Phonemically contrastive fricatives in Old English?

Abstract

The article addresses two recent hypotheses regarding the history of the English fricatives /f/–/v/, /s/–/z/, /θ/–/ð/: the hypothesis that phonemicization of the voicing contrast occurred in Old English, and the related claim that the reanalysis of the contrast was due to Celtic substratum influence. A re-examination of the arguments for early phonemicization leads to alternative interpretations of the observed voicing ‘irregularities’ in Old English. The empirical core of the article presents the patterns of alliteration in Old and Middle English; this kind of evidence has not been previously considered in evaluating the progress of the change. The analytical core of the article is dedicated to the dynamics of categorization based on edge vs domain-internal contrasts, the relative strength of the voicing environments, and the distinction among fricatives depending on place of articulation. A comprehensive LAEME and MED database of all relevant forms reaffirms the traditional position regarding French influence for the phonemicization of voicing for the labial fricatives. The categorization of the contrast for the interdental fricatives is a language-internal prosodic process, and the history of the sibilants requires reference to both external and internal factors. The shift from a predominantly complementary to a predominantly contrastive distribution of the voiced–voiceless fricative pairs has been occurring at different rates for a whole millennium. The claim that phonemicization is attributable to Celtic influence in Old English is empirically and theoretically unsubstantiated.

Charting the rise and demise of a phonotactically motivated change in Scots

“…With reference to the labiodental fricatives which are the subject of this paper, both English and Scots have similar developments of OE /f/, retaining largely unchanged pronunciations of this consonant despite important phonotactic changes through the centuries affecting its status and distribution. The pronunciation of /f/ in Old English, like the pronunciation of /θ/ and /s/, was subject to allophonic conditioning (Minkova 2011). In initial and final position and next to a voiceless consonant, OE /f/ was pronounced [f], whilst between voiced sounds it was pronounced [v].…”

“…Between the Old English (OE) period and the early Middle English (ME) and Older Scots (OSc) periods there was a set of changes which transformed the phonological shape of the language and its phonotactic constraints. These extensive changes include degemination (Lass 1992;Minkova 2014: 80-81), unstressed vowel reduction and final unstressed vowel loss (Minkova 1991;Lass 1992), phonemicisation of the voiced/voiceless contrast in fricatives (Minkova 2011), and interdependent changes in vowel quantity and syllable weight (Bermudez-Otero 1998;Lass 1992;Ritt 2005). As historical phonologists, we want to understand not only how these changes happened but also the role that phonotactic constraints played in them and resulted from them.…”

Voiced or voiceless? Old english <f> In Middle English <fd> Sequences

“…In spite of the fact that the use of <f> for [f] and <u/v> for [v] would have been familiar to all scribes from their knowledge and use of Latin, it seems that in the writing of Old English this possible distinction was almost never utilised . In relation to the difficulty of reconstructing initial fricative voicing pre‐Conquest, Minkova (: 47) cites the best known example, uif for five , but points out its extreme rarity: ‘There are 3 <u‐> forms in the DOE corpus vs 865 <f‐> forms’. There is also one instance of <u> for [v] medially in Beowulf : hliuade it towered (line 1799) beside hlifade (line 1898).…”

“…Much of the discourse about Old English fricatives is centred on the chronology of the phonemicisation of the voiced/voiceless contrast (see e.g. Fulk ; ; Minkova ). It is usually assumed to have happened post Old English at the time when voiceless and voiced fricatives, mostly from Post‐Conquest French loans, could appear contrastively in initial position .…”

External Influences on English: From its Beginnings to the Renaissance. D. Gary Miller. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012. 252 pp. ISBN: 9780199654260

“…For instance, one component that seems to be lacking from Chapter 2 is a discussion of possible Celtic influences on English phonology, though several studies have recently addressed this issue (Laker, 2009;Minkova, 2011). Another example is the case of Old English cirica from Greek kuriakon.…”