Proto-Germanic and Old

English sounds
ORIGIN

Englishbelongs to Indo-
European language family,
Germanic branch,
West- Germanic group
Germanic features

When the Germanic languages

broke away from Proto-Indo-
European, some changes occurred
in their sound systems.
Grimm’s Law (The First Consonant Shift)
(three stages)
 1. Proto-Indo-European voiceless stops changed
into voiceless fricatives.
[p, t, k] > [f, Ɵ, h]
 Lat. piscis, Goth. fisks, OE fisc (Mod.E fish)
 Lat. tres, Ukr. три, OE þrīe (Mod.E three)
 Lat. cor (cord), OE heorte (Mod.E heart)
Grimm’s Law (The First Consonant Shift)
(three stages)
 2.Proto-Indo-European voiced stops became
voiceless stops.
[b, d, g] > [p, t, k]
 Rus. болото, OE pōl (Mod.E pool)
 Rus. дерево, OE trēo (Mod.E tree)
 Rus. горе, OE caru (Mod. E care)
Grimm’s Law (The First Consonant Shift)
(three stages)
 3. Proto-Indo-European voiced aspirated
stops became voiced stops.
[bh, dh, gh] > [b, d, g]
 Sans. bhrata, OE brōðor (Mod.E brother)
 Sans. vidhava, OE widve (Mod.E widow)
 IE lagh, OE licʒean (Mod.E lie)
EXCEPTIONS to the First Act of Grimm’s
Law
 1.
No change took place after s [s] in
consonant combinations [sp, st, sk]:
Lat. stare, R. стоять > OE. standan,
E. stand;
R. гость, Lat. hostis — гот. gasts, E. guest;
EXCEPTIONS to the First Act of Grimm’s
Law
 2.In a group of two consonants only the
first one changed according to the first act
of Grimm’s Law. The second remained
unchanged:
Lat. octo, OE eahta (Mod.E eight).
Verner’s Law

 At
the time of free stress voiceless fricatives
were voiced after unstressed vowel.
[t > Ɵ] 1st Act of Grimm’s Law
[Ɵ > ð] Verner’s law
[ð > d] 3d Act of Grimm’s Law
Sans. pi´tar > PG faðar > OE fæder
(Mod.E father).
PROTO-GERMANIC VOWELS

 IE ā > PG ō (Lat. māter – OE mōdor)

 IE. o > PG a (Lat. octō – Goth. ahtau)
West-Germanic Sounds
Doubling of consonants between a short vowel and sound [j]:
Gothic saljan, taljan > OE. sellan, tellan – E. sell, tell.
(Compare: Rus. веселье, знанье; Ukr. весілля,
знання).

But r was not doubled: Goth. arjan – OE. Erian

(‘to plough’);
(Compare: Rus.: перья; Ukr. пір’я).

Doubling did not occur after long vowels:

Goth. fōdjan > OE. fēdan > E. feed
West-Germanic Sounds

 Rhotacism (development of sound [z]):

[s] >[z] > [r]
OE. wæs – wæron;
Goth. maiza – OE. mara.
Anglo-Saxon Sound Changes

 Development of vowel [a]:

a) before [nd, ng] > [å]
G. land, lanʒ – OE. land [lånd], lånʒ [lång]
(E. land, long).
b) in other positions > [æ] æ
Goth. daʒs > OE. dæʒ (E. day)
Anglo-Saxon Sound Changes

Breaking
 (a monophthong turned into a diphthong):
before [h, r, l] + another consonant, and also before final
[h]
[a] > [ea]
G. hart [hart] – OE heard [heard] (E. hard)
[æ ] > [ea]
æld > eald
[e] > [eo]
herte > heorte
Anglo-Saxon Sound Changes

 Lossof nasal consonants before fricatives

[f,Ɵ,s]:
Goth. fimf [fimf] – OE. fīf [fi:f] (E. five)
Old English Vowel Changes

 Front (palatal) mutation (before i and j)

[o], [a] > [e]
G. Anᴣlisc > OE Enᴣlisc > E English
[u] > [y]
OHG. kuninᴣ > OE cyninᴣ > E king
ea,eo > ie
ēa, īe > īe
eald – ieldira (E. old - elder)
Old English Vowel Changes

Traces in modern English:

vowel interchange now serves to distinguish
a) different parts of speech (full - to fill, food - to
feed, long – length; tale - to tell, blood – bleed);
b) different forms of a word (man – men, goose –
geese)
Changes of diphthongs

 PG [ai] > OE [a:]

PG stains > OE stān [sta:n], E stone;
 PG [au] > OE [e:a]
Goth. ausō > OE ēare [ˈe:are], E ear
 PG [iu] > [eo]
Goth. Liufs > OE leof (“dear", E love)
OE Changes of consonants

 Palatalization of velar consonants before and

after front vowels
[k > k’ > t∫] OE cild [t∫ild] E. child
[g > g’ > dᴣ] OE brуcᴣe [brуdᴣe] E. bridge
[sk>sk’ > ∫] OE fisc [fi∫] E.fish
Compare: Russian лекарь - лечить
OE Changes of consonants

 Voicing of fricatives (between two vowels or a

vowel and a voiced consonant). No change in
spelling yet!
[f, θ, s] > [v, ð, z]
OE wulf, wulfes [wƱlf, wƱlvəs] E wolf, wolves
OE bæþ, baþian [bæθ, baðian] E bath, bathe
OE hūs, hūses [hu:s, hu:zəs] E house, houses
OE SYSTEM OF SOUNDS AND LETTERS

 Monophthongs – 15
8 short vowels: a, æ “ash”, e, i, o, u, y, å
7 long vowels: ā, ǣ, ē, ī, ō, ū, ȳ
 Diphthongs (4 long, 4 short):
ea, ēa, eo, ēo, ie, īe, io, īo;
OE SYSTEM OF SOUNDS AND LETTERS

 Consonants: b, c [k, tʃ], d, f [f, v],

ᴣ (‘yogh’) [g, j, ɣ], h [h, x], l, m, n, p, r,
s [s, z ], t, ð (‘eth’) / þ (‘thorn’) [Ɵ, ð],
ƿ (‘wynn’) [w]; x [ks / cs / hs]
OE SYSTEM OF SOUNDS AND LETTERS

 The OE spelling was phonemic: most

letters denoted only one sound
 Exceptions: fricatives (voiced between
vowels or a vowel and a voiced consonant
and voiceless in other positions)

OE SYSTEM OF SOUNDS AND LETTERS

 Exceptions: letter ᴣ
 [g] or [j]
or [x] (like in Ukrainian) or [ɣ] ( like in
Ukrainian) depending on where the letter is used
e. g. cyninᴣ [g] (E. king) (at the end after n)
ᴣēt [j] (E. yet) (at the beginning before vowels)
lauᴣ [x] (E. laugh) (at the end of words but not
before n)
boᴣa [ɣ] (E. bow) (between two back vowels)
OE SYSTEM OF SOUNDS AND LETTERS

 There were no ‘silent’ letters in Old

English: all vowels and consonants were
pronounced