Re: sound change
| From: | J Matthew Pearson <pearson@...> |
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| Date: | Tuesday, May 8, 2001, 20:35 |
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Vasiliy Chernov wrote:
> >OE /hwa:m/ became PDE /hu:m/, presumably via ME /hwo:m/
>
> Same with _who_, _whose_.
>
> Can be analyzed as regular change in late ME: [CwO:] > [Co:] (the other
> example being _two_; dunno any more examples, but counter-evidence seems
> to be lacking too).
No, this was a general change, whereby /w/ was lost between a consonant and a
(back?) vowel. Other remnants of this change include the orthographic "w"s
in "answer" and "sword". I think it took place (or at least began) in late
OE or early ME, though...
Matt.