John Cowan wrote:
>As for the unrounding of /y/, it must have been early in the Middle
>English period; Chaucer shows /y/ only in French words spelled with "u",
>if there; there is nothing to prove that [ju] was not already the
>pronunciation.
>
I thought it was [iu] before it was [ju]? Or is that only in words spelt
'ew'? How come 'hue' is spelt 'hue' then, and not 'hew'? (To make the
word look learned and Frenchy, perhaps? :) ) (And do we know if French
/y/s ever were [y] in post-[y]-to-[i]-English, or if they were borrowed
from the word go as [iu]/[ju]?)
>--
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>If your arguments lose the first round
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> Make it rhyme, make it scan
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>Make the same stupid point seem profound! --Jonathan Robie
>
>