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Chapter 7 - The development of ME ū

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 February 2016

Gjertrud Flermoen Stenbrenden
Gjertrud Flermoen Stenbrenden
Affiliation:
Universitetet i Oslo
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Summary

Chapter 7 treats the diphthongisation of ME ū, the OE spelling of which was ; this was gradually abandoned for / after 1066, though use of continued throughout the ME period. The digraphs / may equally well correspond to [u:] as to diphthongs of various kinds (e.g. [ʊu], [əu], [ʌu]), so they cannot generally be used as evidence of diphthongisation. However, when the individual scribes’ orthographic systems are analysed in detail, it transpires that at least some of the irregular , , , etc. do indeed indicate incipient vowel-shift diphthongisation. Late ME / are generally accepted as showing advanced diphthongisation. Vowel shift of ME ū is in evidence from around 1250, and is thus simultaneous with the dipthongisation of ME ī, and the raising of OE ē and ō.
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Chapter
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Long-Vowel Shifts in English, c.1050–1700
Evidence from Spelling
 , pp. 239 - 261
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2016

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