3.5.2. Stressed vowels
The changes, vowels underwent during the ME period, may be divided into quantitative and qualitative. Quantitative changes affected only the lengh of a vowel, while qualitative changes altered the nature of the sound.
3.5.2.1. Quantitative Vowel Changes
In OE quantity was the main basis of correlation in the vowel system: short vowels were phonemically opposed to long ones, roughly identical in quality.
In later OE and Early ME vowel length began to depend on phonetic conditions.
Beginning with the IX c. a series of quantitative changes occurred which influenced greatly the rhythm of the English language.
As already described, in Late OE short vowels were lengthened before the combinations of consonants -ld, -nd, -mb unless followed by a third consonant: cīld but cildru.
In the XIII c. short vowels (chiefly a, o, e) were lengthened in stressed open syllables of disyllabic words while [u] and [i], as a rule, remained unchanged:
a > ā OE talu > ME tāle (tale)
o > ō OE open > ME ōpen (open)
e > ē OE etan > ME ēten (eat)
Sometimes [u] and [i] were lengthened in the same position, but with a simultaneous change in quality: u > ō, i > ē
u > ō OE dure > ME dōre (door), OE wudu > ME wōde (wood)
i > ē OE wike > ME wēke (week), OE bitel > ME bētel (beetle)
Thus, quantitative and qualitative changes often proceeded together.
Simaltuneously the reverse process of shortening of long vowels took place in closed syllables.A long vowel before two or more consonants was shortened, but it remained long in other environments,e.g.
OE dūst > ME dust
OE wīsdom > ME wisdom
OE cēpte > ME kepte
OE mētte > ME mette
OE fēdde > ME fedde
Vowels remained long:
before one consonant, e.g.
OE wīs – ME wīs (wise), OE mētan – ME mēten (meet), OE cēpan – ME kēpen (keep), OE fēdan – ME fēden;
before consonant clusters belonging to the following syllable (mostly -st), e.g.
OE ēasten > ME ēsten (from the East), OE mǣsta > mǭst;
In polysyllabic words shortening of long vowels took place not only before two consonants (in the closed syllable) but also before one consonant (in the open syllable), e.g.
OE hāliʒdæʒ > ME holiday.
As the result of these changes, too long syllables, like cēpte, became shorter, while too short syllables, like etan, became longer, so that the rhythm of English speech became more measured.
3.5.2.2. Qualitative Vowel Changes
Both monophthongs and diphthongs underwent radical changes during the ME period. They affected several monophthongs and all diphthongs and displayed considerable dialectal variety.
Monophthongs
OE a, o, ō, u, ū, e, ē, ı, ī remained more or less unchanged in ME, while OE ā, æ, ǣ, y, ӯ, å changed radically.
OE
long ā
developed into long open Ǭ
everywhere but in the Northern dialect. This new [Ǭ]
was of much more open nature than the OE [
]
inherited from OE.
(1) In ME manuscripts, the two types of ō were mostly represented by the same symbols: o – in open syllables, and oo – in closed ones. Later they were distinguished not only in sound but in spelling too: [ ] was, as a rule, represented by the digraph oo and [Ǭ] - by the digraph oa in closed syllables and by the letter o – in open ones: OE stān > ME stoon, OE āc > ME oak, OE nā > ME no.
Note. ME [ā] from OE [o] in open syllables was also of an open nature and mostly coincided with [ǭ] from OE [ā]. Therefore, we find the same way of representation of ME [ǭ] in hope < OE hopa and stone < OE stān.
(2) OE short æ in most dialects developed into short a, e.g.
OE ʒlæd > ME glad, OE æppel > ME appel, OE wæs > ME was.
(3)
OE long
ǣ
changed into long open
(more open than
).Thus
in ME there were two types of long ē: an open [
]
and a close [
].
In ME manuscripts they were often expressed in the same way: by a
single letter e
in open syllables and a double
ee
in closed ones. Later these different sounds were distinguished also
in writing: [
]
was represented by digraphs ea
and
[
]
by the digraph
ee,
e.g.
OE sǣ > ME sea, OE mǣl > ME meal, OE fēlan > ME felen, OE fēt > ME feet.
Note. The sound [ ] developed in ME also as the result of the lengthening of e in open syllables: OE etan > ME ēten (eat), OE mete > ME mēte (meat)
OE å developed into ME o only in West Midland. In all other dialects OE å changed into a:
West Midland OE lånd > ME lond, OE mån > ME mon, OE lånʒ > ME long.
Other dialects: land, man, lang.
In most cases, the Modern English form is based on that of the Eastern dialects. Only before -ng forms with o predominate: long, strong, song.
The vowels y and ӯ existed in OE dialects up to the the X c. Then they changed into i/ ī
in the North-East (NrE): OE hyll > NrE hill (hill), OE fӯr > NrE > fir (fire).
y, ӯ remained unchanged in the South-West (SW)(written u, ui):
OE hyll > SW hull, OE fӯr > SW fuir
y, ӯ were replaced by e, ē in the South East (SE) (Kent):
OE hyll > SE hell, OE fӯr > SE fēr
In most cases ME forms with i/ī predominate. Sometimes the influence of other dialects is evident. In the word busy the spelling reflects the influence of the Western dialects. The same is true about the verb to build. The pronunciation of the verb to bury is due to the South -Eastern dialects, while the spelling is of Western origin.