v], [s>z], [θ>ð] (voicing), but it was not reflected in spelling.

OE wulf – wulfas[v]

OE grǣs – grasian [z]

OE bǣþ – baþian [ð], NE bath [ba:θ] – bathe [beið]

A voiced fricative when final was unvoiced: flēoʒan – flēah.

Among the OE consonants there were many velar consonants, few sibilants (s, z) and no affricates. During the Late OE, the formation of the sibilants and affricates took place.

2.5.9. Palatalization of Velar Consonants

By the end of the OE period there were only two velar consonants left: [g], [k]. Most of them (g, k,, x,) were palatalized before a front vowel and sometimes after a front vowel, unless followed by the back vowel [a]. However, the written representation of these sounds did not change during the OE period: [k>k΄], [g>g΄].Later palatal consonants developed into affricates: [k΄> t] – [g΄>dʒ].

Palatalization affected the following consonants and clusters:

c, sc, ʒ, cʒ. [k΄] approached the affricate [t]: OE cīld > child, OE cīcen >chicken

sc [sk΄] approached the sibilant []: OE sceort > short, OE fisc > fish.

ʒ and cʒ [g΄] approached the affricate [dʒ ]: OE senʒean > singe, OE ecʒ >edge, OE brycʒ] > bridge.

The changes were reflected in spelling by the digraphs since 13 c.

Palatalization did not take place before those front vowels that became such as a result of the palatal mutation: OHG kuning – OE cyninʒ (king). This fact shows that the process of palatalization began before the palatal mutation.