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Representation. Literacy. As a culture becomes literate, it must design a representation system, an orthography English borrowed and adapted the Roman alphabet Added characters like Þ, ð and æ. Literacy. Languages change over time New sounds are introduced Some sounds are lost
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Literacy • As a culture becomes literate, it must design a representation system, an orthography • English borrowed and adapted the Roman alphabet • Added characters like Þ, ð and æ
Literacy • Languages change over time • New sounds are introduced • Some sounds are lost • Even a perfect orthography becomes obsolete
Spelling Rules • Spelling rules are introduced to deal with language change • The character ‘c’ is represents [s] before the characters ‘e’ and ‘i’
English • English spelling was once variable • Recall the Chaucer example • English spelling was fixed by • Introduction of the printing press • Invention of the dictionary
Spelling Reform • Another way to deal with language change is to reform spelling so that the representation more closely matches the phonetic reality • It is argued that this will simplify the education system • In English, several years of grammar school are spent teaching spelling • Often satirized
For example, in Year 1 that useless letter "c" would be dropped to be replased either by "k" or "s," and likewise "x" would no longer be part of the alphabet. The only kase in which "c" would be retained would be the "ch" formation, which will be dealt with later. Year 2 might reform "w" spelling, so that "which" and "one" would take the same konsonant, wile Year 3 might well abolish "y" replasing it with "i" and Iear 4 might fiks the "g / j" anomali wonse and for all. Jenerally, then, the improvement would kontinue iear bai iear with Iear 5 doing awai with useless double konsonants, and Iears 6-12 or so modifaiing vowlz and the rimeining voist and unvoist konsonants. Bai Iear 15 or sou, it wud fainali bi posibl tu meik ius ov thi ridandant letez "c," "y," and "x" - bai now jast a memori in the maindz ov ould doderez - tu riplais "ch," "sh," and "th" rispektivli. Fainali, xen, aafte sam 20 iers ov orxogrefkl riform, wi wud hev a lojikl, kohirnt speling in ius xrewawt xe Ingliy-spiking werld.
Spelling Reform • A second problem is deciding which dialect will be the standard • In English, Received Pronunciation is recognized as the standard • Noah Webster published a dictionary in 1828 with distinctive spelling to establish American English as a recognized dialect • ‘color’ vs ‘colour’, ‘center’ vs ‘centre’
Spelling • English spelling is also complicated by the French invasion in 1066 • English has sounds that don’t exist in French • e.g. [Þ] and [ð] • The digraph ‘th’ was used to represent these • Why?
Digraphs • In French, [k] assibilated to [t∫] before [a] • cf. candle and chandler • The French settled on the digraph ‘ch’ to represent this new sound
Digraphs • Creating the digraph ‘ch’ meant that ‘h’ no longer just represented the sound [h] • Now it signals that the preceding character is being used to represent a different sound than it usually does
Digraphs • English originally adopted the character ‘c’ to represent [t∫] • cf. Old English ‘cinn’, Contemporary English ‘chin’ • The French substituted ‘ch’ to represent this sound
Digraphs • Having establish this use of ‘h’, it could be used elsewhere • Old English represented [∫] as ‘sc’ • Old English ‘scarp’, Contemporary English ‘sharp’ • Note that the ‘h’ is introduced to indicate what sound ‘s’ represents
Digraphs • Old English had the sound [x] • Voiceless velar fricative (cf. Bach) • It used the character ‘h’ to represent this sound • Old English ‘riht’, Contemporary English ‘right’
Digraphs • This won’t work in the new system because ‘h’ has another function • Instead, the digraph ‘gh’ is used • [x] eventually was deleted from English • But the spelling didn’t change
Digraphs • Finally, when the printing press was introduced, there were no characters Þ or ð • Since ‘h’ is available, the digraph ‘th’ was created to represent each
Digraphs • Words like ‘what’ were originally spelt ‘hwæt’ • Dutch printers noticed that ‘hw’ was not in pattern with ‘th’, ‘ch’, ‘sh’ and ‘gh’ • So they switched ‘hw’ to ‘wh’
Great English Vowel Shift • A major sound change occurred in English between the 14th and 16th centuries • It seems to have begun in London and spread outwards • Scots English does not exhibit the complete change
Great English Vowel Shift • Called ‘Great’ because it affected all long vowels • It is organized into a coherent change in the vowel system • Unfortunately, it occurred as the printing press was introduced, so the English spelling system was fixed before it was recognized that English phonetics had changed
Great English Vowel Shift • All long vowels raise • Low vowels become mid vowels • Mid vowels become high vowels • High vowels become diphthongs
Alternations • The shift only applies to long vowels • Recall that vowel length and syllable structure aligned • If a long vowel appears in a closed syllable, it will shorten • Consequently, there will be vowel alternations
Front low vowel • Sometimes [a] would front to [æ] • This vowel, when long, would raise to [e]
