Семинар ист яз
.doc«Old English phonetics»
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The system of Old English vowels and their origin.
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Assimilative changes of vowels (breaking, palatal mutation) and their traces in Modern English.
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Describe the Old English diphthongs and comment upon their phonological status.
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Comment on the origin and phonetic status of short diphthongs in Old English.
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Was the OE vowel system symmetrical? State your arguments in favour and against its interpretation as a completely balanced system.
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The system of Old English consonants and their origin.
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What consonant and vowel changes are illustrated by the following pairs of words:
Gt maiza – OE māra (NE more); Gt kinnus – OE cinn (NE chin);
Gt dauþs – OE dēad (NE dead); OHG isarn – OE iren (NE iron);
Gt saljan – OE sellan (NE sell).
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Why can the voicing of fricative consonants in Early OE be regarded as a sort of continuation of Verner’s Law?
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What peculiarities of OE consonants can account for the difference in the sound values of the italicized letters in the following modern words:
sand; rise (OE rīsan); house – houses (OE hūs); horse (OE hors); think, bathe, path (OE þyncan, bāðian, pæð).