English spelling and sound changes Flashcards
why is the english spelling system irregular
The English spelling system has been around for centuries. During this time it has absorbed words from many other languages and has been used for many varieties of spoken English. The result is that the symbols do not accurately represent the sounds. Also there has never been a spelling reform in English.
Where do most english language variation in spelling and pronunciation occur?
In vowels
How did a standard come to be established?
The scribes often copied earlier manuscripts and many copied the symbols indicative of an earlier pronunciation. Scribes working at the chancery begang writing in English rather than in latin and followed a Midland variety.
How is Chancery English characterized?
By free spelling, a gh at the end of the word high even though the consonant is no longer pronounced. Th endings for third person verbs as in he doth /he does. past tense endings (e) d for instance.
When did William Caxton start the printing press in London?
1476
When is standardization automatically established?
When a document, book or pamphlet is reproduced the same way many times.
Name two written works that is important concerning the standardization of English.
Shakespeares first folio of 1623 and the King James Bible of 1611
What is the great vowel shift and when did it start?
The great vowel shift begun around 1400 and continued until after the 1600. The GVS involves long vowels such as those pronounced as (a, e,i ,u, o) becoming (e, i, aj, aw, u)
What is etymological respellings?
For instance the word debt. Borrowed from french and occurs in french as dete, dette and dett without a b. Because the latin forms have bs in the same word the b is introduced by writers wishing to sound learned. The same happens with doubt, fault, and soldier
Give an example of a letter combination and not the word that has been borrowed.
Qu in the word Queen. The french combination qu replaced old english cw and cwene became queen. Due to Anglo-saxon scribe influence
Are sound changes predictable?
Yes
What are the three features vowels can be described as using?
Whether the tongue is high or low, front or back and the lenght of the sound.
What is meant by voiced sounds? Give examples;
Voiced sounds are made when the vocal folds in the larynx vibrate.. For instance v and z are voiced
Voiced sounds are: b,d,g,v,z,zh.j,th
What is meant by voiceless sounds ? Give examples:
Voicless sounds are for example; p, t, k, f, s, sh, ch, th
