Middle English

Sibilants and Affricates

The Development of Consonant System in Middle English and New English

Lecture 12

Short Vowels

There were exceptions though, e.g. put, pull, etc.

Vocalisation of [r]

It occurred in the 16^th – 17^th c. Sound [r] became vocalised (changed to [ə] (schwa)) when stood after vowels at the end of the word.

Consequences:

· new diphthongs appeared: [εə], [iə], [uə];

· the vowels before [r] were lengthened (e.g. arm [a:m], for [fo:], etc.);

· triphthongs appeared: [aiə], [auə] (e.g. shower [‘∫auə], shire [‘∫aiə]).

H/w:

1. Ex. 4-6 on p. 218 in “История английского языка” by Т.А. Расторгуева (copies).

English consonants proved to be more stable than vowels. Nevertheless, new sets of consonants started to appear.

Sibilants – a type of fricatives, narrower and sharper than all other fricatives ([f, v, q, ð, h]) – [s, z, ∫, ζ].

Affricates – sounds consisting of a plosive immediately followed by a fricative – [t∫, dζ].

In OE there were only 2 sibilants – [s, z]. [∫] appeared in ME and [ζ] – in NE.

Affricates [t∫, dζ] appeared both in ME and in NE.

New consonants developed from palatal plosives [k’], [g’]and the cluster [sk’]: