The Germanic roots of the Old English sound system
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Hans Frede Nielsen✝
Abstract
This paper explores the phonological origins of Old English in light of the major theories proposed for grouping the early Germanic dialects and, in particular, for assigning Old English to a specific branch or subbranch of Germanic. Our survey demonstrates that the consonantal roots of Old English are ProtoGermanic, and that the accented vocalic roots are NorthWest Germanic (non-Gothic), but that the unaccented vocalic roots of Old English can, at best, be assigned to Proto-West Germanic. Our further phonological deliberations substantiate Hans Kuhn’s hypothesis of a NorthSea Germanic subgroup of West Germanic (consisting of Old English, Old Frisian and Old Saxon) rather than Henry Sweet’s theory of an Anglo-Frisian subgroup (without Old Saxon participation). But by positing phonological evidence which underpins the notion of a North-Sea Germanic Sprachkreis emerging prior to the Anglo-Saxon exodus from the Continent, our analysis dissociates itself from Kuhn’s chronological concept of NorthSea Germanic.
Abstract
This paper explores the phonological origins of Old English in light of the major theories proposed for grouping the early Germanic dialects and, in particular, for assigning Old English to a specific branch or subbranch of Germanic. Our survey demonstrates that the consonantal roots of Old English are ProtoGermanic, and that the accented vocalic roots are NorthWest Germanic (non-Gothic), but that the unaccented vocalic roots of Old English can, at best, be assigned to Proto-West Germanic. Our further phonological deliberations substantiate Hans Kuhn’s hypothesis of a NorthSea Germanic subgroup of West Germanic (consisting of Old English, Old Frisian and Old Saxon) rather than Henry Sweet’s theory of an Anglo-Frisian subgroup (without Old Saxon participation). But by positing phonological evidence which underpins the notion of a North-Sea Germanic Sprachkreis emerging prior to the Anglo-Saxon exodus from the Continent, our analysis dissociates itself from Kuhn’s chronological concept of NorthSea Germanic.
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword & Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
- Norse influence on English in the light of general contact linguistics 15
- The Germanic roots of the Old English sound system 43
- Monetary policy and Old English dialects 73
- The order and schedule of nominal plural formation transfer in three Southern dialects of Early Middle English 95
- The temporal and regional contexts of the numeral ‘two’ in Middle English 115
- Grammaticalisation, contact and corpora 131
- Discourse organization and the rise of final then in the history of English 153
- The origins of how come and what…for 177
- “Providing/provided that” 197
- Prefer 215
- The 400 million word Corpus of Historical American English (1810–2009) 231
- Gender change from Old to Middle English 263
- “Please tilt me-ward by return of post” 289
- Multilingualism in the vocabulary of dress and textiles in late medieval Britain 313
- “No man entreth in or out” 327
- Beyond questions and answers 349
- The demise of gog and cock and their phraseologies in dramatic discourse 369
- Index 383
Chapters in this book
- Prelim pages i
- Table of contents v
- Foreword & Acknowledgements vii
- Introduction 1
- Norse influence on English in the light of general contact linguistics 15
- The Germanic roots of the Old English sound system 43
- Monetary policy and Old English dialects 73
- The order and schedule of nominal plural formation transfer in three Southern dialects of Early Middle English 95
- The temporal and regional contexts of the numeral ‘two’ in Middle English 115
- Grammaticalisation, contact and corpora 131
- Discourse organization and the rise of final then in the history of English 153
- The origins of how come and what…for 177
- “Providing/provided that” 197
- Prefer 215
- The 400 million word Corpus of Historical American English (1810–2009) 231
- Gender change from Old to Middle English 263
- “Please tilt me-ward by return of post” 289
- Multilingualism in the vocabulary of dress and textiles in late medieval Britain 313
- “No man entreth in or out” 327
- Beyond questions and answers 349
- The demise of gog and cock and their phraseologies in dramatic discourse 369
- Index 383
