# Diachronic phonology
presented by Masato Nakata

## Disclaimer

No absolutely correct. Just is the standard
Historical develpoment can have little evidence, especially until standardisation
Focus on, but not limited to, RP (Received Pronunciation; Queen's English)

## Chronological overview

Grimm's Law (1000 BCE - 200 BCE): major changes in consonants. From Proto-Indo-European (PIE) to Proto-Germanic (PGmc)
  • father < fæder (OE) < *fader (PGmc) < *pater (PIE)
5c CE: Old English (OE)
9-13c: systematise vowel length
  • Homorganic lengthening: child < cild (/tʃiːld/ ME) < cild (/tʃild/ OE)
  • Trisyllabic shortening: holiday < halidai (/halidæj/ ME) < haligdæg (/hɑːlijdæj/ OE)
  • Open syllable lengthening: name < name (/nɑːmə/ ME) < nama (/nɑmɑ/ OE)
Language contacts: Old Norse (9-10c), French (11-19c)
11c: Middle English (ME)
Great Vowel Shift (15-17c): changes in long vowels and diphthongs
  • bite (/baɪt/) < bite (/bɛit/ EModE) < bite (/biːtə/ ME)
16c: Early Modern English (EModE)

## Rhotic - "R" sound

Until ME, R was pronounced as a trill /r/
  • hard /hard/, butter /bʊtər/
EModE: changed to an approximant /ɹ/
  • hard /hɑɹd/
EModE: unstressed vowel + R → R-colored vowel, rhotacised vowel
  • butter /bʌtɚ/
Cockney (18c; low-class London dialect): dropping the R sound
  • hard /hɑːd/, butter /bʌtə/
This Cockney pronunciation became the standard (RP)

## Clear L vs. dark L

  • Clear L: light /laɪt/
  • Dark L: full /fʊɫ/, milk /mɪɫk/
Distinction between clear/dark L was established by ME
Clear L is an onset (= start of a syllable), dark L is a coda (= end of a syllable) or after a vowel in the same syllable
14-16c: silent L
  • walk /wɔːk/ < /woɫk/
20c: L-vocalisation
  • bottle /bɒtʊ/ (Cockney) < /bɒtl̩/ = /bɒtɫ/

## Bind vs. bond vs. bold

-ind /aɪnd/ and -old /əʊld/ are diphthongs, -ond /ɒnd/ is a short vowel
9-10c: Homorganic lengthening. Because -nd, -ld, -mb, -rd, etc. articulate on the same place in the mouth, vowels before them became long
  • bind < binde (/bində/ ME) < bindan (/biːndan/ OE) < bindan (/bindan/ OE)
  • bond < bond (/bɔːnd/ OE) < bond (/bɒnd/ OE)
  • bold < bold (/bɔːld/ ME) < bald (/bɑːld/ OE) < bald (/bɑld/ OE)
  • child < child (/tʃiːld/ ME) < cild (/tʃiːld/ OE) < cild (/tʃild/ OE)
Exception: remained short if followed by another consonant
  • children (/tʃildɹən/ ME) < cildru (/tʃildru/ OE)
  • children (ME) < cildru (/tʃiːldru/ OE) < cildru (/tʃildru/ OE)
13-14c: Reversal of homorganic lengthening. Long /A, E, O/ tended, but not always, to be shortened
  • bond < bond (/bɒnd/ EModE) < bond (/bɔːnd/ ME)
15-17c: Great vowel shift. Long vowels became diphthongs
  • bind < bind (/baɪnd/ EModE) < binde (/bində/ ME)
  • bold < bold (/bəʊld/ EModE) < bold (/bɔːld/ ME)
  • child < child (/tʃaɪld/ EModE) < child (/tʃiːld/ ME)
Special case: fond is derived from fonned (OE), not -nd, hence not homorganic
Special case: wind (NOUN air moving) pronounces /wind/, while wind (VERB to turn) pronounces /waɪnd/
  • 16c: wind /waɪnd/ for both meanings
  • 18c: assimilating to windmil or windy, which were shortened due to the "Exception" case above, wind became short /wind/
Evidence that wind (air moving) surely pronounced /waɪnd/. In Shakespeare's As You Like It お気に召すまま
  • Blow, blow, thou winter wind
  • Thou art not so unkind
  • As man's ingratitude
  • Thy tooth is not so keen
  • Because thou art not seen
  • Although thy breath be rude

## Silent in consonant clusters

Germanic origin: dropped by 17c
  • know (/nəʊ/) < knowe (/knɔːu/ ME) < cnawan (/knaːwɑn/ OE)
  • write (/ɹʌɪt/) < writen (/wɹiːtən/ ME) < writan (/wriːtɑn/ OE)
Greek origin: words starting with ps-, pn-, pt- and mn-, dropped by 19c
  • psychology /sʌɪkɒlədʒi/ < ψυχολογία /psyːkʰoloɡija/
  • Ptolemy /tɑləmi/ < Πτολεμαῖος /ptolemaɪjos/
  • pneumonia /njuːməʊniə/ < πνευμονία /pnɛʊmonɪja/
  • mnemonic /nᵻmɒnɪk/ < μνημονικός /mnɛːmonikos/
Latin origin, case 1: dropped in Old French + compensatory lengthening c. 16c
  • sign (/sʌɪn/) < signe (/siːnə/ ME) < signe (/siːɲə/ Old French) < signum (/signum/ Lat)
Latin origin, case 2: dropped in Old French + etymological respellings c. 16c
  • debt (/dɛt/) < dette (/dɛtə/ ME) < dete (/dɛtə/ Old French) < debitum (/debitum/ Lat)

## Another silent consonats

gh: from /h, x, ç/ to silent or /f/
  • light (/lʌɪt/) < leght, light (/liːt/ < /liçt/ < /leçt/ ME) < leoht (/leːoxt/ OE)
  • tough (/tʌf/) < /tʊf/ EModE < /tuːx/ ME < toh (/toːx/ OE)
island: etymological respelling by mistake
  • iglland (/iːjland/ OE)
  • iland (/iːland/ ME, 13c)
  • island (/iːland/ ME, 16c) - scholars were mistakenly confused with isle ( < insula Lat), adding missing S
  • island (/ʌɪlənd/)

## Qu, gu: /kw, gw/ vs. /k, g/

OE, Old Norse or Norman French (-13c): /kʷ, ɡʷ/
  • quick (c. 800) /kʷɪk/ < cwic (OE)
  • question (13c) /kʷɛstʃn̩/ < questiun (Norman French)
  • language (13c) /laŋɡʷɪdʒ/ < langage (Norman French)
  • conquest (-12c) /kɒŋkʷɛst/ < conquest (Norman French)
French (14-16c; Parisian): /k, g/
  • conquer (13c) /kɒŋkə/ < cunquerre (Old French)
  • guide (14c) /ɡʌɪd/ < guide (French)
Functional U (14c-): /k, g/, mimicking French orthography
  • guess (14c) /ɡɛs/ < gessen (ME)
Foreign loanwords (17c-): depend on origins
  • guitar (17c) /ɡᵻtɑː/ < guitarra (Spanish) and guitare (French)
  • quartz (17c) /kwɔːts/ < Quarz (German)

## G: /g/ vs. /dʒ/ vs. /ʒ/

Germanic/Old Norse (-10c): g pronounces /g/
  • get /ɡɛt/ < geta (Old Norse)
  • begin /bᵻɡɪn/ < beginnan (OE)
  • give /ɡɪv/ < yiven (ME < giefan OE) + gefa (Old Norse)
  • target /tɑːɡɪt/ < targe (OE) + targete (Old French)
Norman French/French/Lat (11c-16c): g pronounces /dʒ/
  • fragile /fɹadʒʌɪl/ < fragile (French)
  • tangent /tandʒənt/ < tangens (Lat)
  • giant /dʒʌɪənt/ < geant (ME) < géant (Old French)
French/Modern English (17c-): g pronounces /ʒ/
  • genre /ʒɒ̃ɹə/ < genre (French)
  • beige /beɪʒ/ < beige (French)

## Prefix a-: alpha privatium

Prefix a- has three origins: Germanic, Latin and Greek; Greek a- further consists of two types: alpha privatium and alpha copulativum
  • Germanic: await, alike, akin
  • Latin: ascend, avert, avocation
  • Alpha privatium: atom, aethesist, asymmetry
  • Alpha copulativum: acolyte
Alpha privatium is the prefix a- which means the "lack" of something, or negation
  • atom < ἄτομος = ἀ- (not) + τέμνω (cut)
Alpha copulativum means the linking/connexion between something
  • acolyte < ἀκόλουθος = ἀ- (with) + κέλευθος (path)
Germanic or Latin → always /ə/
Alpha copulativum → always /a/ or /ə/
Alpha privatium → /a/, /ə/ or /eɪ/
  • Closed vowel (= syllable ends with consonants) → /a, ə/.
    agnostic /aɡ.nɒs.tɪk/ = a + gnostic /nɒstɪk/
  • Word head (= with a- stripped) exists as a standalone word → /eɪ/.
    asymmetry /eɪ.sɪm.ᵻ.tɹi/ = a + symmetry. atheist
    /eɪ.θi.ɪst/ = a + theist
  • Word head does not exist standalone → /a/, /ə/.
    atom /atəm/ (tom is not a word)

## Resume vs. résumé

Resume (= to restart) came c. 1400, so obeys the English rule of pronunciation (anglicisation)
  • resume (/ɹᵻzjuːm/) < resumer (/rezyme/ French)
Résumé (= short statement of work experience) came in 18c, following the French rule instead
  • résumé (/ɹɛzjᵿmeɪ/) < résumé (/ʀ̥ezyme/ French)

## One, only and an

an (OE) meant one, being a common ancestor of one, only and an
  • an (/æn/, /ən/ Modern English) < weak form of an (/ɑ:n/ OE)
  • one (/wʌn/) < /woːn/ (ME, dialect in southwest and west England) < /oːn/ < strong form of an (/ɑ:n/ OE)
  • only (/əʊnli/) < /oːn/ (ME, dialect in southern England) < /oːn/ < strong form of an (/ɑ:n/ OE)