Re: sound change
| From: | Nik Taylor <fortytwo@...> |
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| Date: | Tuesday, May 8, 2001, 6:36 |
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Tristan Alexander McLeay wrote:
>
> This led me to thinking about OE /a:/ to ME things.
>
> OE /a:n/ became PDE /wVn/, presumably via ME /O:n/ (judging by its
> spelling). Does anyone know why?
> OE /hwa:m/ became PDE /hu:m/, presumably via ME /hwo:m/
> OE /na:m/ became PDE /neim/
>
> And yet the general given sound change is OE /a:/ > ME /O:/ > PDE /@u/.
> Is the 'Why?' known?
Dialects, I believe. IIRC, /a:/ -> /o:/ was a Southern change, certain
words were then reborrowed from Northern dialects where that change did
not occur.
--
Cenedl heb iaith, cenedl heb galon
A nation without a language is a nation without a heart - Welsh proverb
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