DIPTHONGS
The PG diphthongs — ei ai iu eu au underwent (подверглись) regular independent changes in Early OE; they took place in all phonetic conditions irrespective of environment. The diphthongs with the i-glide were monophthongised into [i] and [a]; the diphthongs in u were reflected as long diphthongs [io:], [eo:] and [ea:]
All Engl dipthongs were monophonized from OE to NE.
In PG there were no diphthongs. There was just a sequence of two separate vowels. Diphthongs appeared in OE: some (usually long diphthongs) – as a result of merging (слияние) of two vowels:
|
Sounds |
Diphth. |
Gothic |
OE |
|
a + u à |
ea: |
auso |
eare (ear) |
|
e + u à |
eo: |
þeudans |
þēoden (king) |
|
(i + u)à |
(io:) (dialectal variant) |
diups |
dīop (deep) |
others (usually short diphthongs) – as a result of the influence of the succeeding (последующих) and preceding (предшествующих) consonants (breaking of [æ, e])
|
Monoph. |
Diphth. |
Influence |
Gothic |
OE |
|
æ à |
ea |
before l |
alls |
eall (all) |
|
æ à |
ea |
before h |
ahtau |
eahta (eight) |
|
e à |
eo |
before r |
herza |
heorte (heart) |
|
æ à |
ea |
after sk’/k’ |
skadus |
sceadu (shade) |
|
æ: à |
ea: |
after j |
jâr |
ζēar (year) |
BREAKING Under the influence of succeeding and preceding consonants monophthongs turned into diphthongs. The front vowels [i],[e],[æ] àdiphthongs, WHEN they stood before [h], [ll] or [l]+cons, [r]+cons, e.g.:
OE deorc, NE dark. Breaking is dated in Early OE.
Breaking produced a new set of vowels in OE — the short diphthongs [ea] and [eo]. OE diphthongs turned into monophthongs in ME
|
OE Diphth. |
ME Sounds |
OE |
ME |
|
ĭě/īē à |
i |
līehtan |
lighten (lighten) |
|
ĕŏ/ēō à |
e |
heorte |
herte (heart) |
|
ĕă/ēā à |
æ |
ēast |
eest (east) |
New diphthongs appeared due to vocalisation of [j], [γ] and [w]. These consonants turned into vowels ([i], [u] and [u] respectively (соответственно) and became the glides (планами) of the new diphthongs:
The diphthong oi was of French origin.
|
i-glides |
OE |
ME |
u-glides |
OE |
ME |
|
[ei] |
weζ[j] |
wey[i] (way) |
[iu] |
- |
- |
|
[ai] |
mæζ[j] |
may[i] (may) |
[au] |
laζ[γ]u |
law[u]e [‘lauə] (low) |
|
[oi] (in Fr. loan-words) |
|
boy, toy |
[ou] |
cnāw[w]an |
know[u]en [‘knouən] (know) |
Lengthening and diphthongization in NE (17c) due to the vocalization of r. а также The Great Vowel Shift
