Phonological Processes in Old and Middle English
I-Mutation/I-Umlaut
I-mutation/i-umlaut was a phonological process that occurred in pre-historical Old English. When an -i or -j appeared in a syllable, it influenced the preceding vowel by attracting it to its place of articulation, unless the vowel was protected. Often, the -i or -j disappeared, resulting in apparent vocalic alternations in Old English.
For example, some weak verbs exhibit an apparent vocalic alternation where the vowel in the infinitive differs from the vowel in the past and past participle. This difference is due to i-umlaut, caused by the -i present in the original weak verb infinitive ending -ian, which later disappeared. Despite the vocalic alternation, we find -t or -d in the past and past participle to distinguish weak verbs.
Great Vowel Shift (GVS)
The Great Vowel Shift was a process that affected long vowels around the mid-15th century. Recent research suggests that the GVS began earlier in the North than in the South, possibly in the late 13th or early 14th century. Long vowels were raised one point, except for the two closest vowels (I, U), which could not be raised further and diphthongized. The GVS was not fully completed until the 18th century, with vowels changing at different times. For our purposes, we will focus on the results rather than the intervening stages. It’s important to remember that the GVS affected each vowel only once, even if the resulting vowel underwent further changes in subsequent centuries.
Rounding Influence of -W
The rounding influence of -w is a dependent change that affected vowels in Late Old English or Early Modern English. Spelling and pronunciation indicate when the process actually took place. When ‘a’ is rounded by ‘w’, it becomes ‘o’. Long open ‘o’ rounded by ‘w’ becomes long close ‘o’.
Open Syllable Lengthening (OSL)
OSL is an irregular process that affected short vowels in open syllables (when not followed by two consonants in bisyllabic words). Vowels were not only lengthened but also lowered one point, except for OE /a/, which could not be lowered further and was simply lengthened into ME /a:/. The resulting vowels then joined other long vowels and shared their later development.
L-Gliding
L-gliding is a dependent change and phonological process that affected OE ‘a’ and ‘o’ when followed by ‘l’ + velar consonant or by double ‘l’. The velar quality of ‘l’ caused it to segregate a ‘w’, which was later vocalized to ‘u’, joining the preceding vowel to form a diphthong. In the case of double ‘l’, the process must have taken place in Late Old English before the simplification of geminates.
- LOE a+l+l > awll > awl > ME aul > 18th century o larga actual
- LOE o+l+l > owll > owl > ME oul > 19th century aul
- a/o+l+l > ME a/owlk > a/oulk
H-Gliding
H-gliding is a process that occurred in Middle English, almost always when an <h> was followed by a consonant in mid or final word position. If <h> was preceded by a back vowel, it became <Xdevampiro>. In the case of <a>, the process must have taken place in Late Old English before <a> was fronted. If <h> was preceded by a front vowel, it segregated a /j/. If <h> was preceded by a back vowel, it segregated a /w/. These /j/ and /w/ were immediately vocalized, becoming /i/ and /u/, joining the previous vowel to form either a long vowel or a diphthong. In the case of /a/, the process started in Late Old English, with <h> segregating a /w/, which in Middle English became the diphthong /au/.
Diacritic -E
By the Anglo-Norman Conquest (ANC), mute <e> was added at the end of words to indicate that the vowel of the previous syllable was long. In Present-Day English, the root vowel of these words will usually be a diphthong or a long vowel. Diacritic -e is not to be confused with aesthetic -e. By the ANC, aesthetic -e was added at the end of monosyllables ending with a consonant. For example, ‘come’ /k^m/ has aesthetic -e, while ‘mate’ /meit/ has diacritic -e.
Epenthetic -SWA
Epenthetic -swa appears when, due to the loss of endings or the final vowel in a word, there are two consonants in word-final position attempting to form a syllable. In these cases, a -swa is introduced between the two consonants. Epenthetic -swa is especially frequent when the consonants involved include a liquid or a nasal.
Successful R
A successful r is an /r/ in word-final position or followed by a consonant, which may prevent the Great Vowel Shift from affecting the preceding vowel. We can determine if the process has been applied by the actual pronunciation.
R-Gliding
Due to r-gliding, whenever an /r/ appeared in word-final position, it segregated a <swa> that joined the previous vowel to form a diphthong. If the vowel was long, it was immediately shortened.