A Comparative Analysis of Old and Middle English: Grammar, Phonology, and Orthography
Words of Common Origin
Words of common origin and meaning are called cognates.
Celtic Influence
The two Celtic tribes that invaded England and brought their language with them are known as the Brithonic and the Goedelic.
Old English Verb Tenses
All Indo-European distinctions of tense and aspect were lost in the verb save for the present and the past.
Non-Indo-European Languages in Europe
Three examples of non-Indo-European languages spoken in Europe are: Basque, Hungarian and Finnish.
The Anglo-Saxon Heptarchy
Seven kingdoms conformed the Anglo-Saxon heptarchy in the Old English Period: Essex, Wessex, Sussex, East Anglia, Mercia, Kent and Northumbria.
Old English Adverb Formation
There were two ways of forming adverbs in Old English. One was by adding the suffix -e to an adjective and another was by adding the suffix –lice which is the equivalent form of Modern English -ly.
Old English Adjective Declensions
There were two different declensions in Old English adjectives: the strong declension, used when not accompanied by a determiner, article or demonstrative, and the weak declension, used when the adjective was preceded by them.
Middle English Present Participle Endings
The ending of the Present Participle varied from dialect to dialect in Middle English, with -inde in the South, -ende in the Midland and -ande in the North.
Middle English Pronunciation
In matters of pronunciation, Middle English dialects presented notable differences. Thus, initial f and s were often voiced in the South to v and ch, for example for and fox in the North and church and vox in the South.
Middle English Dialects
It is customary to distinguish four principal dialects of Middle English: Northern, East Midland, West Midland and Southern.
Old English Verb Syntax
Verb Tenses and Moods
In Old English, there are two verb tenses: present and past. Moods include the indicative and the subjunctive. Verbs also have two numbers (singular and plural) and three persons (first, second, and third).
Strong Verbs
Strong verbs modified the root vowel and are less numerous than weak verbs (approximately 300). The regular sequence in strong verbs in the Old English past tense is:
- 1st + 3rd person singular: one word
- 2nd + all Plurals: another vowel.
There are four forms. For example, using the verb drifon (drive):
- Infinitive: Drifon
- Present Singular: Dr-f
- Present Plural: Drif (on)
- Past Participle: (se) drifen
Weak Verbs
Weak verbs used a dental suffix in the past. Many Old English verbs formed the past tense by adding: -ede, -ode, -de. They formed the past participle by adding: -ed, -od, -d. For example:
| Infinitive | Past | Past Participle |
|---|---|---|
| Fremma | fremmede | sefremed |
| Lufian | lufode | selufod |
| Libban | lifde | lifd |
Umlaut and Ablaut in Old English
Phonological Changes
In Old English phonology, we find various changes. The most important ones are the Umlaut and the Ablaut.
Umlaut
Umlaut is vowel mutation or metaphony. It consists of an anticipatory vowel assimilation occurring in the Germanic languages. In other words, it is an important type of sound change in which a back vowel is raised if the following syllable contains /I, ï, j/.
Examples:
- *parchigui – parchegi (You park your car/ I park)
- *manniz – men (How do you do?/ How are you doing?)
Ablaut
Ablaut is vowel gradation or apophony. It is a vowel change characteristic of Indo-European languages that indicates grammatical function.
Example:
- /I, a, u/ in /sing, sang, song/
Ablaut is also called gradation. It involves the variation of a root vowel for grammatical purposes.
Examples:
- Strong verbs: gelimpan/gelamp/gelumpon
- Weak verbs (dental suffix: -ode-ede-de): clipian, clipode
Emergence of New Middle English Diphthongs
Diphthongs Ending in Glides [u] and [i]
Middle English saw the emergence of new diphthongs ending in glides [i] and [u].
Diphthongs Ending in Glide [i]
Two new diphthongs emerged ending in glide [i]: ai/ei.
- Vocalization of g to I after front vowels: Weg – wey – way (OE, ME, MODE)
- Development of I glide between a front vowel and OE h: ehta – eighte – eight (OE, ME, MODE)
Diphthongs Ending in Glide [u]
Four new Middle English diphthongs emerged with the following changes:
- Vocalization of s to u after back vowels: boga – bowe – bow (OE, ME, MODE)
- Development of a -u glide between a back vowel and OE h: brohte – boroughte – brought (OE, ME, MODE)
- W after a vowel becoming a u-glide: clawu – clawe – claw (OE, ME, MODE)
Vowel Length in Middle English
Indicating Vowel Length
In Middle English, scribes used double letters to indicate vowel length: ee/oo. However, the pronunciation of these sounds has changed over time, making their representation ambiguous.
Example:
- r-d, rood, rode (OE, ME, MODE)
Several devices indicate vowel length in Middle English:
- Consonant + unstressed e: fede – feed (ME, MODE)
- Double consonant (indicating a preceding short vowel): dinner/diner
- Vowel + I (long sound): rad – raid – raid (OE, ME, MODE)
Other Vowel Changes
- The short u changed into o when adjacent to m, n, u (v, w): sunu – sone – son (OE, ME, MODE)
- French ou replaced the Old English large o: hog – hous (OE, MODE)
- To avoid confusion with v, u was doubled (uu, later w) when ou appeared before a vowel: dover – dovver – dower
Spelling Conventions
Middle English scribes used y for the semivowel [y] and as a variant of I. Later in Middle English, there was a tendency to write y for long I, including in the final position.
Middle English spelling was more relaxed than today’s:
Example:
- speech, watter, tres // speech, water, trees