Processes

Part 2

ProcessesPart 2

In the last slide show we looked at Residualisms, which leave scattered traces in modern dialects.

We now turn to more prominent processes

(Wells 3.1 Residualisms continued)

More Prominent Processes

• FOOT-STRUT Split• NURSE Merger• Pre-Fricative Lengthening - BATH Broadening and CLOTH

Raising

• Yod Dropping

• Long Mid Diphthonging

More Prominent Processes

• FOOT-STRUT Split• NURSE Merger• Pre-Fricative Lengthening - BATH Broadening and

CLOTH Raising

• Yod Dropping

• Long Mid Diphthonging

Some evidence that the original change was blockedby preceeding bilabial:thus cut but not put (but putt, punter)rush but not butcher (but but, butter, much)

blood

good

More words in this group:mood boot doom root tooth roof foodgood book shook took look foot wood stoodblood flood

This group of words includes many words now spelt with single o:

mother, brother, other

Old English form:mód gód rótbóc fót blód flódmóðor, bróðor, óðer

Many of these words have the vowel ó in Icelandic:móður góður blóð dóm rót fóður góður blóð fótur móðir bróðir

blood mother other

good

Other strut words spelt with o instead of u were originally spelt with u:

son come love < OE sunu, cuman, lufian - It may be that the spelling with o was a

scribal device to make it easy to read the minims

blood mother other

good

sunu cuman

son come

blood mother other son come

http://www.hi.is/~peturk/KENNSLA/87/VARS/footstrut.html

More Prominent Processes

• FOOT-STRUT Split• NURSE Merger• Pre-Fricative Lengthening - BATH Broadening and

CLOTH Raising

• Yod Dropping

• Long Mid Diphthonging

http://www.hi.is/~peturk/KENNSLA/87/VARS/NurseMerger.html

• In British accents, this did not happen if r was followed by a vowel:

hurry spirit very

• In American accents a Second NURSE Merger has occurred:

hurry furry

• And in Am. accents there have been other mergers of vowels before intervocalic r:

marry merry Mary

More Prominent Processes

• FOOT-STRUT Split• NURSE Merger• Pre-Fricative Lengthening - BATH Broadening and

CLOTH Raising

• Yod Dropping

• Long Mid Diphthonging

staff bath pass askoff cloth lost frost

1 lengthening only (BATH and CLOTH Lengthening)

lexically inconsistent

2 phonemic splits: (BATH Broadening, CLOTH Raising)

• Lexically inconsistent.• Leading eventually to:

• BATH-TRAP Split• CLOTH-LOT Split

http://www.hi.is/~peturk/KENNSLA/87/VARS/trapbath.html

The TRAP vowel

Old English 1000 …………….Middle English 1500…………..Modern Southern English + American, S. Hemisphere…Modern Northern English + Scotland, Wales, Ireland ….

[æ][a]

[æ]

[a]

( )

[a] is the “Continental” a : der Mann, sandur, place, piazza, mañana ……

Practice:

aæ

More Prominent Processes

• FOOT-STRUT Split• NURSE Merger• Pre-Fricative Lengthening - BATH Broadening and

CLOTH Raising

• Yod Dropping

• Long Mid Diphthonging

• Early Yod Dropping

chute chew juice yew

rude crew shrew grew

blue flute flew glue

• Generalized Yod Dropping

Later Yod Dropping is American:

For Yod Dropping and Yod Coalescence, see

http://www.hi.is/~peturk/KENNSLA/87/VARS/YodEtc.html

More Prominent Processes

• FOOT-STRUT Split• NURSE Merger• Pre-Fricative Lengthening - BATH Broadening and

CLOTH Raising.

• Yod Dropping

• Long Mid Diphthonging

(GVS again):

http://www3.hi.is/~peturk/KENNSLA/87/VARS/LongMidDiph.html

Note that this variable may be combined with the Long Mid Mergers (last slide: Processes 1).

LMM combines:pane and pain, daze and days,toe and tow ,nose and knows.

- or other combinations (see Processes 1)

Where LMM has NOT occurred, LMD may apply to only ONE of the pair.This means that we may have:

Divide: In N. Amer., Austral., etc.: A ridge or line of high ground forming the division between two river valleys or systems; a watershed; the Great (Continental) Divide, that of the Rocky Mountains; fig. a dividing or boundary line; spec. the boundary between life and death

Wells uses the term to mean the juncture when British and American English began to go their separate ways.

p.211

WellsChapter 3

Middle English

Wells 3.2 British prestige innovations

Wells 3.3 Some American innvoations

Wells 3.4 Later British innvoations

1400

1600"The Great

Divide"

Wells 3.1 Residualisms