LECTURE 1:The Subject-Matter of the History of the English Language.

ВОПРОСЫ К ЭКЗАМЕНУ ПО ДИСЦИПЛИНЕ

«ИСТОРИЯ АНГЛИЙСКОГО ЯЗЫКА»

1. Two approaches to language study. The role of the language history course, its links with other disciplines.

2. Linguistic change.

3. Ancient Germanic tribes and their classification. Classification of Germanic languages.

4. Vowel and consonant peculiarities of Germanic languages. Germanic alphabet.

5. Basic grammatical features of Germanic languages. The substantive. Types of stem. Strong and weak declensions.

6. Basic grammatical features of Germanic languages. The adjective. Strong and weak declensions.

7. Germanic verbs. Strong and weak verbs.

8. Periods in the history of the English language.

9. Old English vowels. The phonetic and phonological aspect of the vowel system. Fracture. Palatalization. I-mutation. Back mutation. Mutation before “h”.

10. Old English vowels. Contraction. Lengthening. Changes of unstressed vowels.

11. Old English consonants. System of voicing and devoicing of fricatives. Palatalization. Other changes and loss of consonants. Metathesis.

12. Middle English stressed vowels. Shortening of vowels. Lengthening of vowels.

13. Middle English stressed vowels Monophthongization of diphthongs. Rise of new diphthongs. Leveling of unstressed vowels.

14. Modern English phonetic changes. The Great Vowel Shift. Rise of new long vowels and diphthongs under the influence of the vowel “r”.

15. Modern English phonetic changes. Changes in vowels. The loss of vowels. The rise of long vowels.

16. 17^th century changes in vowels.

17. Modern English phonetic changes. Changes in consonants.

18. Latin loan words in the English language word stock.

19. Scandinavian influence on the English word stock.

20. French influence on the English word stock.

21. Enrichment of vocabulary in the Renaissance period. Spanish, Italian, Greek words. Mixed vocabulary of English. Borrowings of colonial and French words in the 17^th century. Borrowings in the 18-20^th centuries.

22. Writings in Middle English. Changes in spelling system.

23. Grammar. The noun in OE, ME, MnE.

24. Grammar. The pronoun in OE, ME, MnE.

25. Grammar. The adjective in OE, ME, MnE.

26. Grammar. The article in OE, ME, MnE.

27. Grammar. The development of OE and ME strong verbs.

28. Grammar. The development of OE and ME weak verbs.

29. Grammar. The development of OE preterite-present and anomalous verbs.

30. The category of tenses in the history of English.

31. Word order in a simple sentence in the history of English.

32. Negation in a simple sentence in the history of English.

 

LECTURE 2. Linguistic Features of Germanic Languages.

Plan:

1. Phonetics.

a) word stress;

b) vowels;

c) consonants.

2. Grammar.

a) substantives;

b) adjectives;

c) verbs.

All the Germanic languages of the past and present have common linguistic features, some of which are shared by other Germanic groups in the IE family, others are specially Germanic. The Germanic group acquired the specific distinctive features after the separation of the ancient Germanic tribes from other IE tribes and prior to the future expansion and disintegration. These Proto-Germanic features inherited by the descendant languages represent the common features of the Germanic group. Other common features developed later, in the course of individual histories of separate Germanic languages.

 

Phonetics.

 

Word stress. It is known that in ancient IE, prior to the separation of Germanic, there existed 2 ways of word accentuation: musical pitch and force stress. The position of the stress was free and movable, it could fall on any syllable of the word irrespective of whether it was a root-morpheme, an affix or an ending and could be shifted both in form-building and word-building. Both these properties of the word accent were changed in Proto-Germanic and force stress (dynamic) became the only type of stress used in Early Proto- Germanic. Word stress was still as movable as in ancient IE but in Late Proto-Germanic its position in the word was stabilised. The stress was now fixed on the first syllable, which was usually the root of the word or the prefix; the other syllable suffixes and endings were unstressed and later they became phonemically weakened. These features of the word stress were inherited by the Germanic languages and despite later alternations are observable today.

 

Vowels. Throughout the history, vowels displayed a strong tendency to change. They underwent different kinds of alterations:

· qualitative changes affect the quality of the sound (e.g.: [o]>[a:]);

· quantitative changes make long sounds short or short ones long (e.g.: i>i:);

· dependant changes are restricted to certain positions or phonetic conditions;

· independent changes take place irrespective of phonetic conditions.

From the early date the treatment of vowels was determined by the nature of word stress. In accented syllables the oppositions between vowels were carefully maintained and new distinctive features were introduced, so that the number of stressed vowels grew. In unaccented positions the original contrasts between vowels were weakened and lost, the distinction of short and long vowels was neutralised.

Strict differentiation of long and short vowels is regarded as an important characteristic of the Germanic group. The contrast of short and long vowels is supported by different directions of their changes. While long vowels tended to become shorter and to diphthongise, short vowels often changed into more open. These changes can be seen in the earliest vowel changes:

a) IE short [o] changed in Germanic into the more open vowel [a]: (e.g.: Noctem (IE) - narhts (Goth.), Nacht (Ger.);

b) the merging of long vowels proceeded in the opposite direction: IE long [a:] was narrowed to [o:] (e.g.: Mater (IE) – modor (OE)). As the result there was neither short [o] nor long [a:] in Germanic languages. Later on these sounds appeared from different sources.

c) a quality of a stressed sound is in some cases dependent on a following sound. The earliest manifestation of this principle is known as fracture (breaking) and concerns 2 pairs of vowels “e-i”, “u-o”. IE “e” in the root syllable finds its counterpart in Germanic “i”, if it is followed by “i” or “j” or by the nasal [n] (Umlaut) (e.g.: Ventus (L.) – winds (Goth.), wind (OE); Medius (L.) – midde (OE)).

d) in IE the sound [u] became Germanic [u] when followed by “u” or nasal consonant, it finds its counterpart in Germanic [o] (e.g.: Sunus (Lith.) –sunu (OE): Hurnan (Celt.) – horn (OE);

e) a special kind of vowel gradation (Ablaut) exists in all IE languages. Its origin has been a matter of discussion for about a century. 3 variants of root distinguished by gradation are due to the condition of stress. There are two types of Ablaut: quantitative (is the alteration of different vowels mainly [e]>[a], [e]>[o])and qualitative (means the change in length of qualitatively one and the same vowel: normal, lengthened, reduced). The main type of gradation in IE languages is represented by alternation “e-o-zero (absence of a vowel)”. Full stress brings the highest degree (“o”), weakened stress - the medium degree (“e”) and the unstressed position – zero (e.g.: cтол- стелю- стлать).

 

Short vowels.

IE Germanic

e e (i)

o a

a a

Long vowels.

ē ē

ō ō

ā ō

After the changes, in Late Proto-Germanic, the vowel system contained the following sounds [i-i:], [e-e:], [a-a:], [o-o:], [u-u:].

Consonants. The specific peculiarities of consonants constitute the most remarkable distinctive feature of the Germanic languages. Speaking about them we should mention the correspondence between IE and Germanic languages, which was presented as a system of interconnected facts by the German linguist Jacob Grimm in 1822. This phenomenon is called the First Consonant Shift, or Grimm’s Law. By the terms of Grimm’s Law voiceless plosives developed in Proto-Germanic into voiceless fricatives (Act 1), IE voiced plosives were shifted to voiceless plosives (Act 2) and IE voiced aspirated plosives were reflected either as voiced fricatives or as pure voiced plosives (Act 3):

 

Indo-European	Germanic
Act 1	voiceless stops [p, t, k, k^w]	voiceless fricatives [f, ρ, h, h^w]
Lat. pater Lat. trēs Gr. kardia Lat. sequor	OE fæder (father) Goth. ρreis (three) OHG. herza (heart) Goth. saihwan (see)
Act 2	voiced stops [b, d, g, g^w]	voiceless stops [p, t, k, k^w]
Rus. болото Lat. duo Gr. egon Gr. gynē	OE pōl (pool) Goth. twai (two) OIcl. ek (I) Goth. qino (queen)
Act 3	voiced aspirated stops [bh, dh, gh, gh^w]	voiced non-aspirated stops [b, d, g, w]
Snsk. bhratar Snsk. madhu Snsk. songha Snsk. gharmas	OE brōδor (brother) OE medu (mead) Oicl. syngva (sing) Goth. warm

 

However, there are some instances where Grimm’s law seems not to apply. These cases were explained by a Dutch linguist Karl Verner in the late 19^th c., and the seeming exceptions from Grimm’s law have come to be known as Verner’s Law. Verner’s Law explains the changes in the Germanic voiceless fricatives [f, r, h] resulting from the first consonant shift and the voiceless fricatives depending upon the position of the stress in the original IE word, namely:

 

Indo-European [p, t, k, s]	Germanic [b, δ/d, g, z/r]
Gr. hepta Gr. pater Gr. dekas Snsk. ayas	Goth. sibun (seven) OSc. faδir, OE fæder (father) Goth. tigus (ten) Goth. aiz (bronze)

 

According to Verner’s Law the change occurred if the consonant in question was found after an unstressed vowel.

Grammar.

Substances. In Germanic the substance had 3 grammatical categories: gender, number and case. There were 3 genders (feminine, masculine, neutral), 3 numbers (singular, plural, dual), 4-5 cases (nom., gen., dat., acc., instrumental and vocative). Substances changed according to cases depending upon the stem-building suffixes. There existed 4 principal types of stems: vocalic stems a-, o-, i-, u-stems (declension of such substances was strong), n-stems (weak declension), stems in other consonants (s, r- stems), root-stems. Vowel stems of strong declension can be traced only in Gothic and runic inscriptions of the 3-4^th century in dative plural, in other cases they are blurred by flexions or by Ablaut in the suffix or ending.

-a: wulf/a/m

-i: qēn/ī/m

-ō: gib/ō/m

-u: sun/u/m

A-stems was the most widely spread declension of masculine and neutral substances, in neutral gender nom. and acc. always coincided, gen. had the IE endings –es/-os, -s, -is. The stem-building suffix –a is clearly seen in dative and accusative plural.

 

nom. stains stainōs

gen. stainis stainā

dat. staina stainam

acc. stain stainans

This declension has some variants with additional semi-vowels –wa and –ja.

I-stems included masculine and feminine substantives. Vowel gradation [i-a-ǿ] could be often found in the endings.

nom. qēns qēneis

gen. qēnais qenē

dat. qēnai qēnim

acc. qēn qēnins

Ō-stems contained only feminine substantives. Here the stem was clearly noticeable.

nom. giba gibōs

gen. gibos gibō

dat. gibai gibōm

acc. giba gibōs

The ō-stem had two phonetic variants: wō/jō

U-stems had remains of vowel gradation according to Ablaut in Gothic. This type was very stable in IE and Germanic languages.

nom. sunus sunjus

gen. sunaus suniwe

dat. sunau sunum

acc. sunu sununs

N-stems represented weak declension and was attracted to the end of the word. This athematic declension is widely spread and is found in Modern German.

nom. guma gumans tuggō [ŋ] tuggōns

gen. gumimns gumanē tuggōns tuggōnō

dat. gumin gumam tuggōn tuggōm

acc. guman gumans tuggōn tuggōns

Adjectives. Germanic adjectives had their own peculiarity, which was expressed on the stage of early development of the Germanic languages in two types of declensions: weak and strong. Every adjective was declined both according to the strong declension (with the vocalic stems) and according to the weak declension (with n-stems). The specificity of these types of declension was the following: the adjective declined according to the strong declension had in a number of cases analogical endings of substantive strong a- or ō- declension, in other cases it had flexions of demonstrative pronouns, i.e. strong adjectival declension had a mixed substantive pronounal flexion. The weak declension was characterized by endings coinciding with n-stem, i.e. it was a substantive declension by its character.

Most adjectives could be declined according to both strong and weak declension. Differentiation depended on syntactic conditions of usage. The weak declension was used in direct address or when the adjective was preceded by the demonstrative pronoun or the definite article. In all other cases when the adjective was in predicative or attributive functions without any determiners (the demonstrative pronoun in the function of the article) the strong declension was used.

raihts=right

strong declension (masc. and fem.) weak declension

nom. raihts raihta raihta raihtō

gen. raihtis raihtaizōs raihtins raihtōns

dat. raihtamma raihtai raihtin raihtōn

acc. raihtana raihta raihtan raihtōn

nom. raihtai raihtōs raihtans raihtōns

gen. raihtaizē raihtaizō raihtanō raihtōnō

dat. raihtaim r aihtaim raimtam raihtōm

acc. raihtans raihtōs raihtans raihtōns

Verbs. The bulk of the verbs in the Germanic languages fell into 2 large groups: strong (7 classes) and weak (3 classes). The verb had the category of person, number, mood and tense, but there existed no future forms. The main difference between strong and weak forms lies in the means of building the principal forms. Strong verbs built their forms with the help of root vowel interchanges + certain grammatical endings, they made use of ablaut with certain modifications due to phonetic changes to form the infinitive, the past singular, the past plural, participle II. The first 5 classes had the main type of gradation “i-a-zero”, the 6^th – the gradation “a-o-zero”, the 7^th had the reduplication of the stem in the past forms.

1 reisen “rise “ rais risum risans (i+i, a+i, ø+i, ø+i)

2 kiusan “choose” kaus kusum kusans (i+u, a+u, ø+u, ø+u)

3 bindan “bind” band bundum bundans (i+n, a+n, u+n, u+n)

4 stilan “steal” stal stelum stulans (i, a, ē, u)

5 giban “give” gab gebum gibans (i, a, ē, u)

6 faran “go” fōr fōrum farans (a, ō, ō, a)

7 haitan “call” haihait haihaitum haitans

The weak verbs were characterised by building their principal forms (the past tense and participle II) by the dental suffix -d/-t.

I domjan “deem” domida domiδs

II kalla “call” kallaδa kallaδr

III macian “make” macode macod

The system of tenses was characterised by the presence of present and past forms. But at first there existed aspects, not tenses, which characterised the duration of the action. There were actions: continuous, momentary and resultative: the tenses of Germanic strong verbs developed from them. The forms of the past tense developed from the continuous aspect, the present – from the momentary aspect, the perfect forms – from the resultative aspect.

 

Consonants.

Consonants were historically more stable than vowels. The system of OE consonants consisted of several correlated sets. The most universal and distinctive feature of them was the difference in length. Unlike vowels not all consonants were reflected in OE spelling and sometimes one letter was used to indicate 2-3 consonant sounds. But some certain changes took place in OE period:

1) voicing and unvoicing of fricatives: in OE a voiceless fricative surrounded by voiced sounds becomes voiced, and a voiced fricative when final is unvoiced (e.g. wīf – has a voiced second consonant in the gen. and dat. singular and plural, when the consonant is surrounded by vowels – wīfes, wīfe, wīfa, wī fum);

2) palatalization: at a very early time the consonant “c” before a front vowel (e.g. cild) and occasionally in other conditions became palatalized and approached the affricate [t∫]; in a similar way the cluster “sc” (e.g. scip) became palatalized and approached [∫] in Late OE;

3) other changes and loss of consonants: OE shows the results of a common Germanic phonetic process, which may be expressed by the following formula:

any velar consonant + t ► ht

any labial consonant + t ► ft

any dental consonant + t ►ss

e.g. sōcte ► sōhte (sought); zesceapt ► zesceaft (create); witte ► wisse (knew)

· “n” was lost before fricatives “h, f, s, p”, the preceding vowel becomes lengthened and nasalized (e.g. bronhte ► brohte (brought));

· the cluster “fn” often becomes “mn” by assimilation (e.g. efn ► emn (even); a similar change occurs in “fm” ► “mm” (e.g. wifman ► wimman);

· the consonant “d” becomes voiceless “t” when followed or preceded by a voiceless consonant in the 2^nd person singular present indicative of some verbs (e.g. bindst ► bintst (bind);

· the cluster “dþ” is changed into:t” in the 3^rd person singular present indicative of some verbs (e.g. bindþ ► bint)

· ‘h” is lost between vowels (e.g. tīhan ► tēon (accuse);

· palatal “z” is occasionally dropped before “d” and “n”, the preceding vowel is lengthened (e.g. mæzden ► mæden (maiden);

4) metathesis is a phonetic change which consists in two sounds exchanging their places. It most frequently affects the consonant “r” and the vowel in the following words: Þridda►Þirda (third), rinnan►irnan, iernan (run). The process seemed to be developed in the following way: first the vowel disappears, so that the “r” becomes syllabic, eventually the vowel reappears on the other side of the “r’.

5) rhotacism: PG [z] underwent a phonetic change through the stage of [z] into [r] and thus became a sonorant (e.g. huzd (PG) ► hord (OE) = hoard

 

Old English grammar system.

Substantives.

Three grammatical categories are represented in the OE substantives: gender, number and case. Of these three, gender is a lexico-grammatical category, i.e. every substantive with all its forms belongs to one gender (masculine, feminine or neuter). The other two are purely grammatical categories: substantives are inflected for number and case. There are two numbers: singular and plural, and four cases: nom., gen., dat., and acc. Acc. to the traditional view, two declensions of nouns are distinguished: strong and weak. The strong declension includes nouns with vocalic stems (-a-, -o-, -i-, -u-), and the weak declension comprises n-stems only. There are also some minor types.

a-stems may be either masculine or neuter. The difference between two genders is seen only in the nom., and acc. plural always had the ending –as. In the neuter substantives the ending depends on two factors: on the number of syllables and on the quantity of the root syllable. In monosyllabic words with a short root syllable the nom. and acc. plural have the ending –u; in monosyllabic substantives with a long root syllable these cases have no ending at all. In dissyllabic substantives with a short root syllable these cases have no ending; in dissyllabics with a long root syllable they have the ending –u.

masculine “stone”

nom. stān stānas

gen. stānes stāna

dat. stāne stānum

acc. stān stānas

neuter “ship”, “bone”

nom. scip scipu bān bān

gen. scipes scipa bānes bāna

dat. scipe scipum bāne bānum

acc. scip scipu bān bān

 

 

neuter “house”, “ox”

nom. reced reced nīeten nīetenu

gen. recedes receda nīetenes nīetena

dat. recede recedum nīetene nīetenum

acc. reced reced nīeten nietenu

Substantives having the vowel “æ” in the singular changed into “a” in the plural.

masculine “day” neuter “vessel”

nom. dæz dazas fæt fatu

gen. dæzes daza fætes fata

dat. dæze dazus fæte fatum

acc. dæz dazas fæt fatu

Examples of a-stems: masculine – earm (arm), eaort (earl), helm (helm), hrinz (ring), mūþ (mouth); neuter – dor (gate), hof (courtyard), zeoc (yoke), word (word), dēor (deer), bearn (child), zēar (year).

ja-stems are a special type of a-stems. The root vowel of such substantives undergoes mutation under the influence of an original -j- in the stem. Substantives with an originally short root syllable (except those ending in -r-) have their final consonant lengthened; in substantives with an originally long root syllable and with short syllables ending in -r- the final consonant is not lengthened and the nom. and the acc. singular end in –e.

masculine “back” neuter “kind”, “realm”

nom. hrycz hrycz(e)as cyn(n) cyn(n) rīce rīc(i)u

gen. hryczes hrycz(e)a cynnes cynna rīces rīc(e)a

dat. hrycze hrycz(i)um cynne cynnum rīce rīc(i)um

acc. hrycz hrycz(e)as cyn(n) cyn(n) rīce rīc(i)u

Examples of ja-stems: masculine – wecz (wedge), bōcere (scholar), fiscere (fisherman); neuter – net (net), bed (bed), wīte (punishment).

wa-stems are another special type of a-stems. The nom. and acc. singular of the masculine substantives and the nom. and the acc. singular and plural of the neuter ones end in u-:

masculine “wood” neuter “evil”

nom. bearu bearwas bealu bealu

gen. bearwes bearwa bealwes bealwa

dat. bearwe bearwum bealwe bealwum

acc. bearu bearwas bealu bealu

Examples of wa-stems: masculine - snāw (snow), þeaw (custom); neuter – searu (armour), trēow (tree), cnēw (knee).

ō-stems are all feminine. The form of the nom. depends on two factors: the number of syllables and the shortness or length of the root syllable. Monosyllabic substantives with a short root syllable take in this case the ending –u; monosyllabic ones with a long toot syllable and dissyllabic ones have no ending at all.

feminine “trace, journey, brick”

nom. swaþu swaþa fōr fōra tizol tizola

gen. swaþe swaþa fōre fōra tizole tizola

dat. swaþe swaþum fōre fōrum tizole tizolum

acc. swaþe swaþa fōr fōra tizol tizola

Examples of ō-stems: caru (care), sceamu (shame), ondswaru (answer), lufu (love), lār (learning), sorz (care), þrāz (time), ides (woman).

jō-stems are a special type of ō-stems, the root vowel has undergo mutation by an original -j- in the stem. Substantives with an originally short root syllable have their final consonant doubled:

feminine “bridge, wave”

nom. brycz brycza ÿδ ÿδa

gen. brycze brycza ÿδe ÿδa

dat. brycze bryczum ÿδe ÿδum

acc. brycz brycza ÿδe ÿδa

Examples of jō-stems: sib (peace), ecz (blade), secz (sword), hild (fight), æx (axe).

wō-stems are also a special type of ō-stems:

feminine “shade, meadow”

nom. sceadu sceadwa mæd mædwa

gen. sceadwe sceadwa mædwe mædwa

dat. sceadwe sceadwum mædwe mædwum

acc. sceadwe sceadwa mædwe mædwa

Examples of wō-stems: beadu (battle), nearu (need), læs (beam).

i-stems include substantives of three genders. The masculine and the neuter do not differ much in their declension from the a-stems, and the feminine ones do not much differ from the ō-stems. The root vowel has undergone mutation.

masculine “victory” neuter “hilt”

nom. size size/(as) hilt hilt

gen. sizes sizea hiltes hilta

dat. size sizum hilte hiltum

acc. size size(as) hilte hilt

feminine “hide”

nom. hyd hÿde, hÿda

gen. hÿde hÿda

dat. hÿde hÿdum

acc. hÿd hÿde, hÿda

Examples of i-stems: masculine – mere (sea), mete (food), bite (bite), dæl (part), ziest (guest), drynk (drink); neuter – spere (spear), flæsk (flesh); feminine – cwēn (woman), with (thing).

u-stems include masculine and feminine substantives. The form of the nom. and acc. singular depends on the length of their root syllable. Substantives having a short root syllable have in the nom. and acc. singular the ending –u; those with a long one have no ending at all:

masculine “son, field” feminine “door, hand”

nom. sunu suna feld felda duru dura hand handa

gen. suna suna felda felda dura dura handa handa

dat. suna sunum felda feldum dura durum handa handum

acc. sunu suna feld felda duru dura hand handa

Examples of u-stems: masculine – wudu (wood), medu (honey), weald (forest), sumor (summer); feminine – nosu (nose), flōr (floor).

n-stems comprise masculine substantives ending in –a in the nom. and feminine and neuter ones in –e; in the neuter substantives the acc. is the same as the nom. no difference between genders is found:

masculine “name” feminine “woman” neuter “eye”

nom. nama naman cwene cwenan ēaze ēazan

gen. naman namena cwenan cwenena ēazan ēazena

dat. naman namum cwenan cwenum ēazan ēazum

acc. naman naman cwenan cwenan ēaze ēazan

Examples of the n-stems: masculine – zuma (man), wita (wise man), steorra (star) mōna (moon), dēma (judge); feminine – eorþe (earth), heorte (heart), sunne (sun); neuter – ēare (ear).

Root stems comprise substantives, which never had any stem-forming suffixes, so the case endings were added on immediately to the root. In OE there are a number of them of all genders:

masculine “man, foot, tooth”

nom. mann menn fōt fēt tōþ tēþ

gen. mannes manna fōtes fōta tōþes tōþa

dat. menn mannum fēt fōtum tēþ tōþum

acc. mann menn fōt fēt tōþ tēþ

feminine “goose, mouse”

nom. zōs zēs mūs mÿs

gen. zōse zōsa mūse mūsa

dat. zēs zōsum mÿs mũsum

acc. zōs zēs mūs mÿs

 

Pronouns.

There are several types of pronouns in OE: personal, possessive, demonstrative, interrogative, definite, indefinite, negative and relative:

· personal: there are singular, plural and dual (for the 1^st and 2^nd persons) personal pronouns in OE. The pronouns of the 1^st and 2^nd persons had suppelative forms; the pronouns of the 3^rd person, having originated from demonstrative ones, had many affinities.

1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd person

nom. ic wē þū zē hē, hēo, hit hīe, hī, hÿ

gen. mīn ūre þīn ēower his,hire, his hiera, hira, hyra

dat. mē ūs þē ēow him, hire, him him

acc. mē ūs þē ēow hine, hīe, hit hīe, hī, hÿ

dual (1^st, 2^nd persons)

nom. wit zit

gen. uncer incer

dat. unc inc

acc. unc inc

· possessive: these are derived from the gen. case of the personal pronouns of all persons and numbers. The possessive pronouns “mīn, þīn, uncer, incer, ūre, ēower” are declined in the same way as strong adjectives. The possessive pronouns “his, hire, hiera” are unchanged.

· demonstrative: there are two demonstrative pronouns in OE: sē (that), and þes (this).

a) the meaning of the pronoun “sē” is often weakened, so that it approached the status of an article. The traditional view was that the definite article appeared in OE, while the indefinite one appears in ME.

singular (masc., fem., neut.) plural

nom. sē sēo þæt þā

gen. þæs þære þæs þāra, þæra

dat. þæm þære þæm þæm, þām

acc. þone þā þæt þā

instr. þÿ, þon - -- þÿ, þon ---

b) the declension of “þes” has some peculiarities, in several forms the –s is a kind of particle joined on to the corresponding form of the pronoun “sē”:

singular (masc., fem., neut.) plural

nom. þes þēos, þīos þis þās

gen. þisses þisse þisses þissa

dat. þissum, þisse issum þissum

acc. þi(y)sne þās þis þās

instr. þi(y)s --- þÿ(i)s ---

· interrogative: the interrogative pronouns “hwā” (who) and “hwæt” (what) have only singular forms. The interrogative “hwilc” (which is declined as a strong adjective.

nom. hwā hwæt

gen. hwæs hwæs

dat. hwæm hwæm

acc. hwone hwæt

instr. --- hwÿ, hwī

· definite: they include “zehwā” (every) (declined as “hwā”), zehwilc (each), æzþer (either), ælc (each), swilc (such) (declined as a weak adjective).

· indefinite: they comprise “sum” (some) and “æniz” (any) which are declined as strong adjectives.

· negative: “nān” and “næniz”, both meaning “no”, “none” are declined as strong adjectives.

· relative: the most usual of relative pronouns in OE is “þe”

 

Adjectives.

Forms of the OE adjectives express the categories of gender (masculine, feminine, neuter), number (singular and plural) and case (nom., gen., dat., acc. and partly instr.). Every adjective can be declined acc. to the strong and weak declension. The use of this or that declension depends on syntactic conditions of usage. The weak declension was used in direct address or when the adjective was preceded by the demonstrative pronoun or the definite article. In all other cases when the adjective was in predicative or attributive functions without any determiners (the demonstrative pronoun in the function of the article) the strong declension was used.

The strong declension of adjectives differs a bit from the strong declension of substantives: some case forms of adjectives correspond to those of pronouns, so that the strong declension of adjectives as a whole is a combination of substantival and pronominal forms. Most adjectives are declined as a-stems for the masculine and neuter and as ō-stems for the feminine. Monosyllabic adjectives with a short syllable take in the nom.sing.fem. and acc.pl.neut. the ending –u; those with a long root syllable have no ending at in these forms. This difference is due to rhythmical factors.

masculine, neuter, feminine singular, plural (“black”)

nom. blæc blæc blacu blace blacu blaca

gen. blaces blaces blæcre blacra blacra blacra

dat. blacum blacum blæcre blacum blacum blacum

acc. blæcne blæc blæce blace blacu blaca

instr. blace blace ---

Dissyllabic adjectives often drop their 2^nd syllable vowel before a case ending beginning with a vowel.

masculine, neuter, feminine singular, plural (“happy”)

nom. ēadiz ēadiz ēad(i)zu ēad(i)ze ēad(i)zu ēad(i)za

gen. ēad(i)zes ēad(i)zes ēad(i)zre ēad(i)zra ēad(i)zra ēad(i)gra

dat. ēad(i)zum ēad(i)zum ēad(i)zre ēad(i)zum ēad(i)zum ēad(i)zum

acc. ēad(i)ne ēadiz ēad(i)ze ēad(i)ze ēad(i)zu ēad(i)za

instr. ēad(i)ze ēad(i)ze ---

Ja-, jō-stem adjectives have the roots which vowel has undergone i-mutation.

masculine, neuter, feminine singular, plural (“sweet”)

nom. swēte swēte swētu swēte swētu swēta

gen. swētes swētes swētre swētra swētra swētra

dat. swētum swētum swētre swētum swētum swētum

acc. swētne swēte swēte swēte swētu swēta

instr. swēte swēte ---

Wa-, wō-stem adjectives are another type of a-, ō-stems.

masculine, neuter, feminine singular, plural (“narrow”)

nom. nearu nearu nearu nearwe nearu nearwa

gen. nearwes nearwes nearore nearora nearora nearora

dat. nearwum nearwum nearore nearwum nearwum nearwum

acc. nearone nearu nearwe nearwe nearu nearwa

instr. nearwe nearwe ---

The weak declension of adjectives does not differ from that of nouns in the gen.pl. of all genders, which often takes the ending –ra taken over from the strong declension.

masculine, neuter, feminine singular, plural (“black”)

nom. blaca blace blace blacan

gen. blacan blacan blacan blæcra (blacena)

dat. blacan blacan blacan blacum

acc. blacan blace blacan blacan

OE adjectives distinguished between 3 degrees of comparison: positive, comparative and superlative. The regular means used to form the comparative and the suparlative were the suffixes –ra and -est/ost. Sometimes suffixation was accompanied by an interchange of the root-vowel.

soft – softra – softos (soft)

wēriz – wērizra – wērizost (weary)

zlæd – zlædra – zladost (glad)

lonz – lenzra – lenzest (long)

eald – ieldra (ealdra) – ieldest (ealdost/est) (old)

zōd – bettra – bet(e)st (good)

lÿtel – læssa – læst (little)

micel – māra – mæst (much)

Verbs.

The OE verb was characterised by many peculiar features: few grammatical categories, numerous morphological classes, a variety of form-building means. All the forms were synthetic as analytical forms were only beginning to appear. The non-finite forms had little in common with the finite forms but shared many features with the nominal parts of speech. There were still two classes of verbs in OE.

Strong verbs are divided into 7 classes acc. to vowel gradation. In classes 1-5 the gradation system is based on the following principle: the 1^st vowel is found in the infinitive and in the present forms, the 2^nd vowel in the 1^st and 3^rd person singular, past indicative and the past subjunctive, the 4^th in the participle II. The 6^th and 7^th classes have a different system. Some verbs, besides gradation, have also so-called grammatical alternation, which was accounted for by Verner’s Law: one consonant is found in the infinitive and the past singular, while the other in the past plural and the participle II. The principal forms of all the strong verbs have the same endings irrespective of class: -an – for the infinitive; no ending – in the past sing.: -on – in the past pl.; -en – for participle II.

I. i►ā►i►i

wrītan wrāt writon written (write)

snīþan snāþ snidon sniden (cut)

II. ēo►ēa ►u ►o

bēodan bēad budon boden (offer)

cēosan cēas curon core (choose)

III. before “nasal+consonant”: i►a(o)►u►u

before “l+consonant”: i►ea►u►o

before “r+consonant”, “h+consonant”: eo►ea►u►o

drincan dranc druncan drunken (drink)

helpan healp hulpon holpen (help)

steorfan stearf sturfon storfen (die)

weorδan wearδ wurdon worden (become)

feohtan feaht fuhton fohten (fight)

IV. before “l”, “r”: e►æ►æ►o

stelan stæl stælon stolen (steal)

beran bær bæron boren (bear)

V. e►æ►æ►e

tredan træd trædon treden (tread)

cweδan cwæδ cwædon cweden (say)

VI. a►ō►ō►a

faran fōr fōron faren (go)

VII. hātan hēt hēton hāten (call)

feallan feoll feollon feallen (fall)

cnēawan cnēow cnēowon cnāwen (know)

The number of weak verbs in OE exceeded that of strong verbs. Their number was constantly growing since all new verbs derived from other stems were conjugated weak. Among the weak verbs there were many derivatives from OE nouns and adjective stems and also derivatives of strong verbs built from one of their stems. There are 3 classes of weak verbs in OE. Every weak verb is characterised by 3 forms: infinitive (ended in –an/-ian), past tense (ended in –de, -ede or –te) and participle II (marked by –d, -ed or –t).

The regular class I verbs have mutation of their root vowel due to original i-element in their suffix. Verbs with a long root vowel drop the –i- no matter what consonant followed the root. Verbs with a short vowel followed by –r- keep the –i- and the –t- is not lengthened. Verbs with a short root vowel followed by a consonant rather than –r- drop –i- and their consonant is lengthened.

dēman dēmde dēmed (judge)

hīeran hīerde hīered (hear)

nerian nerede nered (save)

styrian styrede styred (stir)

fremman fremede fremed (commit)

cnyssan cnysede cnysed (push)

When the –d- of the suffix is preceded by a voiceless consonant it changes into –t-; in participle II both –t and –ed are found:

cīpan cēpte cēpt, cēped (keep)

zrētan zrētte zrēt, zrēted (greet)

Irregular class I verbs had the –i-, which produced mutation in the infinitive only. In the past and the 2^nd participle the final consonant of the stem comes into immediate contact with the initial consonant of the suffix and this causes some peculiar phonetic changes:

sellan sealde seald (dive)

tellan tealde teald (tell)

tæc(e)an tāhte tāht (teach)

bycz(e)an bohte both (buy)

Class II verbs had the suffix –i- and the ending –ian in the infinitive and –ō- in the other forms:

macian macode macod (make)

lufian lufode lufod (love)

hopian hopode hopod (hope)

In OE class III verbs the suffix of the past and participle II is joined on to the root. In two verbs “secz(e)an” (say) and “hycz(e)an” (think) the infinitive has mutation; in the verb “habban” (have) no mutation is found but has vowel alternation. The final root consonant in all class III verbs with a short root vowel has been lengthened.

habban hæfde hæfd (have)

libban lifde lifd (live)

secz(e)an sæzde, sæde sæzd, sæd (say)

hycz(e)an hozde hozod (think)

 

Preterite-present verbs

Preterite-present verbs have a peculiar place within the system of OE. Originally the present tense forms of these verbs were past tense forms, later these forms acquired a present meaning but preserved many formal features of the past tense. Most of these verbs had new past tense forms built by the dental suffix. Some of them also acquired the forms of the verbals: participles and infinitives; most verbs didn’t have a full paradigm and were “defective”.

The present tense of these verbs corresponds to the past of strong verbs: the forms of the 1^st and 3^rd p.sing. were identical and had no endings – yet, unlike strong verbs, they had the same root-vowel in all the persons; the pl. had a different grade of ablaut similarly with strong verbs. The past tense of these verbs corresponds to past of weak verbs: the dental suffix + the endings –e, -est, -e.

In OE there were 12 preterite-presents, six of them have survived in MnE: āz (owe, ought); cunnan, cann (can); dear (dare); sculan, sceal (shall); mazan, mæz (may); mōt (must). Most of them didn’t indicate actions, but expressed a kind of attitude to an action denoted by another verb. In other words they were used like modal verbs and eventually developed into modern modal verbs.

Infinitive	Cunnan	sculan
Present tense Indicative Singular 1^st 2^nd 3^rd Plural Subjunctive Singular Plural Participle I	cann canst cann cunnon   cunne cunnen -----	sceal(l) scealt sceal(l) sculon   scule, scyle sculen, scylen ----
Past tense Indicative Singular 1^st 2^nd 3^rd Plural Subjunctive Singular Plural Participle II	cūδe cūδest cūδe cūδon   cūδe cūδen cunnen, cūδ	sceolde sceoldest sceolde sceoldon   sceolde sceolden ----

 

Anomalous verbs

Among OE verbs there were several anomalous verbs with irregular forms. OE “willan” was an irregular verb with the meaning of volition and desire; it resembled the preterite-presents in meaning and function, as it indicated an attitude to an action and was often followed by an infinitive. It had a past tense form “wolde” built like “sceolde”, the past tense of the preterite-present “sculan”. Eventually it became a modal verb and like the surviving preterite-presents developed into an auxiliary.

Some of the verbs combined the features of weak and strong verbs. OE “dōn” (do) formed a weak past tense with a vowel interchange and a participle in –n: dōn – dyde – ze-dōn. OE “būan” (live) had a weak past – “būde” and participle II ending in –n “ze-būn” like a strong verb.

Two OE verbs were suppletive: OE “zān” (go), whose past tense was built from a different root (zān – eōde – ze-zān), and “bēon” (be), whose present forms were different modofications of the root “wes-“; the past tense was built from the root “wes-“ on the pattern of strong verbs class V.

Infinitive	wesan, bēon	zān
Present tense Indicative Singular 1^st 2^nd 3^rd Plural Subjunctive Singular Plural Imperative Singular 1^st 2^nd 3^rd Plural Infinitive	eom, bēo eart, bist is, biþ sindon, bēoþ   sīe, sī, sÿ,bēo sīen, sīn, sÿn, bēon   ---- wes, bēo ---- wesaþ, bēoþ ----	zā zæst zæþ zāþ   zā zān   ---- zā ---- zāþ zān, zanzan
Past tense Indicative Singular 1^st 2^nd 3^rd Plural Subjunctive Singular Plural Infinitive Participle I Participle II	wæs wære wæs wæron   wære wæren wesan, bēon wesende, bēonde ----	ēode ēodest ēode ēodon   ēode ēoden ---- zānde,zanzende (ze)zān

 

 

Consonants.

OE palatal “c”, which occurred initially before front vowels, medially before “i” and finally after “i” developed into the affricate [t∫]:

e.g.: cild – child; ic – ich (I); swilc – swich (such)

In a few cases ME has variants with [k] and [t∫], [sk] and [∫]:

e.g.: picken (pick) – pitchen (throw); bank (hill) – bench; skirt – shirt

The OE long consonants denoted by the spelling “cz” developed into voiced affricate [dz]:

e.g.: brycz – bridge; seczan – seggen

In the Southern dialects initial “f” became voiced: for – vor.

In Kent initial “s” in words of OE origin was also voiced: synne – zenne (sin)

 

 

Middle English grammar system

Substantives.

In OE the reduction of declension had already begun: many i-stem and u-stem substantives were influenced by a-stems and ō-stems. In the 11^th -13^th centuries these tendencies developed more intensively. Weakening of inflections is connected with leveling of unstressed endings. Simplification of substantive morphology affected the grammatical categories of the substantive in different way. The OE gender disappeared together with other distinctive features of the substantive declension. Semantically gender was associated with the differentiation of sex and, therefore, the formal grouping into genders was suppressed by a semantic division into inanimate and animate nouns with a further subdivision into males and females. Thus, the two categories preserved in ME substantive are case and number.

The number of declensions is preserved: strong and weak, but the number of stems is reduced. The strong declension originates from the OE a-stem declension, but in ME all vowel-stem substantives and many consonant-stem ones are added to this declension. Strongly declined substantives have two cases: common and genitive, OE nom., acc., dat. cases having fused into one case – the common case at the beginning of ME, and two numbers: singular and plural.

e.g.: nom. - stōn – stōnes; gen. - stōnes – stōnes

nom. - fish – fishes; gen. – fishes - fishes

The case forms differ only in the singular.

The weak declension of substantives originates from OE n-stem declension. However in ME it has a tendency to disappear, therefore, many substantives with former n-stem pass into the strong declension. The substantives persevered in the weak declension do not have case forms and build plural forms by means of the ending –en(n):

e.g.: care – caren.

Substantives belonging in OE to root-stems in ME have the same categories of number and case as the strong declension but there is leveling of forms without Umlaut in the singular and with Umlaut – in the plural:

e.g.: nom. – fōt – fēt; gen. – fōtes – fētes (foot-feet)

Thus, the complicated substantive paradigm that existed in OE was gradually simplifies in ME, which is reflected in the following:

1) reduction of number of declensions;

2) reduction of the number of grammatical categories;

3) reduction of the number of categorial forms within one of the two remaining grammatical categories – the category of case.

Pronouns.

In OE all pronouns were declined and the pronominal paradigm was very complicated. In ME the system was greatly simplified and nowadays what remained of the pronominal declension is mainly represented by the declension of the personal pronoun and on a small scale – demonstrative and interrogative (relative).

· personal pronouns: have the following forms in ME:

sing. 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd (m., f., n.) p. pl. 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd p.

nom. ich thou hē, hē/shē, hit/it wē yē hī, they

obj. mē thē hir, her, hit/it ūs you hem, them

The following changes occur here since OE:

- dual number pronouns have disappeared;

- genitive case forms no longer exist;

- the dat. and acc. have been merged into one objective case;

- the 3^rd per.pl. pronoun “hī” is gradually suppressed by “they”;

- initial “h” of the neuter pronoun “hit” is often lost;

- the origin of the fem.pronoun “shē” is not clear; it may have developed from the OE fem. demonstrative pronoun “sēo”.

· possessive pronouns have the following forms:

sing. 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd (m., f., n.) p. pl. 1^st, 2^nd, 3^rd p.

mīn, mī thīn, thī his, hir/her, his our your hire, their

The forms “mīn, thīn” are used if the following word begins with a vowel or “h”; they are also used as predicatives no matter what the initial sound of another word is. The forms “my, thy” are found before a word with an initial consonant.

e.g.: myn herte, myn elbowe; thy child

· demonstrative pronouns: the OE forms of the demonstrative pronouns “sē, sēo” are changed into “þe, þeo” which in ME function both as demonstrative pronoun and as article. Since the 14^th c., however, the form “þat” was the only one preserved as a demonstrative pronoun form. Simultaneously, the declension system of the pronoun was undergoing changes: the form “þōs” (from nom. and acc. pl. of the OE “þes”) became the plural of “þat”. The other demonstrative pronoun “þes” (this) developed in the following way: sing. –“this” from OE nom. and acc. sing. “þis”; pl. - “thise, these”; sing. - “that” from OE nom. and acc. sing. Neuter “þæt”; pl. – “thō, thōs.

the pronoun “ þe ” (that)

singular (m., f., n.) plural

nom. þe þeo þat, þet þeo, þe

gen. þes, þe þer þes, þe þer, þe

dat. þen, þan þer þen, þan, þe þen, þe

acc. þene, þe þeo þat, þet, þe þeo, þe

the pronoun “ þes ”

singular (m., f., n.) plural

nom. þes þeos þis þeos

gen. þisses þisse þisses þisse

dat. þisse þisse þisse þissen

acc. þesne þeos þis þeos

· interrogative pronouns developed from OE.

· reflexive pronouns developed in ME from the groups “objective case of personal pronouns + self”: himself, herself, themselves;

· relative pronouns: from OE form “þæt”, which was the nom. and acc. neuter of the dem. and relative pronoun, in ME “that” developed, which was used as a relative pronoun without destination of gender or number. In the 14^th c. new relative pronouns appear developed from negative ones: “which” and “who”.

· other pronouns: the OE defining pronouns “zehwā” (every) and “zehwilc” (each) disappear in ME. The pronouns “æzþer” (either), “ælc” (each), “swilc” (such) and “sē ilca” (the same); the indefinite ones “sum” (some) and “æniz” (any); the negative “nān” (no, none) are preserved as “either, ech, swich, that ilke, som, any, noon” and become invariable.

Adjectives.

The disappearance of grammatical gender in ME substantives and the reduction of case endings leads to a considerable change in adjective declension, besides, the characteristic weak-declension ending –en is dropped. The only case ending in adjectives comes to be –e and the highly developed OE paradigm is reduced to the following:

e.g.: nom. - yong – yonge (strong), gen. - yonge – yonge

nom. – gōd – gōde; gen. – gōde - gōde

Degrees of comparison of adjectives are formed by means of the suffixes –er, -est. suppletive forms are also preserved in ME as well as the forms with vowel interchange in the root syllable:

e.g.: hard - harder – hardest

good – bettre – best

evil – werse – werst

muchel – mōre – mōst, mēst

litel – lesse – lest

long – lenger – longest

Alongside of such degrees of comparison formations like “more profitable”, “most faithful” appear in ME.

 

Verbs.

All types of verbs that existed in OE are preserved in ME, but some changes take place due to phonetic phenomena of ME.

· strong verbs: The infinitive ending in –an and the past plural ending in –on are weakened to –en(-n). In class IV and class V verbs the past forms begin to penetrate into the past plural, thus preparing the reduction of four main parts of a strong verb to three. On the other hand, the vowel of participle II in class II and class III verbs begins to spread to the past plural. Grammatical alternation of consonants is completely abandoned. The OE prefix “ze-“ is reduced to “y-“. Thus classes of strong verbs in ME are the following:

I. wrīte wrōt writen writen

II. chēsen chēs chōsen chōsen

III. drinken drank drōnken drōnken

IV. bēren bār bēren, bar bōren

V. gēten gat gēten, gat gēten

VI. shāken shōk shōken shāken

VII. fāllen fell fellen fallen

The similarity of vowels in the infinitive, past singular and past plural of classes Iv and V made it possible for the two classes to influence one another and several verbs originally belonging to class V changed into class IV. This is what happened to the OE verbs “specan, wefan (weave), wrecan (avrnge), tredan (tread).

· weak verbs: The evolution of weak verbs in ME reveals a strong tendency towards regularity and order. Two classes are distinguished in ME: class I takes the ending –de in the past without any vowel interchange before the dental suffix and the ending –ed in participle II; class II verbs, which were marked by –ode, -od in OE, weaken these endings to –ede, -ed in ME. In the 14the c. in some weak verbs a stem ending in –l, -n, -f, -v the past suffix –d changes into –t; verbs with a stem in –rd, -nd, -ld form their past in –rte, -nte, - lte and their participle II in –rt, -nt, it.

I. deemen deemde deemed

II. stiren stirede stired

looken lookede looked

· preterite – present verbs are preserved in ME and their forms undergo changes due to the general tendencies of the period.

Infinitive	cunnen	durren	Shulen	mowen	mōten	owen
Present Indicative Singular 1^st 2^nd 3^rd Plural Subjunctive Singular Plural Imperative Singular 2^nd Plural 2^nd	can, con canst, const can, con cunnen, can   cunne cunnen   ---- ----	dar darst dar durren   durre durren   ---- ----	shal shalt shal shulen   shule shulen   ---- ----	may mayst may mowen   mowe mowen	mōt mōst mōt mōten   mōte mōten	ouh owest ouh, oweth owen   owe owen
Past Indicative Singular 1^st 2^nd 3^rd Plural   Subjunctive Singular Plural	couthe,coude couthest, coudest couthe,coude couthen, couden   couthe,coude couthen, couden	dorste,durste dorstest, durstest dorst,durste dorsten, dursten   dorste,durste dorsten, dursten	sholde sholdest   sholde sholden     sholde sholden	mighte mightest   mighte mighten     mighte mighten	mōste mōstet   mōste mōsten     mōste mōsten	oughte oughtest   oughte oughten     oughte oughten
Participle I Participle II	--- couth	---- ----				owen

 

· anomalous verbs preserve the system of the verbs inherited from OE: “bēn”, “gōn”, “dōn” and “willen”.

Infinitive	bēn	gōn	Dōn	willen
Present Indicative Singular 1^st 2^nd 3^rd Plural Subjunctive Singular Plural Imperative Singular 2^nd Plural 2^nd	am art is bēn   bē bēn   bē bēth	gō gōst gōth gōn   gō gōn   gō gōth	dō dōst dōth dōn   dō dōn   dō dōth	wil, wol wilt, wolt wil, wol wollen   wille, wolle willen, wollen   ----- -----
Past Indicative Singular 1^st 2^nd 3^rd Plural Subjunctive Singular Plural	was wēre was wēren   wēre wēren	yede, wente yedest, wentest yede, wente yeden, wenten   yede, wente yeden, wenten	dide didest dide diden   dide diden	wolde woldest wolde wolden   wolde wolden
Participle I Participle II	bēinge bēn	gōinge gōn	dōinge dōn	---- wold

 

 

LECTURE 4. The New English Period.

Plan:

1. Changes in phonetic system.

2. Changes in grammar system.

Changes in phonetic system.

Vowels.

1. loss of unstressed [∂]: at the outset of MnE the vowel [∂] is lost. It was lost when it was final and also when followed by a consonant: lived, fille, stopped, tables. However, it was preserved and later changed into [i] in the groups [s∂z], [z∂z], [∫∂z], [dz∂z], [t∂d], [d∂d]. it was also preserved and eventually developed into [i] in some adjectives and participles: learned, wicked, ragged.