Chapter 5

SOUNDS.

#Vowels and Diphthongs.#

6. The long vowels and diphthongs will in this book be designated by the macron (–). Vowel length should in every case be associated by the student with each word learned: quantity alone sometimes distinguishes words meaning wholly different things: #fōr#, _he went_, #for#, _for_; #gōd#, _good_, #God#, _God_; #mān#, _crime_, #man#, _man_.

Long vowels and diphthongs:

ā as in f_a_ther: #stān#, _a stone_. ǣ as in m_a_n (prolonged): #slǣpan#, _to sleep_. ē as in th_e_y: #hēr#, _here_. ī as in mach_i_ne: #mīn#, _mine_. ō as in n_o_te (pure, not diphthongal): #bōc#, _book_. ū as in r_u_le: #tūn#, _town_. ȳ as in German gr_ü_n, or English gr_ee_n (with lips rounded):[1] #brȳd#, _bride_.

The diphthongs, long and short, have the stress upon the first vowel. The second vowel is obscured, and represents approximately the sound of _er_ in _sooner_, _faster_ (= _soon-uh_, _fast-uh_). The long diphthongs (ǣ is not a diphthong proper) are ēo, īe, and ēa. The sound of ēo is approximately reproduced in _mayor_ (= _mā-uh_); that of īe in the dissyllabic pronunciation of _fear_ (= _fē-uh_). But ēa = _ǣ-uh_. This diphthong is hardly to be distinguished from _ea_ in _pear_, _bear_, etc., as pronounced in the southern section of the United States (= _bæ-uh_, _pæ-uh_).

7. The short sounds are nothing more than the long vowels and diphthongs shortened; but the student must at once rid himself of the idea that Modern English _red_, for example, is the shortened form of _reed_, or that _mat_ is the shortened form of _mate_. Pronounce these long sounds with increasing rapidity, and _reed_ will approach _rid_, while _mate_ will approach _met_. The Old English short vowel sounds are:

a as in _a_rtistic: #habban#, _to have_. æ as in m_a_nkind: #dæg#, _day_. e, ę as in l_e_t: #stelan#, _to steal_, #sęttan#, _to set_. i as in s_i_t: #hit#, _it_. o as in br_oa_d (but shorter): #God#, _God_. ǫ as in n_o_t: #lǫmb#, _lamb_. u as in f_u_ll: #sunu#, _son_. y as in m_i_ller (with lips rounded)[1]: #gylden#, _golden_.

NOTE.--The symbol ę is known as _umlaut_-e (§ 58). It stands for Germanic _a_, while e (without the cedilla) represents Germanic _e_. The symbol ǫ is employed only before m and n. It, too, represents Germanic _a_. But Alfred writes #manig# or #monig#, _many_; #lamb# or #lomb#, _lamb_; #hand# or #hond#, _hand_, etc. The cedilla is an etymological sign added by modern grammarians.

[Transcriber’s Note: The letters ę and ǫ were printed as shown in this e-text. The diacritic is not a cedilla (open to the left) but an ogonek (open to the right).]

[Footnote 1: Vowels are said to be round, or rounded, when the lip-opening is rounded; that is, when the lips are thrust out and puckered as if preparing to pronounce _w_. Thus _o_ and _u_ are round vowels: add _-ing_ to each, and phonetically you have added _-wing_. _E.g. go^{w}ing_, _su^{w}ing_.]

#Consonants.#

8. There is little difference between the values of Old English consonants and those of Modern English. The following distinctions, however, require notice:

The digraph #th# is represented in Old English texts by ð and þ, no consistent distinction being made between them. In the works of Alfred, ð (capital, Ð) is the more common: #ðās#, _those_; #ðæt#, _that_; #bindeð#, _he binds_.

The consonant #c# had the hard sound of _k_, the latter symbol being rare in West Saxon: #cyning#, _king_; #cwēn#, _queen_; #cūð#, _known_. When followed by a palatal vowel sound,--_e_, _i_, _æ_, _ea_, _eo_, long or short,--a vanishing _y_ sound was doubtless interposed (_cf._ dialectic _k^{y}ind_ for _kind_). In Modern English the combination has passed into _ch_: #cealc#, _chalk_; #cīdan#, _to chide_; #lǣce#, _leech_; #cild#, _child_; #cēowan#, _to chew_. This change (_c_ > _ch_) is known as Palatalization. The letter g, pronounced as in Modern English _gun_, has also a palatal value before the palatal vowels (_cf._ dialectic _g^{y}irl_ for _girl_).

The combination #cg#, which frequently stands for #gg#, had probably the sound of _dge_ in Modern English _edge_: #ęcg#, _edge_; #sęcgan#, _to say_; #brycg#, _bridge_. Initial #h# is sounded as in Modern English: #habban#, _to have_; #hālga#, _saint_. When closing a syllable it has the sound of German _ch_: #slōh#, _he slew_; #hēah#, _high_; #ðurh#, _through_.

9. An important distinction is that between voiced (or sonant) and voiceless (or surd) consonants.[2] In Old English they are as follows:

VOICED. VOICELESS.

g h, c d t ð, þ (as in _th_ough) ð, þ (as in _th_in) b p f (= v) f s (= z) s

It is evident, therefore, that ð (þ), f, and s have double values in Old English. If voiced, they are equivalent to _th_ (in _th_ough), _v_, and _z_. Otherwise, they are pronounced as _th_ (in _th_in), _f_ (in _f_in), and _s_ (in _s_in). The syllabic environment will usually compel the student to give these letters their proper values. When occurring between vowels, they are always voiced: #ōðer#, _other_; #ofer#, _over_; #rīsan#, _to rise_.

NOTE.--The general rule in Old English, as in Modern English, is, that voiced consonants have a special affinity for other voiced consonants, and voiceless for voiceless. This is the law of Assimilation. Thus when _de_ is added to form the preterit of a verb whose stem ends in a voiceless consonant, the d is unvoiced, or assimilated, to t: #sęttan#, _to set_, #sętte# (but #tręddan#, _to tread_, has #trędde#); #slǣpan#, _to sleep_, #slǣpte#; #dręncan#, _to drench_, #dręncte#; #cyssan#, _to kiss_, #cyste#. See § 126, Note 1.

[Footnote 2: A little practice will enable the student to see the appropriateness of calling these consonants voiced and voiceless. Try to pronounce a voiced consonant,--_d_ in _den_, for example, but without the assistance of _en_,--and there will be heard a gurgle, or _vocal_ murmur. But in _t_, of _ten_, there is no sound at all, but only a feeling of tension in the organs.]

#Syllables.#

10. A syllable is usually a vowel, either alone or in combination with consonants, uttered with a single impulse of stress; but certain consonants may form syllables: _oven_ (= _ov-n_), _battle_ (= _bæt-l_); (_cf._ also the vulgar pronunciation of _elm_).

A syllable may be (1) weak or strong, (2) open or closed, (3) long or short.

(1) A weak syllable receives a light stress. Its vowel sound is often different from that of the corresponding strong, or stressed, syllable. _Cf._ weak and strong _my_ in “I want my lárge hat” and “I want mý hat.”

(2) An open syllable ends in a vowel or diphthong: #dē-man#, _to deem_; #ðū#, _thou_; #sca-can#, _to shake_; #dæ-ges#, _by day_. A closed syllable ends in one or more consonants: #ðing#, _thing_; #gōd#, _good_; #glæd#, _glad_.

(3) A syllable is long (_a_) if it contains a long vowel or a long diphthong: #drī-fan#, _to drive_; #lū-can#, _to lock_; #slǣ-pan#, _to sleep_; #cēo-san#, _to choose_; (_b_) if its vowel or diphthong is followed by more than one consonant:[3] #cræft#, _strength_; #heard#, _hard_; #lib-ban#, _to live_; #feal-lan#, _to fall_. Otherwise, the syllable is short: #ðe#, _which_; #be-ran#, _to bear_; #ðæt#, _that_; #gie-fan#, _to give_.

NOTE 1.--A single consonant belongs to the following syllable: #hā-lig#, _holy_ (not #hāl-ig#); #wrī-tan#, _to write_; #fæ-der#, _father_.

NOTE 2.--The student will notice that the syllable may be long and the vowel short; but the vowel cannot be long and the syllable short.

NOTE 3.--Old English short vowels, occurring in open syllables, have regularly become long in Modern English: #we-fan#, _to weave_; #e-tan#, _to eat_; #ma-cian#, _to make_; #na-cod#, _naked_; #a-can#, _to ache_; #o-fer#, _over_. And Old English long vowels, preceding two or more consonants, have generally been shortened: #brēost#, _breast_; #hǣlð#, _health_; #slǣpte#, _slept_; #lǣdde#, _led_.

[Footnote 3: Taken separately, every syllable ending in a single consonant is long. It may be said, therefore, that all closed syllables are long; but in the natural flow of language, the single final consonant of a syllable so often blends with a following initial vowel, the syllable thus becoming open and short, that such syllables are not recognized as prevailingly long. _Cf._ Modern English _at all_ (= _a-tall_).]

#Accentuation.#

11. The accent in Old English falls usually on the radical syllable, never on the inflectional ending: #bríngan#, _to bring_; #stā́nas#, _stones_; #bérende#, _bearing_; #ī́delnes#, _idleness_; #frḗondscipe#, _friendship_.

But in the case of compound nouns, adjectives, and adverbs the first member of the compound (unless it be ge- or be-) receives the stronger stress: #héofon-rīce#, _heaven-kingdom_; #ǫ́nd-giet#, _intelligence_; #sṓð-fæst#, _truthful_; #gód-cund#, _divine_; #éall-unga#, _entirely_; #blī́ðe-līce#, _blithely_. But #be-hā́t#, _promise_; #ge-béd#, _prayer_; #ge-fḗalīc#, _joyous_; #be-sǫ́ne#, _immediately_.

Compound verbs, however, have the stress on the radical syllable: #for-gíefan#, _to forgive_; #of-línnan#, _to cease_; #ā-cnā́wan#, _to know_; #wið-stǫ́ndan#, _to withstand_; #on-sácan#, _to resist_.

NOTE.--The tendency of nouns to take the stress on the prefix, while verbs retain it on the root, is exemplified in many Modern English words: _préference_, _prefér_; _cóntract_ (noun), _contráct_ (verb); _ábstinence_, _abstaín_; _pérfume_ (noun), _perfúme_ (verb).