PE libs 67? €mn\\ Htmwritg ff iitatg BOUGHT WITH THE INCOME FROM THE SAGE ENDOWMENT FUND THE GIFT OF fUnrg W. Sage 1891 %*//&£ A~£&2J££~L Cornell University Library PE 1165.B78H6 Historical study of the o-vowel in accen 3 1924 026 632 731 The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://archive.org/details/cu31924026632731 Aisr HISTORICAL STUDY OF THE O-YOWEL ACCENTED SYLLABLES IN ENGLISH EDWIN W. BOWEN, Ph.D. dHHo BOSTON, U.S.A. D. C. HEATH & CO., PUBLISHERS 1895 /V.S'gSM-^ Copyright, 1895, By EDWIN W. BOWEN. Nottooob JPrres : J. S. Cushing & Co. — Berwick & Smith. Norwood, Mass., U.S.A. PREFACE. This monograph represents in the main the fruit of my studies in English philology during the years 1893 and 1894 at the University of Leipzig, where the greater part of the work was done. My purpose was originally to write merely a fugitive article on the history, of the long o-vowel in English similar to my dissertation on the long e-vowel presented three years ago to the Johns Hopkins University for the Doctor's degree j but, after collecting considerable material, I altered my original design, and concluded to publish this little contribution to the history of English sounds in a more permanent form. This little book is, therefore, offered to students of English philology with the hope that it may help, at least in some measure, to throw light upon one of the many obscure and tortuous paths of phonology. Much stress — perhaps too much — has been placed upon the data collected, so that it may seem to some that undue prominence and space are given to minute details. This seemed advisable, if we were to arrive at an independent judgment and not adopt conclusions already reached. I should have found it less laborious to give fewer details. However, no one is more conscious of the defects of the treatment than myself, and I have learned from experience that it is no less difficult to strike the happy mean in matters philological than in matters moral. iv Preface. A casual glance is sufficient to reveal my indebtedness to various investigators in the field of English phonology, references to whom will be found in the body of the work. For a general list of these — as well as for the explanation of the abbreviations and symbols used — the reader is referred to the appendix. In the modern period I have relied almost entirely for my material upon that thesaurus stored up in Ellis' Early English Pronunciation, a monumental work which places every investigator into the phonology of this period of the language under obligation to its author. My special thanks are due Professor Alois Brandl of the University of Strassburg for valuable suggestions. EDWIN W. BOWEN. Eandolph-Macon College, Va., May, 1895. CONTENTS. Introduction vii I. The Anglo-Saxon Period. A. Origin of o and a in Anglo-Saxon 1. Origin of Anglo-Saxon 6 . 2. Origin of Anglo-Saxon a . B. Development of 6 and a in Anglo-Saxon 1. By the Influence of Nasals 2. By Lengthening 3. By Contraction 4 and 5. By Latin and Old Norse Importations II. The Middle English Period. A. General Survey of the Sources of Middle English o B. The o-Vowel in the Several Middle English Dialects 1. The Southern Dialect 2. The Kentish Dialect 3. The South-east-Midland Dialect 4. The North-east-Midland Dialect 5. The South-west-Midland Dialect 6. The North-west-Midland Dialect 7. The Northern Dialect 8. The Dialect which gave rise to Standard English 1 1 3 8 9 11 16 17 21 30 30 34 38 40 43 45 47 53 vi Contents. III. The Modern English Period. PAGE A. The First Modern Period (1500-1600) ... 63 1. The 6- Vowel in the First Modern Period . . 64 B. The Second Modern Period (1600-1700) ... 73 1. The o- Vowel in the Second Modern Period . 74 2. Development of a Diphthong ou between o and I 77 C. The Third Modern Period (1700-1800) and Living English 79 1. The 6- Vowel in the Third Modern Period . 79 2. The o-Vowel in Living English ... 82 3. Development of Long o from the Diphthong ou 83 Appendix 93 Abbreviations and Symbols 97 Bibliography 99 INTRODUCTION. This study is an attempt to sketch the development and his- tory of the long 1 o -vowel from Anglo-Saxon to Living English. It has been found convenient in the treatment of the present subject to make three principal divisions, viz., Anglo-Saxon, Middle English, and Modern English, which represent of course the three well-defined periods in the growth of the language. The last named period admits of subdivisions according to cen- turies which, though somewhat arbitrary, are observed as sim- plifying to some extent the problem before us. After brief reference to the origin of the o-vowel in the Germanic language, its source and development in Anglo-Saxon are investigated. Copious examples are cited with their cog- nates in Old High German, Gothic, Old Saxon, Old Norse, Old Frisian, etc. The West Saxon dialect, embracing as it does most of the literature of the early period of the language, is made the basis of the investigation in Anglo-Saxon, but not to the exclusive neglect of the other dialects of which special mention is made whenever they exhibit variations from the West-Saxon norm. The section on Anglo-Saxon is not limited to the o-vowel, but includes also a, for the obvious reason that the latter, like a of the Germanic languages in the prehistoric period, ceased to exist as such, being rounded into open o in Middle English in all the dialects except the Northern. Hence its right to be discussed with o in the Anglo-Saxon period. So, also, in the Modern period there comes within the scope of the present viii Introduction. problem the old ow-diphthong because this sound lost its diph- thongal quality and gradually became a monophthong 6 as the new diphthong ou from M.E. u developed. The treatment in the Middle English period is in a manner similar to that of the Anglo-Saxon, but much more detailed because the development of the 6 -vowel varies with the indi- vidual dialect with respect to extent and time. Representative texts of all the dialects have, therefore, been carefully exam- ined with a view to determining the manner of representation of the open and close 6 in each of these. After this investiga- tion of the conventional M.E. dialects, is examined the dialect from which standard English sprang as represented by Chaucer and the London State and Parliamentary documents. In this as in the others it is shown how the two sounds of long o, open and close, were generally separated and to what extent con- fusion between these resulted from the exigencies of the verse. It is .further demonstrated what the sources of the two o's, respectively, in Anglo-Saxon were, and from what sources other than English the domain of the o -vowel in Middle Eilglish was extended. In the modern period an attempt is made to show how the two 5- sounds of Middle English changed in the succeeding centuries,. in,to ,what sounds they passed, and how the old om- diphthong developed into the o -vowel. It will be observed then that the open o, from being an exceedingly rare sound in Anglo-Saxon, became of quite frequent occurrence in Middle English, and about the end of the seventeenth century passed over into the close o, which continued as such untiL it was diphthonged in Living English, while the original close «,' quite a common sound in both the early periods of the language, persisted with its primitive vahie till about the beginning of Modern English, when it became long u and as such remained till the diphthonging in Living English. AN HISTORICAL STUDY OF THE O-VOWEL IN ENGLISH. oKKo THE ANGLO-SAXON PERIOD. A. Okigin op o and a in Anglo-Saxon. 1. Origin of A.S. o. In the Primitive Germanic vowel system there existed but one sound of long o. But this 5-sound had two distinct sources, one corresponding to Indo-European a, and the other to Indo- European 5, both of which were levelled, in the Pre-Ger- manic period, under the common 6-sound. Cf. Brugmann, Grundriss der Vergleich. Gramm. der Indogerm. Sprachen, I, §§ 91, 107. The Germanic 6 corresponding to I.E. o represents of course a close sound, appearing in Sanskrit as a, in Greek as O.N. gOSr, Du. goed. Feist, 218. A.S. mod 'mood,' Goth, mops, O.H.G. muot, O.S. mot. Cf . Brugmann, II, § 79 ; Feist, 406. A.S. modor ' mother,' O.H.G. muoter, O.S. modar, O.N. moiSir, Germ, type modar < pre-Germ. mater, I.E. mater ; cf . Skr. mata, Lat. mater, Gr. ixarqp. Brugmann, I, § 101, II, § 122. A.S. ost 'knot, knob,' cf. Goth, asts, O.H.G. ast 'branch,' basal form ozdo- ; cf . Gr. o£os (£ = ed), Du. oest. Kluge : ast ; Feist, 53. A.S. ro 'rest,' O.H.G. ruowa, O.N. ro; cf. Gr. iparf 'cessa- tion ' ; Germ. *rewo *rowo, I.E. *rowa. Brugmann, II, § 64. A.S. stol 'stool,' Goth, stols, O.H.G. stuol, O.S. stol, O.N. stoll, I.E. Vsta. Brugmann, I, § 316 ; Feist, 541. A.S. sot ' soot,' O.N. sot, Swed. sot ; see further Skeat : soot. A.S. wotS 'eloquence,' woS-boro 'orator, prophet'; cf. Lat. vates, O.Ir. faith. Paul's Grundriss, I, p. 304. So, also, belongs here the o of the Prets. of Ablaut class VI, as for, foron, gol, golon, log, logon, slog, slogon, tSwog, Swogon, swor, sworon, etc., and the o of the Pres. stem and Past Partcp. of certain reduplicating verbs, as hropan, swogan, blotan, etc. 2. Origin of A.S. a. We have seen that I.E.- a did not appear in Germ, as a, but was levelled under o. There is, however, an a-vowel in Germ., and the sphere of this particular sound in Anglo-Saxon we shall now consider. This vowel in Anglo-Saxon has several distinct sources. It corresponds to Germ, ai and oi, West Germ, ai, Goth, ai, O.N. ei, O.S. e, O.Fris. e (rarely a), O.H.G. ei (which before the consonants 7t, r, w was reduced to the monophthong e 1 ). In Sanskrit this sound appears as e, in Greek as ai, ot, in Latin as ce, oz (u), being in reality the I.E. diph- 1 See Braune, Ahd. Gramm. § 43. 4 An Historical Study of the o-Vowel. thong ai, oi. This o-vowel in Anglo-Saxon is doubtless open ; more definitely characterized it is a long low-back-wide vowel. The old Germanic diph. ai underwent a process of deteriora- tion in which the second element of the diphthong, viz. i, was probably weakened into e, and, subsequently, entirely dis- appeared. As in the case of the ea diphthong we have in some of the oldest texts instead of ea, such writings as ceo, cea, so, also, instead of a, the older ai occurs, as Sweet has pointed out (H.E.S., § 445), in the Colton Ms. of Boethius, showing that the old diphthong had not yet been completely reduced to a monophthong. In the very oldest documents the a is not infrequently written aa, as the following show : haam Char- ter l 83, laam Epinal Gloss. 48, Corpus 1227, faam Erfurt 426, aac Epinal 235, laac Corpus 737, raa Erfurt 1161, faag Epinal 61, gaad Corpus 1937, waat, maanful, baan, flaan, staan, scaan, snaas, laath, haal-staan, baar, gaar, waar, ingaa, gaa, aa, etc. 2 Secondly, A.S. a, arises from A.S. ce followed by w or when the following syllable contains a, o, u. This a, corresponds to I.E. e, Germ, ce, West Germ, a, which appears in Goth, as e, in O.H.G. as a, in O.S. as a, in O.'JFris. as e, and in O.N. as a. This is of course an open sound. Again, A.S. a arises from certain Latin importations, and on Anglo-Saxon soil from the operation of certain well-defined phonological laws. The a in both of these cases is treated as the a's discussed above, and the presumption is that this latter a is of the same phonetic quality as the others ; that is, open. To this a borrowed and developed on A.S. soil we shall recur later. As examples of A.S. a corresponding to I.E. ai, oi, Germ. ai, etc., the following are cited : — A.S. ad 'funeral pile, heap,' O.H.G. eit; cf. Lat. sedes se stus, Gr. ai0a>, Skt. edhas ' wood for fuel,' O.Ir. aed, I.E. Vaidh 'glow.' Brugmann, I, § 93. 1 Cf . Sweet, Oldest English Texts, p. 426. 2 See Sweet, O.E.T. p. 584 seq., and Dietor: Uber die sprache Epinal u. Cambridge Glossen, § 4. The Anglo-Saxon Period. 5 A.S. hal 'hale, whole,' Goth, hails, O.H.G. heil, O.S. hel, O.N. heill, O.Fris. hel ; I.E. basal form quailo-. Feist, 236 ; Brugmann, I, § 439. A.S. gad 'goad,' Goth, gazds; ef. Lat. hasta; basal form ghazdh. Feist, 209. A.S. gad 'lack' (<*gadw), Goth, gaidw; cf. O.H.G. git, A.S. gitsian (< *gldsian). Feist, 197 ; Sievers' Gram. § 198. 4. A.S. gat 'goat,' O.H.G. geiz, Goth, gaits, O.N", geit, Du. geit; cf. Lat. heedus (< *ghaidos). Kluge : geisz. A.S. sada ' cord, snare,' O.H.G. seito ; cf. Lat. sseta, Skt. setu- ' binding ' ; I.E. Vsa or si. A.S. sal 'rope, band,' O.H.G. seil, O.S. sel, O.Fris. sel, O.N. seil ; Germ, stem sailo-, I.E. Vsf. Brugmann, II, p. 195. A.S. slaw 'slow,' beside slsew, sleaw; O.H.G. sleo' dull,' O.S. slow, O.N. sljor; Germ, basal form slaiwaz. So, also, the derivatives slawian 'to be or become slow,' slawlice ' slowly,' etc. A.S. tacor 'brother-in-law,' O.H.G. zeihhur; cf. Gr. Syap (<*Saipyp), Skt. devar-; I.E. basal form *daiwer-, *daiwr-. Brugmann, I, § 95-97. A.S. an 'one,' Goth, ains, O.H.G. ein, O.S. en, O.Fris. en, O.N. einn, O.Lat. oinos oenos, Gr. otVos, I.E. oinos. Henry, Comp. Gram, of Gr. and Lat. § 34, B. A.S. a» 'oath,' Goth, aips, O.H.G. eid, O.S. eth, O.N. eifr; Germ, base aifaz, I.E. oito-. Feist, 21. A.S. ator 'poison,' O.H.G. eitor, O.N. eitr; cf. Gr. oISos 'tumor,' oiSaa) 'I swell'; I.E. stem oid-; cf. Brugmann, I, § 63, 395. A.S. clam 'clay, mud'; cf. Gr. yXoio's 'mud, oil,' Lat. gluten, O.H.G. klenan 'to smear,' O.Ir. glenim. Paul's Grundriss, I, p. 370. A.S. dag dah ' dough,' Goth, daigs deigan, O.H.G. teic, O.N. deig ; .cf . Gr. toIxos t«xos, Skt. dehun dehi ' wall,' Latin fingo figura; I.E. Vdheigh. Feist, 124; Brugmann, I, § 63, and §395. A.S. f ah fag ' guilty, hostile,' Goth, faih ' deception ' bifaihon, An Historical Study of the o-Vbwel. O.H.G. feh, gafeh; cf. Gr. imcpos; I.E. Vpeiq. Brugmann, I, § 458 ; Feist, 145. A.S. fah fag 'colored, variegated,' Goth, faihs filu-faihs, O.H.G. feh, O.S. feh ; cf. Gr. 71WA.0S, Lat. pingo pictor, I.E. VpeikT Feist, 146. A.S. fam 'foam,' O.H.G. feim; cf. Lat. spuma, Skr. phena. A.S. had 'condition,' Goth, haidus, O.H.G. heit 'person,' O.S. hed, O.Eris. hed, Skr. ketii-, I.E. form qoitii-. Brugmann, I, § 374 ; Feist, 233. A.S. hador 'clear, bright,' O.H.G. heitar, O.S. hedar, ady. hedro, verb hedron, O.N. heidhr. A.S. ham 'home,' Goth, haims 'village,' O.H.G. heim, O.S. hem, O.Eris. ham hem ; I.E. type qoimi- ; cf . I.E. Vqai = rest. Feist, 237 ; Brugmann, I, § 84. A.S. last 'track, last,' Goth, laists laistan 'to teach'; cf. Lat. lira ' furrow,' M.H.G. leis leise ; I.E. Vleis ' to track out.' Brugmann, I, 588. 2 ; Feist, 346. A.S. man 'wicked, false, base,' O.H.G. mein, O.Fris. men, O.N. meinn; Germ, type mainaz, I.E. moinos; cf. Lat. com- munis (*commoinis). Brugmann, II, § 66, § 95. A.S. wat 'he knows,' Goth, wait, O.H.G. weiz, O.Fris. wet, O. S- w et, Gr. olSa (< * F olSa), Skr. veda; I.E. type *voide, Vveid. Brugmann, I, § 77 ; Feist, 643. A.S. wrasen ' chain,' O.H.G. reisan ; cf . A.S. wriSan ' to twist,' Germ, base wraitsna-. Kluge, Paul's Grundriss, I, p. 28. A.S. swat 'sweat,' O.H.G. sweiz, O.S. swet, O.Fris. swet, O.N. sveiti, Du. sweet, Skr. svedas, Lat. sudor, Gr. I8os ; I.E. stem swaid swid. 2. I.E. e, Germ, ce (probably a low-front-wide vowel) appears in A.S. as a when followed by w, or when the following sylla- ble contains a, 0, u (Sievers' Gram. § 57. 2). A.S. awul 'awl,' O.H.G. ala, O.N. air. See Kluge : able. A.S. cla clawu ' claw, nail,' O.H.G. clea clao (< clawu, *claw), O.N. klo, O.S. clawu, Du. klaauw. Kluge, Paul's Grundriss, I, p. 86. The Anglo-Saxon Period. 7 A.S. hraca ' spittle,' O.N. hraki. A.S. lacnian beside laecnian 'to deal'; cf. A.S. leece, Goth, lekeis ' a leech, physician,' O.H.G. lachi lahhi (< Keltic *legjo *lego, < I.E. leigo). Feist, 353. A.S. lagon, pret. pi. of licgan, Goth, legun, O.H.G. lagun, O.N. lggom lagom, O.S. lagun. A.S. mage magas beside mage mSgas 'kinsman,' O.H.G. mag, O.S. mag, Goth, megs ' a son-in-law,' O.N. magr 'a father- in-law,' O.Fris. meek. A.S. sawon beside s&gon pret. pi. of seon, Goth, sehwun, O.H.G. sawun, O.S. sawun. A.S.-slapan beside slaepan, Goth, slepan, O.H.G. slafan, O.S. slapan. A.S. swar 'heavy ' beside swser, Goth, swers ' grave, honored,' O.H.G. swar, O.S. swar, O.N. svarr. A.S. tal beside tsel 'calumny,' O.H.G. zala 'peril,' O.N. tal ' deceit ' ; cf . Lat. dolus, Gr. 80X09. Schade. A.S. tawian 'to prepare,' Goth, tewa ' order '; I.E. Vdeq. Feist, 577. A.S. getawe 'equipment.' See above. A.S. trag 'bad, lazy,' adv. t rage, O.H.G. tragi, Du. traag; Germ, stem traeg-, I.E. Vdregh 'torment.' Kluge: trage. A.S. Sawan ' to thaw ' beside Ssegon, O.H.G. douwen dewan (doan), O.N. feyja; cf. Gr. t^kanxta. 2. Lengthening. As is well known, there are in Anglo-Saxon several kinds of lengthening, viz., lengthening by compensation, lengthening of monosyllables, lengthening in auslaut, and lengthening before certain consonant combinations. The extent of this process cannot be determined with entire accuracy, for the indications of quantity in the MSS. are scanty, and even these indications, 12 An Historical Study of the 5-Vbwel. few as they are, have not been very faithfully preserved by the editors of the A.S. texts. It is then difficult to formulate laws of lengthening, and this difficulty is enhanced by the fact that the phenomenon in question varies with the individual dialect both with respect to extent and period of occurrence (Sievers' Gram. § 120). It is equally difficult to determine the limits of the period of operation of the several laws of lengthening, whether, for instance, they were all operative simultaneously, or whether one had ceased before another began. The terminus a quo must at all events be placed in the pre-Germanic period, — which, however, is rather indefinite, but we must from the nature of the case content ourselves with this general date. The terminus ad quern, must be placed several centuries later in the M.E. period or late A.S., since here we see the process still operative in the case of the vowel before certain consonant com- binations. Thus much premised, we may take up the several cases separately. 1. Lengthening by Compensation. A.S. o (and a) arise in the following examples from length- ening by compensation for the loss of a nasal before the surd spirants s, &, f (Sievers' Gram. §§ 66, 185). Here the vowel that is lengthened was q from a. A.S. bosig ' boosy ' (< *bons < *bans) ; cf. Goth, bansts 'barn,' O.N. bass ; Germ, banse ; Germ, type bansaz. Kluge : banse. A.S. gos 'goose' (< *gons < *gans), O.H.G. gans, OJST, gos g&s, Dutch gans ; cf. Lat. (h)anser, Gr. xty Gw° s ^ or *x al ""> s )> Skr. hamsas 'swan,' O.Ir. ged; I.E. stem ghans-. Henry, Comp. Gr. § 47; Brugmann, I, § 565. A.S. hos 'band, troop' (< *hons < *hans), Goth, hansa, O.H.G. hansa. See Kluge : hanse. A.S. os 'a god' (especially in proper names) (< *ons < *ans), O.H.G. ans-, O.N. ass. See further Grimm's Teutonic Myth- ology ed. by Stallybrass, p. 25, and Bosworth-Toller : 6s. A.S. osle 'ousel, blackbird' (< *onsal < *ansal), O.H.G. amsala. See Kluge : amsel. ' The Anglo-Saxon Period. 1% A.S. 6Ser 'other' (< *on«er < *aniSer), Goth. anj>ar, O.H.G. andar, O.N. annarr, O.S. odar (andar), O.Fris. other. A.S. smotSe ' smoothly ' beside smetSe, adj. with i-umlaut. A.S. softe 'softly' beside sefte, adj. with i-umlaut. O.H.G. samfto ; of. Goth, samjan ' to please.' A.S. soS ' true ' (< *sont5 < *sanS), O.N. sannr, sanpr ; cf. Lat. sonticus ' genuine ' ; I.E. base sonto-. Feist, 547. A.S. totS 1 'tooth' (< *ton!5 < *tanS), O.H.G. zand, O.S. tand, O.N. tonn (gen. tannar) ; cf . Goth, tunjras, Gr. oSou's, oSovt-, Skr. danta, Lat. dens dentis ; I.E. stem dont dnt. Feist, 585. A.S. a arises from lengthening by compensation for the loss of g, which often disappears after a palatal vowel, and when followed by one of the voiced consonants d, &, n (Sievers' Gram. § 214. 3). Very few cases occur. A.S. befran, fran pret. of frignan frinan 'to ask'; cf. Goth, fraihnan frah, Skr. pracna ' question,' Lat. precor procus ' suitor ' ; I.E. Vprek. Feist, 182. The A.S. 6 in late W.S. broden beside regular brogden pret. of bregdan seems to be entitled to its quantity on a similar ground. In hales, etc., oblique form of holh 'hole' (Epinal Gloss. 1072 : hool) the compensatory lengthening is for loss of h. 2. A.S. a in the following words arises from lengthening of final a in monosyllables, the originally final consonant being lost (Sievers, 121). The a on being lengthened of course preserves its original open quality. A.S. a- (< *ar-) inseparable prefix; cf. Goth, us-, O.H.G. ar-; A.S. agifan ' to give back,' Goth, usgiban, O.H.G. argeban, etc. A.S. hwa (< *hwar) 'who?' Goth, hwas, O.H.G. hwer wer, O.S. hwe hwie ; cf. Skr. ka- ' who ? ' Gr. m$ev ' whence ? ' Lat. 1 According to Kluge these forms are really weathered forms of the old present participle of the verb 'to eat,' with apocope of the initial vowel. 14 An Historical Study of the o-Vowel. quod, O.Ir. co ca, Lith. kas. Brugmann, I, § 419. Kluge ia P.G. I, 95 ; Feist, 301. A.S. swa (< *swar) ' so,' Goth swa, O.H.G. so, O.S. so, O.Fris. sa, O.N. sva; cf. Gr. <3s 'so'; I.E. pronominal stem svo-. Feist, 550. 3. A.S. a very rarely arises from a tendency to lengthen monosyllabic words ending in a single consonant,, or an orig- inally geminated consonant. Sievers, § 122; Sweet, H.E.S., §384. A.S. ac beside regular ac 'but ' ; cf. Goth, ak, O.H.G. ok, O.S. ak. A.S. can beside regular can(n) 'can'; cf. O.H.G. kann, Goth, kan, O.S. kan, etc. A.S. man beside regular mann 'man'; cf. O.H.G. man, O.S. man, O.Fris. man. 4. In late West Saxon a and o occasionally arise as a result of lengthening a and o before the consonant combinations Id, rn, etc. (Sievers, 124). It is to be noted that these consonant combinations consist of both nasals and liquids + a consonant, or, according to Sweet, " of vowel-likes + a consonant which must be voiced" 1 (Hist, of English Sounds, § 635). In Middle English this species of lengthening is almost regular. Orm, for instance, invariably indicates, by his practice of writing, a long vowel in these cases. But in Anglo-Saxon, it must be confessed that the writing of a long vowel in such cases by no means approaches regularity, even in late West Saxon documents. Such being the facts in the case, probably the most tenable hypothesis is that the tendency to lengthen the vowel before the above-defined consonant combinations was beginning in late West Saxon to manifest itself in spo- radic occurrences, but did not develop into a principle till a century or so later in the early M.E. period. 1 This is really the rule which holds for M.E., but it will be noted that in the examples cited a few exceptions occur, as halp. These exceptions do not, however, affect the validity of the rule as stated. The Anglo-Saxon Period. 15 Such illustrative forms as the following occur: aid beside regular eald (Eushworth Matt. 9:16), halden beside regular healden (halden), salde beside regular sealde (salde), talde beside regular tealde (talde), all beside regular eall (all), fallen beside regular feallen (fallen), am (pret. of iernan ' to run') beside regular om (arn), halp (pret. of helpan) beside regular healp (halp), hand besides regular hond, fand beside regular fond, womb beside regular womb, gold beside regular gold, wang beside regular wong ' field,' f andian ' to endeavor ' beside regular fandian, word beside regular word, hord beside regular hord, etc. Note 1. — This species of lengthening is not confined exclusively to late A.S. texts, as JElfric's Homilies, etc., but occurs also in the Lindis- farne and Rushworth Gospels, and in the Psalter, where it is the regular writing. Here the breaking of a before I + consonant does not occur, being replaced by a, as in aid, raid, talde, salde, wall, halm, etc. See Zeuner, Die sprache des Kentischen psalter's (Vespasian A. I.) § 8, I. 2, and Sievers, § 158. Note 2. — In some of the earliest texts there appears to be lengthening of the vowel in strong words, as Sweet has shown (H.E.S. § 387), and so we are to explain the a or aa (which means the same) in the following sporadic cases : — A.S. paat for regular pa$ 'path ' (Corpus Gloss. 429). A.S. haam for regular ham ' shirt ' (Erfurt Gloss. 244). A.S. fraam for regular fram ' vigorous ' (Epinal Gloss. 71). 5. Attention may be drawn to what appears to be. still another species of lengthening in which A.S. a occurs sporadi- cally even in the Cura Pastoralis as the result of a tendency to prolong a short vowel before a single consonant in dissyl- labic and polysyllabic words. As illustrative forms may be cited : — A.S. fatu pi. of feet. A.S. gaderaS. A.S. race dat. sing, of racu. A.S. hafenleast, etc. A.S. fare 3d sing. opt. of faran. 16 An Historical Study of the 6-Vowel. 3. Contraction. This principle has not contributed much to the increase of the original stock of long a's and o's in Anglo-Saxon. Only a few cases can be cited whose origin is referable to contraction. 1. A.S. a arises from the contraction of a (W.G. ai) with a vowel, the collision of the vowels being caused by the ecthlipsis of h before a following vowel. A.S. ra ' roe ' < raha which form actually occurs in Corpus, 403; Erfurt exhibits" raa 1161; cf. O.H.G-. reho, O.N. ro; Germ, base *raixo(m). Sievers, § 277, note 2. A.S. ta 'toe' < tahe Corpus 141 tahse; cf. O.H.G. zeha, O.N. ta ; Germ, base *taix6(n). See Kluge : zeh. A.S. sla 'sloe' (< *slahe, < W.G. *slaihe) Corpus 289 slag; cf. O.H.G. sleha slSa, Dutch slee. Kluge : schlehe. 2. A.S. o likewise arises from contraction of 5 with a vowel in the following examples : — A.S. fon (< *fo(h)an) 'to seize 7 ; cf. Goth, fahan, etc. A.S. hon (*< ho(h)an) 'to hang' ; cf. Goth, hahan, etc. So the indie, and opt. pres. fo (-< *fo(h)u), ho (< *hohu), fo (< *fo(h)e), ho (< *hohe), etc. A.S. 86 ' clay ' (< Soha). Epinai Gloss. 3 : thohce ; cf . Goth, faho, O.H.G. daha, etc. A.S. wloum. 3. A.S. au is the result of the contraction of West Germ, ai with a, o, the intervening w disappearing after a long vowel. Sievers, 174. 3. A.S. saule oblique case (dat) of sawol ' soul ' (< *sa(w)ala) ; cf. Goth, sacwala, O.H.G. sela seula, O.S. seola, O.N. sala sal, O.Eris. sele. A.S. auht (< *a(w)uht) sometimes appearing as owiht ' aught.' A.S. nauht (< *na(w)uht) sometimes appearing as nowiht ' naught.' The Anglo-Saxon Period. 17 4. In the Northumbrian dialect West Germ, a+o (= later a) contracts into a. 1 Sievers' Gram. § 166. North, slaw 'to slay' (< *sla(h)an) beside W.S. slean; cf. O.H.G. slahan, O.S. slahan, O.Fris. sla, O.N. sla. North. Swan ' to wash ' (< *owahan) beside W.S. Swean ; cf. O.H.G. thwahan, O.S. thwahan, O.N. ]>va. So, also, pres. pi. slaS, owa5, imper. sla, tSwa, opt. pres. Swa, sla, etc. < *sla(h)e, *owa(h)e, etc. Sievers, 374, note. 4 and 5. Importations from Latin and Old Norse. We have now completed the survey of the chief causes which have led to the development, in Anglo-Saxon, of the vowels under consideration. There still remain, however, two subor- dinate sources to be considered, which contributed to the native stock. The first and more important of these is Latin; the second, Old Norse. A general discussion of the former may be found in Pogatscher's article, Zur Lautlehre der griechischen, lateinischen und romanischen Lehnworte im altenglischen. 2 1. a appears in A.S. from Latin a in : A.S. da 'doe' (< Latin dama), cf. O.H.G. tarn tamo. See Kluge, P.G. I, p. 310 ; Pogatscher, p. 195. A.S. pal 'pale' ( (A.S. soS) Ayenb. Inw. 25, 29, 32, 51, 57, 65, 76, 77, 89, 136, 155; dome Ayenb. Inw. 11, 13, 14, 44, 47, 58, 74, 113, 134, 139, 152; do, don, dof, to donne Ayenb. Inw. 25, 26, 28, 39, 45, 100, 113, 115, 134, 144, 151, 161, 165; vlod, flod Ayenb. Inw. 248; boc Ayenb. Inw. 5, 14, 42, 44, 61, 83, 94, 100, 133, 262; toke Shore. 20, 28; broder Shore. 11; blode Shore. 4, bloude 25, Ayenb. Inw. bloode 1, 41, 87, 107, 111 ; guos (A.S. gos) Ayenb. Inw. 32 ; wop Ayenb. Inw. 71, 93, 265 ; sone, toth, none, etc. In few words, then, it appears from the above examination that the A.S. a was generally rounded in the Kentish dialect, the Ayenbite of Inwyt exhibiting but few exceptions in which the old a was preserved. The old a (ea) before Id was often, though not always, rounded into the long open o. Here Dan Michel not infrequently retained the a and even the broken ea, which sometimes appears with the peculiar Kentish glide as yea, yia, ye, ya. The A.S. o before mb, Id was of course retained, becoming, on being lengthened, open 6. The close 6 from Eomance sources is often represented by uo, and even by u in a few cases. This fact seems to be indicative of an incip- ient tendency for the b to assume a ii-quality, or the u is to be regarded as a glide developed before o. This same phenomenon occurs, though less often, in the case of the native close o, which in a few words as guod, is occasionally written, uo. In this particular the Ayenbite suggests the Pricke of Conscience. 38 An Historical Study of the 6-Vowel. This dialect will be seen, then, to differ somewhat from the Southern, notably in the representation of the close 6. We now leave the Southern dialect, properly so called, and enter upon the Midland. This dialect it seems advisable, for the sake of a more detailed survey, to divide, not only into the East and West Midland, but still further into South-east Mid- land, North-east Midland, South-west Midland, North-west Midland. 3. South-East-Midland Dialect. Texts : A Bestiary in Old English Miscellany, edited by E. Morris, E.E.T.S., 1872; The Story of Genesis and Exodus, edited by Richard Morris, E.E.T.S., 1865 ; King Horn, 1 ed. by J. E. Lumby, E.E.T.S., 1866 ; Eloris and Blanchflour, ed. by the same, and also by Emil Hausknecht; Sammlung Engl. Denkmaler, V, Berlin, 1885. Here we have the early texts, Bestiary, Genesis and Exodus, and the somewhat later King Horn, Eloris and Blanchflour — all, however, written in the 13th century. in the South-east Midland dialect represents : 1. A.S. a of whatever origin and O.N. a, which are occasion- ally written oa, and even oo, especially in Gen. & Ex. : moal (O.N. mal) G. & E. 81; wo 2 Gen. & Ex. 69, 112, 237 (woa), 353, 638, 880 (woa), 1833, 2100, 2402, K.H. 115, 263, 295, El. & Bl. 585, 1116 ; more, mo Gen. & Ex. 70, 216, 354, 414, 423, 428, 577, 731, 2269, 2401, K.H. 95, 441, 595, El. & Bl. 620 ; loverde, lorda Gen. & Ex. 357, 1549, 1609, 2270, 2333, 2679, 2817, El. & Bl. 418, 431, 497 ; stone Gen. & Ex. 1120, 1604, 1636, 1777, 3871, K.H. 571, 1026, El. & Bl. 559, 635, 644, 703; none, no Gen. & Ex. 192, 223, 436, 646, 1126, 1594, 2113, 2229, K.H. 8, 10, 17, 572, 620, Fl. & Bl. 461, 509, 605, 801 ; gon Gen. & Ex. 1147, 1160, 1608, 1640, 1892, 2188, 2237, 2815, K.H. 97, 1 Cf. also Wissmann's edition, Strassburg, 1881, and King Horn, Untersuchung zur Mittelenglischen Spraohe und Litteratur Geschichte, Strassburg, 1876. 2 Occasionally rimes with close o in to do. The Middle English Period. 39 187, 286, 356, 527, 699, 1351, Fl. & Bl. 837, 854; wrap Gen. & Ex. 1215, 1735, 3317, K.H. 348, 1216, Fl. & Bl. 1091 ; lore Gen. & Ex. 3635, K.H. 442 ; got Gen. & Ex. 940, 1723 ; lop 1216, 1736, 2024, 2696, 3318, El. & Bl. 1089 ; sore Gen. & "Ex. 2050, 2202, 2568, 3223, K.H. 426, 656, 876, 1194, Fl. & Bl. 559, 635, 644, 703 ; ros, aros Gen. & Ex. 261, 1936, 2644, 3863, 4152, K.H. 837, 1313 ; )>o Gen. & Ex. 840 Soa, 988, 1551, 2191, 3894 «oa, K.H. 50, 368 ; two Gen. & Ex. 941, 966, 1090, 1135, 2093, 2125, 2345, 2813, K.H. 49, 430, Fl. & Bl. 619, 780, 1115; bones Gen. & Ex. 2512, 3152, 3191 ; sowle Gen. & Ex. 2514, 2525, 3860, 4156 ; horn Gen. & Ex. 2200, K.H. 219, 647, Fl. & Bl. 760, 1269 ; glod Gen. & Ex. 75, 129, 157, 245 ; smote Gen. & Ex. 3363, 3871, K.H. 503, 639, 875, 1481 ; rod K.H. 595, 646, 685; alone K.H. 1025, 1113; clofas Gen. & Ex. 1977, 2630, K.H. 1053, 1059, El. & Bl. 1072 ; token Gen. & Ex. 138, 2813, 2860, Fl. & Bl. 565 ; ore Fl. & Bl. 577 ; ooc Gen. & Ex. 1873 ; wot Gen. & Ex. 1473, 1839, 2177, 2229, 2280, 2408, Fl. & Bl. 789, 799; looc (A.S. lac) Gen. & Ex. 1798; most, wooc (A.S. wac), wrote, drof, to knowe, to blowe, ihote, but wham occurs once, K.H. 352 ; hali gast Gen. & Ex. 202, 2428, 2438, 2439, 2472; gastes 1486, 2994; cam (A.S. cam) Gen. & Ex. 224, 114; 355, 416, 446, 494, 697, 780, 950, 996, 1076, 1079, 1109, 1176, 1366, 1385, 1395, 1489, 1554. 2. a (ea) before Id, which becomes regularly q. tolde Gen. & Ex. 321, 657, 862, 920, 989, 1028, 1206, 1476, 1894, 1918, 1993, 2118, 2221, K.H. 982, Fl. & Bl. 473, 591, 825, 883, 961, 1227 ; bold Gen. & Ex. 323, 1917, 2121, 2728, K.H. 375, beside bald 90 ; colde Gen. & Ex. 2530, Fl. & Bl. 569, 962, hold Gen. & Ex. 1201, 3238, K.H. 307, 376, 670, Fl. & Bl. 474, 476, 782 ; solde Gen. & Ex. 1908, 1957, 1994, Fl. & Bl. 594, 826, 884, 1228 ; old Gen. & Ex. 575, 658, 919, 937, 990, 1027, 1206, 1357, 1453, 1475, 1907, Fl. & Bl. 709, 911, etc. 3. A.S. o in ogen syllables and A.S. o before mb and Id, both of which were lengthened into q. It would be superfluous to adduce examples. 40 An Historical Study of the o-Vowel. 4. q and 6 from Romance sources, of which the examples given in the Southern dialect may also serve here, since the Wo dialects agree in the representation of these sounds. 5. A.S. o of whatever origin and O.N. 5, etc., which of course retained their close quality, and which are sporadically written oo. tooc, booc Gen. & Ex. 4124, but usually toe, boc 523, 3604, 3635, 945, 3913 ; mone 140, 144, 145 ; good 328, 334, 561 ; sone 343; mood 327; oSer 291, 417, 434, 589 ; broSer 420, 459, 3694 ; stood, stod 432, 595; flood 492, 562; flod 555, 599; bot 24, 2926, 2957, 3598 ; do 3604, 3608, 3925, 3969 ; bon (O.N. bon) 2980 ; brod 3712; fot 376, 1303, 1474; rode 386, 388, etc., etc. As regards the problem before us, the South-east Midland dialect seems to stand on the same footing as the Southern. The A.S. a and 0-N. a have been generally rounded into q (there being but few exceptions), as has also the A.S. a before Id. The writing oa is sporadically found, as loac, moal, loar, poa, etc., and even oo, as in ooc (A.S. ac). The old close 6 is preserved unchanged. 1 The usual symbol employed for this close o as well as for open o is the simple o. 4. North-East -Midland Dialect. Texts : The Ormulum, 2 ed. by White, 1852, from the original MS. in the Bodleian Library, and reed, by Holt, Oxford, 1878 ; The Lay of Havelok the Dane, ed. by W. W. Skeat, E.E.T.S. (Extra Series), 1868. Of the importance of the Ormulum for philological purposes it is not necessary here to speak. This monument represents the early North-east Midland in its purest form, while the others represent a later period of the language, the Lay of Havelok showing doubtless some scribal mixture of different dialects. This dialect, in its early period at least differs widely from the South-east Midland. 1 See Appendix for list of rimes. 2 Cf. Kolbing's Collation in Englische Studien, 1, 1, The Middle English Period. 41 1. A.S. a, O.N. d are retained in the Orm., but later become q. an, anan Orm. 5755, 8042, 8131, 8333, 8348, 8353, 8605, 9919, 10107 ; nan Orm. 5741, 5749, 8004, 8076, 10245, 19912, Hav., non 148, 210, 2083 ; lare Orm. 8344, 8574, 10116, 10246, 19762 ; laferrd Orm. 8489, 8495, 8497, 8505, Hav. loverd 118, 667, 1745 ; wha, wham, whase Orm. 55 (Introd.), 5720, 7917, 8030, 10217, Hav. who 4, 76, 83 ; swa, allswa Orm. 5753, 5756, 5765, 8017, 8035, 8075, 8095, 8152, 8188, 8228, Hav. so 64, 74, 337, 856 ; fa Orm. 5754, 5766, 8001, 8122, 8127, 8139, 8375, 8377, 8435; bones Hav. 1296, 1646; drof Hav. 1793, 1872; hali s Orm. 5769, 8022, 8587, 9905, 10117, Hav. 36, 136; gast Orm. 5769, 8043, 8066, 8116, 8415, 9924, 10247 ; tacnedd, betacnedd Orm. 5773, 7897, 7902, 7910, 8006, 8027, 8064, 8409, 8481; sare Orm. 7924, 7925, 8094, Hav. sore 236, 401 (sare), 455, 503, 1048 ; are Orm. 1199, 8346, 10165, 19174, Hav. ore 153, 2443, 2797 ; twa Orm. 7891, 8179, 8577, 8585, Hav. two 471, 865, 1804, 2890, 2968 ; wa Orm. 8341, Hav. wo 510, 541, 853, 2075, wa 465 ; lape Orm. 8028, 8031, 8064, 8116, 8415, 8422, 8521, Hav. lope 261, 440 ; blawenn Orm. 8080 ; grap Orm. 8125, grop Hav. 1871, 1965; sawle Orm. 8394, 8590, 9886, 10198, Hav. sowle 74; ma, mare Orm. 8109, 8157, 10146; mast 10122; smote Hav. 1828, 1843 ; apes Orm. 4479, Hav. opes 313, 419, 440, 578 ; 5 ehatenn Orm. 8132, 8156, Hav. hoten 284 ; staness Orm. 9867, 9874, 9890, 9914 ; Hav. stone 928, 1023, 1633, 1790 ; cnawenn Orm. 9888, 10845 ; wat Orm. 19674, 19675, Hav. wot 213, 653, 1345, 2973 ; clop Hav. 1138, 1233, Orm. clap 4587, 5525 ; wrap Orm. Hav. wrop 1117 ; gap Orm. 5541, 12724, Hav. go 509, 542, 934, 2957; gat Orm. 1196, 1200; hal Orm. 14817, 15519, Hav. hoi 2075 ; ham Orm. 1608, 3546, Hav. horn 789, 1391; hat Orm. 15580, 16132, 16134; had Orm. 10855, 10992; lac Orm. 1160, 1168, 4224 ; lacenn, nat, slaw, wac, etc. 2. A.S. a before Id was likewise preserved in the early- period, but later rounded into q. haldenn Orm. 8088, 8258, 12877, 16972, 19908, Hav. hold; aid Orm. 8049, 8599, 8627, Hav. old 1639, 2803, taldenn Orm. 42 An Historical Study of the 6-Vowel. 8258, 12880, 169T2, Hav. told 776, 1036, 1172, 2075 ; bald Orm. 2185, 10262, Hav. bold 107, 194, 450, 955 ; saldenn Orm. 15557, 15559, 15960, Hav. sold 776, 1636, 1637 ; faldess Orm. 3339, 3773, Hav. fold; kald Orm. 3734, Hav. cold 450, 856, etc. 3. A.S. o before Id is, of course, retained, as in gold, but before mb the Orm. generally exhibits a, -which, it is well known, also occurs beside o in A.S. wambe 14168, 10383, 14351, 16301, 16310, 16639, lambe 12646, 12660, 12664, 12665, 12666. The writing shows, however, that the a had been lengthened. This a, of course, later was rounded into q. 4. A.S. o in open syllables. folenn Orm. 11037, 11822, 12089, 19952; hope, clofenn, borenn, brokenn, bodig Orm. 11501, 16294, 16304 ; ofer, hole, lofenn 16113, 16783, 13669, etc. 5. A.S. 5 and O.N", o (both close o's) are retained. slop (O.N. slo«) Orm. 10708, 14590, blome (O.N. blom) 10769, 10773 ; sotS Orm. 10698, 10695, 13706, 13748, 16141; sone 13736, 13236, 10848 ; boc Orm. 10341, 11908, 11909, 19777, 19800 ; fode Orm. 19780; oSer 19802; rode 19811, 19816; toe 19793, 19819; dom 19885, 19887; god 19883; don 19907, 19943; bone (O.N. bon), bote 17426, 18369, 18231, bofe (O.N. botS) 15573, 15817; blode 11693, 11696, 11701, 11727; ro (O.N. ro) 19323, ros ' praise,' rote (O.N. rot) 10543 ; to, mot, mone, mod, hof (O.N. hof), fot, top, etc. It is evident from the above material that we must distin- guish between the early and late periods of this dialect, in the former of which the A.S. a and O.N. a are preserved unchanged, as is also the lengthened a before Id and mb, while in the lat- ter they are all rounded regularly into q. Very few exceptions occur. In other respects this dialect offers no peculiarities, the o in open syllables, the A.S. 5, O.N. o, all being retained as The Middle English Period. 43 close 6. But one symbol o ' is employed for both Open and close 6. This dialect in its early period is very similar to the Northern, in which the old a, as well as a before Id, etc., is regularly retained. 5. South- West-Midland Dialect. Texts : Layamons Brut, or Chronicle of Britain, ed. by F. Madden, 1847; The Romance of William of Palerne, ed. W. W. Skeat, E.E.T.S. (Extra Series), 1867 ; The Vision of William concerning Piers Plowman, by William Langland (1362 a.d.) ed. by W. W. Skeat, E.E.T.S., 1867. We must distinguish at the outset here between the two Mss. of Laya- mon. The early Ms., which for convenience we call A, was written about 1200, and exhibits regularly a for the A.S. a; while the later Ms., which we designate B, was written about fifty years later, and exhibits, with almost perfect regularity, the rounded q for the old a. It is the latter Ms. 2 that repre- sents especially the early period of this dialect, Palerne and Langland being of later date. What is true of a is likewise true of a before Id. 1. A.S. a, O.N. a are generally rounded into q, except in Ms. A of Layamon. wa A, wo B, 14466, 15112, 16165, 21910, Pal. wo 771, 1750 ; A aSes, B ofies 13089, 16891 ; A rad, B rod 13148, 13152, 13249 ; A clafes, B elopes 13065, 13093, 13109, 13143 ; A igrap, B grop 12962, 16513, 20334 ; A swa, B so 12955, 13017, 13733, 14536 ; A )>a, B po 12912, 14016, 15773 ; A sare, B sore 12772, Pal. sore 770, 1377; A lare, B lore 12644, 14081, 14455, Pal. lore 346, 2917 ; A are, B ore 12497, 20437 ; A bare, B bore 12309 ; A ma, mare, B mo, more 12037, 12242, 11779, 11815 ; A aras, B aros 11972, 13138, 21703, aros Pal. 2744, 3280, A & B 404; A 1 Occasionally oo is found, as in K. Alis., flood, blood, tooth, stood, thoo, woo, noo, foon, foos, etc. 2 Sweet, H.E.S., p. 155. 44 An Historical Study of the 6-Vowel. lap, B lo}> 11479, 12183, 15884, 16796; A wra|>, B wro]> 11478, 15842, 16448 ; A brade, B brode 10689, 15285 ; A ihaten, B ihoten 10473, 14809, 16235, Pal. hoten 405 ; A na, B no 10265, 11447, 11649, Pal. na 1271, no 1796 ; A twa, B two 12591, 12843; A biswac, B biswoc 14865 ; A pape, B pope 14886 ; A & B wha 15179; A stanes, B stones 15819, 15911, Pal. stone 1072; A smat, B smot 15303, 15564, smot A & B 1466 ; A laverd, B loverd 13427, 15844, Pal. lord 876, 1801; A blawan 16596, 16727 ; knowe Pal. 421, 1456 ; A unhal, B unhol 17185, Pal. hoi 406, 534 ; A rap, B rop 20333 ; A ifa, B fon, fo 21066, 21378 ; A fon 7710 ; A flan, B flon 1844, 1813, A flon ; A & B horn 19455, Pal. horn-ward 2477, 2487 ; A & B gost 23986, Pal. 992, 2120; holi A 29614, B 12637, Pal. 306, 998; rore Pal. 86, 1851; go Pal. 1859, 4902; wham Pal. 769, beside whom 493, 721; wat Pal. 514, 840, 981; hot Pal. 907; loo! Pal. 1869; sowle Pal. 992 ; most Pal. 315 ; pope Lang. V. 609 ; wowes Lang. III. 61 ; xopere Lang. V. 323, etc., etc. 2. A.S. a before Id, etc. A aide 6774, Pal. old, Lang. VI. 85; A bald, B bold 11087, 14788, 16265, 20842, Pal. bold 121, 1087, 1136 ; A salde, B solde 12109, 13438 ; A talde, B tolde 12141, 12623, 13317, Pal. told 552, 1107, 1361, 1777, Lang. IV. 157, VI. 76; A cald, B cold 19756, Pal. cold 1656; halde B 3392, ihalden A 8951, etc. Lang. VI. 215; wombe Lang. III. 84, 193, VI. 257, etc. 3^4. A.S. o in open syllables and the o of Bomance origin offer no peculiarities, and therefore no examples need be ad- duced. 5. A.S. o, O.N. 6 are likewise preserved with the close 5 sound. boc A & B 10841, 14432 ; dom A & B 14991, 22117 ; blode A & B 1468, 15530, 15941 ; broSer A & B 394, 16153, 16452, 20195 ; so* A & B 13002, 13885, 16917 ; stod A & B 10829, 20924 ; fote A & B 10554 14820 ; wode B 12413, 15236 ; idon A & B 14725, 15007, 15571; flod A & B 3894; to A & B 1286; for A The Middle English Period. 45 100, 4157; toe A 7976, 10175, A & B 12115; to« A & B 21384; inoiie A & B 17862, A 21091 ; none A & B 14039, 16595 ; tol A 29253; mote A & B 13333, etc. ; goodis Lang. II. 75, V. 97, VI. 303; soth Lang. III. 216, IV. 80 ; tome (O.N. torn) Lang. II. 185, etc. In this dialect it is obvious from the above data that the A.S. a was generally rounded into q, as was also the a before Id, mb, etc., there being only a few exceptions where both a and a + Id, etc., are retained. Of course this statement assumes that the older Ms. of Layamon does not really represent the South-west-Midland. It would be superfluous to comment on the open o in open syllables and the old close o, because they do not exhibit any variations from the East Midland dialects. As to the graphic representation, o is the usual symbol em- ployed for both q and o, but oa occurs occasionally in Layamon and oo also, the former for the open o, the latter for the close 6. 6. North-West-Midland Dialect. Texts : Early English Alliterative Poems (the Pearl, Clean- ness, Patience), ed. by B. Morris, E.E.T.S., 1864 ; Sir Gawayne and the Green Knight, An Alliterative Bomance-Poem (about 1320 or 1330 a.d.), ed. by B. Morris, E.E.T.S., 1864. in this dialect represents : 1. A.S. a, O.N. a, which sporadically 1 occurs as the unrounded a. mo, more Pearl 132, 145, 156, 168, 234, 563, 851, 1189, mare 146 ; non, no Pearl 219, 687, 699, 721, 1189, Clean. 262, 588 ; anon Pat. 137, Gaw. 130, 546 ; so Pearl 222, 227, 259, 338, 517, 552, 735, 1177, Pat. 192, 261, Clean. 227 ; elopes Clean. 1400, 1742, 1788, Pat. 105, Gaw. 885, 1184; home Clean. 1762, Gaw. 12, 1616, 1924, hame 2451 ; stone Pearl 206, 821, 993, 1005, Clean. 884, 983, 1120, 1280, 1396, Gaw. 162, 172, 671, 1738, 1 See Wilhelm Fick, Zum mittelenglischen Gedicht vonder Perle,p.24. Kiel Diss., 1885. 46 An Historical Study of the 6-Vowel. 2230 ; blow Pat. 138 ; ros Gaw. 367, Pearl 437, 505, 518, CI. 1009, 1766 ; grow Clean. 1043 ; lorde Pearl 285, 413, 501, 677, 1203, Clean. 94, 97, 410, 656, Gaw. 343, 545, 753, 909, 2505; wo Pearl 342; know Gaw. 546, knaw 348, Pearl 540, 1108; wrope Pearl 379; gon Pearl 376, 558, 819, Pat. 348, Clean. 611, 1811 ; wham Per. 131, Clean. 259 ; sore Pearl 549, two Pearl 554, Pat. 136, CI. 702, Gaw. 770 ; quo, who Pearl 746, 826, 1137, Clean. 1647, 1649, 1650 ; lo ! Clean. 94, 541, Pat. 113, 172, Gaw. 2505 ; sawle Clean. 1599 ; hot Gaw. 1844; brode Clean. 603, 622, 1377, 1404, 1694, Pat. 472, Gaw. 14, 446, 967, 2233 ; bope Pearl 329, 373, Clean. 242, 308, 502, 658, 1086, 1102, Pat.' 36, Gaw. 18, 129, 155, 371 ; rop Pat. 270 ; gost Clean. 728, 1598 ; stroke Gaw. 294 ; foo (A.S. fah) Gaw. 1430, 2356 ; ane beside one Gaw. 223; awen, aven, etc., Gaw. 10, 293, 836; bade Gaw. 1699, abode 687 ; hoi Gaw. 1338, 1406, 2296, etc. 2. A.S. a before Id, mb, etc., but here the lengthened a is not infrequently found. tolde Pearl 814, Clean. 1623; cold Pearl 807, Clean. 60, 1592, Pat. 264, 382, Gaw. 727, 731, 747, 818, 1732, 1844; holde Pearl 809, Clean. 64, 607, 1544, Pat. 14, hald Pearl 454, Gaw. 53, 627, 1125 ; folde Pearl 334, 735, 812, Clean. 643, 950, 1043, 1563, 1691, Gaw. 23, 196 ; aid Pearl 1041, old 1123, Clean. 611, Gaw. 1124 ; bold Gaw. 21, 272, 286, 351, 843, Clean. 1307, 1372, 1537, baldly Gaw. 376; lombe Pearl 801, 821, 829, 845, 860, lamb Pearl 407, 770 ; wombe Gaw. 144, Clean. 462, 1250, Pat. 306, beside wame, etc. 3. A.S. 6, O.N. o, which still retain the old close quality. For this the writing uo is very rarely employed, which may point to an incipient tendency of the old mid-back 6 to develop into the u sound. blode Pearl 740, , 765; wode Pearl 742, Clean. 204; toke Pearl 807 ; boke Pearl 836 ; sone Pearl 1077, Pat. 193, Gaw. 1743 ; mone Pearl 1092 ; fote Clean. 79, 88 ; so]) Clean. 1643, 1737, Pat. 212, Gaw. 84, 355, 673, 976; stor Gaw. 1291, 1923; The Middle English Period. 47 tole, tool Gaw. 413, 2260, Clean. 1108, 1342 ; torn (O.N. torn) Pearl 134, 584, Clean. 1153, Pat. 135 ; wrot (A.S. wrot) Pat. 467 ; brom Pat. 392 ; dom, dome Pearl 157, 579, 666, Clean. 597, 632, Pat. 203, Gaw. 295, 1216, 1968 ; forsoke Gaw. 1826, oper Clean. 338, 340, 742, 1704, Pat. 176 ; don Clean. 692 ; brofer Clean. 772 ; mote (A.S. mot) Gaw. 635, 910 ; rode Gaw. 1949, goud, good Gaw. 1500, 1969, 1535, CI. 1200, 1326, Pearl 33, 567, 730, 733, etc. The remaining occurrences of o demand no special mention, offering as they do no variations from the normal representa- tion in M.E. In this dialect we see that the A.S. a was generally rounded into q, which, as the rimes show, is very rarely combined with the close 6. A few cases of the old a survive, but these of course are very readily explained by the proximity of this dialect to the Northumbrian. On the same ground may the somewhat frequent occurrence of a before Id, mb, beside o, be explained. The old close o is preserved, but with a slight tendency, it seems, if we are to credit the writing uo as in guod, to become u. This phenomenon of itself seems, however, insuf- ficient to build a theory upon ; but it is rather significant in view of the facts in the adjoining Northern dialect, where there is no doubt that the old 5 had begun to pass over into the u sound. 7. The Northern Dialect. Texts : Cursor Mundi (The Cursor of the World), A Nor- thumbrian Poem of the 14th century in four versions, two of them Midland, ed. by R. Morris, E.E.T.S., 1874 seq; The Pricke of Conscience, by Richard Eolle de Hampole, ed. by E. Morris, 1863 (Philological Society), on which texts the follow- ing investigation is based. The Cursor Mundi probably dates from the latter half of the 13th century, according to Hupe, 1 1 But the Cotton Ms., according to Hupe, must be assigned to late 14th or early 15th century. See his discussion of the Mss. of the Cursor Mundi, Part VII., p. 113 seq. 48 An Historical Study of the 6-Vowel. while the Pricke of Conscience was written about 1340. Of the Cursor, as is well known, there are four Mss., two of which are Midland. When, therefore, we cite examples, we always cite from the Cotton or Goettingen Ms. ; for of the other two, the Fairfax occasionally, and the Trinity almost without exception, show, for example, o for the a of the for- mer two. In this dialect the old a, as has already been pointed out, is faithfully preserved, which preservation is one of the distinctive features of the dialect. But the quality * of this a is different from that of A.S. a or the Southern a. It was not so open as the early Southern a, which later was rounded into q. 1. The old North, a and the O.K. a are preserved in this dialect and correspond to the rounded q of the South. swa P.C. 28, 32, 34, 261, 309, 315, 418, 905, 1420, 1475, CM. 12686, 12728, 12565, 13057, 12967 ; knawen P.C. 907, 990, 1389, 2279,2358, 2411, 2861, 7500; CM. lare: mare 13884, 13892, 14326, 14714, P.C. 926, 944, 965, 1050, 1208, 1448, 2851 ; ham CM. 12562, 12634, 12678 ; P.C. bane 910, 2319, 2913, 3108, 6861 ; hali CM. 12645, 12677, 12924, 12867, P.C. 1152, 1200, 1789, 1854, 1960, 2122, 2139, 2206, 2513, 3321 ; na : mar CM. 12713, 12720, 13164, P.C. 927, 1352,2849, 3030, 3887, 5849; ga P.C. 928, 1277, 1580, 1843, 2117, 2625, 2961, 8937, CM. 13057, 12565 ; brade P.C. 933, 1484, 8889 ; bath CM. 12756, 12983, P.C. 1260, 1500, 1858, 1926, 2214, 2402, 2797, 3072, 6158, beside bothe 1002, 7450, 8804; laverd CM. 12825, 12849, 12855, 12939 P.C. loverd, lord 3667, 5089, 5740, 5404, 5532, 5870, 6118, 6162, 6208; lo! P.C. 5891; wa CM. 12779, 12954, 13022, P.C. 1002, 1260, 1452, 1610, 2116, 3048, 7401 ; gane P.C 1995, 2507, 3750, 6497, 7699 ; wate P.C. 2493, 2506, 2635, 2694, 3119, 7697 ; clath CM. 12680, P.C. 2505, 5565, 5573, 6156, 6196, 6945; sawl P.C. 1320,1687,1692, 1704, 1756, 1803, 2007, 2552, 3155; wrath CM. 13170, 13923, ath ; wham P.C. 1252, 1647, 1867, 2884, 3485, 4485, 5336; rare P.C. 7341, 7351; shane P.C. 6243,9142, 1 Cf. Boddeker, Bnglisohe Studien, II., p. 346 seq. ; Brandl, Thomas von Erceldoune, p. 64. The Middle English Period. 49 9183; papes P.C. 3875; stane P.C. 3036, 4714, 8056, 8857, 8900, 9071 ; mast P.C. 1078, 1214, 1666, 1816, 2881, most 1012 ; wrat CM. 14398 ; ras CM. 17851, 18551 ; fas, lath, twa, sare, gast, blaw, taa, fra (O.N. fra), CM. 1180 ; wan (O.N. wan), 641, 652 ; bath CM. 793, 1101 ; braith (O.N. braSr) 1092, 2632 ; waith (O.N. v&Si) 794 ; male (O.N. mal) 5376 ; scale (O.N. skali) 8592, beside scole 12090 (and score 1675, 5335), etc. 2. The old North, a before Id, mb, is likewise retained. cald P.C 3065, 3251, 6637, 6643, 7480, 7612, 9440, CM. 15910 ; salde CM. 4241, 5407, 14727, 14738, P.C 4849 ; talde P.C 1351, 1510, 2107, 2917, 2929, 6420, 6535, 6638, 7170, CM. 2392, 8765, 13330, 14727 ; balde P.C 2916, 7169, CM. 12954, 2675 ; aide P.C. 1511, 2106, 4926, 6419, CM. 209, 12578, 12756 ; hald P.C. 2789, 4086, 4094, 4119, 4396, 4430, 5517, CM. 1332, 13148; falde P.C. 3250, 4040, 4640, CM. 110; wambe P.C. 4161, etc. ; lamb CM. 690, 6072, 6110, 10380, 21677. 3. In open syllables the old North, a is retained, as is also, of course, the old North, o, in which positions they were both lengthened. These vowels are open. make CM. 3016, 3257, 6601, 3373, 11036, P.C. 72, 74, 101, 14857; spade CM. 1239; schame CM. 2026, 2202, 839, 17117, 15304; name CM. 406, 2649, 2769, 4808, 5755, 9543; tame CM. 17326; tale P.C. 7702; scapen CM. 367, 27175, 8076, 28073, scaper 12899; undertaken: forsaken CM. 917, 10254, 23805, 7327, 3794, 23793; naked 989; lake (A.S. lacu) CM. 2863, 2887, 11934; dale (A.S. dalu) CM. 405, 1251, 13464, P.C. 1166 ; vane, ale, bale, bake, hare, ape ; broken CM. 611, 25710, 27395; spoken CM. 612, 1757; wraken CM. 2586, 13067; hofen, hoven CM. 8035, 19882, 25700 ; thole CM. 1619, 7312, 10397, 16728, 16127, P.C. 2752, 2776, 2783, 3515; hope CM. 1113, 3054, 7494, 5010, 20807, 25089, 27298; smoke P.C. 4727; cole P.C. 6762 ; bifore, etc. 4. The q of Eomance origin is retained in this dialect as in all others. The close 6 is occasionally written u. 50 An Historical Study of the 6-Vowel. host CM. 6223, los 1452; note CM. 7407, 22467, 23763, 25204; rote 7408; fole P.O. 126, foly 7855, CM. 9187, 12089, 13041, 16203, 2777, 14802, 16643, fule 12089 ; trone CM. 505, 5290, 8540, 20836; P.O. glorifyde 8014, propre 6866; close CM. 8241 ; glose P.C 4473, 4479, 5450 ; dole CM. 13040, 23975 dule, P.C. 3218; pore, pover CM. 1796, 10386, 4375, 28172, 6798 pur, 28586 pure, P.C pur 1458, 5574, 3450 pure, 8257 pore; prove CM. 3656, 4383, 4773, 1077, 6625, 23810, P.C. pruve 5910, 3530, 1016, 7708, beside prove 1318, 936, 1086, move CM. 9738, P.C. 7708, etc. 5. A.S. o, O.N. 5, appears in this dialect as o, and not infre- quently as m. Of such frequent occurrence is this o (also ■written u), riming with genuine u, that we seem forced to the conclusion that the old 5 has really hegun to change its quality and pass over to u. dome CM. 2906, 216, 1797, 4976, 6667, dum 8652, P.C. 2600, 2617, 2800, 2853, 2923, 7777; do done P.C. 2270, 2455, 2464, 3191, CM. 340, 387, 618, 116, 1406, 29319, 5703, 6140, 4149, 28969, doos, dus 5208, dune, dun 7107, 8662; sone P.C. 2271, 2454, 2465, 2689, 3185, 3284, CM. 711, 787, 1388 sun, 3639 sun, 339 ; boke, buke, hike P.C 928, 2673, 1128, 1759, 2301, 6869, 7717, boke 969, 1328, 1560, 1778, 6421, 6870, loke : boke CM. 12596, bok : tok 12668, 12836, bok 121, 627, 1470, 13884, 20742, buk 6041 ; blode P.C 1781, 4727, 5196, 5231, 5300, CM. 519, 3563, 5054, 5265, 4162 blody ; rote P.C. 1907, 1909, 1916, CM. 36, 2316, 4711, 28744, 9269 ; ros CM. 7747, 11948, roos 13894, 26935 ; rode P.C. 1780, 5209, 6533, CM. 198, 21005 ; blode, 20066, 20096, 21628 gode ; fote P.C. 1493, CM. 20120, 20884, 14146, 14890 bote; fode P.C. 6708, CM. fode : gode 13276, 13352, 13516; gude P.C. 952, 2390, 2401, gode CM. 37,276, 28825, 7442, gud 25833 ; node P.C. 4845, 4894, CM. 1042, 1043, fludd 1854 ; wode P.C. 1608, 1651, 6864, 6917, CM. 7419, 13186 ; sofch P.C. 6175, 6210, 8068, 8656, 8275, CM. 3855, 300, 5809, 2552, south 777, 1103 ; suthly P.C. 6175, suthefast, suthfastness 4268, 6128 ; tome (O.N. tomr) P.C 6248, CM. 2128, 14595, fro TTie Middle English Period. 51 (O.N. fro) CM. 258, 23568; slogh, sloth CM. 1254, 1285, 4791, 18786; ro (O.N. ro) CM. 1007, 7418, 24163; crok (O.N. krokr) CM. 700, 18104, 23252, 25060; brother : another. CM. 1994, 21091, 21131; mot P.O. 4207, 7397, 7398; stod : wod CM. 14282, stod CM. 17121, 17672, 11332, 1333, stud 1852 ; toth CM. 6040, 6701 ; tor (O.N.) CM. 13927, 24544 ; to : so CM. 20359, 20435, 20475; com CM. 1257, 681, 2766, 24514, P.O. 506, 2245 ; non CM. 988, 19810, 21932 ; bone (O.N. bon) CM. 3690, 8414, 25117, 13156, 19045 bone : none. 6. Examples of w-, o-rimes in the Pricke of Conscience. wode : gude 100, 1608, 1650 ; buke : loke 526, 644, 2300 ; hike : buke 368, 928, 1128, 1758, 2672, 6408 ; hike : boke 205, 6870, 7718 ; gude : fude 652 ; rude : gude, 9585 ; lufed : byhufed 944 ; byhufe : prufe 1016 ; byhoves : boke pruves 5910 ; pruve : lufe 3530 ; lufe : prove 1086 ; lufes : profes 1182, 1844, 9492 ; fortone : sone 1273 ; pur (poor) : mesur 1458, 5574 ; forluke : boke 1946; duse (do) : accuse 5484; dose : use 7633; gude: mude 2390; gude : rude 5384; buke : tuke 2808, 5508, 5804, 8686; buke : touke (took) 5500; pure (poor) : dore 3450; use : duse 3674 ; gude : blude 5532 ; smoke : luke 4727 ; dom : bughsom 49 ; bousom : come (inf.) 85 ; redempcyoune : devo- cyone, 7252 ; resoune : doune 7229 ; dongeoune : doune 7214 ; stature : pore 8257 ; pruves : moves 7708 ; don : parson 3980 ; doun : parsoun 4958 ; dom : come (inf.) 358, 4732, 4820, 4857, 4924, 5029, 5089, 5120, 5164, 5172, 7188, 7778 ; boke : smoke 7100, 8592 ; buke : smoke 9402 ; colour : flour 694. Add to these the following from the North. Benedictine Rule : gude : mode 292, 609 ; mode : gude 306, 666, 1030 ; cum : dom 519, 2317, 1311 ; wouke : luke 1549 ; crystendoume : cum 1898. The Northern dialect exhibits vast variations from all the other dialects. Here we find the old North. 1 a (which prob- 1 We are not concerned with the a introduced from Romance sources, which was of course retained here as in all the other dialects, because the rounding of the a into the ? seems to have been completed before the Romance a found its way into English. 52 An Historical Study of the 6-Vowel. ably was not so open a vowel as the same in the South) pre- served, as well as the old North, a before Id, mb. Now a few cases of o for the old a appear, and it is a very reasonable supposition that such words as form the exceptions, as loverd 'lord' (of very frequent occurrence in the Pricke of Con- science), were introduced from the South. However that may be, only a few cases occur as exceptions to the rule. The old North, a and o in open syllables are of course retained, and are both open vowels. The 5 of Romance origin is not infre- quently written u, which seems very significant as pointing to a sound very like, if not quite, u. The old close o seems cer- tainly to have undergone a very remarkable change, for here our texts exhibit with striking frequency u. This phenomenon I take to be conclusive evidence that the old 6 had certainly begun to be raised to the high position which later, as is well known, became generally established. This conclusion seems inevitable from the evidence furnished by the writing and rimes, not only of the Cursor Mundi and Pricke of Conscience, but of other Northern texts as well, as the Benedictine Rule. 1 Some words, such as gude, in Pricke of Conscience, recur with a frequency amounting almost to regularity. Nor is this incipient change from 6 to it confined to words of pure English origin, but appears in words borrowed from Romance and Old Norse as well. The treatment of the 5 in the other dialects, as we have seen, offers no parallel to this. 2 The appearance of this change in the Northern dialect first is quite in keeping with the history of the development of English sounds. As to the graphic representation of the vowels concerned, the usual symbol is o, u, ou and oo also being employed. There is some little confusion between the open and close o, as is the case in the other Middle English dialects, but gener- ally the two sounds are separated in rime. 1 Cf. K. Boddeker, Ueber die Sprache der Benedicktinerregel, Eng- lische Studien, II. 344. 2 Unless we include the u-glide before o in the Kentish. The Middle English Period. 53 8. The Dialect which gave Rise to Standard English. Having passed in review all the Middle English dialects properly so called, and sketched the course of development of the vowel in question, we are now prepared to consider the dialect of Chaucer and the London State and Parliamentary documents during the period embraced between the dates 1384 and 1430. The text used for Chaucer is the edition of Morris. The Parliamentary documents not being accessible, the results of Morsbach's investigation into the language of these docu- ments have been made use of. In the development of the vowel under consideration, this dialect, which is of a somewhat composite character, has not been found to differ materially from the Southern, as the examples cited prove. q in this dialect corresponds to : 1. A.S. a and O.K a. anoon : gon Frank.T. 752, Sec.Non.T. 141, Chau. Yem.T. 91, 320; go : two Frank.T. 340, 617, 657, Somp.T. 128, 143, 234, Sec.Non.T. 250 ; lore : more Man Law's T. 244, SedSTon.T. 372, 414, Prol.Chau. Yem.T. 290 ; sore : lore : more, Man Law's T. 660, Prol.Wyf .Bath's T. 583, Troy, and Cres. II. 562 ; more : yore : sore Man Law's T. 885, March.T. 697, 872, Sq.T. 116, II. 58 ; also : go : wo Man Law's T. 800 ; Frank.T. 673, 679, Sec.Non.T. 519 ; also : wo ; mooste : gooste Leg.Gr.W. (Dido) 368 ; mooste : woste Troy, and Cres. 720, II. 1368, 1410 ; allone : mone (moan) Troy, and Cres. 97, 694, Kom.Rose 2395, 2626 ; glod : brood (A.S. brad) Sq.T. II. 48 ; stones : bones Troy, and Cres. III. 540, Prol.Pard.T. 61 ; anoon : foon Eom.Eose 5544, 6941, Monkes T. 712 ; otes : grootes Prol.PardT. 90, Somp.T. 257 ; yore : lore Doc.Phys.T. 70, Schipm.T.Prol. 5, Frank.T. 235 ; agroos : aroos, soo : tho, woo : soo, woo : tho, everychone : grone, to goone : woone, knowe : lowe, sore : rore, woot : hoot Prol. Wyf. Bath's T. 540, Frank.T. 137, March.T. 881 ; gone : schone : stoon Clerk.T. 180 ; woot : boot (A.S. bat), wroth : oth March.T. 1067, goth : wroth 1105; both : wroth, Troy, and Cres. 140. 54 An Historical Study of the 6-Vowel. Note. — In the Eeves Tale, where Chaucer purposely uses the North, dialect, the old o, of course, occurs (not to the exclusion of o, however), but nowhere else; as na 106, 214, 255, nan 265; ham 112; gas 117; bathe : lathe 167 ; banes : anes 153 ; alswa : ra 166 ; bar 13, 293, etc. 2. A.S. a, o before Id, mb. colde : holde Frank.T. 287, 570, Doc.Phys.T. 210, Tr. and Or. 261; olde : byholde : tolde Sec.N.T. 180, 300, withholde ; colde : tolde SeeJST.T. 345, Man Law's T. 781, 320 ; gold : itold Prol.Ch.Yem.T. 73. bold : told Doc.Ph.T. 140 ; wolde : biholde : tolde Clerk.T. 5, 51 ; scholde : wolde 110, 205 ; sholde : molde Tr. and Cr. 76, golde : bolde, Court of Love 358 ; told : wolde : manifolde ; withholde : folde Prol.Cant.T. 511, Kn.T. 450 ; old : gold 1283, old : told 1268. 3. A.S. o before rd ; but the length of this o is not well estab- lished. It is now treated as long, and now as short. bord : word Somp.T. 468, 543, Clerk.T. 3, Sq.T. 77,89, word: lord March.T. 243, Maun.T. 137, Boke Duch. 101, word : boord Millers T. 253, borde : orde Leg.G.W. (CI.) 64, hord, hoord, etc. 4. A.S. o in open syllables. This o is phonetically the same as the o from A.S. a, as the examples show. therefore : swore Knightes T. 810 ; more : bore Knightes T. 683 ; throte : cote Knightes T. 1600, Nonne Pr.T. 15 ; note : throte Millers T. 31, Boke Duch. 320 ; more : before Ch.Dream 135, 1320, 1435, 1980; tofore : more Boke Duch. 190; bore: lore; bifore : more Frank.T. 727, 850, Ch.Yem.T. 155, 255; hope : grope Prol.Ch.Yem.T. 125, 226. cole : hole Ch.Yem.T. 150, 185; throte : Pertilote Nonne Pr.T. 50, 65; smoke : ybroke House of Fame II. 261, Prol.Wyf. Bath.T. 278 ; hope : drope Tr. and Cr. 941 ; more : yswore Leg.G.W. (Did.) 360; sore : before Prol.Wyf.Bath.T. 631; spoken : wroken : broken Tr. and Cr. 86, 209 ; wherefbre, cole, thole, etc. ; ibore : bifore : therefore Clerk.T. 100, 114 ; swore : bore Sq.T. 318. The Middle English Period. 55 5. 6 in words of Romance origin. bost : oost : goost Man of L.T. 403 ; rose : suppose March.T. 787, Tr. and Cr. II. 1255 ; pore : fore Prol.Wyf.Bath.T. 110 ; nose : suppose Prol.Wyf.Bath.T. 787 ; glose : suppose Somp.T. 84, 212, Tr. and Cr. IV. 1380, alloone : persone Wyf.Bath. 305 ; restore : evermore Cl.T. 84 ; oost : wost Ch.Y.T. 100, loos : cloos Ch.Y.T. 357 ; alloone : troone Pard.T. 380 ; story : consistory Doc.Phys.T. 161, 257 ; glose : suppose Monk.T. 150 ; host : cost Prior.T.Prol. 1 ; note : rote Prior.T. 70 ; host : bost Monk.T. 617 ; toos : cloos Konne Pr.T. 511 ; throte : cote Nonne Pr.T. 15 ; disposed : iglosed Prol.Manc.T. 33 ; unclose : prose Leg.CW.Prol. 65 ; unclose : rose 112 ; tresour : more Rom.Rose 2085 ; soole : doole Rom. of Rose 2957 ; coost : moost (A.S. mast) Rom. of Rose 2477, 3931 ; sool : fool 3335 ; rose : nose 3659, 4117 ; close : rose 3637, 4097, 4230, 4371 ; sore : restore 5124 ; prove : love 5226 ; purpose : close 5392 ; force : croce 6471 ; reprove : bihove 7583 ; more : restore Tr. and Cr. IV. 1318 ; sermone : opinyone Tr. and Cr. II. 1298 ; approche : galoche Sq.T. II. 210 ; glose : close ; noote : rote Prol.C.T. 235 ; pore : rore Tr. and Cr. IV. 42 ; trone : sone Tr. and Cr. IV. 1148, Sq.T. 267, which, of course, exhibits close 6. 6. A.S. o, O.N. 6 of whatever origin. good : flood Tr. and Cr. III. 589 ; foot : soot : mote 1145 ; goode : stode : hood, II. 1180 ; boote : foote : roote II. 347, Sq.T. 147 ; soote : foote Sq.T. II. 45 ; moone : doon Tr. and Cr. 1024, III. 498 ; done : mone : sone, II. 75, 1310 ; stood : mood Millers T. 250 ; blood : wood Prol.C.T. 635, Knightes T. 1773 ; wood : flood Millers T. 331 ; boone : soone ; dome : blome : grome ; wooke : booke : tooke Tr. and Cr. IV. 289 ; moone : to done 377 ; quooke : wooke : looke 926 ; broode : goode ; soth : doth Wyf.BathT. 85, etc. Of these classes all but the last and a few Romance words were represented by the open q in Chaucer. In other words, the close o in Chaucer appears only in a few Romance words, comparatively speaking, and in native words 56 An Historical Study of the o-Vowel. in which the o corresponds to A.S. 6 or O.N. o. These still retained their close quality. As the examples of rimes adduced show, Chaucer distinguishes quite clearly between the open and close o. But there are, nevertheless, some cases of confusion even in Chaucer, as there are in most M.E. writers. These do not, however, occur with sufficient regu- larity or frequency to invalidate the theory of separation in rime of open and close 5 in Middle English. We have elsewhere L collected these exceptions, gathered from an examination of the entire body of Chaucer's writings. We here content ourselves with giving a few of the representative examples, so that the reader may see for himself in what class of words this confusion is exemplified. Such words as also, so, two, wo, as one might expect, rime with close 6, because in these words the o is preceded by w (so A.S. swa), which had a very narrowing effect on the open o in Middle English, and converted it from an open into a close o. Because of the enclitic character of so, and the shifting of accent, so and also have not followed the normal development as who and two, for example, have, passing into modern English u, but have been deflected into another course, or rather, have not departed from the regular course of development of the M.E. q (from A.S. a). The word wo — probably prevented by the already existing word wo (A.S. wogan) from a similar development into w (which would naturally lead to some confusion) — has shared the fate of so; while womb 2 (A.S. womb), under the influence of w, seems to have coincided with the who-class. Thus much is clear, that the M.E. q (< A.S. a preceded by w) vacillates in Chaucer, riming now with open and now with close 5. But apart from this class, there are examples of confusion ; as for instance, go, anon, mone (moan), one, lo, alone, everychon, fro, — all riming with do and its compounds ; mo, tho, go, lo, — all riming with to and its compounds ; soth occasionally riming with wroth ; i See Englische Studien, XX, 341. 2 This word may, however, have been influenced by the French word tomb, which has the w-sound. The Middle English Period. 57 home riming with come and doom. These exceptions may be explained on the supposition of the exigencies of the verse. 1 idoo : soo Eom. of Kose 1941 ; twoo : adoo Eom. of Rose 3035, Frank.T. 467 ; to go : ado Eom. of Kose 5082 ; to doo : soo Eom. of Eose 3047, Boke of Duch. 560, 649, 866, 1234 ; do : fro Eom. of Eose 2897 ; goon : doon (inf.) Boke of Duch. 187, 193, Knightes T. 1797, 2105 ; to do : wo Boke of Duch. 1190, Tr. and Cr. 830, Leg. of G.W. (Ariad.) 100, Eom. of Eose 3510, 4473, 4954 ; idoon : anoon Knightes T. 167, Boke of Duch. 131 ; tho : so : do Tr. and Cr. II. 23, House of Fame 320 ; two : to do Knightes T. 181, Leg. of G.W. (Yperm.) 133 ; to doon : anon Boke of Duch. 373 ; anon : doon Parl.Foules 645, Boke of Duch. 1310, 1332; allone : to done (ger.) Millers T. 358; to done (ger.) : mone (moan) House of Fame 361 ; none : done Eom. of Eose 6312 ; also : to do ; one : done Boke of Duch. 40, Prol. Eeeves T. 25 ; lo ! : do House of Fame 515, Eom. of Eose 3520 ; doon : everychoon House of Fame 685 ; mo : thereto : woo Monkes T. 330, Eom. of Eose 6643 ; also : therto Frank.T. 70, House of Fame II. 665 ; therto : woo : to go Monkes T. 333, Boke of Duch. 895 ; thereto : ago Leg. G.W. (Lucrece) 118, Eom. of Eose 6162; therto : Igoo Minor Poems, p. 288; hereto : so Tr. and Cr. IV. 1044, Frank.T. 593, Eom. of Eose 6202 ; lo ! : to House of Fame II. 490 ; forsothe : bothe Cr. and Tr. IV. 1007, Sec.Non.Pr.T. 168, Eom. of Eose 6525 ; sothe : bothe Eom. of Eose 6088 ; sothe : wrothe Boke of Duch. 512, 518, 1189 ; home : come Boke of Duch. 78 ; doom : home Prol.Monkes T. 50 ; martirdome : home Eom. of Eose 6254. This list is almost exhaustive, so that the exceptions cannot be said to Tie very numerous. Examples of Eomance words exhibiting confusion between the q and o, which, it must be confessed, are very rare, have been purposely withheld. It will be readily seen, then, that the exceptions do not recur with sufficient frequency to affect materially the general rule which holds good not only for Chaucer, but for all M.E. writers. 1 See article in Englische Studien cited on page 56. 58 An Historical Study of the 6-Vbwel. As to Chaucer's practice of writing, it may be said that oo occurs very frequently for both sounds of o, o simply, however, being generally employed. The writing oa is of exceedingly rare occurrence, as in hoast; coast (Dream 1722). The o's whose quantity is the result of the operation of laws of length- ening before Id, mb, etc., very rarely exhibit oo, but are usually written o. The same applies to words of Romance origin. Chaucer does not exhibit any confusion between close 6 and u such as we have seen was the case in the Northern Pricke of Conscience and Cursor Mundi. Nor do any other Southern writers, for that matter. So much, then, for the detailed investigation of the history of the two sounds of long o in Chaucer and the M.E. writers in general. To sum up the results of the foregoing investigation in M.E. : The A.S. low-back-wide a was regularly rounded into M.E. j. In the very earliest Southern texts, as St. Juliana, Hali Meidenhad, Old English Homilies, the old a is still retained without any appreciable change in quality; but in the pure Southern texts, such as the Ancren Riwle, the change has been completed, so that a very rarely occurs. In the .Kentish dia- lect the A.S. a, was likewise rounded into q, except in the pres. and partcp. of certain reduplicating verbs which in the Ayenbite regularly exhibit a. The South-East Midland agrees with the Southern in exhibiting the rounded q, while the early North- East Midland (Orm.) preserves, with remarkable fidelity, the old unrounded a as over against the rounded q of the latter period (Havelock). In the South-West Midland, as also in the North-West Midland, the A.S. a is regularly represented by the open o, but the unrounded a occurs occasionally in the latter dia- lect, as in the alliterative poems Gawain and the Green Knight, which occurrences admit of very easy explanation on the ground of proximity to the Northern dialect. The Cursor Mundi and Pricke of Conscience, representing the Northern dialect, exhibit, with perfect regularity, a for the A.S. Northern a, which does The Middle English Period. 59 not necessarily mean an identity of quality with the a of the South. On the contrary, it is quite probable that the North- ern a was a less open sound than the Southern a, lying perhaps near the close e, as its subsequent development into the closest possible e indicates. But even in this dialect a few cases of o occur, as in loverd, 'lord' (Pricke of Conscience). The development of the a from O.N. a is identical in all the texts and dialects with that of A.S. d. With regard to the symbol, the regular writing is o, but occasionally in the Southern dialect, Ancren Biwle and Genesis and Exodus, the writing oa is employed, whose origin, after the manner of ea for the open e, was probably due to an attempt at a more accurate representation of a sound inter- mediate to the low-back a and the rounded q, lying, however, nearer the latter. In Chaucer the double oo is often found for the open q, as it also is for the close o. In the Cursor Mundi, for the A.S. a, ai sporadically occurs, which gradually extended itself till, in Modern Scotch, it became the rule. A.S. a before Id (the eo-breaking in W.S. and Kent.), an open vowel to begin with, was lengthened in all the M.E. dialects, and generally coincided with A.S. a, with whose development its own is almost, but not quite, identical. In the earliest Southern texts the a is preserved (lengthened) before Id, but later is generally rounded into q. The Kent, manifests its dis- tinctive characteristic of the use of the old diphthongs in the frequent retention of the old " broken " ea, which occurs beside yea, e, a, o, etc. In the South-East Midland the rounded q reg- ularly occurs, but in the early North-East Midland Orm., with- out exception, writes the simple a, lengthened, which, a little later, was replaced by the rounded q. In the West-Midland, both North and South, the rounding process is complete, and q is regularly found. But, as might be expected, a few sporadic cases of the survival of the unrounded a are exhibited by the alliterative poems, Gawain and the Green Knight, etc. In the Northern dialect the lengthened a — which, it is to be borne in mind, is of a different quality from the a representing the A.S. a, being more open — occurs regularly. 60 An Historical Study of the 6-Vowel. This rounded q is graphically represented in all the dialects by simple o. A.S. o, of whatever origin, was widened in M.E. and length- ened in open syllables into open q, which occurs alike in all the dialects. This q is regularly written o simply. A.S. o before final Id, and A.S. o (a) before mb, both become open in M.E., and are so treated in all the dialects, being gen- erally written o simply, except in the Northern, where the old a is of course found. Both open and close o of Romance origin receive the same treatment in all the dialects. These 6's are generally clearly differentiated in rime, but there is a little confusion arising from such words as persone, pore, trone, which are found com- bined with both open and close 6. The simple o is the symbol employed for the o of Romance origin, indifferently, whether open or close. The A.S. close o, and the close o from Old Norse sources as well, are retained alike in all the M.E. dialects, without any appreciable change in quality, except in the Northern, where there is evidently a manifest tendency toward the high posi- tion, approximating the it-sound. This statement does not imply that the process was complete, but simply that there was manifest in the Northern such a tendency. As a matter of fact, the process was not complete till the 16th century. The other dialects 1 do not exhibit anything approaching this change, so early begun in the Northern, till a century or so later. This vowel is written generally o till late M.E., when oo was also introduced, and held its own by the side of the simple o. In the Northern dialect, however, u was very fre- quently employed, and occasionally, though very rarely, in Cursor Mundi and Pricke of Conscience, ou is found. The two o-sounds are very seldom found combined in rime, but in a few cases the poets, to meet the exigencies of their 1 With the possible exception of the Kentish, where an occasional it-glide appears to have been developed before the o, as in giiod. The Middle English Period. 61 verse, show here some confusion. These examples of confu- sion, however, do not occur with sufficient frequency (being, on the contrary, exceedingly rare) to affect the theory of differ- entiation between open and close long o in M.E. Of course, the class of words exemplified by who (M.E. 6 < A.S. a preceded by w) vacillated between open and close o in late M.E. It seems advisable here, at the end of this chapter, to pre- sent in small compass all the sources of the M.E. open and close long o, respectively. Hence the following rimme" : Sources of M.E. q : 1. A.S. a of whatever origin (except when preceded by w, in which case, in late M.E., the 6 is close). 2. A.S. o in open syllables. 3. A.S. a, ea (W.S. and Kent, breaking) before Id. 4. A.S. a, o before mb. 5. A.S. o before final Id. 6. A.S. o before rd (occasionally, as in hoord, bord, etc.). 7. A.S. a arising from ce (= Germ, ai), occasionally, as in most beside mest. 8. O.Er. o < Lat. accented au, which in Old Erench, as well as in the Anglo-Norman dialect, yielded open o. 9. O.Pr. o from Lat. o in positione, except before nasals, which in tonic and pretonic syllables became open o. 10. O.Er. q before ri < Lat. o in oria, oria, orium, which became, of course, in O.Fr. orie. 11. Occasionally Er. nasalized o from Lat. o before n. 12. Er.-Lat. o in certain proper names. 13. O.N. a. 14. Dutch o very rarely. 15. Keltic o very rarely. Sources of M.E. o : 1. A.S. 5 of whatever origin. 2. A.S. a preceded by w, occasionally in late M.E. 62 An Historical Study of the d-Vowel. 3. O.Fr. monophthong o (arising from accented Lat. o in open syllables), especially when followed by v. 4. Occasionally M.E. q of Romance origin, with which close 6 sometimes interchanges. 5. O.K 6 of whatever origin. 6. O.N. ou, which was reduced to the monophthong o. III. THE MODERN ENGLISH PEEIOD. A. The First Modern Period (1500-1600). We have seen that in the Northern dialect the A.S. a developed into an entirely different vowel from that into •which it developed in the other dialects. In the Scottish language this vowel subsequently underwent still further changes, for a discussion of which the reader is referred to Dr. Murray's excellent monograph. We shall, therefore, not concern ourselves further with this vowel. Nor shall we henceforth attempt to deal with the Northern dialect or Scotch. The problem before us assumes now a different aspect, because of the rise of Standard English. In the Middle- English period we had to treat a number of dialects which, from the point of view we then occupied, were practically of equal importance, but now, because of the supremacy of one of these dialects over the others, our investigation becomes more simple. This dialect, which we call Standard English, and which in reality represents the language of London, is of a somewhat composite character, being in the main the East- Midland dialect, with a slight Southern element. It was this dialect which, because of the importance of its writers, and through the introduction of printing, spread over the country, and gradually established itself as the dominant literary dia- lect. Henceforth, then, we shall confine our research into the history of the 6-sounds to Standard English, in contradistinc- tion to the existing minor dialects, which still are spoken. 63' 64 An Historical Study of the o-Vowel. In the treatment of the modern period we follow, for the sake of convenience and clearness, the somewhat arbitrary division according to centuries. Every student of the English language recognizes, of course, its unphonetic orthography, which was stereotyped at the intro- duction of printing. Now, this orthography, which is based in the main on the system of English sounds of the fifteenth or early sixteenth century, is still employed, with little or no alteration, to represent the present sounds, which since that date have undergone radical changes. But it is unnecessary here to make further remarks upon the obvious inadequacy of our sound notation, except to emphasize the fact that we cannot rely upon the present spelling to show the correspond- ing changes in sound which any given vowel or consonant has undergone since Middle English. Fortunately, however, we are not left without aid to grope our way in darkness through the tortuous paths of modern English phonology. There were grammarians who left on record their comments on the con- temporary sounds, and by the reference of these sounds, on the part of the phoneticians, to a common standard of com- parison, as Latin, which has not changed, we are given a clue to the various changes through which the vowels, and the consonants as well, have passed. It is with the help of these phonetic treatises, then, that we are enabled to arrive at a tolerably accurate knowledge of the changes the o-sounds have undergone since Middle English. A complete list of these phonetic authorities may be found in Ellis's Early English Pronunciation (cf. Vol. I. Chap. II. p. 31). 1. The 6-Vowel in the First Modem Period. The first phonetician to leave on record any information bearing on the history of the o-vowel in the 16th century is Palsgrave. Writing in 1530, he says : "0 in the frenche tong hath two divers maners of soundynges, the soundyng of o, which is most general with them, is lyke as we sounde o in The Modern English Period. 65 these words in our tonge a boore, a soore, a coore, and such lyke, that is to say, like as the Italians sounde o, or they with us that sounde the latine tonge aright." The o-sound here spoken of seems to be the open, and not the close long o, the examples cited doubtless being boar, sore, core, the first two of which are referable to A.S. a, and the last to M.E. q from Old French core. Of course, this statement of itself is inconclusive as to the quality of the long o, and so we pass on to the next authority. Salesbury, speaking of English sounds in 1547, says espe- cially of o : " O takes the sound of [Welsh] o in some words, and in others the sound of w ; thus to, to, digitus pedis ; so, so, sic ; two, tw, duo ; to, to, ad ; schole, scwl, schola ; . . . But two oo together are sounded like w in Welsh, as good, gwd, bonus, poore, pwr, pauper." And again, twenty years later, in 1567, he says : " O in Welsh sounded according to the right sounding of it in Latin : eyther else as the sound of o in these Englyshe words : a Doe, a Roe, a Toe ; and o never soundeth in Welsh as it doth in these wordes of English : to, do, two." Here, then, we have a plain statement of the fact that there were in the 16th century two distinct sounds of long o, and that one of these, viz., the o-sound in doe, roe, toe, is identified with the Welsh 6, which, according to Ellis and Sweet, was probably the long mid-mixed-wide o-vowel, or, at all events, an open o. The second sound referred to was, of course, the close o (as in do, two), which had continued from Middle English. The continuity of the distinction between the open and close o from Middle English up to the present date seems, therefore, established. But we bring forward further evidence, corroborative of that already adduced. In order of priority Sir T. Smith comes first. He simply pairs, as containing short and long " Latina," the following words given here in the present spell- ing, though written by him phonetically : Short: smock, horse, hop, sop, not, rob, bot, pop Long: smoke, hoarse, pope, soap, note, robe, boat, pope 66 An Historical Study of the 6-Vowel. All the examples given of long o are really open, being referable to M.E. q (A.S. a, bat, sap, etc. ; A.S. o in open sylla- bles, smoke, hope, etc. ; O.Fr. o, robe). It is worthy of note that Smith makes oo in boot, look, mood, fool, pool, too, the equiva- lent of Latin u. This is presumptive evidence that the old M.E. 6 had advanced to the high position — the tendency towards which we saw manifested itself in the Northern dia- lect even as early as the 14th century. Hart, in 1569, says : " The fourth [vowel], by taking awaye of all the tongue, cleane from the teeth or gummes, as is sayde for the a and turning the lippes rounde as a ring, and thrusting forth of a sounding breath, which roundnesse to signine the shape of the letter, was made (of the first invent- ors) in like sort thus o," his English examples being no, not, so. This description corresponds precisely to the position of the organs of speech in the production of the low-back-wide, round o. Elorio, speaking of the Italian o-vowel in 1611, says : " So likewise to the close O, I have throughout my book given this ovalle forme 0. and to the open, this round form O. The first close or ovalle is ever pronounced as the English single V in these wordes, Bun, Dug, Flud, Gud, Bud, Stud, Tun &c, whereas the other round or open is ever pronounced as our 0. in these words, Bone, Dog, Plow, God, Rod, Stone, Tone, &c, as, for example, in these Italian wordes, Io hondro il mio Bio cdn dgni diuotidne, where ever 0. is close and ovalle. And in these wordes, lui mi vu61e tdrre la mia t<5rre ; or else lui mi la rdsa la mia rdsa ; where Tdrre with an open or round 0. is a verbe and signifieth to take, and tdrre with a close or ovalle 0. is a noune substantive and signifieth a tower ; and Rdsa with an ovalle and close 0. is a participle of the verb Rddere and signifieth Gnawe or Nibled, and Rdsa with a round or open 0. is a noune substantive and signifieth the floure that we call a Rose." Here Florio makes the o in the English words bone, stone, tone, identical with the Italian open o, which, according to The Modem English Period. 67 Sweet, is not the round low-back-wide o, as one might suspect, but the round mid-back-wide. Now, whether Florio's ear was sufficiently trained to appreciate the distinction between the low- and mid-position may be questionable. But he certainly heard here the open sound. Gill, in 1621, likewise attests the open quality of the o, giving as key-words for his long o coale, beside the short o in to coll, which he writes v [oou]. Ex (o) brevi & (w), diphthongum habebant Latini, quae si non eadam, vicinissima certe est ou Graecae diphthongo, & proxime accedit ad sonum u Latinae. Ita quae Latine per u longum scribebant, Graeci exprimebant per ou. quae per u brevem, per v, quasi sonos vicinissimos. At ex (oo) longa & (w) diphthongus apud nos frequens est, apud Graecos rara, nisi apud Ionas : apud Latinos haud scio an fuit unquam in usu. " (ou), (bou) flectere, (boul) sphaera, kould poteram, (mou) meta foeni, (sou) sus femina. "v, a bowle 1 /JonJA., Sinum ligneum, vas in quo lac servatur, vel un.de ruri bibitur." Here, then, it is clear that Smith regarded the old ou as still a diphthong where Salesbury and others heard simply 6, with- out any it-sound, and that he distinguished the old ou from the new ou (< M.E. u) merely by the quantity of the first element, which in the former was equivalent to Greek u>, in the latter to Greek o. Again, Smith furnishes a refutation of Palsgrave's pronunciation of ou as Latin u, which may have been dialectal, since Bullokar endorses it. Wallis, in discussing ou in 1653, says : " Ou et ow duplicem sonum obtinent; alteram clariorem, alterum obseuriorem. In quibusdam vocabulis effertur sono clariori per o apertum, et w. Ut in sdul anima, sduld vendebam, venditum, sndw nix," and so on. See under ou from 6 + Id, 11, etc., to which quotation is to be added further : " In aliis vocabulis obscuriori sono effe- runtur ; sono nempe composito ex d vel u obscuris, et w. TJt in hduse domus, mouse mus, Ibwse pediculus, bdul globulus, bur noster, but ex, bwl bubo, tbum oppidum, fbul immundus, fbwl volucris, bbw fiecto, bbugh ramus, sbw sus, etc. At would vel- lem, should deberem, could possem, course cursus, court aula, curia, et pauca forsan alia, quamvis (ut proxime praecedentia) per bu pronunciari debeant, vulgo tamen negligentius efferri solent per oo [mm]. " According to Wallis, then, ou has two values, — genuine ou and obscure ou. But he also says that ou consists of " o apertum et w," and that upon the dropping of w, as in sno, kno, so, which he admits as permissible pronunciation for snow, know, sow, etc., we have " 6 rotundum." It is not clear how the mere absorption of w could convert an open into a 1 Note the distinction between these two words, the one (boul) ball (< Fr. boule), and the other (booul) bowl (< A.S. bolla). Gill, in 1621, makes the same distinction ; but some of later grammarians (notably the ^Orthographist) did not observe it, and so pronounced bowl (baul) . The Modern English Period. 87 close o. Wallis cannot, therefore, have meant by " o apertum " what we understand by open 6. He must have used this term merely in contradistinction to obscure o, as Sweet suggests. So, then, we infer that by open o Wallis really meant close o (round mid-back-narrow). It will be remembered that at this time the original open 6 had developed into close o, so that Wallis' error really is more intelligible than it at first seems. It appears, then, that the old ou — which even in the Welsh Hymn to the Virgin and in Salesbury's time was transliter- ated by the symbol used for open o — had become identified with the close o, thus coinciding with original open o, which had now been narrowed into the same sound. But this change had not yet been completed, and this pronunciation, conse- quently, had not yet gained general currency. The old ou was, therefore, constantly diverging from the new on, which sprang from the diphthong of u. Confirmatory evidence is furnished by Price (1668), who makes several divisions of ou as follows: " 1. ow, ou sound ' like o ' in bestow, know, a bow, flow, low, window, throw, glow, grow; succour, brought, endeavour, although, armour, behaviour, clamour, colour, embassadour, emperour, errour, gourd, harbour, mannour, nought, odour, ought, rigour, solicitour, soul, though, thought, wrought. * " 2. Ow, ou keep their ' full sound ' in how, to bow, froward, allow, cow, coward, now, toward, devout, flout, fourth, our Saviour, stout. "3. Ou sounds 'like short w' in cousin, double, courage, adjourn, bloud, couple, courtesy, discourage, doubled, encourage, floud, flourish, journey, journal, nourish, ougly, scourge, touch- stone, touchy, young. " 4. Ow, ou sound ' like woo ' in arrow, pillow, barrow, borrow, fallow, follow, hollow, morrow, shaddow, sorrow, swallow, widdow, willow, winnow, couch, course, discourse, court, courtier. "5. ' Ou soundes like iw in youth.' " 88 An Historical Study of the o-Vowel. Cooper, in addition to the quotation given previously, says : " U gutturalem [»] ] ante u Germanicum oo anglice expri- mentem semper scribimus per ou ; ut out ex ; about circa ; ou tamen aliquando, praeter sonum priorem, sonatur ut oo; ut I could possem ; ut u gutturalis, couple copulo ; ut a [long low- back-narrow-round vowel, as in law] bought emptus." Then, after a list of examples of ou (< M.E. u), he adds: "Wqm- escens adjungitur post o finale (praeter in do facio, go eo, no non, so sic, to ad), ut bowe arcus, dowe farina subacta, owe debeo, sowe sero, towe lini floccus, &c, & in own assero, disown denego, bellows follis, gallows patibulum, towardness indoles." Miege, in 1686, gives lists of words illustrating the sounds of ou, from which we take the following : "oi( = 'oun peu long ' in coulter, moulter, poultice, poultry, four, course, concourse, discourse, soul, souldier, shoulder, mould, trough, dough, though, although. " ough = a long, that is, the same as Cooper's « above, in : ought, nought, brought, bought, sought, thought, wrought = at, nat, brat, bat, &c, except drought, doughty = draout, daouty; borough, thorough = boro, thoro; cough = c&ff; rough, tough, enough = roff, toff, enoff. " ou = ou French [uu] in would, could, should, you, source, youth — Portsmouth, Plimouth, Yarmouth, Weymouth, Monmouth." It is evident from the foregoing that the old diphthong ou had now become a monophthong equivalent to close 5 (round mid-back-narrow), while the diphthong ou which arose from u had passed into au ; or, in other words, its first element had developed into an obscure vowel, the second remaining practi- cally the same. The ou had, in many words, been shortened, thus developing into the obscure vowel 9 (low-back-narrow), as in enough, tough, rough, and in borough, thorough, where 1 That is, the obscure vowel (low-back-narr6w-round). The Modern English Period. 89 the r was a factor in the development. The on before the gut- tural gh developed into a long low-back-narrow-round vowel, as in ought, nought, bought, sought, wrought, etc. It is to be borne in mind, then, that the old oit-diphthong, which even so early as the latter part of the 16th century began to be reduced to a monophthong, viz. open o (this vowel having not yet been narrowed), became finally, in the latter part of the following century, completely identified with close o, which represented the open o of the former century. Of course, the M.E. distinction between the open and close diphthong (qu and ou) ceased to be observed in early modern English, in which both were treated alike and regarded as one in contra- distinction to the new diphthong developed from M.E. u. The evidence points to a levelling of the close ou under the open qu in early modern English. In the 18th century ou, like close 6 (from M.E. q), under which it had been levelled, experienced no radical change, but remained as it was at the end of the preceding period. In fact, the fate of this ou will be seen to be identical with the subsequent fate of the vowel under which it was levelled. The grammarians of this period have left on record very little comment on ou. Interesting are some of Buchanan's writings, as, for instance, nought (naat), though (dhoo), know (noo), blow (bloo), bestow (bistoo), soul (sool), a low (ae loou), thought (thaat), bought (baat), but would (wud), could (cud). These last examples are significant as showing how the spell- ing with ou, as in would, and also should, has been fixed, though historically these two words are not, as could is, enti- tled to the ou. It will be remembered that the w-glide was developed quite early in modern English between o and I; and though after the ou lost its diphthongal quality there was gen- erally a reversion to the earlier writing, 1 as in gold, told, sold, etc., yet in a few cases ou has been stereotyped, as in should, would, in which two words analogy (to could) has doubtless influenced the present spelling. Of should, however, it is to i Exceptions occur, as mould. 90 An Historical Study of the o-Vowel. be said that an examination of M.E. writers shows that very early the writing with u appears to have been introduced, Layamon, the Ancren Biwle, the Alliterative Poems, Wickliffe, Chaucer, and others, exhibiting u beside o, so that sulde can very easily have become sulde, which would normally have developed into should in modern English. In this case should would then, like could, exhibit the new diphthong ou from M.E. u. These words all were shortened, in early modern English, through the influence of the following consonant d, the preterite termination, and so were phonetically written with u by the grammarians. In Living English the ou — which had persisted through- out the 18th century and down to the middle of the present as close 6, under the general tendency of all long vowels to diphthonging — reverted to its former value of a pure diph- thong ou, into which sound the close 5 also developed, as in stone, bone, etc. As examples, may be cited slow, row, sow, snow, know, blow, grow, owe, own, mow, etc. In the develop- ment of this sound, then, we have the strange phenomenon of a diphthong becoming a monophthong and again the same diphthong which it was at first. In the class of words exem- plified by cough, thought, bought, sought, wrought, brought, etc., the ou, under the influence of the following guttural, has developed into a different sound, viz. a round low-back-narrow vowel, or a diphthong whose first element is a round low-back- narrow, and second a round mid-mixed-wide vowel (oa), since an 6-glide appears to have developed from the guttural gh. The shortened u from ou in would, should, could, is in Living English a round high-back-wide vowel, or the same as that representing shortened close o, as in foot. A tabular view is here subjoined which shows the main course of development of the o-vowel in English. South. Kent. East Mid. West Mid. North. 1. A.S. o>M.E.j j a (early, but later J), £ d 2. A.S. 6 > M.E. 6 6 o 6 6 (very late «) The Modern English Period. 91 16th Cent. 17th Cent. 18th Cent. 3. Late M.E. p > jg (written oa, o — e) > oq and 00 > 00 4. Late M.E. o > 00 and uu (written 00) > uu > uu Early 19th Cent. Living English. 3. > 00 > Diphthong qu, as in stone, goat, tone, rode, pope, coal, gold, etc. ; oe before r in more, sore, gore, boar, hoar, etc. ; in broad. 4. > uu > Diphthong uw, as in fool, boot, moon, noon, prove, move, etc. ; ua before r in moor, poor, etc. A.S. » ] A.S. oy )■ > M.E. qu (written ou, ow), as know, owe, ouh. A.S. ah j A.S. og > M.E. om (written ow) as flowen (A.S. flogan), bowe (A.S. boga). _ \ > M.E. ou (written ow, ou), as growe, flowe, inouh, drouh. A.o. Oil 1 16th Cent. 17th Cent. 18th Cent. Late M.E. ou 1 ) _ ^ Late M.E. on 19th Cent. Living English. > 00 > Diphthong ou, as in know, row, sow, flown, flow, grow, blow, etc. 1 In late M.E. the M.E. ou from A.S. og was levelled under §u. APPENDIX. A list of Rimes from several M.E. texts showing how open and close o were separated in rime. Metrical Psalter. 1 swa : fa 33.16, 31.21, 34.7, 34.16, 43.4, 45.4, 47.6, 54.10, 68.12, 72.7, 108.20 ; swa : fra 1.4, 26.9, 42.3, 72.27, 119.5 ; f a : ga 18.15, 54.6, 58.7, 81.5, 82.5; fa : ma 9.21, 15.3, 21.2, 26.3, 32.6, 39.13, 55.6, 57.7, 68.15, 73.17 ; ma : swa 8.4, 17.34, 24.13, 25.10, 28.9, 32.10, 67.6, 89.11, 94.9; swa: wa 9.28, 17.3, 25.2, 38.4; twa: swa, 16.9, 17.25, 29.12, 32.5, 37.11 ; swa : ga 16.13, 26.4, 35.4, 43.10, 95.11 ; ga : twa 16.2, 36.15, 114.8 ; fa : fra 17.23, 32.19, 48.15, 58.3, 34.17 ; mare : are 13.3, 39.6 ; ane : stane 20.4, 77.16, 90.12; onane : to gane 2.2, 25.1, 36.31; onane : stane 39.3; maste : gaste 76.7, 106.25, 118.131 ; wa : als-swa 30.10 ; ane : nane 13.3, 31.9, 34.15, 52.6 ; lath : wrath 17.8 ; swa : fa 62.3 ; swa : fai 2 7.6, 54.13; swa : faa 60.6; fa : ga 30.9, 42.2, 44.6, 55.10 (faa : ga) ; onane : fane 26.6 ; faane '* -. ane 70.10 ; faa : fa 24.3, 30.16 ; fai : fa 9.4 ; balde : kalde 28.3 ; anes : banes 21.15 talde : f aide 11.7 ; ma : sla 53.5 ; fare : mare 40.7 ; swa : sla 61.4 lare : mare 118.66 ; talde : falde 78.12 ; fa : sla 34.4, 58.12 ; fa wha 58.8 ; bane : Chanaane 105.38 ; banes : at anes 108.18 ; wa ga 29.12, 67.6, etc. A few sporadic cases of o instead of a occur in the Psalter, as go : fo 41.10 ; go : als-so 71.3 ; swo : f o 2.1 ; to : wo 40.4 ; none : 1 The Anglo-Saxon and Early English Psalter, edited by J. Stevenson for the Surtees Society, 1845. 2 The writing aa and ai for long a occurs in the Psalter, also, occasionally. 93 94 An Historical Study of the 6-Vbwel. fone 37.4 ; to : f o 24.14 ; swo : to 21.24 ; als-swo : fordo 27.5. But these are exceedingly rare, as the citations show. Havelock the Dane — ones : bones 1296 ; sold : old 1638 ; stod : wod 508, 1848, 1896 ; toke : loke 376; go : wo 510, 542, 2074, 2220; anon: ston 928, 1050, 1632; sone : bone 1660, 2570; mod : stod 1702; stod: blod 476, 1818 ; elopes : of es 418, 578, 2336 ; mone : sone 373, 402, 1954 ; fote : bote 1200 ; sore : ore (hore) (mercy) 153, 2442 ; mesebok : ok (Dan. og) 186, 200 ; ok : bok 1081, 2126, 2372, 2780; ok : kok (cook) 880, 2898; bok : tok 1174, 2850, lode: brode 896; oth : loth 260, 440, 2312; cold : bold 450; hold: bold 192 ; gold : hold 74 ; sor : hor (hair) 235 ; sho (shoe) : do 1138; to : do 17, 252, 412, 526, 1046; Mode : gode 500, 670; flode : gode 522 ; god : wod 1776, 2360 ; sore : more 456, 654, 788, 2752 ; go : so 934 ; fo : slo (slay) 1364 ; wo : slo 1744 ; fro : slo 2070 ; boren : koren 1878 ; oth : woth (I wot) 2526 ; sore : fore 2638 ; more : fore 922, 980 ; of er : brof er 1396, 1690, etc. ; so : undo 714, 2738; to : wo 1742; mo : to 1846; two : do 1804, 2730 ; so : to 324, 1822, 2136, 2960 ; to : do 17, 252, 412, 526, 1046, etc. It will be observed, from an examination of the above exam- ples, that confusion between q and o arises only in those cases where the q springs from A.S. a preceded by w } which could rime with either open or close o. , Pearl. — sore : more 130, 549 ; schore : more 166 ; yvore : more 178 ; porpose : chose 185 ; umbe-gon : whalles bon 210 ; schon : non 213 ; more : lore 234 ; tresore : bore 237 ; lose : porpose 265 ; so : mo 338 ; do (doe) : fro 335 ; wo : fro 334 ; bofeT: wofe 373 ; lof e : wrof e 377 ; one : ston 378 ; so : two 552 ; f o : go 556 : byfore : more 597; blom : dom 577; god : flode 733; mode; stode 737; blode : wode 740; bolde : colde 805; byholde: wolde 808 ; folde : tolde 812 ; wro (Dan. wra) : fro 865 ; mo : also 869 ; f oo : bio 872 ; rose : lose 905 ; blose : enclose 908 ; to done : bone 913 ; note : mote 933 ; flote : moote 945 ; rote : mote Appendix. 95 957 ; fote : mote 969 ; sone : mone 1077 ; done : mone 1041 upone : mone 1053. Gawain and the Green Knight — elope lope : bope 124 ; to blowe : inno3e 512 ; lore : pore : more 664 hone : done : sone 1285; lawe : knowe : drowe 1643; gode stode 1768; biholde : colde 1844; gode : rode (rood) : stode 1947 ; 3ore : sore 2114 ; snawe : lowe : trowe 2233 ; therefore : more : restore 2279 ; ones : stones 2280 ; restore : pore 2356 ; lorde : acorde 2403 ; coolde : bolde : wolde, 2474, etc. Kobert of Gloucester — more : sore 18, 55, 68, 98, 161, 220, 323 ; gode : blode 13, 15, 55, 57, 199 ; to : do 13, 36, 47, 48, 52, 90, 187, 522 ; ore : ybore 8 ; not : hot 7, 531 ; more : restore 194, 500 ; mo : wo 47, 52, 81, 127, 164, 177, 306 ; go : wo 13, 295, 329 ; stod : god 15, 21, 33, 122, 231, 305 ; gode : node 20 ; so : two 21, 306, 531 ; po : mo 23, 28, 37, 70, 95, 149, 232, 236 ; sop : dop 31 ; bope : wrope 31, 241 ; lope : bope 32 ; po : wo 33, 143, 237, 249, 535, 537 ; mone : one 34, 315 ; gon : fon (foes) 35 ; ore : sore 39, 57, 58 ; stod : blod 42, 47, 91, 132 ; bolde : tolde 43, 72 ; go : mo 44, 138 ; toke : loke 53, 91 ; bolde : holde 58 ; mode : rode (rood) 61 ; anon : ston 517 ; ost : bost 258 ; fon (foes) : (ech)on 63, 79, 80, 86, 127, 136, 159; stode : rode (rood) 67, 70; wod: stod 68, 299 ; more : lore 71, 133 ; toke : f orsoke 76, 241 ; broper : oper 77, 228, 278 ; po : go 150, 177 ; fon (foes) : anon 80, 156, 211 ; brok (brook) : tok 80 ; stod : mod 83, 212 ; also : do 4, 36, 38, 65, 189 ; two : do 4, 7, 72, 224, 308 ; so : to 3, 4, 5, 29, 35, 52, 91, 523, etc. ; so : do 30, 85, 170, 239, 504, etc. Genesis and Exodus — good : stood 186, 2394 ; good : mood 128, 327, 333, 408, 1441, 1850 ; oo (ever) : Sorfro 112 ; biforn : boren 220, 253, 452, 908, 1377, 1706, etc. ; moal : natural 81 ; wo : mo 69, 353, 2402 ; loken : boken 4 ; fro : wo 216, 2886, 2896 ; woa : Eva 238 ; forloren : boren 241, 545, 696 ; bold : awold 324; mo : po 424, 578, 670, 732, 740; good : flood 492, 561 ; mor : sor 512, 1240, 1734, 2566 ; two : so 570, 706, 942, 1070; Gomorra : poa 840; gon : non 845, 3298, 3542; (H)oba: woa 880 ; po : fro 902, 1552, 3196 ; (h)old : wold 938 ; tok : ok (Dan. og) 944, 1172, 1416, 1568, 1756; wrotS : loS 1216, 1736, 96 An Historical Study of the o-Vowel. 3318 ; fot : mot 1304, 3488 ; for (went) : swor 1337 ; stod : blod 1468, 2276; biforen : sworen 1526; on (one) : gon 1640, 2260; ston : gon 1650, 3866, 3872 ; blood : good 1662 ; tooc : booc 4124 ; bogt : wrogt 2606, 2824, 3216, 3628 ; old : sold 1908 ; ooc (oak ) : wooc (woke) 1874 ; nogt : wrogt 1812, 2218 ; sogt : nogt 1770, 3080, 3130 ; to : so 1828, 2492, 916 ; to : two 1094, 2814 ; Sore-to : so 590, 664; bio (A.S. bleo) : wo 637; to : do 1754, 3510, 3870, etc. King Horn.— anon : gon 45, 286, 1232, 1352; two : po 50 sore : more 70, 1194 ; stone : alone 74, 1026 ; go : also 98 ; wo po 116, 264; drof : perof 120; node : gode 140, 1184; blode gode 178; ihote : bote (boat) 201, 768; mode : gode 282 (an)oper : broper 284, 822, 1292 ; ope : wrope 384 ; sone : none (noon) 358, 802; fro : po 368; wo : two 430; more : lore 442; sone : idone 446, 748, 1238 ; stod : god 530 ; one : mone (moan) 528 ; fole : cole 590 ; gone : alone 612 ; ore (oar) : sore 656 ; f or- soke : loke 748; felowe : knowe 1090; toke : loke 1100, 1142; alone : mone 1114 ; lope : boj>e 1198 ; elope : wrope 1216 ; aros : gros 1314 ; gode : fode 1340 ; mode : blode 1406 ; ore (oar) : lore 1510; wo : do 276; to : do 268, etc. ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS. A.S. = Anglo-Saxon. Dor.Gr. = Doric Greek. Du. = Dutch. Germ. = Germanic or German. Gk. = Greek. Goth. = Gothic. LB. = Indo-European. Kent. = Kentish. Lat. = Latin. M.B. = Middle English. Merc. = Mercian. M.H.G. = Middle High German. Mod.Eng. = Modern English. Mod. Germ. = Modern German. North. = Northern or Northumbrian. O.D. = Old Dutch. O.Fr. = Old French. O.Fris. = Old Frisian. O.H.G. = Old High German. O.Ir. = Old Irish. O.Lat. = Old Latin. O.N. = Old Norse. O.S. = Old Saxon. Prim. Germ. = Primitive Germanic. Skr. = Sanskrit. W.Germ. = West Germanic. W.S. = West Saxon. > = Becomes or passes into. < = From or derived from. The symbol (V - ) indicates a root. The asterisk (*) above the line at the beginning of a word indicates a theoretical form which we assume to have existed in prehistoric times. 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