Download chapter two: historical background of the english language

8
CHAPTER TWO: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF THE ENGLISH
LANGUAGE
Over the course of time, many aspects of the English language have undergone
change. The parts o f speech that have undergone the most changes during the
development of the language have been the nouns, pronouns, verbs, and modifiers. Each
part of speech will be discussed in the order listed above as it changes through the major
time periods of the Old English, Middle English, and Renaissance periods. Additionally,
lexical, orthographic, and phonological changes will be discussed. In addition, the
category of vocabulary will focus on the influences by the Celts, Latin, Romance
languages, the Norse, the Scandinavian, the Normans, the Anglo-Saxons, and so on, in
the lexicon of the English language. This part will help teachers understand how English
became a language with such a varied and rich vocabulary. Finally, knowing the
historical developments of English will help ESL teachers to realize more effective
methods of explaining and teaching English irregularities.
I. Grammatical Changes in Nouns, Pronouns, Verbs, and Modifiers throughout the
Old English , Middle English and Renaissance Periods
A. Nouns
Old English (450 – 1150)
9
In Old English, the inflections in the noun indicate number (singular and plural),
gender, and case. The Old English case system is simpler than in Latin and other Indo
European languages. There is no ablative case, and the instrumental and locative case
merged into the dative. Consequently, the Old English noun possessed only four cases:
Nominative, Genitive, Dative, and Accusative. Their endings varied with different nouns,
The Germanic nouns ended in: a, ō, i, or u. Examples of two strong declensions are: stān
(stone), a masculine a- stem; giefu (gift), a feminine ō - and one of the weak declension is
hunta (hunter), a masculine consonant-stem. Forms are given below for the four cases:
Singular
Plural
N
stān
gief-u
hunt-a
N
stān-as
gief-a
hunt-an
G
stān -es
gief-e
hunt-an
G
stān -a
gief-a
hunt-ena
D
stān-e
gief-e
hunt-an
D
stān-um
gief-um
hunt-um
A
stān
gief-e
hunt-an
A
stān-as
gief-a
hunt-an
These examples illustrate how English was a synthetic language in its beginning
(Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 57).
Old English plurals were marked with a variety of different inflections, -as, -u, ru, -a, -an, or with a zero inflection, or by a change of vowel. Today almost all plural
nouns take the -s suffix, from the Old English -as. A few take en, from the very common
Old English -an plurals, and a smaller set, including goose/geese, are irregular, where a
change of vowel signals plural number (Algeo, & Pyles, 2004, p. 102-105). Other
examples from this period include foot – feet, child – children (cild > childra + n),
goose –geese, ox – oxen, brother – brethren, woman - women (Pyles, 1971).
10
Middle English (1150 – 1500)
In Middle English, the London English of Chaucer (1343-1400), because of
leveling, the strong masculine declension forms in the nouns were reduced to three: stan,
stanes and stane.
According to Baugh and Cable (2002), in these words the –e stood for an ending
in the Old English paradigm (it was in the dative singular, and in the genitive and dative
plural). Consequently, this -e was extended by analogy to the nominative and accusative
singular, so that forms like stone, started to become common.
At the beginning of Middle English, only two methods of indicating the plural
remained different: the –s or –es, which were the strong masculine declensions, and the –
en (as in oxen), which was the weak declension. In the south of England, -en plural was
highly preferred, being used even in nouns having a strong declension. In the other
regions of England, the –s plural (and genitive plural) became accepted as the plural sign,
and its usage spread in a quick way (Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 160).
By the 13th century, -s was the standard plural ending in the north of England, and
in the north of the Midland English region. By 1250, the use of –s had spread and
conquered the rest of the Midlands. By 1300, -s was accepted as the official sign of the
plural of the English nouns. Some researchers infer that its spread might have been
fostered by the early extension of the use of –s throughout the plural in Anglo-Norman
(Baugh, & Cable, 2002 p. 159-160).
The Renaissance, (1500 – 1650)
The plural and the possessive singular were the only inflections retained from the
previous period. The -s became so generalized with all nouns that only a few exceptions
11
remained with unchanged plurals like sheep and swine, and other cases of mutated
vowels like mice and feet. In the sixteenth century, there were certain survivors of the old
weak plural –n. Some of them dropped their –n and took the –s. Examples are fon (foes),
kneen (knees), fleen (fleas). However, Shakespeare still sometimes used eyen (eyes),
shoon (shoes), and kine (cows). Nowadays, kine is used only in poetry, brethren is used
to people of the same community, and children and oxen are used in general (Baugh, &
Cable, 2002, p. 241; Algeo, & Pyles, 2004, p. 143).
Another relevant trait of this period and later is the his-genitive. In Middle
English the –es of the genitive was frequently written and pronounced –is, -ys when they
were unaccented. The ending was similar to the possessive pronoun his, whose h was lost
when in an unstressed position. Thereby, there was no difference in pronunciation
between stonis and ston is (his), and at the beginning of the thirteenth century the ending
was often not attached to the noun, as if the possessive case was a contraction of the noun
and the pronoun his. Shakespeare wrote: “Gainst the count his galleys I did some service
and In characters as red as Mars his heart.” Even in the eighteenth century, some people
were not comfortable with this usage. Now, we do not know whether the apostrophe was
a contraction for his or the –es ending. According to Baugh’s examples, he seems to
indicate only the former as in a woman’s beauty, a virgin’s delicacy. (Baugh, & Cable,
2002, p. 241; Algeo & Pyles, 2004, p. 179).
The group possessive was also established at that time: the Duke of Manchester’s
nephew, the Queen of England’s mouth, somebody else’s coat. The earlier construction
was the Duke’s nephew of Manchester, but in the fifteenth century, the sign of the
12
possessive added to the group started to be used and became common before the
sixteenth century (Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 240-241; Algeo & Pyles, 2004, p. 180).
In many instances, analogy is still very important to note that analogy is still very
present in modern usage. ESL students or non-American speakers use –s as the plural
sign when they do not know it is an irregular plural, like deers, or with some non-English
plurals, particularly with the following:

Nouns ending in –is (Greek)  the foreign plural is: es.
analysis  analyses

alumna  alumnae
larva larvae
Nouns ending in –um (Latin)  the foreign plural is –a. Examples are:
bacterium  bacteria
erratum

thesis  theses
Nouns ending in –a (Latin)  the foreign plural is –ae. Examples are:
alga  algae

axis  axes
 errata
desideratum  desiderata
stratum  strata
Nouns ending in –on (Greek)  the foreign plural is -a. Examples are:
criterion  criteria
phenomenon  phenomena
(Quirk, & Greenbaum, 1986)
B. Pronouns
Personal Pronouns
Old English (450 – 1150)
Old English pronouns have a complete system of inflections for genders, persons,
and cases. Furthermore, Old English had the dual number for two people or two
13
things, but its usage declined by the end of Old English (Algeo, & Pyles, 2004, p.
109). A few forms have been dropped and some vowel sounds have changed, but in
essence they remain the same.
ðū
hē (he)
hē (she)
hit (it)
G. mīn
ðīn
his
hiere
his
D. mē
ðē
him
hiere
him
A. mē (mec)
ðē (ðec)
hine
hīe
hit
N. wit (we two)
ġit (ye two)
G. uncer
incer
D. unc
inc
A. unc
inc
N. wē
ġe
hīe
G. ūser (ūre)
ēower
hiera
D. ūs
ēow
him
A. ūs (ūsic)
ēow (ēowic)
hīe
Singular N. ic
Dual
Plural

They and their are from Old Norse (Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 59).
Middle English (1150 – 1500)
Personal pronouns did not suffer as many losses in Middle English as did many
other parts of speech. Most of the patterns of Old English were kept. However, the forms
of the dative and accusative cases were combined early, generally under that of the dative
(him, her, [t]hem). In the neuter the form of the accusative (h)it became the general
objective case, in part because it was like the nominative, and him would cause
confusion with the case of the masculine.
Another simplification is the loss of the dual number (a distinction in pronouns
for two persons and more than two). The forms wit, ġit did not survive further than the
thirteenth century. The pronoun she had the form hēo in Old English. The modern form
14
could have developed either from the Old English hēo or by the demonstrative sēo. The
normal development of the Old English pronouns for the third person plurals they, their,
them would have been hi (he), here, hem. However, in the districts with strong
Scandinavian influence the nominative hi began to be replaced early by the Scandinavian
form þei (ON þeir), and a similar replacement occurred in the other cases, their and them.
Farther south, the new inflections were adopted more slowly. Chaucer used the usual
inflections thei, here, hem. They, their, them may be regarded as the normal English
plurals at the end of the Middle English period (Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 161-162).
The Renaissance (1500 – 1650)
By the sixteenth century, personal pronouns were established in the way they
have been ever since. Three main changes occurred at that time:

Thou, thy and thee were not used any more.

Ye was substituted by you in the nominative case.

Its was introduced as the possessive of it.
The distinction between thou and ye was a distinction by number in Old
English. For the second person pronoun thou was the singular and ye was the plural
form. In the thirteenth century, in a familiar environment, the singular forms: thou, thy
and thee were used to address children or persons of inferior rank, whereas the plural
forms: ye, your, you was used as a sign of respect in addressing a person of a higher
rank. Linguists believe that this distinction of usage of pronouns originated in French
court circles as a sign of courtesy. Time passed by and ye, your and you became the
common pronouns of direct address regardless of the social stratum of the person. By
15
the sixteenth century, the singular forms had disappeared except for certain religious
groups and the plural forms survived until our century (Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 242).
At the beginning of the English language, English people used ye nominative and
you in the objective case. Both forms were usually unstressed and pronounced alike.
Consequently, the forms were used in a confusing way, and in the fourteenth century, you
began to be used as a nominative. In the fifteenth century, ye was used as an objective
until it finally went out of used in the seventeenth century. The function of the two words
in these two different cases could be fulfilled with just you, which became the regular
form for both (Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 242-243).
In the Renaissance, a new possessive neuter, its, was developing. In Old English,
the neuter pronoun was hit, his, him, hit. In Middle English, the dative and accusative
merged into hit, so three forms were left for the possessive neuter: hit, his, hit. In
unstressed position, hit was pronounced it. At the beginning of Modern English, it was
the form for the subject and object and his for the possessive. As a result, the possessive
of it was the same as the possessive of he: his in written English, which was commonly
used until the middle of the seventeenth century. Baugh and Cable (2002) quote
Shakespeare’s Portia’s words, “How far that little candle throws his beams” (The
Merchant of Venice, Act 5, Scene 1), and the Bible, If the salt have lost his savor,
wherewith shall it be salted?(Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 243).
Another development of the sixteenth century is the use of who as a relative
pronoun. The use of subordinate clauses is a mark of refinement and maturity of the
language style. Old English had no relative pronoun proper, and consequently, the
definite article: sē, sēo, þæt was used instead, even though it had more force as a
16
demonstrative than a relative pronoun. In the 1150s, English people started to use the
particle þe as a relative pronoun, but its popularity did not last long. Þe was replaced by
þæt (that) at the beginnings of the Middle English period, and it was the universal relative
pronoun of that time, used for all genders. In the 1400s, which began to be used
alternatively with that. At the beginning, which was used to refer to neuter antecedents;
however, it was used for persons as well. An example of this use is found in, Our Father,
which art in heaven. Another contribution of the sixteenth century is the relative pronoun
who, which had two earlier uses as an indefinite pronoun (Who hath ears to hear, let him
hear) and as an interrogative in indirect questions (who steals my purse steals trash)
(Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 242 -245).
Demonstrative Pronouns
In Old English, demonstrative pronouns were declined in masculine, neuter, and
feminine gender and in five cases (nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, and
instrument). The demonstrative pronouns: sē, sēo, ðæt turned into thē, thēo, that and then
into thē and that. In Middle English, that started to be used with all genders in the
singular. The Modern demonstrative plural those derives from the old plural thō, O.E. ðæ,
which added the –s by analogy, or by the model of the demonstrative ðas. In Middle
English, ðōs became those, the form of the plural demonstrative pronoun since then.
The plural of this was thō, O.E. ðas. In Middle English, two other forms were also
used, thēs and thise, and in Modern English, the plural became these (Emerson, O. F.,
2005, p. 330-332).
þæt” or “pon”  “that”
“pýs” or “pi”
 “this”
17
Relative Pronouns
In Old English, the relative pronoun could be the demonstratives sē, sēo, ðæt, the
relative particle ðe, or the union of sē and ðe. That became the common relative pronoun
in Middle English, and it is used since then.
The other relative pronouns of Modern English, who, what, which, derive from Old
English interrogative-indefinites hwā, hewilc (hwilc) (Emerson, O. F., 2005, p. 335-336).
Use of Interrogative Pronouns
Old English had two forms of gender. One is for masculine – feminine gender, and
the other is neuter:
Masculine- Feminine
N
.
G
.
D
hwæm,
Neuter
Hwā
hwæt
hwæs
hwæs
hwām
hwæm, hwām
hwone
hwæt
hwý
.
A
.
I
.
Modern English preserves three interrogative pronouns with personal
connotations: who, whose, and whom. In addition, in Old English there were three other
18
interrogative pronouns: what, Modern English which (O.E. hwelċ, hwilċ < hwā-līċ “wholike”), and whether (O.E. hwæðer “which of two) (Emerson, O. F. p. 333-334).
In Elizabethan time, people confused the use of ye, you as its counterpart of the
nominative who and the accusative whom. Who was frequently used for the accusative
case. Examples in Shakespeare are:
“Who does the wolf love?” Coriolanus, II.I 8;
“For who love I so much?” Macbeth, II, 6, 30.
“To who?” Othello, I, 2, 52
(Emerson, 1912)
Use of Interrogative Pronouns:
Old English
Human
Middle English
Non-Human
hwæt
Nominative
hwā
Genitive
hwæs
Dative
hwæm/hwām
Accusative
hwone
hwæt
Instrumental
---------
hwý
--------------
Human
Non-Human
who
what
whos(e)
-----

Oblique whom
what

(Blake, 1992; Algeo, & Pyles, 2004, p. 110)
Old English had two main interrogatives, hwā /hwat “who/what,” which was the
true pronoun, and according to syntax, the other interrogative hwilc “which,” was either a
pronoun or an adjective (Algeo,& Pyles, 2004, p. 110).
C. Verbs
19
Old English (450 – 1150)
In Old English, the inflection of the verb in the Germanic languages was not as
numerous as with other Indo-European languages. Old English distinguished only two
simple tenses by inflection: a present and a past tense. Old English verbs had the
indicative, subjunctive and imperative moods, two numbers and three persons.
The Germanic languages classified their verbs into classes: the weak (regular) and
the strong (irregular) verbs. According to Baugh and Cable (2002), the strong verbs like
sing, sang, sung indicate change of tense by modifying their root vowel. The weak verbs
like walk, walked, walked add a dental syllable to indicate a different tense. There were
fewer strong verbs (over 300) than weak verbs in OE, which belonged to different
classes. In Old English, the root vowel of the past tense often was different in the singular
(first and third person) and, in all the persons of the plural. Old English strong verbs had
four forms: the indicative, the preterit singular (first and third person), the preterit plural,
and the past participle (Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 60).
The chart bellow illustrates the seven classes of Old English strong verbs and
their primary forms
The infinitive
The Preterit
Singular
The Preterit
Plural
Past Participle
(1st and 3rd person)
I
drīfan
(drive )
drāf
drifon
(ge)drifen
II
cēosan (choose)
cēas
curon
coren
III
helpan
(help)
healp
hulpon
holpen
IV
beran
(bear)
bær
bæron
boren
V
sprecan (speak)
spræc
spræcon
sprecen
20
VI
faran
VII feallan
(fare, go)
(fall)
fōr
fōron
faren
fēoll
fēoll
feallen
Some linguists have tried to explain the origin of the dental suffixes of the weak
verbs to form their past tense and past participle by stating they are part of the verb do, as
in I worked was in its beginning I work – did (i.e. I did work). Others link this form to a
type of verb that formed its stem by adding –to- to the root. According to Baugh and
Cable (2002), Old English verbs formed their past tense by adding: -ede, -ode, or –de to
the present stem, and -ed, -od, or -d to the past participles. Examples are, fremman (to
perform) has a preterit fremede and a past participle gefremed; lufian (to love) has lufode
and gelufod; and libban (to live) has lifde and gelifd. With the passing of the centuries,
many strong verbs became weak verbs, and all new English verbs borrowed from other
languages or coined are conjugated as weak verbs (Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 60-61).
Use of modal auxiliaries in Anglo-Saxon English:
The following are examples of modal auxiliaries already common in Old English.
“willan”  will, “sculan”  shall
can / could
will / would
may / might
ought to
must
(Pei, 1952)
(Peters, 1968)
Middle English (1150 – 1500)
In this period, English verbs underwent a leveling of inflections and the
weakening of endings following the general tendency of the time. The verbs suffered
serious losses of the strong conjugations, even though this group was not very large. Only
a few verbs developed a strong past tense or past participle by analogy with other verbs.
21
Borrowed verbs or new ones formed from nouns and adjectives became regular verbs.
Only a few strong English verbs survived after the Norman Conquest, as many took the
weak inflections or were lost (Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 162).
The Renaissance (1500 – 1650)
Elizabethan English had some differences with Modern English. For instance: the
question Lennox asks in Macbeth, “Goes the King hence today?” (Shakespeare, Macbeth,
Act 2, Scene 3) illustrates how common interrogative forms without an auxiliary were at
that time. Nowadays, the correct question should be Does the king go? or Is the king
leaving today? Shakespeare does not make use of has been. Baugh and Cable (2002),
quote Shakespeare when the king asks in the play Macbeth, Act 1, Scene 4, “is execution
done on Cawdor?” Another noticeable characteristic is the rarity of progressive forms.
Baugh and Cable (2002) quote Polonius in the play Hamlet, Act 2, Scene 2, when he
asks, “What do you read, my Lord?” –instead of saying: What are you reading? The
progressive forms started to be used more frequently in later times. In the Renaissance,
the use of the compound participle, (for example, having spoken thus, having decided to
make the attempt) does not happen very often. Shakespeare used it only three times, and
this compound participle came to exist in 1500. At that time, people made use of
impersonal uses of the verb, whereas people now use personal constructions beginning
with a personal pronoun referring to a person (I, he, she, and so on).
Shakespeare’s time
Now
Impersonal use of the verb
Personal constructions
“It yearns me not.”
He yearns to see his home country again.
“It dislikes me, so please him come.”
I dislike this situation, so please, let he come
in.
22
By the Middle English period, the regular ending of the third person singular was
–eth in the most influential district in the shaping of English standard speech, that is to
say, in the whole south and southeastern part of England. Chaucer (1343-1400) used in
his writings: telleth, giveth, saith, doth, etc. In 1400, forms with -s rarely appeared. The
Northern dialect used –s in the third person singular and managed to spread its usage and
influenced the prestige dialect of London and the south. By the sixteenth century, the use
of –s in the third person singular spread, and by the end of this century -s was the
predominant inflectional morpheme for the third person singular. There were a few
exceptions like doth and hath. Baugh, & Cable (2002), quoted Shakespeare in The
Merchant of Venice to show how this Renaissance writer and people at that time used –
eth and -s forms in a free way,
(Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 246)
“The quality of mercy is not strain’d
It doppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath: it is twice bless’d;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes… “
(Act IV, Scene I, 180-187).
Even though studies have shown that forms in –s doubled those in –eth and it is
probable that in Shakespeare’s time –s became the usual ending for the third person
singular in the spoken language. During the first fifty years of the seventeenth century, -s
had become the universal form in the spoken language. In the sixteenth century, this –s
was also used as an inflection of the third person plural. At this time, the plural had no
ending in literature and in the language of the court as a consequence of the
disappearance of the East Midland –en, -e (Chaucer had used these endings of the plural).
23
Some linguists explained this use of –s as an analogy with the singular. Plural forms in –s
became less common and were rarely found up to the end of the 1700s (Baugh, & Cable,
2002, p. 246 -247).
Many of the Old English strong verbs that survived until the Renaissance became
weak verbs or disappeared. Examples of strong verbs that developed weak forms are:
bide, crow, crowd, flay, mow, dread, sprout, and wade. Some verbs had a strong and
weak form and they alternated their use. Examples are waxen – waxed, sew – sowed,
gnew – gnawed, holp – helped. Another group of verbs were weak at that time, but they
became strong verbs later on. Examples are blowed, growed, shined, shrinked, swinged.
Those verbs that remained strong suffered alterations in the past tense and past participle.
Some of the irregular verbs had a past tense different from the one we have currently, like
brake, spake, drave, clave, tare, bare, sware. Bote was the past of bite (like write –
wrote) and the participle baken was used in the Bible more than baked. Brent and brast
were common forms for burnt and burst. Wesh and washen were the past tense and past
participle of wash until the 1590s. All these examples illustrate that in Shakespeare’s time
the use of inflections in verbs was more flexible and less rigid than nowadays (Baugh, &
Cable, 2002, p. 247 – 248).
To conclude, the following chart illustrates examples of the development of some
English verbs since Old English, for example loss of ending inflections and phonological
changes exemplify how the English language has been simplified through time.
Modern English
Middle English
Old English
sleep
Sleep
slēp (WS slæp)
clean
clene
clæne
steal
stelen
stelan
24
break
breken
brecan
grow
growen
grōwan
knew
knew
cnēow
ask
asken
āscian
walk
walken
wealcan
(Algeo, 1972)
D. Modifiers: Adjectives and Adverbs
1. Adjectives
Old English (450-1150)
In Old English, one important trait of the Germanic languages was a double
declension of the adjective. On the one hand, the strong declension was used with nouns
when they were not preceded by a definite article, a demonstrative or possessive pronoun.
On the other hand, the weak declension was used when the nouns were preceded by one
of these words. Consequently, the Old English language had gōd manm (good man) but
Sē gōda mann (the good man). Examples of strong and weak declensions of nouns are
illustrated in the following table:
Strong Declension
Singular
Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
N.
gōd
gōd
gōd
G.
gōd -es
gōd-re
gōd-es
D.
gōd -um
gōd -re
gōd-um
A.
gōd -ne
gōd-e
gōd
I.
gōd-e
gōd-e
25
Plural
Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
N.
gōd-e
gōd-a
gōd
G.
gōd -ra
gōd-ra
gōd-ra
D.
gōd -um
gōd-um
gōd-um
A.
gōd -e
gōd-a
gōd
Weak Declension
Singular
Masculine
Feminine
Neuter
N.
gōd -a
gōd -e
gōd-e
G.
gōd -an
gōd -an
gōd -an
D.
gōd -an
gōd -an
gōd -an
A.
gōd –an
gōd –an
gōd-e
Feminine
Neuter
Plural
N.
G
Masculine
gōd-an
gōd-ena
or
D.
gōd-um
A.
gōd-an
gōd -ra
The inflections used with the adjectives in Old English contrast with the simple
way adjectives are in Modern English. The elimination of all these inflections resulted in
an advantage in the use and in the learning of English (Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 58).
Middle English (1150 – 1500)
In this period, the processes of leveling and analogy had great consequences for
the adjectives. Through the process of leveling (final –m changed to –n and later was
26
dropped). The vowels a, o, u, e inflectional endings came to be written e). Another reason
was analogy: the form of the nominative singular started to be used in all other cases of
the singular, and the nominative plural to all other cases of the plural. As a result, the
distinction between the singular and the plural was eliminated both ended in –e (blinda >
blinde and blindan > blinde). This also occurred with adjectives under the strong
declension whose singular ended in –e. In the mid thirteenth century, the strong
declension had two forms for the singular and plural of monosyllabic adjectives, which
ended in one consonant (singular glad, plural glade). Later the use of –e ending of the
weak and plural forms of adjectives was used just in poetry in the East and West
Midlands until the 1390s, an example is Chaucer’s (1343-1400) oure aller cok (Baugh, &
Cable, 2002, p. 160-161).
The Renaissance (1500-1650)
By this period, the adjective had lost all its endings, thus, losing all distinctions of
gender, number, and case. The inflections continued to be used were the ones used in the
comparative and superlative: -er and –est. In fact, -er and –est and the adverbs more and
most have been used since Old English times, but they were used in a more varied way.
Shakespeare (1564 – 1616) used comparisons like honester, violentest and double
comparative and superlatives like: more larger, most boldest, or Mark Antony’s This was
the most unkindest cut of all (Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 242).
In modern times, the most relevant development in the case of the adjectives was
the gradual standard usage of –er and –est in monosyllables adjectives and the use of
more and most with two or more syllables (like frugal, learned, careful, poetic, active)
(Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 203).
27
2. Adverbs
In Old English, adverbs had the ending affix –e, which was the instrumental case
ending as in the case wrāþ “angry,” wrāþe “angrily.” By 1390s, this final –e was dropped
as all the other –e’s in the adjectives, and consequently there was no more distinction
between adjectives and adverbs as they just looked the same such as in loud, deep and
slow. The inflection –ly began being used in Middle English because of the inflectional
decay of the /-e/ suffix. In Modern English, most adverbs differ from adjectives by
adding to them the suffix –ly. The following chart illustrates how adverbs evolved since
Old English
Old English
Middle English
Modern English
lēof-e - (lēofly)
lēoflice  lēoflic
lēofli  lovingly
(http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/resources/IOE/advconprep.html)
Adverbs also had comparatives and superlatives in Old English. In the
comparative –or was used and in the superlative –ost was added to the adverb. Examples
are wrāþor “more angrily,” and wrāþost “most angrily” (Algeo, & Pyles, 2004, p. 108).
Lexical Development
Modern English still has a large number of words in use which became part of the
English language between 450 and 1150. Surprisingly, the deeper the research, the more
common are the characteristics found between Old and Modern English. In fact, many
American people and ESL teachers are unaware of how many words and expressions we
currently use that originated more than a thousand years ago. Over five thousand words
used in Modern English are derived from the Anglo-Saxon lexicon (Plotnik, 2007). While
28
many more come from French, Scandinavian, Latin, and Germanic sources. The richness
in the English language is illustrated in the lexical history that follows.
Historical Influences
Since the 16th century, people from around the world have influenced the English
language, and due to the Renaissance of Classical learning, many words have entered the
English language either directly or indirectly. New words were created at an increasing
rate. Baugh and Cable (2002), state that “Shakespeare had the largest vocabulary of any
English writer” (p. 233). This process of creating new words has grown exponentially in
the modern era.
Words have been borrowed in different fields and areas like names of animals
(giraffe, tiger, zebra), clothing (pajama, turban, shawl), food (spinach, chocolate,
orange), scientific and mathematical terms (algebra, geography, species), drinks (tea,
coffee, cider), religious terms (Jesus, Islam, nirvana), sports (checkmate, golf, billiards),
vehicles (chariot, car, coach), music and art (piano, theatre, easel), weapons (pistol,
trigger, rifle), political and military terms (commando, admiral, parliament), and
astronomical names (Saturn, Leo, Uranus) (www.krysstal.com/borrow.html).
Historically speaking, the roots of English can be traced through an early
mingling of the closely related Anglian and Saxon dialects. During an early phase,
English had input from other West German people like the Frisians, the Dutch and the
North German Jutes, Danes and Norwegian Vikings. Additional vocabulary was in the
course of time absorbed from the Celts, who had been established on the British Isles
centuries before the arrival of the Anglo-Saxons. Celtic was a submerged culture and
thereby had slight influence on Old English.
29
Examples of Celtic legacy in English are name places such as Kent, Salisbury,
Canterbury, the Thames, and Avon. Anglo-Saxons learned Celtic words through everyday
contact with the inhabitants of England and by the Irish missionaries in the Northern
monasteries (Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 75-76).
On the contrary, Latin influence on Old English was a relevant one because Latin
was the language of the Roman Empire, a highly considered and prestigious culture of
that time. Anglo-Saxon contact with Latin first started when Germanic tribes in
continental Europe borrowed words prior to the invasion of Britain for commercial and
military purposes. Eventually, Latin words entered the English language through
religious and cultural means as well. These three periods (Zero, First, and Second)
brought many new words into the Anglo-Saxon lexicon.
The Zero Period consisted of continental borrowing between Romans and the
Germanic tribes. In the 4th century, the Germanic population was around several million,
and intercommunication among the different Germanic tribes was common.
Consequently, Latin words were transferred from one tribe to the other. The Germanic
tribes’ main occupations were agriculture, trade and war. Examples of words acquired
during this time are: camp (battle), segn (banner), weal (wall), pytt (pit) (Baugh, & Cable,
2002, p. 79-80; Algeo, & Pyles, 2004, p. 87-88).
During the First Period of Latin influence, the Anglo-Saxons adopted more than
six hundred Latin words acquired by the Celts. Some examples are ceaster (L. castra
‘camp’), an enclosed community or town as in Chester, Dorchester, Manchester; port
(L. portus, porta ), harbor, gate, town; and munt (mountain) (Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p.
82). The Latin influence of the Second Period occurred with the advent of Christianity,
30
which began in 597. Because of this new wave of influence, churches, schools and
monasteries were built in England, and Latin was the language used by the church. A
famous monk of that time, the Venerable Bede (673-735), wrote The Ecclesiastical
History of the English People (731), which is a useful resource of this period of English
history and gives students of the language much insight into the language used during this
time. Latin words were adopted in many categories during this time, including medical
terms (cancer, paralysis, plaster), animal names (scorpion, tiger, camel), and religious
terms (apostle, creed, prophet). However, the Anglo-Saxons did not always borrow Latin
words, especially if suitable words existed in Old English. For example, the Old English
god was favored over the Latin deus; heaven and hell, part of the English paganism
beliefs, likewise were kept. Even the word Easter is a Germanic word taken from a pagan
spring festival in honor of Eostre, the goddess of dawn. This final period of Latin
influence on English was extensive and already showed the English habit of borrowing
words from other cultures since its very beginning (Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 79 – 84).
A third influence was the introduction of Norse forms. Near the end of the Old
English period, England suffered the Scandinavian attacks in three different stages,
beginning in 787 with violent plundering raids and ending with the immigration of large
numbers of Norse between 878-1042 and Norse kings on the throne of England. Unlike
the Roman invasions, the Norse mingled easily with the conquered Anglo-Saxons, and
the languages blended quickly. As a result of this eventually close relationship between
the two peoples, English contains many Norse words, including some in the core
vocabulary (Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 93- 94).
31
Most of the Scandinavians settled in the north-east, in the district of the Danelaw.
A remnant of this is that more than 1400 places in England have still Scandinavian
names. There were many similarities between Old English and the Scandinavian
language, especially with common words, which were identical. Still, some Scandinavian
and OE words experienced different developments of certain sounds. For example: the
sound sk. in Old English was written sc and it was palatalized to sh; meanwhile the
Scandinavian language retained the sk sound. As a result, Modern English words from
OE are ship, shall, fish, which retained sh, whereas Scandinavian words are still
pronounced sk, like in sky, skin, skill, scrub, bask, whisk. On one hand, the ON form
skyrta became skirt; on the other hand, OE scyrte became shirt. Another legacy of the
Scandinavian language on English is the retention of the pronunciation of /k/ and /g/ in
words like kid, get, give and egg. More than 1400 Scandinavian place names have been
found in England. The suffix by meant “farm” or “town” (Derby), toft meant a piece of
ground (Nortoft), thwaite meant an isolated piece of land (Applethwaite), names ending in
–son, like Davidson, was another Scandinavian characteristic, a parallel to the Old
English patronymic –ing as in Browning (Baugh, and Cable, 2002, p. 94 – 99).
English also borrowed words from the Scandinavian legal, social, and
administrative system of the Danish language. Some examples are: law, outlaw, hold
(freeholder), hūsting (assembly). With time both languages became so closely linked that
with some words, people had difficulty knowing whether to use an OE or an ON word.
For example, Caxton (1422-1491) complained about using ON syster or OE sweoster, ey
(English) or egg (Scandinavian), ON veikr or OE wac for weak, ON Thursday or OE
Thunresdæg. In some cases, both words were retained, but had a different meaning or
32
use, like OE no – ON nay, rear – raise, craft – skill, hide – skin, sick – ill (Baugh, &
Cable, 2002, p. 101).
Core vocabulary words borrowed from Scandinavian include parts of speech such
as pronouns (they, their and them; both and same), prepositions (till was used like to, fro
was the equivalent of from), adverbs (aloft, athwart, aye (ever), seemly, hepen (hence)
and even a part of the verb to be: aron was the OE form in the north, while the West
Saxon plural was syndon (from German sind). So, we are is another remnant of the
intimate connection of the Danish language in English (Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 102).
Not only did Scandinavian language enrich the English language, but it also
influenced its grammar and syntax by transferring some of its inflections to English. The
two most notorious ones are the –s of the third person singular, present indicative of
verbs and the participial ending –and (bindand), which was –end and –ind in the
Midlands and in the South, and in Modern English became –ing (Baugh, & Cable, 2002,
p. 101 -104).
The last linguistic upheaval occurred in 1066 when the Normans, who spoke an
early form of French, accompanied by Celtic Bretons and West German Franks, arrived
with William the Conqueror. For various reasons, English practically vanished from the
public and political records as it was subordinated to Norman French. Despite of this,
English survived among the common people, and slowly became more popular again
until it reappeared as an official language in the 1300s under Edward I (1272–1307).
Luckily, under the reign of Henry IV (1366–1413), English achieved victory over French
(Emerson, 1933). Since that time, English has added thousands of new vocabulary words,
borrowing words from over forty-six languages as its speakers spread out across the
33
different continents to colonize North America, Australia, New Zealand and South
Africa. Some words have been borrowed since the very beginning of English. Other
words were borrowed from languages that are extinct, like Avestan, Byzantine Greek,
Dharuk. As a result, the vocabulary of English is the largest of any language and makes
the English language more interesting and colorful, as well as a part of the global melting
pot of human interrelationships. Because of the years of colonization English is spoken as
a second language in many countries and is considered by many to be a global language.
(Pyles, & Algeo, 1993, p. 286-311).
Despite being enriched by the borrowing of lexicon and the interaction with other
cultures, English has maintained the majority of its core vocabulary from Anglo-Saxon
origin. The following are four examples of vocabulary and some linguistics traits that
have been a part of English since Anglo-Saxon time and have not been majorly affected
by cultural influences on the English language.
1) The names of the days of the week come from Anglo-Saxon pagan traditions,
quaintly preserved in four of our weekdays, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday,
which respectively commemorate the Germanic, pagan gods Tiw, Woden, Thor and
Woden’s wife, Frig (Bryson, 1990, p. 48).
2) Use of compounds or kennings is another common trait between Anglo-Saxon
and Modern English as the chart below illustrates.
Old English
Modern English
“ring-giver”  king
“coach potato”
“road of whales”  sea
“ornament of the home”  woman
“peace-weaver”
“sewing machine”
“electric light”
“peanut”
34
“breastcofa”
“falling star”
“sæman”
“steamboat”
(Baugh, 1935; Beowulf, 1100 A.D.; Pei, 1952; Bubowski, 2000)
3) Many examples of Anglo-Saxon words form the core vocabulary in Modern
English period
a. Nouns: arm, friend, laughter, master, king
b. Verbs: eat, find, forgive, understand, send
c. Adjectives: alive, almighty, worthy, happy
d. Prepositions: above, after, further, over, under
e. Adverbs: always, beneath, here, how
f. Conjunctions: and, if, neither, nevertheless, when
g. Pronouns: each, either, none, self, some
h. Ordinal Numbers: first, second, third, fourth, fifth
i. Cardinal Numbers: one, two, three, four, five
(See Appendix B)
Additionally, all of the following are Old English: is, you, man, son, daughter,
friend, house, drink, here, there, in, on, into, by, from, come, go, sheep, shepherd, ox,
earth, home, horse, ground, plough, swine, mouse, dog, wood, field, work, eyes, ears,
mouth, nose, broth, fish, fowl, herring, love, lust, like, sing, glee, mirth, laughter, night,
day, sun, word. These words are the foundation of the English language, and one can
have intelligent, sensible conversations in Modern English, and only rarely do we need to
use words from another language. From Old English come almost all of the hundred most
common words spoken worldwide in English language (Bragg, 2004).
35
4) Old English surnames and place names.
Use of patronymic suffixes: The Anglo-Saxon patronymic suffix was –ing, as in
Ælfred Æþelwufing – Ælfred, son of Athelwulf – and was used to name families or
peoples as descendants from a common ancestor and also incorporated into place names,
such as Walsingham, Billingham, Kidlington, but the –ing suffix tended to be used in a
more general way as well, and must not always be taken literally to mean son of or the
family of. Examples of other suffixes which indicate place names in Old English include
–hyrst (copse, wood), -ham (dwelling, fold), -wic (village), -tun (settlement) and –stede
(place), as in present day Wadhurst, Newnham, Norwich, Berwick, Heslington and
Maplestead (Freeborn, 1998).
The English language has been exposed to cultural influences in its history, and
various attempts have been done to improve the English language and to enlarge the
vocabulary. For example, changes such as the discovery of America, the Church reform,
the theory of Copernicus, the new ways of thinking in different fields were all taking
place at the same time during the Renaissance. Linguistically speaking, with the Revival
of Learning, classical languages like Latin and Greek became the prestigious languages
of the time, and their use made English linguists realize the limitations of their English
language (Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 215-216).
The lack of new words was obvious in diversified technical fields. Consequently,
mostly Latin words were adopted, and many other words from languages like Greek,
French, Italian and Spanish were borrowed as well. This caused a negative reaction from
some conservative English people, who wanted to keep the English language as pure as
possible. Consequently, the phrase “inkhorn term” was used to describe a new word that
36
looked too pedantic, dark, or obscure, words usually of Latin or Greek origin—or merely
looked as if they were. Ironically, many of these “inkhorn” terms are still in use today, as
indicated by the italicized terms found in the following example written by Thomas
Wilson (1523-1581):
“…Pondering, expending, and revoluting with my selfe, your ingent affabilitie,
and ingenious capacity for mundaine affaires: I cannot but celebrate, & extol your
magnifical dexteritie above all other. For how could you have adepted such illustrate
prerogative, and dominicall superioritie, if the fecunditie of your ingenie had not been so
fertile and wonderfull pregnant. Now therefore being accersited to such splendente
renoume and dignite splendidious: I doubt not buy you will adjuvate such poore
adnichilate orphanes, as whilome ware condisciples with you, and of antique familiaritie
in Lincolneshire…” (Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 215 -219).
Semantic Variation
1) In Modern English, a single word is used for many certain ideas or concepts.
For example Anglo-Saxon “mōd” cannot be translated simply in one word by its Modern
English equivalent “mood,” but it meant spirit, courage, good cheer, valor, steadiness,
firmness, and other similar words. Many Modern English words can have many different
meanings, another trait from Anglo-Saxon legacy.
2) Many synonyms are found in Old English. Often several words were used to
express the same idea. For example an astronomer or astrologer may be a tunglere
(tungol = star), tungolcraftiga, tungolwitega, a tidymbwlâtend (tid = time),
tungolcraftiga, tunolwitega, a tidymbwlâtend (tid = time, ymb = about, wlâtian = to gaze)
or a tidscēawerer (scēavian = see, scrutinize) (Baugh, 1935, p. 76 - 77). According to
37
Baugh (1935), “In poetry, the vocabulary has a great flexibility through the wealth of
synonyms for words like war, warrior, shield, sword, battle, sea, ship – sometimes as
many as thirty for one of these ideas” (p. 79).
3) Great use of metaphors in Old English. For example: the king is the leader of
hosts, the giver of rings, the protector of eorls, the victory-lord, the heroes’ treasure
keeper. A sword is the product of files, the play of swords a battle, the battle-seat a
saddle, the shield-bearer a warrior. A boat is the sea-wood, the wave courser, the broadbosomed, or the foamy-necked ship, and it travels over the whale-road, the sea-surge, the
rolling of waves, or simply the water’s back (Baugh, 1935, p. 77-78).
4) Academic writing using a single verb rather than a verb + preposition wherever
possible is another characteristic from Old English. This is one of the distinctions
between formal and informal writing. An example of the less formal style is, “According
to some scientists, coming up with some relevant proof of the existence of the vanished
species has been crucial,” while more formal usage requires the following, “According to
some scientists, offering some relevant proof of the existence of the vanished species has
been crucial” (Plotnik, 2007; Swales, & Feak, 2007).
Morphology
Old English developed the use of prefixes and suffixes to make new words from
old ones. For example, the word mōd, which is mood (a mental state) in Modern
English, meant in Old English ‘heart,’ ‘mind,’ ‘spirit,’ and consequently ‘boldness’ or
‘courage,’ sometimes ‘pride.’ From it, by the addition of different bound morphemes,
the word mōd acquired different meanings and different word functions as illustrated in
the following chart:
38
Affix
Suffix: -ig
Word Function
mōdig (adjective)
Meaning
spirited, bold, high-minded, arrogant,
stiff-necked
Suffix: -iglic
mōdiglic (adjective)
Magnanimous
Suffix: -iglice
mōdiglice (adverb)
boldly, proudly
Suffix: -ignes
mōdignes (noun)
magnanimity, pride
Suffix: -igian
mōdigian (verb)
to bear oneself proudly or exultantly.
To be indignant, to rage.
gemōdod (adjective)
Disposed, minded
Suffix: -full
mōdfull (adjective)
Haughty
Suffix: -leas
mōdlēas (adjective)
Spiritless
Suffix: - sefa,
Mōdsefa
words = “mind” “thought”  mōdsefa
- geþanc,
mōdgeþanc,
mōdgeþanc, mōdgebygd,
- gebygd,
mōdgebygd,
mōdgemynd,
- hord
mōdgemynd
mōdhord(hord = treasure)  “mind,”
mōdhord
“thought,” “understanding.”
Suffix: -craft
mōdcraft
intelligence
Suffix: - craftig
mōdcraftig
intelligent
Prefix:glad/suffix: nes
gladmōdnes
kindness
Suffix: -lufu
mōdlufu
affection
Prefix: un-
unmōd
despondency
Suffix: -caru
mōdcaru
sorrow
Suffix: -lēast
mōdlēast
want of courage
Prefix: mad-
mādmōd
folly
Prefix: ofer-
ofermōd
proud, noble
Suffix: -hete
mōdhete
(hete = hate) hate
Prefix: geSuffix: -od
These examples show the capacity of Old English for derivation and wordformation, variety, and flexibility of expression (Baugh, 1935, p. 76-77).
39
The use of prefixes was a fertile resource in word-building, mainly verbs. There
are about a dozen prefixes that occur with great frequency ā-, be-, fore-, ge-, mis-, of-,
ofer-, on-, tō-, un-, under-, and wiþ-. Thus, with the help of these, Old English could
make out of a simple verb like settan (to set) new verbs such as the following:
Affix
Word
Meaning
Suffix: a-
āsettan
Place
Suffix: bes-
bessettan
appoint
Suffix: for-
forsettan
obstruct, place before
Prefix: gese-
gesettan
people, garrison
Prefix: of-
ofsettan
afflict
Prefix: on-
onsettan
oppress
Prefix: tō-
tōsettan
dispose
Prefix: un-
unsettan
put down,
Prefix: wiþ
wiþsettan
resist
The prefix wiþ- joins with more than fifty Old English verbs, where it has the
force of against or away. For example,
wiþcēosan reject (from cēosan “to choose”)
wiþcweþan deny (from cweþan “to say”)
wiþdrifan repel, wiþsprecan contradict.
Of these fifty verbs, withstand is the only one still in use. As Baugh (1935)
reports, “The prefix ofer- occurs in over a hundred Old English verbs. In this way, the
resources of the English verb were increased almost tenfold, and enough such verbs
survive to give us a realization of their employment in the Old English vocabulary (p. 7889).
40
Orthographic and Phonological History
Because of the influences of many different languages and cultural factors, the
English language has undergone changes in its appearance (orthography) as well as in its
sound (phonology). The pronunciation of Old English words commonly differs from their
modern equivalents. However, it should be noted that the differences of spelling and
pronunciation that seem at first glance to be Old English, are not so prominent at a closer
analysis.
A. Orthographical History
Some strangeness of Old English for a current reader is caused simply by
differences of spelling. For example Old English used two characters to represent the
letters thorn and eth with the sound /th/: [þ] (thorn) and [ð] (eth) as in the word wiþ (with)
or ðã (then), which are no longer used in Modern English. Anglo-Saxons expressed the
sound of [a] in hat by a digraph /æ/, which is very frequent. In addition, Old English
represented the sound of [sh] by /sc/, as in scēap (sheep) or scēotan (shoot), and the
sound of [k] by /c/, as in cynn (kin) or nacod (naked). We can infer that many words that
were pronounced by King Alfred are pronounced in the same manner nowadays, even
though they present a strange appearance in the printed text to us: for instance, folc (folk),
scip (ship), bæc (back), þorn (thorn), bæð (bath), and þæt (that). Consequently, one can
say that differences of spelling are speculative rather than real as they represent no
difference in the spoken language, and the differences of pronunciation obey certain laws
(Baugh, & Cable, 2002, p. 55).
41
B. Phonological History
Use of Short and Long Vowels in Old English
Short vowels were very much the same as they are in Modern English, the long
vowels were the ones that changed in the Renaissance period.
Modern
Middle English
Old English
English
[i]geese
[ē] gees
[ē] gēs
[e]acre
Aker
Æcer
[ē ] great
Greet
great
[o]boat
Boot
Bāt
[u] goose
Goos
Gōs
[au] mouse
Mous
mūs
[I] fish
Fish
Fisc
[æ] back
Bak
bæc
(Algeo, 1972, p. 181 -183)
The Great Vowel Shift (The Renaissance 1500 – 1650)
At the time of Chaucer (1343 – 1400), the long vowels still had their
“continental” pronunciation, that is to say, /a/ was pronounced like [a] in father and not
as in name. /e/ was pronounced like the [e] in there or the [a] in mate, but not like the [e]
in meet. This pattern continued until late 1400s, when a great vowel change started to
occur. All the long vowels started to be pronounced with a greater elevation of the tongue
and closing of the mouth. Consequently, the vowels that could be raised were raised (a, e,
e, o, o) and those vowels that could not (i, u) became diphthongs. The following diagram
illustrates the vowel change:
42
(http://web.cn.edu/kwheeler/gvs_chart2.html)
(http://www.spiritus-temporis.com/great-vowel-shift)
The exact reasons that caused the Great Vowel Shift are still a mystery for
linguists and historians. Many language historians have tried to explain this vowel shift;
for example, one hypothesis states that mass immigration to South East England after the
Black Death (1349), led to the different groups to modify their speech to allow for a
standard pronunciation of vowel sounds. Another theory proclaims that the shift is a
consequence of the rise of the middle class after the Black Death (http://www.spiritustemporis.com/great-vowel-shift/).
Regardless of the causes of the Great Vowel Shift, which may never be
understood, the effects can be seen in the following contrast between the pronunciation of
Chaucer and Shakespeare’s time:
43
Middle English
Chaucer (1343-1400)
Ī
ē
â
ō
ō
ū
Early Modern English
Shakespeare (1564-1616)
[f ī:]
[me:de] – (schwa)
[na:me] – (schwa)
[go:te[ – (schwa)
[ro:te]
[du:n]
five
meed
name
goat
root
down
[faiv]
[mi:d]
[ne:m]
[go:t]
[ru:t]
[daun]
Before the vowel shift took place, most of the spelling of English words had
become fixed, and it remained the same even though the pronunciation of the long
vowels changed. This is why English vowel symbols no longer correspond to the sounds
they once stood for in English, as they do in phonetic languages like Spanish (Baugh, &
Cable, 2002, p. 238 -239).
To understand the kinds of changes English has undergone through its history it is
important to have different points of views to have a holistic comprehension of how
English has evolved. To conclude this chapter, the following is an analysis of how
English voiced or voiceless sounds affected the lexicon of this language in various ways
from Old English to modern time.
a) Shifting. There has been a partial shifting in the spirants /th/, /s/, which were
originally voiceless in Teutonic, but are now voiced and voiceless, as /th/ – th/, /s/ –/z/.
Examples are hæsel, weasel, chooser > hazel, feather, fathom, bath, cloth. The spirant /g/
and palatal /h/ has gone further, as they have become fully vocalized in some cases.
In O.E., f had the sound of [v] when between voiced sounds, as in OE. ofer >
over, giefan > give. However, a Teutonic voiced spirant /b/ was represented by this [v].
In the Southern English dialect the initial f has become v. Examples of Teutonic words
44
with initial v are vane from OE.  fana, vat from OE.  fæt, and vixen from OE. 
fyxen. Every other word with initial v is of foreign origin in English.
According to Emerson (1933), “the voiced [s] occurs in verbs such as use and
abuse, where the nouns corresponding have voiceless [s]” (p. 242). The [s] is surrounded
by vowels since OE and ME., and this characteristic has been kept in Modern English,
possibly due to analogy by words such as closes, closed, where the s is under the
influence of voicing sounds.
Other cases of voiced [s] are certain verbs like use and abuse, which is due to the
s being medial between vowels in Old English and Middle English, as in closes, closed,
where s is in voiced company. In Southern English, this voicing never extended to initial
s. Thereby, every English word which starts with z is a borrowed word (Emerson, 1933,
p. 240- 242).
b) Palatalization. Old English palatal /c/ has become the Modern English double
consonant ch (tƒ), as in ceaf > chaff, cēosan > choos, bēce > beech (Emerson, 1933, p.
244).
c) Vocalization. A consonant loses its consonantal quality and becomes a vowel
(this change affected consonants that were most like vowels). For example /w/ has
become vocalized in swealwe > swallow, wâs > two, who, ooze. Other examples of
consonants that have become vocalized are the liquids in words such as in talk, calm,
half. Vocalization of /r/ as in far, card and nasals /m/, /n/, which are found in syllables
where vowels are not pronounced as in apple [apl], timber [timbr], fathom [fathm], even
[evn] (Emerson, 1933, p. 246-247).
45
d) Voicing..According to Emerson (1933), “A voiceless consonant is shifted to its
corresponding voiced variety. This is due to the influence of vowels or voiced consonants
in contact with the voiceless consonant” (p. 247). Examples are labial [þ], which has
become the voiced labial [b] in loppestre > lobster, papol > pebble, and cop “a spider” >
cob in cobweb. The dental /t/ has been seldom voiced as in prūt > proud, prýte > pride.
Voicing of /k/ are French as in sucre, flacon > sugar, flagon. The double consonant /ch/
[t] in Middle English as in knowleche > knowledge, in early Modern English Spinache >
spinage (spinach) (Emerson, 1933, p. 247).
e) Unvoicing..In 1993, Emerson concluded the following definition for unvoicing,
“A voiced consonant becomes the voiceless consonant of the same series. This usually
takes place only when the sound in question is in contact with a voiceless consonant” (p.
248). An example is the verbal ending /–ed/, where the /d/ due to syncopation is in
contact with a final voiceless consonant. Examples are woned > wont, teldan > tilt,
cudele > cuttle-fish, godsib >gossip, unkembed >unkempt (Emerson, 1933, p. 248).
f) Ellipsis of Unstressed Sounds. The loss of sounds due to lack of stress is called
ellipsis. The verb usually has no stress and thus, it is regularly contracted with a
preceding word by the ellipsis of its vowel. Some specific types are as follow:
Aphesis: Vowels may also be lost without the contraction of words. An initial
unstressed vowel is lost when about is pronounced ’bout. Apheresis: The loss of any
sounds (not just an unstressed vowel) from the beginning of a word, as in the
pronunciation of almost in “most everybody knows that.”Apocope: The loss of sounds
from the end of a word, as in the pronunciation of child. Syncope: A common type of
46
ellipsis in present-day English. It is the loss of a weakly stressed syllable from the middle
of a word, as in the usual pronunciation of family as fam’ly.
g) Intrusion. The opposite of loss of sounds in a word. Examples are fil(e)m and
ath(e)lete. Consonants may also be intrusive, for example: a [t] in sense, so it is
homophonous with cents.
h) Assimilation. i) According to Emerson (1933), “Partial assimilation, by which
a consonant of one series becomes one of a second series under the influence of another
of that series, as a labial becomes a dental before a dental” (248). Examples are change of
the labial nasal /m/ to the dental nasal /n/ before the dental /t/ as in æm(e)te > ant. Old
French also presents cases of assimilation as in Fr. count with Latin computare, daunt
with domitare. Palatal nasal /n(k)/ has also become the dental /n/ before /t/, in lencten >
lent “spring.” The change of /d/ to /th/ mainly in front of /r/, /l/, /n/ as in fæder, mōdor,
weder > father, mother, weather, gather, together, hither, thither, whither, whether, etc.
ii) In 1933, Emerson defined complete assimilation as “Assimilation proper or the
complete change of one consonant to conform to the quality of another” (p. 248).
Examples are godsib > gossip, godspel > gospel /d/ has been assimilated to /s/.
Assimilation and final loss of /th/ occurs in weorðscipe > worship, Northfolk, Southfolk >
Norfolk, Suffolk.
Perhaps the loss of /t/ after /s/, /f/, in castle, fasten, often is because of
assimilation to the preceding consonant, in castle, fasten, often, is because of assimilation
to the preceding consonant (Emerson, 1933, p. 248-249).
47
i) Dissimilation. Caused due to a cluster of consonants and their unique sound
becomes different from one another. In the word diphthong, the sequence of two
voiceless fricative [fØ] symbolized by the medial /phth/ requires an effort to enunciate.
Consequently, many speakers pronounce medial [pØ], replacing fricative [f] with stop [p]
– that is, as though the word were spelled dipthong.
j) Methathesis. In 1933, Emerson defined methathesis as “a change in position
sometimes taking place in a consonant sound within a word” (p. 249-250). This change
has occurred especially with /r/ and /s/. Examples are
brid >bird
hwæt > what
fersc > fresh
ðurh > through
gærs > grass
cildru > cildrun > children > children
Other examples of /s/ metathesis are wæps > wasp, hæþse > hasp, æps > aspen,
ME. clapsen > clasp, O.E. ascian, acsian > ask (Emerson, 1933, p. 249-250).
k) Substitution. A change of a consonant by another one has taken place in some
words, and some times for no particular reason. Examples are substitution of /l/ for the
second /r/ as in Middle English marbre > marble, and purpur > purple. Probably in these
two cases, the /l/ took the place of /r/ by dissimilation, to prevent the combination /rbr/,
/rpr/. The dental /d/ has taken the place of /th/ in cūðe > could, byrðen > burden, fiðele >
fiddle, morðer > murder. Another is the substitution of /f/ for an original spirant [h] as in
laugh, tough, cough, rough.
In some words from the Old French the Teutonic /th/ has been substituted for
original /t/, as in OF. autorite > authority. Substitution is often the result of analogy.
48
Thus, fifth, sixth, eleventh, twelfth, have final /th/ for original /t/ by analogy of fourth,
seventh, eighth (Emerson, 1933, p. 250).
l) Ecthlipsis. Nearly every consonant shows loss in some exceptional cases.
Example the semi-vowel /w/ occurred in OE. in the initial combinations /wl/, /wr/, the
latter of which is still written but not pronounced in write, wrought, etc. /W/ has also
disappeared, especially before /a/, /u/ or /o/ sound, as in wâns > ooze, twux > tusk, ME.
swuch > such; andswaru > answer; sweord > sword; thwong > thong, also in two, who,
so. The nasal /n/ has been lost from the beginning of nædre > adder, nafe-gâr> auger.
Many cases of ecthlipsis are explained by assimilation. The guttural /k/ in the consonantal
combination /kn/ of knee, knife, is still written but not pronounced (Emerson, 1933. p.
251).
m) Addition. Consonants have been added to some words through time, where
they were not originally. Examples are the semivowels /w/, /y/, which have developed in
a few words by the process called weakening. By analogy of would and should, /l/ was
added to could even though it may never have been pronounced. /R/ is excrescent in
brýdguma > bridegroom, Fr. caporal > corporal, Fr. cartouche > cartridge, hâs> hoarse.
The nasal /n/ has been added to M.E. nihtegale > nightingale. It has also been added
initially in: efete ME. ewt, > newt. M.E. ekename > nickname and in the Shakespearean
nuncle, nawl, for uncle, awl. This latter adding of /n/, called by the special name
nunnation, is usually explained as due to the wrong division of such a group as “an-ewt,”
which thus became “a-newt.”
49
On one hand, /p/ was added or excrescent when this labial consonant preceded the
labial /m/ followed by a voiceless consonant as in âmtig > empty, ME. glimsen >
glimpse, sēamestre > sempstress. On the other hand, labial [b] has been added between
/m/, as in slumerian > slumber, bramel > bramble, ME. emeres > embers. The /b/ was
added to timber in Old English, and in Middle English to limb, thumb, crumb, and numb
(Emerson, 1933, p. 232-253).
Conclusions
After studying all of these detailed examples of changes, influences and
borrowings the English language has undergone since its beginning, one can understand
how English turned from a synthetic language to an analytic one. By the beginning of
Modern English, English orthography was already similar to today’s language, and the
vowel shift brought pronunciation to modern standards. Even though the Renaissance
was an age of vigor, innovation, and venture, English was acquiring a uniform standard
and was being shaped and settled into the peculiar language of Modern English.