Historical & Dialect Background
Which centuries does the Old English period cover?
Old English period: approximately 450–1100 AD.
What is the main difference between short and long vowels in Old English?
Short vowels were brief in duration, long vowels were held longer.
How many fricative phonemes existed in Old English?
Old English had 4–5 fricative phonemes: /f/, /θ/, /s/, /h/ (and sometimes /v/ allophonically).
Which syllable usually carried the main stress in Old English words?
Main stress was usually on the first syllable of the word.
When did voiced and voiceless fricatives become separate phonemes?
Voiced and voiceless fricatives became phonemic in Middle English, due to borrowing from Norman French and internal developments.
What was Alfred the Great’s contribution to the development of Old English?
Alfred the Great promoted literacy, supported translations of Latin works, and helped establish West Saxon as a written standard.
How many basic monophthongs did Old English have?
Old English had 7–8 basic monophthongs, depending on analysis.
What sounds did “þ” (thorn) and “ð” (eth) represent?
“þ” (thorn) = /θ/ (voiceless th) or /ð/ (voiced th); “ð” (eth) = same as thorn, usage varied.
What is the Germanic stress law?
Germanic stress law: stress on the root syllable of a word, not prefixes.
Why did the /x/ sound disappear in English?
/x / disappeared because voiceless velar fricatives were lost in syllable-final position in Middle English.
Why are most surviving Old English texts in West Saxon dialect?
Most texts survive in West Saxon because Wessex was politically dominant and had strong ecclesiastical centers producing manuscripts
What is i-mutation (umlaut) and how did it change vowels?
I-mutation (umlaut) is a fronting of vowels due to an /i/ or /j/ in the next syllable, e.g., mann → menn.
Why were [f] and [v] not separate phonemes in Old English?
[ f ] and [ v ] were allophones: voiced [v] occurred between vowels, voiceless [f] elsewhere, so not separate phonemes.
Why did the /x/ sound disappear in English?
Stress influenced vowel reduction in unstressed syllables (shortened, centralized vowels).
Why is /ŋ/ phonemic in Present-Day English but not in Old English?
/ ŋ / became phonemic in PDE because it started to appear in word-final positions and contrast with /n/ + /g/, e.g., sing.
How did the Danelaw affect dialects and pronunciation?
The Danelaw introduced Scandinavian influence, affecting pronunciation, vocabulary, and regional dialects, especially in the north and east.
What is the breaking phenomenon and under what conditions did it occur?
Breaking is the dipthongization of front vowels before /h/ + consonant or /r/, e.g., e → eo.
Which consonants were affected by palatalization?
Palatalization affected /k/ and /g/ before front vowels, producing /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ sounds in some dialects.
Explain assimilation and gemination with examples.
Assimilation: sounds become more similar (hund + s → hundes).
Geminates: double consonants often appear after short vowels (godd).
Which Old English phonological changes had the greatest long-term effect on Present-Day English?
Most long-term changes: i-mutation, vowel length distinctions, fricative voicing, loss of /x/ — all shaped modern English vowel and consonant systems.
How did dialect differences in Old English influence the later development of standard English?
Dialect differences shaped later English regional variation. Political centralization in Wessex influenced the southern forms becoming the basis for standard English.
Explain how Old English diphthongs changed in Middle English.
Old English diphthongs like /eo/, /ea/ changed in Middle English into modern vowels or simpler diphthongs, depending on dialect.
Explain complementary distribution versus phonemic contrast with Old English examples.
Complementary distribution = sounds appear in non-overlapping contexts; phonemic contrast = sounds can distinguish meaning. Example: [f] vs [v] in Old English were context-dependent, not phonemic.
Analyze how stress patterns and phonological processes affected morphology in Old English.
Stress and phonological processes affected morphology, e.g., unstressed endings reduced to -e, -an, leading to inflectional simplification.
Why does Present-Day English have a /f/ vs. /v/ contrast (e.g., fine vs. vine)?
PDE /f/ vs /v/ contrast arises because /v/ developed from voiced allophone of /f/ in intervocalic positions (fine vs vine).