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Kentish Old English <b>/<B>: orthographic ‘archaism’ or evidence of Kentish phonology?

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 October 2004

FRAN COLMAN
FRAN COLMAN
Affiliation:
PO Box 348, Methoni, Messinia 24006, [email protected]
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Abstract

Ninth-century Kentish Old English <b>/<B>, where it represents a reflex of Germanic [ß], has hitherto been dismissed as an orthographic ‘archaism’. Here, however, it is argued that the graph is a genuine reflection of ninth-century Kentish phonology. The linguistic argument, which invokes the concept of neutralization in reconstructing the Old English obstruent system, is placed in the context of reconstructions of the external history of Kent. Data are drawn from forms of moneyers' names on early Anglo-Saxon coins, discussed in the context of interpretations of manuscript data.

Type
Research Article
Information
English Language & Linguistics , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , November 2004 , pp. 171 - 205
Copyright
Cambridge University Press 2004

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Footnotes

John Anderson, Michael Benskin, Kathryn Lowe, and Graeme Trousdale have all had a chance to eff and bee this account of Kentish, and the two anonymous reviewers for English Language and Linguistics provided most helpful comments both on the text and the bibliography. The author acknowledges with gratitude the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust, for a Senior Research Fellowship during the academic year of 2001–2, during which much of the work towards this paper was carried out.