Excerpts taken from chapters 3 and 4 of English Sound-Changes by G. L. Brook, 1947.

3 Middle English.

1 Changes in spelling.

During the Middle English period some Old English letters, including þ, ð, and æ, passed into disuse. On the other hand the Old English spellings ea, eo remained in use after the sounds they represented had become diphthongs. The chief changes in spelling that took place in the early Middle English period, largely as the result of French influence, are given in §§ 3.1.1 to 3.1.8.

1 The close front rounded vowel ȳ̆, where it remains in Middle English (see § 3.2.2) is generally written u, though ui is fairly common as a spelling for the long vowel. … The close front unrounded vowel ī̆, is often spelt y especially, to avoid confusion, next to letters like i, n, and m, though the symbol i is also used…

2 OE. ū is generally written ou from about the middle of the thirteenth century… OE. u is often written o, especially next to letters like u, n, m, where the new spelling made for greater distinctness…

3 The voiceless velar plosive [k] is generally represented by c initially before liquid consonants and back vowels in Middle English as in Old English… Before secondary front vowels (i.e. those which became front in Old English as the result of i-mutation) and before the consonant n it is generally written k… Medially and finally it is written c or k… OE. velar cc is generally written ck or kk medially… OE. cw- is generally written qu-… OE. palatal c is generally written ch in all positions… OE. palatal cc is generally written cch, tch, medially…

4 OE. sc is generally written sh, but sch and ss are sometimes found, and medially ssh is fairly common.

5 In Old English the symbol ᵹ was used to represent various sounds which are more accurately distinguished in spelling in Middle English. The velar plosive [g] is represented by g (like Modern English printed g, known as the continental form of the letter). The velar fricative [x] is spelt gh, ȝ… The initial palatal semi-vowel [j] is at first spelt ȝ, but later Middle English texts generally use y… The sound represented in Old English by cg had in Middle English become an affricative [dʒ] … and is written gg, later dg… When the sound occurs initially in French loan-words the French spelling j (or i) is usually kept…

6 The palatal and velar voiceless fricatives [ç] [x] which were presented in Old English by h are in Middle English spelt gh, ȝ, ch, h, or (because of the influence of French spelling) s.

7 OE. s is sometimes written c because of French influence…

8 The voiced labio-dental fricative [v] was usually represented in Old English by f, in Middle English by u or v. There was a tendency to use v initially and u medially for u or v of any origin, whether vowel or consonant…

2 Independent changes.

1 During the Old English period æ had become open e in the South-East and in the South Midlands. It is probable that æ also became e in late West Saxon. In all other parts of the country æ became a in the twelfth century, and during the Middle English period a gradually supplanted e…

2 OE. ȳ̆ became unrounded to ī̆ at the beginning of the Middle English period in N., most EMids., and some SW. dialects; it had become ē̆ in SE. dialects in Old English; in other dialects (i.e. WMids. and most SW.) it remained (spelt u) until the end of the fourteenth century…

3 OE. ā had become open ō in the S. and Mids. by about 1225. The change probably took place earliest in the S. and spread northwards, being found in South Yorkshire by the end of the fourteenth century. In the N. ā remained until the end of the thirteenth century, when it became open ē in pronunciation.

4 OE. ǣ developed differently according to its origin. OE. ǣ1 (from WGmc. ā by fronting) had become ē in all dialects except WS. in Old English; in Middle English ē remained as close ē. In SW., on the other hand, ǣ1 became open ē… OE. ǣ2 (by i-mutation from OE. ā from Gmc. ai) became open ē in all dialects except SE., where it became close ē… In part of the SEMids. (Essex and neighbouring districts, including the City of London) both ǣ1 and ǣ2 became ā…

5 OE. ō remained in the S. and Mids., but in the N. at the beginning of the fourteenth century it became a close front rounded vowel [yː] , spelt u and later (especially in Scots) ui…

6 OE. a or o before nasals generally became a at the end of the Old English period, except in the WMids., where it became o… Before consonant groups which caused lengthening (see § 2.8.5) in all S. and Mid. dialects, except in part of the SE. area, we get o, which probably represents long open o…

7 The Old English diphthongs lost their unaccented elements in Middle English. The accented elements which survived sometimes underwent rounding in early Middle English, but the rounding disappeared before the end of the Middle English period. The changes in detail were:

1 The first element of OE. ē̆a was probably a front open vowel very near to ǣ̆. In Middle English, OE. ea and ēa fell in with æ and ǣ2 respectively, with the result that ea became a… and ēa became open ē…

2 OE. ē̆o was monophthongised to a half-close front rounded vowel [ö] in most dialects in the eleventh century, though the spelling eo was generally kept. The rounded vowel was unrounded during the twelfth century, except in the WMids. and SW., where [ö] remained until the end of the fourteenth century. In these dialects, beside the spelling eo, we often find u, ue, o, to represent the rounded vowel, and it is possible that [ö] was raised to [y] during the Middle English period.

3 OE. ī̆e fell in with ȳ̆ and is generally represented by u… Since ie was rare in non-West-Saxon dialects in Old English, Middle English forms with ē̆ probably go back to Old English forms with e as the non-West-Saxon i-mutation of ē̆a.

4 At the end of the Old English period io was generally found only in northerly dialects, īo only in the SE. In Middle English in the N. io became i… In SE. io was generally represented by ie or ye (less often i, e) medially and by i or y finally…

5 Most Old English diphthongs were falling diphthongs, i.e. they had their chief stress on the first element. In late Old English diphthongs sometimes underwent a shift of stress, especially after palatal consonants, and became rising diphthongs. These, like the falling diphthongs, lost their unaccented element in Middle English.

3 The development of new diphthongs.

Middle English diphthongs are not as a rule developed from Old English diphthongs; for the most part they either occur in French loan-words or result from Middle English sound-changes, details of which are given in §§ 3.3.1 to 3.3.4.

1 In late Old English g was often vocalised to i when it occurred finally after front vowels. In Middle English this tendency was carried further, and by the end of the twelfth century g was vocalised to i or u according as it was preceded by a front or back vowel; the i or u, when not followed by a vowel, then combined with the preceding vowel to form a diphthong, as in day (OE. dæġ), saide (OE. sæġde), fawnen (OE. faġnian) .

2 During the thirteenth century a glide developed between a vowel and the velar fricative [x] or the palatal fricative [ç] (written h, gh, ȝ). The glide was i or u according to the quality of the preceding vowel, as in eighte (late OE. ehta), doughter (OE. dohtor) . In the N. the glide before h developed only after a and sometimes ā… When i or u was followed by h it is probable that the i- or u-glide developed and combined with the preceding vowel, lengthening it, especially in southerly dialects…

3 In some Middle English dialects an i-glide developed between a or e and sh… and in the groups eng, enc when followed by a dental, which are often represented by ein or eyn. It is sometimes said that the i or y is used to denote the palatal nature of the n, but rhymes suggest that the spellings represent true diphthongs…

4 In many dialects v before a consonant was vocalised to u, which either combined with the preceding vowel to form a diphthong or disappeared with lengthening of the preceding vowel. Examples are hawkes, awkward, crawlen, auntir; hed beside heved, lady beside levedy, lord beside loverd.

5 The diphthongs which arose in Middle English underwent further changes, described in §§ 3.3.5.1 to 3.3.5.3.

1 In many dialects of the S. and Mids. the diphthong which had developed from late OE. ē + g, when followed by a vowel, became [iː] in the second half of the thirteenth century, though the spellings ei, ey, eȝ, eiȝ often remained…

2 In most positions ei became ai at the end of the thirteenth century, but before [ç] (written gh) the change did not take place until the fifteenth century. Spellings with ei or ey are common in Middle English and before gh are usual at the present day.

3 The second element of diphthongs often disappeared in late Middle English before labial consonants and sibilants. The conditions necessary for this change could normally only occur in French loan-words.

4 The lengthening of short vowels in open syllables.

Early Middle English short vowels, of whatever origin, were lengthened in open syllables of disyllabic forms during the thirteenth century. Early a, e, o, were lengthened to ā, open ē, open ō, in the first half of the century in all dialects… Somewhat later in the century i and u, became more open and were lengthened in northerly dialects to close ē and close ō respectively… From the second half of the fourteenth century forms with ē and ō began to spread south and forms developed from them are found in standard English of the present day.

1 Disyllabic forms often occurred in a paradigm side by side with monosyllabic or trisyllabic forms. In such pairs only the disyllabic form regularly showed lengthening of the stem-vowel. … Analogical forms often occurred in Middle English, and some of these have survived to the present day.

2 In disyllabic words the stem-vowel may be regarded as standing in an open syllable if it is followed by a single consonant of by two consonants both of which might belong to the following syllable (i.e. st or a consonant + liquid or nasal).

5 The shortening of long vowels.

On shortening in Old English, see § 2.9. During the Middle English period further shortening took place:

a Before groups of two or more consonants (except when the group could form the beginning of a following syllable) whatever the number of syllables in the word…

b In the first syllable of trisyllabic words even before single consonants…

c Before many of the consonant groups which caused lengthening in late Old English (see § 2.8.5). Shortening took place earliest before r-groups, and the only vowels which have not been shortened again are those which were lengthened before ld, and i and u when lengthened before nd in the S. and SMids.

6 Various dependent changes.

1 In part of the West Midlands (especially in the dialect of the Katherine Group) e was rounded to [ö] (spelt eo) between w or a labial and a consonant which favoured rounding… Like early ME. [ö] from eo, this [ö] was later unrounded to e.

2 During the fourteenth century e became a before r belonging to the same syllable… Forms with e are often preserved or reintroduced later by the influence of the spelling especially in loan-words from French and Latin… Hence we have sometimes double forms at the present day… and sometimes words with the spelling of one form and the pronunciation of another…

3 Before the beginning of the thirteenth century OE. y, which had remained as [y] , written u, in SW. and WMids., was retracted to [u] before [tʃ] , [ltʃ] , or [ntʃ] , or in the neighbourhood of consonants which favoured rounding (i.e. after labials and [ʃ] or before r). Forms with u later spread to other dialects and to the standard language.

4 After a consonant + w, open ō (from OE. ā) became close ō in many Midland dialects during the thirteenth century… Possibly a similar change took place in lightly stressed syllables…

5 The initial voiceless fricatives f and s were voiced in southerly dialects in early Middle English… Some of these forms… have survived in Standard English.

4 Modern English.

1 Changes in spelling.

There have been few striking innovations in English spelling since the Middle English period. The most marked feature of English spelling since that time has been a tendency to restrict the freedom of choice: one of several possible spellings has become the invariable one, though freedom of choice still exists in a few words… Sometimes two alternative spellings of a word have become associated with different meanings, and have thus come to be regarded as two different words…

1 During the thirteenth century the spellings ea and oa were found in a few manuscripts to represent open ē and ō, but during the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries such spellings were rare. They became common again during the sixteenth century to represent the sounds that had developed from ME. open ē and ō, and are commonly used with this function at the present day.

2 During the Middle English period the spellings ee and oo were often used for ē and ō, whether open or close. During the sixteenth century it became usual to keep the spellings ee and oo only for the sounds developed from ME. [eː] and [oː] , and this is the general practice at the present day. The spelling ie was also used for ME. [eː] , partly as the result of French influence.

3 In most words the tendency to use y for [i] next to letters like m, n (see § 3.1.1) did not long survive the invention of printing. In Middle English y was often used for [iː] probably because of its resemblance to ij, which was equivalent to ii… In Modern English i is preferred initially and medially but y finally… but y is sometimes used medially in Greek loan-words… or to avoid the use of two successive i's.

4 The Middle English preference for v initially and u medially (see § 3.1.8) gave way after the sixteenth century to the practice of using u for the vowel and v for the consonant in all positions. Similarly j came to be used always as a consonant and i as a vowel.

5 There was a good deal of fluctuation in early Modern English between the spellings ou and ow. The distribution of the two spellings today, which pays no regard to the pronunciation or origin of the digraph, is: ow is generally used finally (except in thou) and before a vowel, l, or final n; elsewhere ou is generally used…

6 During the early Modern English period final -e was omitted in spelling in many words in which it had probably ceased to be pronounced in the late Middle English period. In many words final -e seems to have been added to indicate that a preceding vowel was long. This convention probably arose from the lengthening of short vowels in open syllables in Middle English after the weaking of nearly all unaccented vowels to -e…

2 Independent changes.

As a rule Modern English sound-changes are not reflected in spelling, and it is therefore often difficult to date the changes. … Independent changes affecting short vowels are described in §§ 4.2.1.1 to 4.2.1.3; changes affecting long vowels are described in §§ 4.2.2.1 to 4.2.2.7; changes affecting diphthongs are described in §§ 4.2.3.1 to 4.2.3.5.

1 1 The Middle English back open vowel a was fronted to [æ] in pronunciation about the end of the sixteenth century…

2 ME. o has changed little since the Middle English period, though it has probably become somewhat more open. From the fifteenth to the eighteenth century there are spellings which suggest that o had been unrounded to [ɑ] , and this unrounding is common in Irish and American speech today. In standard English the rounded vowel has generally been restored, but [æ] , from an unrounded vowel, is found in a few words…

3 ME. u (which was often spelt o) became an unrounded vowel [ʌ] in most about the end of the sixteenth century… The influence of the spelling caused this sound to be replaced by [ɒ] or [ou] , especially in words not in everyday use…

2 During the Middle English period long vowels have changed in a series of changes sometimes known as the Great Vowel Shift. The same general tendencies can be seen at work in all the long vowels; most of the detailed changes mentioned in §§ 4.2.2.1 to 4.2.2.7 are examples of raising or diphthongisation.

1 ME. ā became [æː] in the fifteenth century. This became open ē in the sixteenth century, and close ē in the seventeenth century. At the beginning of the eighteenth century the close ē was diphthongised to [eɪ] …

2 ME. close ē became [iː] in the fifteenth century, and this was diphthongised to [ij] before the end of the eighteenth century…

3 ME. open ē became close ē in the fifteenth or sixteenth century (after ME. close ē had become [iː] ). In the second half of the seventeenth century this close ē became [iː] , which was diphthonged to [ij] before the end of the eighteenth century… ME. open and close ē have thus fallen together in Modern English.

4 ME. close ō became [uː] in the fifteenth century, and this often became [uw] in the South at the beginning of the nineteenth century…

5 ME. open ō became close ō in the early sixteenth century, and this became [ou] at the beginning of the eighteenth century, as in token, oath, stone . ME. open and close ō have thus remained distinct in Modern English.

6 ME. ī was diphthongised in the first half of the fifteenth century to [ij] , and in later centuries the two elements of the diphthong gradually became wider apart. Probably the stages were: the [ij] became [ei] in the sixteenth century, and this became [əi] at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and [ai] in the eighteenth century. At some point in the development the second element of the diphthong has become more open.

7 The development of ME. ū was parallel to that of ME. ī. Probably ME. ū became [uw] in the fifteenth century, and this became [ou] in the sixteenth century, [eu] at the beginning of the seventeenth century, and [au] in the eighteenth century… The diphthongisation of ME. ū must have begun before ME. close ō became [uː] in the fifteenth century, and before the first element of the diphthong [ou] (from ME. ū) must have been changed before close ō (from ME. open ō) became [ou] in the seventeenth or eighteenth century. On room, stoop, etc. see § 4.7.5.

3 1 ME. eu, iu, and AN. long ū in loan-words fell together as [iu] in late Middle English. During the sixteenth century [iu] became [juː] , which has generally remained, as in few, neuter , due , steward , but see § 4.7.6.

2 ME. ai has fallen in with ME. ā. Probably ME. ai became [æi] in the fifteenth century, and this became [ɛi] in the sixteenth century, and [ei] in the seventeenth century. Examples are day, eight, raise.

3 ME. au became [ɔː] through the stage [ɔu] about the end of the sixteenth century, although there is some evidence of the pronunciation [ɑː] during the seventeenth century. Examples are awe, hawk, autumn .

4 In Middle English the spelling oi represented both [oi] and [ui] . The sound oi has generally remained, though the first element is probably more open today than in Middle English, as in joy , choice , avoid . The first element of the diphthong [ui] had the same development as ME. u, and in the seventeenth century it was [ʌ] , and the diphthong then fell in with [əi] , from ME. i. Because of the influence of the spelling we get [ɔi] in pronunciation from the end of the eighteenth century, as in boil , oil , joint , poison .

5 ME. or early MnE. [ɔu] has generally fallen in with ME. open ō, since the first element of the diphthong became [o] in the seventeenth century, as in know, throw, mould . When ME. [ɔu] was followed by the velar fricative [x] (written gh) followed by t, it has generally fallen in with ME. au, giving [ɔː] at the present day, as in brought, sought, daughter .

3 The development of vowels before l.

Between back vowels and a following l belonging to the same syllable (i.e. before final l or l + consonant) in late Middle English a flide was developed which became [u] and combined with the preceding vowel to form a diphthong. As a rule the [u] is not expressed in spelling, though it is in a few words, such as bowl, mould .

1 ME. a became au, probably in the second half of the fifteenth century. This au, like au of other origins, has given [ɔː] at the present day. The l was lost in pronunciation except when it occurred finally or before dentals, as in talk, chalk, beside all, tall, cauldron . On the shortening before ls, lt, see § 4.6.1. On the development when the l was followed by a labial consonant see § 4.7.3.

2 ME. o and open ō have become [ou] before l as in bolt, toll, bowl; bold, cold, old .

3 The development of u before l is less clear. Before ld or lt, u has become ou , as in shoulder, boulder, poultry , poultice . Before other l-groups, u seems not to have been affected. Examples are dull, wool, wolf.

4 The development of vowels before r.

Short vowels have been lengthened and have generally also undergone a change in quality when followed by r belonging to the same syllable, but have remained uninfluenced when the r (sometimes spelt rr) was intervocalic…

1 ME. a became [æ] before r as in other positions, and in the seventeenth century, when followed by r, this was lengthened to [æː] , which became [ɑː] …

ME. e generally became a before r in late Middle English (§ 3.6.2), and this became [ɑː] like ar of other origins… But e often remained (or was re-introduced) before r, and this has given [ɜː] …

ME. i, u, became [ə] before r, and this became [ɜː] during the eighteenth century…

ME. o became [ɔː] before r…

2 Between a long vowel or a diphthong and r, [ə] was developed in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, whether the r belonged to the same syllable or not. The [ə] is not usually expressed in the spelling, though it is occasionally… The changes in detail are:

ME. ā before r has given [ɛə] …

ME. close ē has given [iə] …

ME. open ē, when not followed by a consonant, has become [ɛə] or [iə] … Before r + consonant open ē had been shortened in Middle English…

ME. ī has become [aiə] …

ME. close ō has generally given [ɔə] … When preceded by a labial the [ɔə] has generally become [uə] …

ME. open ō has become [ɔə] …

ME. ū has become [auə] before final r… Before r followed by a consonant, ūr has become [ɔə] …

ME. ai has become [ɛə] …

ME. eu, iu, and AN. long ü have generally given [juə] …

ME. ou has become [ɔə] …

3 After modifying the proceding vowel, r generally disappeared in pronunciation in the South except before vowels. When r remained in pronunciation it became a fricative, not a rolled consonant.

4 There has been some confusion between [ɔə] (from ME. open or close ō + r, or ME. ū before r + consonant) and [ɔː] (from ME. o + r), and this is perhaps one of the reasons why many speakers always use [ɔː] for [ɔə] …

5 Diphthongs which arose before r often underwent analogical changes. Analogy probably accounts for the double development of ME. open ē before r to [ɛə] and [iə] . Similarly ME. ā before r + consonant fell in with ME. ō, though the spelling ou is generally kept…

5 Lengthening of vowels.

1 Before [f] , [s] , and [θ] the [æ] which arose from ME. a (see § 4.2.1.1) was in the seventeenth century lengthened to [æː] which became [ɑː] in the eighteenth century… This change has not taken place in the North, and even in the South there are some exceptions:

a Before intervocalic -ss-, -ff-…

b In lightly stressed words, such as hath, hast .

c In some French loan-words not in everyday use…

2 In the seventeenth century o was lengthened to [ɔː] before [f] , [s] , or [θ] , but lengthening was not invariable, and today there is a fluctuation between long and short o… At the present day forms with short o are becoming increasingly common.

3 During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries both long and short vowels were lengthened under certain conditions, although the distinction between originally long and short vowels is kept. Sometimes the tendencies cut across each other. Vowels tend to be longer:

a When they are open…

b Finally…

c Before voiced consonants…

d In monosyllables…

e When they occur in words that have strong sentence-stress.

f In American speech.

6 Shortening of vowels.

1 Before ls, lt, the [ɔː] which arose from ME. a (see § 4.3.1) was often shortened during the eighteenth century…

2 Shortening before single consonants in monosyllabic words took place occasionally in Old and Middle English, but it became much more common in the Modern English period. Certain consonants favoured shortening of a preceding long vowel: ME. open ē was often shortened before dentals, as in dead, death, red , and [uː] (from ME. close ō) was often shortened before plosives…

3 Some Modern English shortenings are due to consonant groups in compound words which are no longer regarded as such…

4 Shortening has sometimes taken place even in open syllables of disyllabic words, possibly as the result of sentence stress variation.

5 Shortening of ME. close ē. When shortening took place before the fifteenth century change of [eː] to [iː] , we have [e] in pronunciation at the present day; when shortening took place after the change of [eː] to [iː] we have [i] …

6 Shortening of ME. close ō. If shortening took place before the change of [oː] to [uː] we have [ɒ] ; if it took place after the change of [oː] to [uː] but before that of u to [ʌ] , we have [ʌ] ; if it took place after the change of u to [ʌ] , we have [u] … There is a fourth class of words in which the vowel has never been shortened…

7 Various dependent changes..

1 The change of a to [æ] (§ 4.2.1.1) did not generally take place after w. When preceded by a w, the a remained and became [ɒ] at the end of the eighteenth century or earlier. But a became [æ] in spite of the preceding w if [k] , [g] , or [ŋ] followed.

2 In the late Middle English period forms with a generally replaced those with o before nasals except before ng…

3 Before the labial consonants f, v, m, early MnE. [au] (from ME. al) became [ɑː] instead of becoming [ɔː] as it did in other positions (see § 4.3.1).

4 The influence of preceding labial consonants (which favoured rounding) often prevented the change of [u] to [ʌ] (§ 4.2.1.3) especially when the vowel was followed by [ʃ] or l. … But the sound [ʌ] is often found in later loan-words not in everyday use…

5 The diphthongisation of ME. ū (§ 4.2.2.7) was sometimes hindered by the neighbouring consonants. ME. ū generally remained when followed by a labial or preceded by w…

6 The [juː] which arose from late ME. [iu] (§ 4.2.3.1) became [uː] about the end of the seventeenth century after l, r, [dʒ] (written j), and [tʃ] (written ch)… But there is some fluctuation between [juː] and [uː] in learned words…