Маъсул муҳаррир: Филология фанлари доктори, профессор: Г. Х. Боқиева Тақризчилар

Old English Vowel System
The system of OE vowels in the 9^th and 10^th centuries is shown below:

Monophthongs
Short vowels	Long vowels
Front vowels
[i] fisc, scip [y] fyllan, pytt [e] sprecan, helpan	[i:] wīn, tīd [y:] brÿd, wÿscan [e:] fēt, tēθ
Back vowels
[u] sunu, cumin [o] folc, cos [a] faran, caru [a] – positional variants: [æ] glæd, hwæt [o] mann, (monn) cann (conn)	[u:] hūs, tūn [o:] fōt, bōk, gōd [a:] ān, wrāte
Diphthongs
[ea] healf, wearm (before 1, r + cons., and before h instead of [a]	[ea:] hēah, ēare
[eo] steora, feohtan	[eo:] deop, leoht
[io] siofun (f pronounced v in intervocal position)	[io:] stīoran
[ie] scield, nieht	[[ie:] cīese, hīeran

OE vowels underwent different kinds of alterations: qualitative and quantitative, dependent and independent. In accented syllables the oppositions between vowels were clearly maintained. In unaccented positions the original contrasts between vowels was weakened or lost; the distinction of short and long vowels was neutralised so that by the age of writing the long vowels in unstressed syllables had been shortened. As for originally short vowels, they tended to be reduced to a neutral sound, losing their qualitative distinctions and were often dropped in unstressed final syllables.
Changes in the system of vowels:
1) Fracture/breaking – diphthongization of short vowels ‘a’, ‘e’ before the clusters: ‘r+ con.’, ‘l + con.’, ‘ h+ con., final ‘ h’: ærm – earm, herte – heorte, selh – seolh;
2) Gradation /ablaut: (alternation of vowels in different grammatical forms: in strong verbs: Infinitive (giban), Past. sing. (gaf), Past Pl. (gebum), Second Part. (gibans);
3)Palatalisation: diphthongisation of vowels under the influence of the initial palatal consonants ‘g’, ‘c’ (before front vowels) and the cluster ‘sc’ (all vowels): gefan – giefan, scacan – sceacan;
4) Mutation/Umlaut - a change of vowel caused by partial assimilation to the following vowel: i-mutation – caused by ‘i’, ‘j’ of the following syllable: namnian – nemnan, fullian- fyllan; back/velar mutation – phonetic change caused by a back vowel (u, o, a) of the following syllable, which resulted in the diphthongisation of the preceding vowel: hefon – heofon;
5) Contraction: if, after a consonant had dropped, two vowels met inside a word, they were usually contracted into one long vowel: slahan – sleahan – sle:an;
6) Lengthening of Vowels: before ‘nd’, ‘ld, ‘mb’: bindan – bīndan; climban – clīmban
Discussion questions
1. Social History of the Middle English Period.
2. The contribution of the French language to the development of the English language.
3. The Role of Geoffrey Chaucer in the process of the normalization of the language.
4. Changes in the sphere of English Vocabulary.
5. French words in English.


Reference

1. 
   The Cambridge History of the English language. Vol. I. Cambridge University Press, 2005, 613 p.
   
2. 
   Don Ringe. From Proto –Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, Oxford University Press, 2006, 366 p.
   
3. 
   Hogg R. Introduction to Old English. Edinburgh University Press, 2002, 174 p.
   
4. 
   Kuldashev A.M. An Introduction to Germanic Philology. Tashkent, Шарқ Нашр Матбаа акционерлик жамияти. 2010, 154 p.
   
5. 
   Қўлдашев А.М., Хамзаев С.А. Инглиз тили тарихи. Т. Darssprint нашр, 2015. 192 бет.
   
6. 
   Kuldashev A.M. Formation and Development of the Global language. – Tashkent, Turon Iqbol, 2016. 118 p.