lP>bonolog^ HEMPL 'J- D G HEATH S CQ OLD-ENGLISH PHONOLOGY BY GEORGE HEMPL, Ph.D. ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN THE UNIVERSITT OF MICHIGAN -o-ci^^oo- BOSTON U. S. A. D. C. HEATH & CO. 1893 n-- Copyright D. C. HEATH & CO. 1892 . • • • . • « • • • • • • • • • *. • • > •• • • • •• • • • . • •-• •. • -.1 •ca NOTE. The foUowiug j)ages are the first of my forthcoming Old-English Grammar and Reader. They are now published primarily for the use of the members of my classes. It is expected that the complete book will be issued in the summer of 1893 ; at which time due acknowledgments will be made to books and friends. , GEOKGK IIKMPL. Axx Akbok, Oct., 1892. 1584,45 SIGNS AND ABBREVIATIONS. > = "become(s)," "became," or " (is changed) into." < = " (derived) from," "a later form of." * marks a form not found in Mss. but inferred philologically. / is a sign of gradation, § 47. ; is a sign of the working of Verner's Law, § 57. + = '-plus," or " together with following." [ = " after, ' ' or ' ' preceded by , " for ex. , «' [ to > « = • io after w becomes ?(," or '-under the influence of a preceding tp, an io becomes ?(." "I = " before," or "followed by," for ex., el""'- > ( = '• e before a nasal, becomes ?." "l = "breaks," or "broken," § 41, for ex., /"i > io = " i breaks into jo," or "breaking changes i to k>," and ea < a'] = "the e.a that arises by the breaking of ce." )' = " i-mutation," § 4:5 ; )" = " «-nuitiition," § 44. For ex., o)'> e = " the «-mutation of o is e," or " o nuitated by i becomes e." X, ?{, &c. = " unsyllabic i, ?(, &c." 77 = tho back nasal in 'sing,' § 5;J. f = sli in ' she.'' J = .s in ' pleasure.' d) = the voiceless fricatives in German arf) (back) and id) (front), § 54. ii = a sound like i in ' machine' or ' i)in,' but nuide with the lips nearly clo.sed, or " rounded." (7, (", &c.. § 15 N'-. (•, li, A, &c., § 85. f , h § 40 N3. t, o, ft. nt. p. 22, § :}8 eWS. — early AVcst Saxon, § 7. G« = Germanic, § 6. IWS. = late West Saxon, § 7. ME. = Middle English, § 9. M. Ger. = Midland German. M"E. = Modern English, J^ 0. ^ =: Note- iv N.E. = New England. OE. = Old English, §§ 8, 9. OIIG. = Old High German, § 6. Sc. = Scandinavian, § (!. S. Ger. = South German. \VG. — West Germanic, § (!. WS. = West Saxon, § 7. INTRODUCTION. The Laxd and the People.* 1. ExGLAXD, once a penmsula like Denmark, had been separated from tlie mainland long before the first tribes of Indo-European stock came and conquered the people they found there. These new-comers were Celts, and had become thoroughly established on the island when Ctesar, having con- (piered the Celts of Gaul, invaded Britain with his Koman legions, 55 and again 54 b.c. The Roman conquest, however, did not begin until a century later, a.d. 43. In time forts arose in various parts ; two immense walls were built to shut out the Picts of the north ; and the island was traversed by great military roads, along which troops might quickly be sent to the west to hold the less civilized natives in restraint, to the north against the Scots and the Picts, or to the south-east to oppose the marauding Saxons that devastated that coast. But it is a mistake to suppose that Britain was only a mili- tary colony. Archaeological and philological evidence is con- stantly accumulating to the effect that during the four hundred years of Eoman rule Roman civilization not only pervaded the towns, but even spread to the country ])arts ; in time Christian- ity gained a footing on the island. But large tracts were still covered by dense forests, and many rivers were not easily * The learner is advised to read the first chapters of some good Eng- lish history: Gardiner's Student's History; Green's History; Freeman's Old English History or vol. i. of his Norman Conquest. 1 2 INTRODUCTION. approached for the great marshes that lined them. Little is recorded of the history of the Roman Province of Britain ; after 410 Rome hardly claimed it, and no longer pretended to do for it. 2. The Saxon pirates were but tlie forerunners of a great German invasion, which began about 450 and in time overran the larger part of the island. The invaders were, for the most part, Angles, Saxons, and Jutes (OE. Enij-le, Se'axe or -an, Tote). Kent and the country about Southampton fell into the hands of the Jutes, the rest of the South was settled by Saxons, while the north-east became the home of the Angles. 'As it was among the Engle of ISTorthumberland that literary culture first flourished (§ 12) and an Enylisc dialect was the first to be used for vernacular literature, Englisc came event- ually to be a general name for all forms of the vernacular as opposed to Latin ( which the English called Lceclen), etc. ; and when the West Saxon of Alfred became in its turn the lite- rary or classical form of speech (§ 7), it too was called Englisc, or English.'* Later the term Angelcyn (= Angle kin, or English people) came to be applied to Saxons as well as Angles, and the fact that the Angles occupied the larger part of the country may have had something to do with this. According to ancient usage, the words Engle and Angelcyn were also used where we should expect a name for the coun- try; but in time Englaland (M"E. England), that is, "land of the Engle," came into use. The natives, on their part, called all the new-comers by the name of those that first devastated their coast, — the Saxons. Many of these natives (the English called them Welsh, tliat is, '"'strangers") were either slain or driven to the west and the north, but not a few became the slaves of the conquerors, and their young women the mothers of a large part of the next generation. Thus, from the start, Celtic blood mingled with Teutonic. * Murray in Encyclopedia Britannica. THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE. o 3. The new-comers cared little for Ivomaii civilization and Cliristianity, but brought with them the institutions, customs, and religion of their forefathers. The bulk of the free popu- lation consisted of Ceorls (pronounce ke'orls or die' oris), who in time sank to the position of serfs, and their betters, the Eorls (e'orZs) and iEthelings {Mh'eli-qga). The chiefs were called Ealdormen {d'Oldormea', — elders or magistrates) or Her'etog'as {— leaders of the army). Their retinue of fight- ing-men, called Gesiths {ye-seeths', = companions) and later Thegns {thanes, or attendants), was for the most part made up of Eorls. By those of lower rank an Ealdorman or a king was in deference called Hlaford {hlah'cord, M°E. lord). The general levy of the villagers for the defence of their homes was termed the Fierd (fVerd). When various tribes united, as for a military expedition or for defence against a common foe, they chose a leader of the combined forces, whom they called Cyning {kWnirjg, = king) ; in time the kingship acquired more permanence and power, and supplanted or subordinated the rule of the Ealdormen. When a king was to be elected, the most eligible member of the royal family was chosen by the Wit'enagemot' (g — ?/), an assembly or Great Council that to a certain extent controlled the action of the king. At times one king got a sort of supremacy over other kings and was called Bretwealda {bret'ivd'olda, = wielder of Britain), or over- lord. 4. The history of England during the Old-English period (to about the twelfth century) is too full to be more than hinted at here. For a time ^th'elberht, king of Kent, was over-lord over the other kings south of the Humber ; he married a Christian woman, the daughter of the king of the Franks, and permitted the establishment of Cliristianity among his people. Later, E'adwine, king of Northumberland and over-lord of all England except Kent, did the same. Gradually Christianity spread throughout the English do- mains, and there was a united English church before a united 1 INTUODrcTION. England. There were three chief kingdoms : Northumberland (OE. Nord-hymhre. cf. Engle, §2, end, = those dwelling north of the Ilumber), Mercia {mersha, OE. Mi'erce = the inhabi- tants of the Mearc or borderland), and Wessex (OE. West Seaxe, or the West Saxons) ; the over-lordship shifting to and fro. 5. About three hundred years (a.d. 787) after the first Teutonic hordes gained a footing on the island, others, called "Danes'' by the English, but coming from the Scandinavian as well as from the Danish peninsula, began to make inroads upon the north-east coast. In time they founded settlements, and pressed forward until they were masters of most of the Eng- lish territory north of the Thames. Wessex (with its depend- encies, Sussex and Kent) alone held out against them. The West-Saxon resistance was maintained by a line of valiant kings, the greatest of whom Avas iElfred (reigned 871-901), ecpially noted as warrior, statesman, and scholar. He consoli- dated his kingdom, reorganized the Fierd (§ 3), built a navy, had the laws revised, established schools, encouraged native scholars and attracted foreign ones, and, though his own knowl- edge of Latin was defective, translated with the aid of others various Latin books that he thought would be of use to his people (§ 13). Under his son and grandsons all England south of the Humber gradually became subject to the West- Saxon king; and the Scandinavian element was pretty well absorbed by the English. But some two hundred years after the first "Danes" had come to England, new swarmS crossed over (984) from Norway and Denmark and conquered the island, which was now for some time ruled by Danish kings. In the next century England was again conquered (1066) by men of Teutonic blood, — the Normans (or iSTorthmen), Avho had been settled now more than a hand red years in France, where they had adopted the French language and the Chris- tian religion. LANGUAGE AND LiTEKATUKE. Language and Literature.* 6. The Teutonic or Germanic languages are; (1) Gothic, (2) Scandinavian (including Norwegian and Icelandic, Swed- ish and Danish), (3) West Germanic. The WGr. languages are (1) Loio German (the languages native to the northern lowlands : ^^(attbcutjcf), Dutch, Frisian, English), (2) Ilitjh German (the speech of the middle and southern highlands, from which has developed the literary language now spoken in all parts of the country). The English language is thus a i^eculiarly developed Low-German dialect, nearest akin to Frisian, and more like Dutch and '»|](attbcut[d) than like High German.! 7. We have seen (§2) that there were various LG. tribes that settled in Britain ; and as each tribe had come to speak somewhat differently from the others, we have to deal with various Old ExoLisir Dialects, four of which are important: Kentish, West-Saxon. Mercian, and Northumbrian. The last two are forms of Anglian speech, WS. Avas the most prominent Saxon dialect, and Kentish represents the speech of the Jutes. Of these, West Saxon has the greatest importance ; for under the political supremacy of Wessex (§5) and the enlightened policy of ^Elfred, it became the literary and official language, and in it are written most of the OE. literary monuments that have been preserved to our day (§ 13). It is therefore best to begin the study of OE. with early AVest Saxon (eWS.) and * The learner is advised to read Dr. Jlurray's article on the English Language in Encydopa'dia Britannica, 9th edition, or tliat in Webster's International Dictionary ; and the opening chapters of a good Englisli literature, for example, Ten Brink's. For lists of texts, editions, etc., cf. the appendix to Cook's translation of Sievers' OE. grammar, or AViilker's Geschichte der angls. Litteratar. t Students of Old English who understand Latin or German will be able to make good use of this knowledge if they familiarize themselves with the general scheme of " Grimm's Law." (j INTKODUCTrON. to regard this as the standard with which to compare other dialects. 8. We have seen (§ 1') that all the settlers called their lan- guage Englisc, or English, after the Encjle, or Angles. They occasionally called themselves Angelseaxan, or Anglo-Saxons (which means English Saxons as distinguished from the con- tinental Saxons, whom they called Eahheaxan, or Old Saxons, as we in America speak of ''Old England"; later the word was misunderstood as meaning a combination of Angles and Saxons) ; but they never called their language Anglo-Saxon. This was first done by scholars of the sixteenth and seven- teenth centuries, to whom Old English seemed more a distinct language than an older stage of their 0A\'n. We are, therefore, justified in joining those wjio a score of years ago discarded the term Anglo-Saxon as applied to language, and began to call the oldest known form of our speech "Old English"* or " First English." ' The oldest dated Ms. containing OE. words is a charter of 679, but some of the English inscriptions that were made in Kunic letters (§ 14) are probably older' (Sweet, H.E.S. § 345). 9. The chief periods of English arc called Old. Middle, and Modern. The change from one to the other was, of course, gradual : the transition from OE. to ME. was in the twelfth century ; that from ME. to M"E., in the fifteenth. S^veet has well defined OE. as the period of fui.l endings {mona, sunne, sunu, hringas) ; INTE. as the period of levelled endings, weak vowels being reduced to a uniform e like German final =e {mone, sunne, fnine, ringes) ; M"E. as the period of lost endings (moon, sun, son, rings). 10. But it was not always the same dialect that was the literary language. We have seen that literature first flour- ished among the Angles (§ 2), where it was brought to an *"01d English" is still used by some to designate Middle English or early Modern English ; so in Webster's and Stormonth's diction- aries. LANGUA(iK AND LlTEKATUKi:. 7 untimely end by the Danish inroads,* that later WS. became the literary and official language (§7), only to be crowded into obscurity Avhen the Normans brought in Frencli (§ 5, end). When English again got the upper hand, it was the dialect of London that became the standard. This was originally a Saxon Dialect, early affected by the neighboring Kentish and Mercian. At all times, but particularly after the city had been depopulated by the great plagues, from various parts of the island people thronged to the capital ; as the larger part of the island was Anglian, the dialect of the metropolis gradually assumed a more Anglian, or Mercian (§7), character. It Avas the London dialect in which Chaucer wrote, and from which the modern standard speech is descended. 11. English has been mucli and often subjected to external influences. a) Even before the emigration from the continent, Latin Avords were learned from the Koman traders that visited the German tribes, from the Germans that served in the armies of the Empire, and in other ways. Thus Lat. vinum > OE. win M"E. wine, Ger. ZQdn, similarly with butter, cheese, etc. ; (via) strata > OE. strait M"E. street, (Stra[3C, so with mile, j^ouncl, inch, etc. ; and even the Christian f-ngel, ©ncjcl, and cleofol M"E. devil, S^cufel. Lat. buxum, popular Lat. bucso, " writing- tablet of box-wood" (used particularly for documents), was associated by the Germans with G*" boco-, buc{j)on- "beech- tree," and > G-^ boc-s (OE. OS. boc, OHG. buoh) " writing- tablet, charter, book." b) On the island the conquerors heard both Latin and Celtic, the former particularly in the towns,t and thus added to their vocabulary (1) many such words as munt "mount" < Lat. montem, lyihten " part of a loom " < Lat. pecten, bepoican '• be- * Even the literary products of the period would have been lost had they not come down to us in copies made by Saxon scribes. t Cf. Pogatscher: " Zur Lautlehre der gr., lat. und rom. Lehnworte im AE." especially pp. 1-15. 8 INTRODUCTION. guile, cheat " < Lat. pdco " soothe, pacify " ; cf . also the proper names Cheder, Wor-cester, Lan-caster, etc., < UE. ceaster " forti- fied town" < Lat. castra ; and (2) such Celtic words as cradle, mattock, rock, curse, and many proper names: for example, those, like London, in don < Celtic dun, for which the real Encflish word is tun "town." Some of these words the Celts themselves had learned from their Roman conquerors ; thus, "ass"*Co«- CHAPTER I. The Alphabet. 14. The German settlers brought with them an alphabet that was in use among their kinsmen the Goths and Scandi- navians as well as among themselves. This was the Runic Futhark, a G*" moditication of the Latin alphabet, made about 200 A.D. The modification consisted principall}- in the use of r F feoh H H hcegel t T /rr Y A (7c h U »/• i N nJecl ^ B heorc P Oo.s > P ))0/Vl 1 1 is n E eo/i f^ Y ^r t^ (A *ans) 4> (J gear) M M rnqn ^ EO eor 1^ R rfal V ? foh r L ^a^w ^ EA ear K C cen C P peord § N^T^ wi^ X C cweord X G yiefu Y -(Z)X? eolhsecg 5^ (0 odil) ■,CE EeSTeZ M G ^c7r ^ w 1 '"^" [wen M S s/f/eZ ixl D da;g ^sj ST sfa» Obsolete values etc. are in ( ). n 12 IMIOXOLOOY. perpendicular or oblique lines for horizontal ones, and of angles for curves, and was due to the fact that the runes were, proba- bly, lirst cut on twigs, which were sometimes used for purposes of divination. There were 24 G"= runes, but the changes in OE. utterance caused some changes in the alphabet and the addition of several new characters. As a often > ae (§ 25, i) or (§ 25, 4), and as o was mutated (§43) to oe later e, and u to y, new runes were made for a and o by modifying the old a-rune, and one for y by changing that for u. As a distinction arose between c g and eg (§§55, 56), new runes were made for the latter. When j and g got the same value (§§5Gb, G4), the rune of the former was dropped. XoTE. — After tlie runes had gone out of general use, they were still occa- sionally employed in inscriptions, rebuses, &c., or for their name words. 15. With the introduction of Christianity (§ 4) and Latin learning, the Latin Alphabet was introduced afresh, and that in the form it had assumed in Ireland, for the Scots of Ireland had more or less to do with the spreading of Christianity among the English, in England the alphabet went its own way. For the u or uu and the th at first employed, the runes P and p came into use, and for p a crossed d, that is D tf, was often substituted, especially medially and finally. Note 1. — The nsual mediiBval contractions are not wanting in OE. MSS. Thus uo or -^ over a vowel = in (but 'Soii hwoii = d'onne hwonne), and over a cons, it = er, less often or. "p (a crossed }>) is the usual way of writing J>set ; ond, or and, is rare, being written 7 (like &', a contraction of Lat. et) ; and \ (a crossed I = Lat. vel) is often used instead of o'S'Sq. Note 2. — Over long vowels (especially if the word is very short) a mark like " is often found in MSS. ; much less frequently is ^ found over short vowels. In this book all long vowels are marked with a macron (a &c.), while short ones ai'c left unmarked. Note 3. — In the earlier editions of OE. texts, types were employed that imitated the letters of the MSS. (so 8 E G S F 5 P T ^ = S C E d f g r s t), cf. March's Anglo-Saxon Grammar ; but now ordinary letters are used, only J> or U, and sometimes 5 = g, being retained. For paw (less often v) is used. Note 4. — The punctuation of the MSS. is very imperfect ; that in printed texts is supplied by the editors. CHAPTER TI. Speech Sounds and Xames. 16. 1) The vibration of the vocal chords produces a sound that is technically called Voice. The vowels are all " voiced " ; consonants may be (for ex. b, I, ic, &.o.), or they may be "voice- less " (for ex. p, Ji, &c.). 2) In a Vowel, the •• voice "' is the chief thing, and the modification of the sound (by the var^-iug shape of the vocal l)assage in the various vowels) is a subordinate matter ; in a Consonant, voice is secondary and may be entirely wanting, while the local sound (as that at the teeth in the case of s, at the lips in the case of p or b) is the main thing. But some cons' approach very nearly to vowels, for ex. the " semi- vowels " w and j (= Eng. y) are really only unsyllabic (ef. 3) u and i (= 3PE. 00 and ee). So too the '"sonorous consonants" (cf. 3) are " vowel-like." The transition sound produced in passing from one sound to another, is called a Glide (§§ oo, 56), but glides are not generally noticed. 3) The more sonorous a sound, the more likely it is to become syllabic ; thus in a diphthong, the more sonorous vl. is sylla- bic, the other not. YP are more sonorous than cons^ Of the latter, I m n r are pre-eminently " Sonorous Consonants " (§ 20, l), and hence often syllabic : nsgl nail, hraefn raven. 17. 1) If the tongue is pressed forward during the forma- tion of a vowel, it is called a Front Vowel (OE. se, e, i, &:c.) ; if drawn back, a Back Vowel (< JE. a. o. o. u). 2) A vowel is said to be Low, Mid, ur High, according as the tongue is lowered a good deal, but moderateh*, or very little. 3) If the lips are brought close together while a vl. is being sounded, it is called a Rounded Vowel. OE. o and ce 13 14 PHONOLOGY. (= Ger. o) were alike in that both were rounded, while e Avas not ; but oe and e were alike in being front vl'. 4) If a vl. is quickly sounded, it is called " short '' ; if it is prolonged, it is called " long." Cf. § 19, 2. 18 back front back front ' Simple f^"Sh - i Rounded H^'?!^ " ^ ,, ^, ■( inid a e -.r„, . -{mid o oe v°^^^^niow - * ^°^^^^ [low - - 19. I) A syllable that ends in a vowel is called an Open Syllable ; one that ends in a cons., a Closed Syllable. A single eons, belongs to the following syllable. Open syllables : pft, fe, slce-ye, beo-re ; closed syllables : Nod, glced, brin-gan, lib-ban. 2) A syllable is long if it contains a long vowel or diph- thong, or if its vowel is followed by more than one cons. Thus the first SAdlable is long in : blod, crieft, 6u, sliipan, ceosan ; and short in : ])e, glsed, hwatu, beore. A long syllable must not be confounded with a long vowel (§ 17,4). 3) A syllable that is not strongly stressed is called a Weak Syllable ; its vowel is often different from that in the corre- spoudiug Strong Syllable. Strong M°E. 'my' is sounded 7nai, while weak ' my ' is md or 7m. Cf. §§ 48-50, 25, 3, 30 N, 47, 93, 95. 2. 20. 1) A cons, produced by stopping and then exploding the breath, is called a Shut Consonant m- a Stop (also a "Mute"), so p, t, d. A cons, produced by allowing the breath to escape through an 0})euing, is called an Open Consonant : if the open- ing is very narrow so that there is much friction of the breath against the walls of the passage, the cons, is called a Fricative (or a " Spirant"), thus OE. s, f, h ; if the opening is not so narrow as to cause marked friction, the cons, is called a Sonorous Consonant (§ 10,3) or a Semi-Vowel (§ 16,2). 2) Cons' made (1) with the lips are called Lip Consonants (also ''Labials "), so 6, r.i, &c. ; (2) by the front of the tongue, Front Consonants (namely, Point Con', or "Dentals," and Top Con', or '-Palatids"), so t. .■?, n and c, g, &c.; (3) by the back of the tongue, Back Consonants (also "Gutturals"), c, h, &c., § 85. CHAPTER III. The "WS. Yowkls, Thkir Proxuxciatiox and Source. 1. SiMPM-: V«iwi;i,s. 21. a is sounded as in M"E. artistic : dagas ''days." [< G-: a § 25,2] a as in art : stan " stone." [< G-^ ai § ^5, i ; WG. al«- *^=- § 30, 2, 3] ae '•' " mankind : daeg '• day." [< G-= a § 25, i] £6 •• " man ' : pffir " there." [G= i: — 1) before iias. + cons. (cf. Lat. offendimentum with OE. bindan) ; 2) when i or j stood in the next syllable (so inf. helpan but 3 s. ind. hilpc} « orig. hiljntS) §43 N-. (Perhaps this happened in WG. times.) So, too, ei > u > I as in Latin (Gr. 5dKvv/xL, Lat. dlco, G<: fihan, OE. teon, §46,1(3)). Note 2. — Some o's were once it's ; for older n > o if the next .sib. had a (or o, N^), miless this was prevented by intervening nas. + cons.. or I, j (by which the ii w^as later mutated to ?/ § 43, 3). Thus we have 0= giholpan (OE. geholpen) but gibundan (OE. gebunden) and huggian (OE. hydgan). Note 3. — IE. oXi" a (Lat. octo, Goth, ahtau, OE. eahta, §41, eiyht), but the unstressed o of endings remained o longer, in certain positions probably into primitive OE. times, §49, i. 24. The WG. system differed from the G"" onlj- in having a for older ce § 30, i. II. What the G^ Vo^^^!:LS became ix WS. §§ 25-50. A. Chiefly of Stem Vowels. §§25-47. 1. Gekeral Changes. §§ 25-37. a) Short Voioels. §§ 25-29. 25. 1) a > ae (1) in closed (§ 19, i) sib' : dag clay. ' ce"| > ea § 41, and ea)' > ie § 43, 4. cegrl^'" > ^ §88. 17 18 PHONOLOGY. 26. 1 2 3 4 27. 28. (2) sometimes in open sib' if next sib. has e : dge-ges daifs ; and in ea < au § 22 N^. (3) if next sib. had i ovj, but oe)'>e § 43, i. Cf. 2) end. 2) a remains a in open sib' if next sib. has a, o, or u (or a vl, derived from one of these) : da-gas, da- gum, days; macian (f < dj) make. aY> ea § 44. 3) a in weak sib' (§ 19, 3) : — (1) remains a: no, hut, lierepa^ | , . v. (2) > : of of Ger. ab, herepoti i So \one &c., and weak on but strong qn (stressed adv.) ; weak ot was displaced by strong o&t. al""- > 9 § 38, 1 (1), o)' > ^ § 43, 1 ; o + nas.]' «"=■ > o §72, o)'>5§43,2]. a + or w > ea § 45. For I'^'fa, or rather ce, cf. § 40. e often remains e : beran hear. . e]'»''>i §38,2). e I > eo § 41, eoy > ie § 43, 5 ) ..^^^ > ^ § 39, 2. e)">eo§44 i egf'''>e §88. e + back vl. > eo § 45. For '"''■fe cf. §40. i often remains i: witan knoic. i I > io § 41, ioY > ie § 43, 5 ( .^ ^^ J i)">io§44 ^ 1 -- J^ J m]" «:c. (§ 72) and t^]"-" (§ 88) > i. i + back vl. > lo or eo § 45. / 4- e > Fe § 45. generally remains o : god god, folc, word. 0, espec. next labials, often > u : wulf, lufu. ol"">u §38,3, uy>y §43,3. o)'>e §43,2. Note. — When (so espec. in foreign words) o was followed by ;, and analogy did not prevent (§ 43, 2, ft. nt. o end), o>u and ?<)' > y : Scottas Scyttisc, box byxen. Cf. Pogatscher §§ 223 ff. WHAT THE G(- VOWELS BECAME IN WS. 19 29. 1) II often remains u: huncl dog. 2) u > in or- : ordfil Ger. Urteil judgment. 3) un]^ ^- > u § 72 ; ny > ^ § 43, 3. For '"'••[(Oeo cf. §40. b) Long Votrels. §§ 30-34. 30. I. WG. a ( §§ : Sfen Slbertb evening. Note. — Weak (§ 19,3) ce> e: ^>lfred, hired §eirat. 2) a]"" remains a : tawian prepare, «)' > ce § 43, i : seltSwe complete, cf. § 43, IST^ 3) a]''^"^'^^'' > C( or re (of. § 40 N^) : lagon kegon, lac- nlan l^cnlan heal, and )' > ce : Igece physician. 4) a]"'^- > 6 § 38, 1 {?,), o)' > e § 43, 2. dainty, cf. § 91 & 2. For P'^^ffe cf. §40. II. G-^ and WG. nasalized a (< an^') >d %12W,by>e §43,2. 31. e remains e : lier here. 32. 1) i generally remains i : min mine, wif ivife. 2) r-|'^ + ^<'-->t (§4611.) and then (§41,3) eo: leolit, Ger. leid^t light, so *betwlhnum > betweolinum (§91, & 2) > betweonum between. 3) i -\- back vl. > io, eo § 45, i (3). 33. 1)5 generally remains 6 : god good, o)' > e § 43, 2. 2) Final stressed 6 > u : cu cow, til two ; but weak to. 34. u remains u : tun town, fi)' > ^ § 43, 3. c) Diphthongs. 35. 1) ai > a : stan ©tein stone, a)' > ce § 43, i. 2) aiy > a rarely o : snaw snoiv, a or o (< aiw) ever. 36. au > ea (§ 22 and W'-) : eac and) eel; m)' > fe §43,4. 37. eu > eo (§ 22 and W'^) : deep dee^^, eo)' > ie § 43, 5. 20 PHONOLOGY. 2. Chief Effects of Neighhoring Sounds upon Stem Vowels. §§ 38-40. a) Influence of Nasals (]""»•). 38. 1) Of" a acquired before nasals a sound like that of o in on, or of a in hall ; as there was no letter to represent the new sound, it was in the MSS. sometimes spelled a, and sometimes o. Sweet first suggested the use of o for this " open o." (1) a]""'- > : mon, lond, comb, long. on] spirant > q § 72 : gos < gous ©ttuS goose. (2) Nasalized G"^^ a]'^ > OE. 6 § 72 N : johte bacfjte tliought. Cf. § 46 II. (3) G-^ ce, WG. a]""^- also > 6 § 30, 4: gedon getl^an done. 2) el"''^- > i : niman nebmen take. Cf. § 24 N\ 3) o]""'- > u : Sunor ^TiMincr thunder. "}? b) JuTluence of w (^'f and ]^). 39. 1) "f/o (< i § 27, 2, 3) usually > u : wuduwe, (less often) weoduwe, or widuwe widoiv. 2) "^[eo (< e § 26, 3,4) sometimes > o : worold, (more usually) weorold 2iselt icorld. 3) a^" and e^" > au and e«, and these (§§ 36, 37) > ea and eo : feawe feic, ))eowas servants. 4) i'Y > in > ^0, but wY > 7e : niewe new. Cf . also § 28, 2. c) Influence of Palatals (p^'f «»^ l^*^')- 40. 1) Influence of Initial Palatal. (a) Por older jce, jo, we usually find gea, geo (Ger. ^aF)r OE. gear year, ^odfi geoc ?/o^'e) and jn is spelled both m and geo (iung, geong young). (b) So after the palatals (r/, c, .sc) we find not ce, re, e, but ea, ea, ie: geaf (for gsef), geafon (for g»fon) gave, giefan (for gefan) give, ceaf (for esef) chaff, sceal (for scsel) shall. EFFECTS OF NEIGHBOKIXG SOUNDS. 21 Note 1. — This spelling is differently interpreted by OE. scholars. In general we shall follow Sievers and Sweet, who are substantially agreed that the palatal cons, was succeeded by a glide (§ 16, 2) which with the following vl. formed a diphthong, this diphthong coming in time to have the stress on the first element, like other diph^ (§22). But the gen. pi. gmra (M"E. yore) = jdra ( § 30, 3) and has the spelling ge instead of g by analogy to gcrir (M'>E. year) < *jcBr (§ 30, l) , " gmra " is therefore to be written gedra, and "ge'ar" gear. Note 2. — Between the guttural g and c, and the back, or guttural, vowels a, ie : reoht > rieht right. Cf. § 41, 3 (e and i). d) The Breakings ("[). 41. Before certain guttural sounds, the front vP e, ce, and i acquire a more guttural quality, and are said to be broken into two elements (cf. the pronunciation icce'al for ]\PE. icell). 1) Before r + consonant. e > eo : steorra Stern star ; 8B ( < G'^ a) > ea (really cea § 22 N-) ; earm arm ; i > io, and 10)' > ie : hierde irtirte herdsman. 2) Before 1 + consonant. 88 ( ea : feallan fall. e > eo only before I + guttural c or 7i : meolcan melfcn milk, eolh elJa. 3) Before h + cons, and before final h. SB (< G"" a) > ea : eahta ad}t eight. 22 PHONOLOGY. e > eo : seox fedi§ six, but in most of the words the h later > palatal and changed eo to ie : siex six § 40, 2. i > eo and this (§ 40, 2)) > ie : Peohtas, Piehtas the Picts. e) The Mutations. 42. Mutation (Ger. Umlaut) is the change produced in a stressed vl. by a following vl. or semi-vowel (§20, i). If the mutating vl. is the high front vl., the vl. before it is assimi- lated to it (that is, if back, it > front ; if already front, it > higher § 17, 2) ; if the mutating vl. is a back vl., only the latter part of the preceding vl. becomes assimilated, or guttural, and thus a diphthong is produced. Note. — Mutation may affect an intervening unstressed or weakly- stressed vl. before reaching the stressed vl. : a-buri any time > *abyri > *tebyri > *Sberi > tebre > «fre, ever. (I.) \-mutation ()')• 43. Note 1. — The i or j that caused )' appears as i only after }• ; else- where it sometimes became e (§48), but it generally disappeared entirely (§ 6G N). The bj of the II. class of weak verbs > I too late to cause )'. Note 2. — The earliest instance of )', namely e > i, occurred early in Qc times, and is not generally classed with the later mutations, cf . § 24 N^ (2). The )i of m, which is ce, may be ignored. 1) §25 a > I "^' *^' I >e.^ | h^rian praise, l^cgan (< lagjau) ^?jQ)' ^ ^ Zoy, ni^n wen. a)' > ffi : hajlan (< ludjan < hal wJiole) heal. 2)-o)' > e^ : dohtor, but dat. sg. d^hter,^ daughter. 6)' > e : deman (< domjan < dbm judgment') judge. 3) u)' > y : hyngran to hunger < hungor'' hunger. u)' > y : betynan (< betunjan < tun enclosure) enclose. 1 This e is well printed f in grammars and dictionaries, to distinguish it from old c § "21. A few words have ai for f : ftestan fasten, ssec strife. ' o)' and o)' first > 03 and a (that is, > front vl^ § 17, but retained the rounding of the o, § 18), but like other front vl^ they early lost the round- ing and > e, e. Cf. M. and S. Ger. Getter for G'otter. Cf. § 14. 8 n usually > o (§23 N-), but generally not when i or j followed ; and so when mutation took place, it was ?t that was mutated and consequently EFFECTS OF XEIGHBOKING SOUNDS. 23 4) ea)' > ie : eald old but ieldra oldej-. ea)' > ie : heah high but hiehra hiyho: 5) eo)' and io)'> ie : weorpan throw but 3 sg. wierpS (■5 ie : leolit light but llelitan to light. Note. — For ie > i, y cf. § 22 N*. (II.) U- and O-mutation ( )", )»). 44. Cf. § 42. "\VS. was less affected by this mutation than other dialects ; and many forms that once showed it have become levelled under neighboring ones that did not have it. The high vl. ?< (§ 17,2) was more effective than the mid vl. o, which did not affect the mid vl. a at all. )" and )" seldom operated across a palatal cons. (§ 85, 2) or two or more cons'. Note. — The u or o that caused mutation is not often preserved as such : u appears as u or o ; o always as a ; o in almost any form. 1) a)">ea: ealu a?e. (Rare) e)" > eo : heofon heaven. (Frequent) i)" > io, eo, ie: lim Umh pi. leomu, siendun are. ( ••' ) 2) a)". (Does not occur, cf. §44) e)°>eo: 6eole throat. . (Rare) i)** > io, eo : teolian to aim. (Occasional) f) Iliatm, Contraction, &c. 45. Two vP sometimes (particularly through the dropping out of an h, less often vj or J) come to stand next each other, — that is, an hiatus is formed. I. If the first of the two vP is unstressed, it becomes silent : be-utau > butan > M"E. hut. II. If the first vl. is stressed — 1) The two form a diphthong, the second element being an obscure vl. spelled a, o, or e. (For unstressed o see §23N^.) > y. (For o]i > u and ?()' > y cf. § 28 N.) But as ?( > o in most of the forms of such a word as dohtor, it did so by analogy in the dat. too, though it was there followed by i. 24 PHONOLOGY. (1) a + o or rt > ea: *sla(h)oii > slean |'(^>Iagcn slay. a ( < G*^ Be) + or w > ea : *na(h)or > near nearer. (2) e + back vl. > eo : *seh(w)on > seon fe^en see. e + e > e : *te(h)en > ten je^u ten. (3) 1 + back vl. > lo, eo : *ti(h)on > teon censure. i -|- e > ie : *si(j)e > sle be. 2) The second element is usually assimilated to the first and so disappears. (For unstressed o see § 24 N^) (1)5 + vl. > : *ho(h)on > hon hang. (2) u -f- vl. are not changed or > ii : buan or bun build. (3) y + vl. > y : *fyir (< *fuir) > fyr fire. (4) a (< G*^ ai) + vl. > a : *tai(h)a > ta toe. (5) ea + vl. > ea : *hea(h)es > heas, gen. sg. of heah high. (6) eo + vl. > eo : *teo(h)on > teon drato. 3. Changes ix Quantity. 46. The quantities usually assigned to the OE. vP are what may be called historic quantities. That is, such changes in quantity as have taken place in OE. as distinguished from WG., are usually ignored. The reason for this is that it is very difficult to determine just when and where the changes took place. (I.) Lemjthcninij. 1) It is certain that final stressed vowels > long : |iu thou, hwa idio, se he or that; but unstressed se the, he, the rel. \q, &c., similarly eal-swa just so, M" also, but weak (§93,2) ealswa as. 2) There was a tendency to lengthen vP before a sonant cons. + a voiced stop (§ 20, i : bindan, word, gold, comb), but this seems not to have been true of all v?, nor universally the ease before nd and ng. These lengthenings will not be noticed in this book. (II.) /Shortening. A vl. before h + cons. > short : polite > )»ohte, *wih-beod > *wihbeod > *weohbod (§ 32, 2 ; for eo > eo > o in beod, cf. § 48 end) > weofod (§ 91 & 2, § 76 N') altar. VOWEL GRADATION. — WEAK SYLLABLES. 25 4. Vowel Gradation. 47. 1) Gradation (Ger. 3(Dlaut) is a difference of vowel due to a difference of accent (cf. § 19, 3) in Indo-European times in various forms of a word or in related words. With Greek fti8ov. poiSa, fiSelv or Lat. videre, visus, compare O.E. *witan (Kei, §1'3X' end), wat (fK ai, § 3r), e : arce > are g. d. a. sg. cS: n. 26 PHONOLOGY. a. pi. of iir honor-, rici (§49N')> rice realm, hilpis >hilpes(t) helpest; but a slight stress generally preserved i in the deriva- tive endings -ig, -ing, -isc, cf. also § 43 N'. For i + vl. : j + vl. cf. § ()G N. An u is often lowered to o, o unrounded to a, and this fronted to e. The vowel in a syllable that once had at least secondary stress but has lost it, is apt to become short and to be reduced to an obscure vowel usually written e or o ; so mis'Uc' > mis'lic, and mis'licor > mis'lecor; hldfw{e)ar(V > Ida' ford, § 25, 3. Cf . also § 19, 3, and 95, 2. b) Gradation (cf. §47). 49. I. Ancient Gradation. The IE. gradation series e/o appears in G*" as i/o or o, and (though all these vP may have > e) the gradation can still be recognized in OE. in such forms as legen/iigen oivn, the first only showing y, §43. II. Recent Gkauation. Unstressed o and ii > e if the next sib. contains a back vl., and similarly \ing > ing : rodor rodores/roderas heaven ; sealfode/sealfedon anointed ; leorn- ung/leorninga learniyig. But cf. § c) Apheresis, Syncope, Apocope (cf. also §45, i., ii.). 50. Note 1. — The loss of a somid is termed apheresis, syncope, or apocope, according as it is initial, medial, or final. Note 2. — Before disappearing, a vl. generally > the "mid-mixed," or "obscure," vl., usually written e; hence vl^ that are already mid disap- pear sooner than high vl''. Cf. § 17. , 1) Apheresis is rare in native words (raefnan < ar-sefnan perform), but it frequently happened to foreign words adopted into G*^ speech : episcopus > biscop bishop, epistula > pistol letter. 2) Syncope occurs according to the following important rule : — After a long sib. (§ 19, 2) an originally short medial vl. is dropped unless it be guarded by more than one cons. : deofol VOWEL GRADATION — WEAK SYLLABLES. 27 deofles < *deofoles ; but rudur rodores, as rod- is a short sib. ; and roccettan, as e is guarded by the two cons^ tt. NoTK \. — Trisyllabic f. and nt. fdims in -u do iioi syncopate: idelii idle, nietenu cattle (but fein« iu -(()5({ syncopate regularly: sti'^ngSu strength) ; on the other hand, micel large I'egularly and yfel evil gener- ally syncoiiate in spite of the shortness of the stem vl. : niicles, yfles. Note 2. — Analogy sometimes levels the forms that arise from this law; thus we find deofoles (for deofles) by analogy to deofnl. and adjec- tives with short stems, like hwa*t, have (not -ere -ene, but) -re -ne, just as god has godre godne. Note 3. — The e of the 2(1 and od pers. sg. ending (-es(t) -eS) of strong verbs and of weak verbs of the I. class is generally dropped in WS. 3) Apocope. I.) The original final mid vl' a, o, and e, fall away (§50N-): Greek i.vd, G' ana, OE. on; *d6moz (§24 N") > *d6mo (§ 68N) > doni judgment; voc. dome > dom. II.) The high v? i and u regularly fall away only after long slb'(§ 19, 2): *wurmi > wyrin, but wini > wine ; wordu > word, while hofu retains u. Still u is dropped after a short medial sib. that follows a short stem vl. : *firinu > firen crime. Note 1. — But the i after long sib" (ijGON) which became final by the apocope of a following vl. (§49, i), did so too late to be affected by this law. It > e, § 48 : ricio- > rici > rice realm. Note 2. — When, in consequence of apocope, the semi-vowel to or a sonorous cons. (§ 20, i) becomes final, it becomes syllabic (§ 16, 3) : barw- > bearu forest ; lecr field, fugl bird, tacn sign, maSm treasure. Before a sonant cons., espec. before r, an obscure vl. (generally written e after palatal vl% o after guttural) is sometimes inserted : secer, fugol, tacen, maSum. CHAPTER V. The Pronunciation of the WiS. Consonants. §§51-56. 51. p. b. m. w : t, d, r, 1 have their ordinary M"E. vahies : bewit'aii, dyppan, miere, let. ]>ut in making r, the front of the tongue was turned back, and thus r acted like a guttural in "breaking" front vP, §41. Similarly, OE. 1, like M"E. /, often had a guttural quality. For k and q cf. § 86, for v § 78, for X § 84. 52. The fricatives f, s, J? (or ff) -were — 1) Voiceless (or as in M"E. for, so, thick, § 10), Avhen initial or final, but medially only when doubled or next a voiceless cons. : fortr forth, sceaf sheaf, }?aes of the ; snoffa snuffles, sc^tftfixn injure, cyssan liss; gej'ofta companion, wascan ivash; 2) Voiced (or as in ]\I"E. of, rose, the, § 16), when betiveen vowels or voiced con^ : of er over, sealfian to salve. furSfor further, hieffen heathen, Sri'sau arise. 53. n generally represents M"E. dental n, as in non noon ; but before dental, palatal, and guttural cons% it too is dental (bindan bind and probably in s^ngan (=send3an) singe, §55, I. N, end), palatal (Englisc English), or guttural (Qngelcyn the Angles) ; for the two last, a letter like t] is sometimes vised in grammars. 54. 1 ) h originall}" stood for the voiceless back open cons. heard in Ger. ad), and it still often had that value (heah high, liliehhan laugh) ; before t. and to some extent before h and s, it palatalized, or became front (so reoht > reoht > rieht, § 40,2)), or as in Ger. id}- Note. — The back and the front d)-soumls may be Iraiiu'd by wlii.sper- mg respectively /,-nn and Avz/and dwelliug nu tlic sound that fnllnws the /.■, 28 PRONUNCIATION OF THE WS. CONSONANTS. 29 2) Initially h early became the weak glottal cons, heard in M"E., as in hand hound. Initial hi, hn, hr, hw were either pronounced as h + I, h + n, &c. or as voiceless (§10) I, n, &c. (hkedder ladder, hnutu nut, hrof roof, hwit'r lohere) ; later this li generally became silent, but for hw, which is now written wh, one may hear h + v:, voiceless iv, or voiced lo. For lis cf. § 90, 4 X. 55. g was — 1) A shut cons. (§ 20) I. after n,* II. when doubled. I. After n : — g was sounded as in M°E. go ; J'ing thing, long, cyning Tiing. g (§85) was articulated farther toward the front of the mouth, like M"E. g in give : Englisc English. Note. — If a vl. followed, a glide intervened (as in the dialectic pro- nunciation gf;//?^ for girl), which may have been a remnant of the origi- nal i, j (§ 8-5, 2) ; it was sometimes written e, but was often not indicated at all : s^ng(e)an singe. It is very probable that this gj had even in OE. times passed through dj to clj, spelled (d)ge in M"E., cf. gg below. II. When doubled : — gg was sounded like g in go, but was held, or prolonged : dogga dog, h-oggafrog. gg was written eg and was pronounced like ge in s^ng(e)an (I. X above), that is, early gj, later dj (cf. micgern suet< midd- gearn) or dj : hrycg bacJc, ridge, brycg bridge. 2) An open cons. (§ 20) elsewhere. g was like Xorth Ger. g in ^cio^c (or like ]\PE. cons, y made far back in the mouth) : god good, dagas days, genog enough. g (§85) was like M"E. cons, y (cf. also §88X): dseg day, gear year, nigontig ninety, geliefan believe. 56. c was sounded like c in cool : cunian come, eyning king, C^nt Kent, cwic quick, bucca buck. For cs cf. § 84 end. 6 (§85) was articulated farther toward the front of the mouth, like k in /.•///. but was followed by a glide (as in the * Perhaps g was a fricative after n in eWS. and only > a stop in IWS. 80 I'HONOLOGY. dialectic pronunciation of sky, § 16, 2 end), which may have been a remnant of the original /, j (§ 8o, 2) ; before a back vl. this glide was sometimes written e or /, but often was not indi- cated at all : cild child, rice rich, ta'c(e)an teach, r^cc(e)an relate. It is very probable that this cj had even in OE. times passed through tj (ort-geard is early written orceard orchard) to tf, spelled {t)ch in M"E. For sc cf. § 85, 3. CHAPTER VL General Matters as to G*^, WG., AND OE. Consonants. §§57-61. a) Vkunkk's IjAW. 57. We sometimes find in an OE. word an r, d, g, or w where a related word or another form of the 'same word would lead us to expect s, C, or h : — _ . _ ( rlsan rise i rieran rear, ( ceosan choose i coren chosen ; .. 1 ( llS'an travel '. h^dan lead, iseotfim seethe', soden sodden; ( tlen < *tih.en ten i twentig twenty, I sleaii < *slahon slay i shegen slain ; h(w) — w: seon < *st'h(w)on see i sawon saiv. h — a: : Note. — This is what was still manifest in OE. of a G= law according to which after a sib. not having the i)rimary accent a voiceless fricative > voiced (for ex. s>^). The full applicability of the law cannot be made plain to beginners: from the first there were exceptions, and later the primitive accent (§94 ft. nt.) largely changed, and some of the fricatives underwent modification (for ex., .- > r, and cT > d, while all voiceless frica- tives > voiced between vl^, § 52) . GS W(;., AND i)E. CONSONA^'TS. 31 b) Qf ft, ht, ss. 58. Before t we find onl}^ the voiceless fricatives f, h, (J?), though a rehited word or some other form of the same word luiyht lead us to expect a stop or a voiced fricative ; and J>t > ss. ft : giefan (f = v) give geben : gift gift ©ift, lit : niagan can mlnjen: meaht might d)iad)t. ss : Avitau Jx-iio>r : wisse knew and gewis(s) certain. c) Gemination. 59. 1) Any cons. (ex. the semi-vowels j and ic, § 10,2) may occur doubled, but gg (spelled eg) became differentiated into gr/ later dj, §55,11). (a) G' Gemination (mostly due to the assimilation of n to a preceding cons.) : wuUf icool, steorra, stai-, mon(n) monnes man, swimman sivim. (b) WG. Gemination (due to j : every WG. single cons. ex. r was doubled by a following /, provided the cons, was imme- diately preceded by a short vl. ; after long slbs. ./ fell away, § 6Q) : Goth, saljan, OS. s^lljan, OE. s^Uan give, so hliehhau laugh, smiacafe smithy, l(^cg(e)an lay; but Goth, nasjan, OE. n^rian (= n^rjan) save. For voiced ff we find the double stop bb : h^bban heave. After long stems : *domjan > deman deem, §66N. (c) OE. Gemination (due to following r or I, but not regu- lar) : bit (t) or bitter, 9ep(p)el apple. ' 2) The Simplification of Gemination. Every gemination (ex. eg, which was no longer a real geminate, cf. 1 above) was simplified — (a) When final : eal ealles ; mon monnes. (b) Next another cous. : ealre ealles; cyste cyssau, s^nde < s^nd-de sent. But etymological spellings (eall &c.) are not uncommon. 32 PHONOLOGY. d) Assimilation and ])issimilation. 60. I. Assimilation. There is a tendency to make adjacent sounds similar oi- alike — to make them in the same way or in the same place : bichW ' biddeth ' > (§ 50, 2 W) hidcW > (§ 59, 2 b) hidd, but as d was voiceless (§ 52) it made d so, that is, changed it to t, hitd, then d assimilated to t and we get hitt, which may > hit (§ 59, 2a). For ds > ts, ts > ss, &c. cf. § 80. For sr > ss and Ir > II cf. § 70. II. Dissimilation, a) It seems difficult to sound two frica- tives in succession. In OE, one of the two is generally stopped (§ 20), that is, -g >t, h> c, &c. : fifffa 'fifth' > flfta, so siexta, but fC'ortfa &c. ; hiljyes \>u > hilpestu 'helpest thou' ; sielis > siecs or sie.x 'six.' INIore rarely one fricative was assimilated or lost : hWs > UUs ' bliss,' yihsl > ]nsl 'thill.' Cf. § 83, 90, 4 N. b) Foreign words were liable to dissimilation, thus ?• — ?•> r — I: Lat. turtur > OE. turtur and turtle, Lat. purpuixi > OE. purpura and purple. e) Metathesis. * 61. Metathesis, or leaping, of sonorous cons' is frequent, particularly : — 1) If thereby cons' made with the same organs of speech are brought together : hros (^^iof?) > OE. hors liorse § 69. 2) If thereby the sonorous cons, is brought near a more sonorous sound (§ 16, 3) than the one it has stood next : ildl > aid § 67, worsm > worms pris, tacn > tanc toTcen § 74. The metathesis of other cons' is rare, cf. § 84 CHAPTEIi VII. Details as to OE. Coxsoxaxts. §§62-91. A. The Semi-voicels (w, j, §16,2). w (cf. §§ 14, 15 & X3, 10, 2, 51 ; also 39, 45). 62. Initial w is often dropped after ?i(e) 'not': nses nsron < ue wees &c. icas not; but it rounds i to y, § 17, 3: nyllan < ne willan ivill not. w- often falls away through Aveakness of stress in the second part of a compound : hlaford < *hlafword, § 48. 63. Medial w falls away before the high vP u and i (§§ 17, 2, 16, 2 about IV) : ste < saiwi sea ; clea < clawu claio § 45, II, i (i). Cf. also tu two < *twu < *two (§ 33, 2), so hu lioiv. But lo is at tirues restored through the influence of forms without u or i : Sc'ew like gen. pi. siewa < seewja § 66 & X, &c. 64. Final w — 1) > vocalic, that is u (§ 16, 2) : — (1) After a cons. : barw(o)- > beam /o/-es?. (2) After a short vl., with which it forms a diphthong : *cnewo- > (§ 49) *cuew > *cneu > cneo (§ 45, II, i (2)) knee. 2) Falls away entirely after long vP and diphthongs : ii or 6 < aiw ever (§ 35, 2), sna snow. But 10 may be restored by analogy to medial forms : thus sndw like gen. sndwes. j (cf. §§ 14 end, 16, 2, 55, 1, 1. N, n. and 2, oG ; also 40, 43, 45, 59, 1 & 6.)- 65. There was no special character to represent the semi- vowel i {= y in you) ; it was written — I.) i sometimes (1) in foreign words : ludeas jews; (2) ini- tially before the high vl. ti : iung yoxing ; and (3) often after r : n^rian save, § 59, 1 b, h^ries gen. of h^re army. 34 PHONOLOdY. II.) g usually (=J 85) : geoiig = iung, u^rgan = n^rian. XoTE. — For i or (§ 59, i b) s^Ujau > s^llau give. NoTK. — As regards the interchange of i and j, — in 0"= i + vl. stood after long vP, and j + vl. after short : ricio- OE. rice (§ 50 3 N^) realm but racjan (OE. r^ec(e)an, §59, l b) relate. In OE. times tlie i too > j and fared as that did (for ex. *ricies > *rlcjes > (§ QQ) rices gen. of rice ; *d6mian > *d6nijan > deman deem) ; but, of course, it had not caused G'^ gemination, § 50, i b. 2) was retained after r (n^rian save) and after a long open sib., §19, (cTegan call). B. The Sonoroas Consonants (r, 1; m, n ; §20). 1. The Liquids (1, r). 1 (cf. §§14, IG, 3, 20, 51; also 41, 59, ic). 67. Metathesis (§ 01, 2) of 1 occasionally occurs : si > Is in briclels 'bridle' &c. (§ 98 ski) ; spall later spald 'spittle,' so adl and aid ' sickness.' For r > Z cf. § 60, II b. r (cf. §§ 14, 15 Ni, 10, 3, 20, 51 ; also 41, 57, 59, 1 c, 00 lib). 68. OE. r arises from — I.) G'' r : bringan 6rm(7 ; \\ ex man, Ij^i. vir. II.) G*" z: mara larger, more, Goth, niaiza; and cf. § 57 & N. Note. — This r < s is only medial ; for there was no G'^ initial z, and the final r 1 and s: selra or sella better, liSssa less. 71. r is sometimes lost after a labial : spreeau and specau speak f^n'ed^eu. 2. The Nasals (m, ii. t]). 72. Before the voiceless fricatives f, s, p, a nasal early fell away and a preceding stressed vl. was lengthened : Goth, fimf funf OE. f If Jive, G'= gans > (§ 38, i) OE. *gons > gOs goose, so mu6 mouth 93iunb, *jngunl'- > geoguS youth ^ugcui^. Note 1. — Before the voiceless fricative h, tlie nasal had fallen out in G"^ times: ^^anlite > ))ohte bad)te thowjltt, cf. §§38, i, 4(3, II. ]S^OTE 2. — After the working of the law stated in § 72, some nasals came to stand before fricatives in consequence of syncope &c. (clien(i)slau cleanse), and some foreign words with ns &c. were brought in (pinslan io<'i!, 2) of n occasionally occurs in the case of final en and gn: tacn > tauc token, ])egn > peng thane. 2) n is often dropped in the pi. of verbs if ice, ge, &c. follow (cf. § 82 N) : sohte ge but ge sohton ' you sought.' Occasionally elsewhere: cyning > eyn(i)g 'king'; omceg > aweg 'away'; nemnde > nemde 'called.' C. Non-Sonorous Consonants, § 20. (p, b, f, v; t, d, ]), s; c, c, g, g, h, h) 1. Labials, §§ 20, 2, 28, 2. (p, b, f, v) p (cf. §§ 14, 16, 20, 51, 58). 75. Most 0*= ^vords beginning with p are w^ords borrow^ed from other languages, § 11. 36 PHONOLOGY. b (cf. §§14, 10, 20, 51, 58). 76. b generally represents the voiced labial stop (M°E b in bib), but this only occurs initially (binclan biyid), after m (limb), and doubled (habban have). Note. 1. — Otherwise medially and finally we find f (often = r, § 52, 2) where we might expect b : webb (for web cf . § 59, 2 «) wefan weave, wtef loove. If foreign or initial h > medial, it, in time, > the voiced fricative f : Lat. probare > OE. proflan prove, test ; a-byre any time > Sfre ever. Note 2. — In the oldest texts b is used to represent the voiced labial fricative afterwards represented by f : obaer = ofer ove7'. f (cf. §§ 14, 52, 76 N 1.2; also 58, 72). 77. f represents the denti-labial fricative (§ 20), both voiced and voiceless, § 52. Geminated voiced f appears as bb, § 76 N^ ; for b = f - V cf. § 76 Nl Note. — Voiced f sometimes > m by assimilation to n : efne > emne eve7i (ly) . u or V. 78. Lat. V (or u) appears as w in the oldest loan-words (§ 11); but when it had become denti-labial in late Latin and the Romance languages, it was spelled f (fers verse) in OE., less often u or v (Dauid &c.), but this spelling became more frequent in time (uers verse). 2. Dentals, §20,2. (t, d, h, s) t (cf. §§ 14, 20, 51, 58). 79. t is sometimes lost, esp. (as generally in M"E.) be- tween a voiceless fricative and a sonorous cons, (rieh(t)lice right, so6f8es(t)nesse truth) or another fricative (Wes(t)seaxan). Note. — (1) As s}» > st (§ 83) and tlie old spelling was often retained, we even find s> written for original st : hesS = Ijest least. (2) As c had > tj or tj (§ 50 end) we also find the spelling c for original tj : orceard = ort-geard orchard. DETAILS AS To OE. CONSONANTS. 37 d (cf. §§ 14, 20, 51 ; also 57, 58, 88). 80. Xext voiceless cons^ d > (§ 60) voiceless, or t, though the old spelling is often -retained : bindst = bintst < biudest hindest, scencte < scenc-de gave, bledsian > bletslan > blessian bless. Weak sind (§§19, 3, 93 e) ' are ' often > sint. Note. — (1) For ehte < eht-te ' persecuted,' and cyste < cyss-te ' kissed,' cf. §59,2. (2) d often fell away between two I's : siel(d)lic 'strange.' (3) In weak slb^ d fell away after n and before another cons. : on{d)fon' ' receive.' (4) Before 1 an n is often exploded as a d : eiulhifon Goth. ain-lif ' eleven. ' > or 'S (cf. §§ 14, 15 & N«, 52 ; also 57, 58, 72). 81. The p in old \p and, after a long vl., ]>\, having > voiced, Avas stopped and exploded, that is, > d : Goth. gul|i OE. gold ; (roth. nejda OE. nyedl needle. 82. dj? > t]? > tt, § 60: eaSuiod humble, *ea6medl)U > ea6- nietto humility; ]rxt ])e > ]'£ette that conj. ; and simplified, § 59, 2 : bint < bintt < bint?i < bindefi bindeth. I^oTE. — J> is often lost in verbs if u-e, ye follows (cf. § 74, 2) : binde ge but (je hindafS 'you bind' ; also in ldr(p)eo 'teacher,' &c. 83. i\> > st, that is, one of the two open cons' is stopped (^60,11): hiljjes \yu > hilpestu 'helpest thou,' the t in time being regarded as a part of the ending and remaining in yfi hilpest ; cf. also § 79 X^. ]>s > ss : bllds > hlhs. s (cf. §§ 14, 20, 52 ; also 57, 58, 72, 83, 85, .•?). 84. By metathesis (§ 61 end) sc sometimes > cs : asclan Hcsian ask. Old hs in time > cs (§90, 4, N), and both this and other cs's were very often Avritten x : siex six, rixian rule, fixlan ask. 3. Palatals axd Gutturals, §20,2. (c, c, g, g, h, h) 85. The original -guttural cons' (c, g, h) became fronted (§20,2) under certain conditions, but the Mss. do not gen- erally distinguish the gutturals from the palatals. It is more 38 PHONOLOGY". ortless customary in text books, esp. in the case of c and g, to I)lacc a dot, or some other mark, over the j^ahitals. 1) c, g > c, g before the originally front vP (se se, ea ea, e e, eo eo, i I) and their wnutations (e £§, ie le, — , ie le, ^), but remained guttural before cons' and before the back vP (a o a, 0, u u) and their i-mutatioiis (e £e, e e, y y), these last having become front vP too late to affect the preceding cons. For examples, see Vocabulary. 2) Medial c, g > c, g before original i, j (cf. § 43 N') : *hqnci- > hqnc 'bench,' *hdcjdn- > here 'beech,' *drngi- > dri/ye, 'dr}',' d. sg. byrg < *burgi but d. pi. burgum, Lat. uucia > ynce 'inch,' rice 'powerful, rich' and ace. sg. rlcne<*richia, simi- larly ecnes ' eternity ' as well as ece ' eternal.' Note 1. — c was palatal also in Tc when final or before c: ic 'I,' dl<; ' ditch,' -lice ' -like ' (but -licor), and in the contracted derivatives in -lie : (kit 'each,' hioelc 'which,' sveli 'such.' Note 2. — g was palatal also finally after the front vl« of monoslb' (dcei/ 'day,' but dagas 'days,' &c.) and in the suffix -ig {hnlig 'holy') ; and medially after front vl', provided no back vl. followed {dmyes ' day's,' l^yde 'laid,' \^eg(e)n 'thane,' hut hdl(i}gn). 3) sc > sc not only according to 1) and 2) above, but also initially (§11 d), and finally if no back vl. preceded (fiscjish) ; in the latter cases it was the s that fronted the c. Where there Avas no front vl. next a medial or final sc, palatalization was delayed or prevented. In the process of time, sc > scj > scd^ > srf; >/, or the M"E. ' sh ' ; in OE. times it may have been at any one of the first stages. § 40 X''. c (k, q ; x) cf. §§ 14 end, 20, 56 ; also 58, 85. 86. c is the letter most commonly used for both the palatal and the guttural voiceless stop, § 5G ; rarely the guttural was indicated by k: kyn(in)g king. In this book, the guttural is spelled c, and the palatal c. For the - sound kw, the usual spelling was cw ; in the oldest texts also cu, less often qu, as in Lat. : cwse^, cuaeS, quaeS says. For x = cs cf. § 84. For eg cf. § 5o, 1, II. DETAILS AS TO OE. CONSONANTS. 39 g (cf. §§ 14 end, 20, 55 ; also 57, 58, 59, 85). 87. After long back v?, 1W8. h < g ococasionally appears even in eW8., that is, final g tended to > voiceless : genoh = genog enough ; and rarely after r, 1 : burh = burg fortress. 88. After front v\% g often disappears before d, n, but the preceding vl. > long : niaegden > niSden maiden, bregdan > bredan jndl, brigdel > bridel bridle, regn > ren rain, on-, to- gaegn > -g^n > -gean (§ 40, i h) against. Note. — This loss of g is one of the proofs of the fact that even in eWS. medial and final g tended to become vocalic, or i. h (cf. §§ 14, 15, 54 ; also 41, 45, 4G II, 57, 58, 87). X (§84 end). 89. Initial h and often medial h acquired the weak sound that h has in ]\I"E. (§ 54, 2), and in certain cases it was assimi- lated to neighboring voiced sounds or disappeared entirely. 90. h was retained when — 1) Initial (§89) : habbau have, hrycg ridge. Note. — Initial h is dropped when it comeo to stand after another cons.: n(e)habban > nabban have not. 2) Final: furh /;o-/-o?r, woh bad. 3) Doubled: hlieiiiidn laugh. 4) Before a voiceless cons. : wiht icight, ]5ohte thought, §4011. Note. — For hs we often find x, and the fricative h in time > the back stop c, § 60 II. : siehs, siex six, weaxan groir. Rarely h fell away before s : Ksl < *Mhsl 2)eid)fel thill, wajstm gron-th -. weaxan. 91. h disappeared, with frequent lengthening of the pre- ceding vl. (or assimilated to a neighboring sonorous sound), when — 1) Unstressed: (I) furum < furhum d. pi. of furh farrow, befeolan < be- feolhan conceal, buan < *buhon dwell, seon < *sehon see, ea < *ahwu water, § 45. 40 PHONOLOGY. Note. — In WS. the loss of an h is often prevented by the early syn- cope of the following vl. (§ 50, 2 N^, §90,4), so esp. hi the 3d sg. of the verb : *sihW > Anglian sW but WS. sihS or sieh(5 ' sees,' § 41, 3. (II) Originally having secondary stress: ])usu7id < ]ms-hund ' thousand ' ; names like ^^Ifere < JElf-here ; -or(r)ettan or -orettan < -orel 'fight' < *or-hat &c. ; efen{n)ehd 'level sur- face, field ' < efen-hmh ' equally high ' ; mjder < atglnvKder 'either'; on-hat'jan > onhqt'lan > (by analogy to other verbs in unstressed -^Uan, §94ijN) on'h<^ttan > on'^Uan 'hasten/ but onhdt'jan > onha't'un 'excite.' Note. — The h is often maintained or restored by the influence of the stressed simple word, espec. if that have the same vl., §95c: efe7iheah, 'evenly high,' but efeu{n)eht! 'plain,' d'loer and a'htcWr ' anywhere '< hicier 'where.' 2) Between a vl. and a voiced cons., esp. if sonorous, § 16, 3 : smealic < *smeahUc (§ 41, 3) < *smahUc (§ 46, il.) < *smdhlic 'dainty,' so nemvist 'nearness,' necdckcan 'come near,' &c. < *ndhivist &c. (neah 'near' has ea by analogy to these and to near 'nearer,' neau 'from near,' § 45, i (l)), leoma 'light' < Heohma, cf . leoJU ' light,' tveofod ' altar ' < lolh-heod ' sacred table,' ivd(Ji)ddm 'false judgment' ; hea(n)ne ace. masc. of heah ' high,' nea(r)ra comp. of neah ' near.' Occasional heaJme &c. are due to the influence of heaJi, cf. note above. CHAPTER VIII. Stress. A. Sentence-Stress. 92. A sentence involves the eonneotion of two ideas: the one first in the mind is the psychological subject ; and the one that attaches itself to this is the psychological predicate. These may or may not correspond with the grammatical sub- ject and the grammatical predicate. If a theft has been spoken of and some one says " John stole it," ' stole it ' is the psycho- logical subject, and ' John ' the psychological predicate ; if John is under discussion and some one says '• John is a good fellow," 'John' is the psychological subject, 'a good fellow' the psychological predicate, and ' is ' a connective. The psychological predicate is uppermost in the mind of the speaker, is the idea he is anxious to put into ,the mind of the listener, is the ' emphatic ' word or words, and is, naturally, stressed. 93. 1) As a result of this, little stress falls upon words that refer to an idea already in mind (the psychological sub- ject), and upon words that denote an idea that is necessarily or naturally associated with another and, consequently, neither excites the mind of the speaker or needs to be called to the attention of the listener, but is expected by him. Here belong words denoting only the relation ideas bear to one another. Unstressed are, therefore : — (a) Personal and relative pronouns (cf. e Note below). (b) Weak demonstratives (including the article), which simply refer to objects in sight or under consideration (and do not contrast some with others). 41 42 PHONOLOGY. "NoTK. — Interrogative pronouns and adverbs, being but temporary symbols for unknown or undetiued psycliological predicates, are not stressed. (c) Indefinite pronouns (mon, sum &c.). (d) Most negatives and indefinite quantitative adj^ and adv^ (e) Conjunc^ and prep', copulative and auxiliary verbs, and verbs of saying &c. followed by feet &c. (cwaeSt, baedt). Note. — Prepositions are stressed before personal (but not demon.) pronouns and after nouns and pronouns. 2) The tendency to stress the psy. pred.,^ when adapted to the primative word-order, gave to G*^ speech a prevailingly trochaic rhythm^ (using 'trochaic' in a broad sense): of two associated nouns (whether substantive or adjective) the first received the stronger stress — j'ses eorles sunu 'the earl's son,' se goda hierde ' the good shepherd,' dead is ^sch^re ' ^schere is dead,' — while a uoun^ was more heavily stressed than the verb with which it was used — Beowulf maSelode, beam Ecg)>eowes 'Beowulf spake, the son of Eegpeow,' — and this generally even if the verb was for any reason placed first — ahleop pa se gQmela ' then the old man leaj^ed up,' but gierede liine Beowulf 'Beowulf prepared himself.' Like adj', adv' that retain a definite meaning have the heavier stress when preced- ing an adj. or verb — bi standan 'to stand by.' 1 It woiild not do to carry this matter into details here : suffice it to say that modifiers are degenerated psy. predicates, and that, vi^hen G<= speech was more .synthetic, modifiers more regularly preceded the word modified. - Through the operation of the same natural principle under changed conditions, — the more frequent use of proclitic words (preps the articles, the auxiliary verbs, &c.) and the reduction or loss of final unstressed slb«, — modern English has acquired a prevailingly iambic rhythm. 3 In ordinary speech (where speech-laws originate) nouns generally represent psy. predicates, for they are usually displaced by pronouns when psy. subjects are to be referred to. STRESS. 43 15. Word-Stress. 1. Chief Stress. 94. In OE. as in G-^ a) The stress of voice regularly fell upon the first ^ syllable of a Avorcl: Simple, fdsdev father, ]70ne the, clSne cleanly, gitslan gitsung desire, ceorfan cut. monig many ; Compound, monslaga manslaughter, domsetl Judgment seat, arleas dishonorable, bliSe- lice gladly, toward, toward. Cf. 2. b) But COMPOUND VERBS stress the second member : — on-ginuau begin, but on-gin beginning, a-cnawan Jcnou', '• or-ciuewe known, to-dselan divide, '• to-dal division, wit)-saean o^^pose, " wiSer-saca foe. Note. — Verbs with the derivative endings -hecan, -^ttan, stress the first sib. : anhecan unite, cohh^ttan cough. c) Xouns (substantive or adjective) having the verbal pre- fixes be-, ge-, for- also came (in OE. as in WG. generally) to stress the second member : be-hat pledge, for-wyrd destruction, ge-msene common, ge-sih9' sight. Note. — The original prefix stress is still occasionally found (forwyrd, Crist 1615), and remained fixed in a few words, most of which early underwent contraction : bi-smer disgrace, *bi-hat > beet boast. d) Derivatives retain the stress of the primative ; thus, verbs derived from compound nouns keep the stress on the first member: andswarlan to answer (< andswaru an ansiver, not < and + swarian); and nouns (for ex., participles used, as adj' or subs") keep the stress on the second member : a-liesend redeemer and a-liesednes redemption < a-llesan redeem. 1 In oldest G<= (§ 57 N), as in IE. speech, the accent was -'free," that is, it was not bound by such a law ; for ex., the word for 'father,' as in Greek, had the accent on the last sib. while that for ' mother ' had it on the first, and the pret. pi, was not accented like the pret. sg. 44 PHONOLOGY. e) Conglomerations generally retain the old sentence-stress (§§ 92, Do) : tO-dseg to-day, betweonuin betiveen, for-j>»m-]je because. 2. Skcondakv Stress. 95. a) The second element of compound words (other than verbs, § 94, b) usually had secondary stress. For examples, see Vocabulary. b) But when a compound in time assumed a simple mean- ing, there was a tendency to treat it as a simple word and to neglect the secondary stress ; the second member was then exposed to all the changes suffered by unstressed sylb' (§§ 19,3, 48-50, 91, 1,11): hhlf-weard > hlaford lord, ful-team > fultum protection, a-hwar > awer anyichere. c) Nevertheless, if the meaning of the second element of the compound was not entirely lost, the mental association of the simple word with it would maintain or restore the second- ary stress in the compound, specially if both elements were long sib' ; hence the rule a) above. Note. — Of three more or less stressed slbs, the middle one was apt to lose its stress: gehier'sum'nes' > gehier'sumnes' obedience. Before a third sib. f ! is apt to > ^ ^ : Norh'hym'bron, hund'twijlf'tig = 120. It is generally not necessary to indicate secondaiy stress, unless it might be misplaced. ' '/,- empJ^_jr pHonoXogy* •pst .--fe 5^"^ Lie SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY AA 000 358 481 jmi wr TFORNIA. . -b