English Pronunciation Through the Ages
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English Pronunciation through the Ages Raymond Hickey, WS 2019/20 Department of Anglophone Studies University of Duisburg and Ess1en Pronunciation -what it is and how we acquire it - 2 The goal of this seminar is to introduce students to the history of English pronunciation both in the Britain Isles (England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland) and around the world since the colonial period (after 1600). The way one pronounces one’s native variety of a language is a quintessential part of one’s identity and hence the examination of how varieties are spoken is key to our understanding of speakers’linguistic behaviour. 3 How and what we say Most of the time when we speak we think not of how to say something (e.g. pronounce the words or arrange a sentence) but rather of what we want to say (the meaning of an utterance). 4 What we can understand Within our native language we have an extraordinary ability to grasp what is being said to us or around us. We can understand men and women, children and adults, speakers of our own variety of language and those of different dialects. We can furthermore adjust for tone of voice and rate of delivery, all of this in real time while effortlessly following the meaning of what is being said. 5 When speaking we make unconscious decisions about how to pronounce sounds 6 7 8 Variation in Pronunciation There are very slight differences in the way in which speakers pronounce their language. The differences merge into each other across time and space. Nonetheless, one can recognise regions where certain features are concentrated; clusters of features are then identified as varieties of a language. In today‘s world linguistic variation in cities is particulary significant and an important trigger for language change. 9 How dowe acquire the pronunciation of our native language? 10 Infants and young children are exposed to a continuous phonetic stream and must make sense of this by working out the systemic structure which underlines this stream of sounds. 11 The phonetic stream and mental phonological representations N.B: Phonetics deals with actual sounds, phonology is the sound system of a language and we have a mental map of this system in our brains for our native language. 12 A closer look at sound production The tongue moves horizontally and vertically to produce sounds. In addition the lips may be rounded (for back vowels) or unrounded (for front vowels). 13 14 The vowels of a particular language are always a subset of possible sounds (here: Modern English) 15 16 The basis for phonology The mental representation of sounds as phonological units is the basis for all languages. These building blocks (phonemes) are the elements from which to construct units (words). 17 The basis for phonology Children generate phonological knowledge by segmenting the phonetic stream they hear around them, then abstracting the segments they recognise and assigning these to systemic units on a mental level. This allows children to create new sentences with the sounds which others recognise as part of their native language. 18 Variation, interpretation and language change In the first few years of life children analysethe phonetic stream they hear around them. Variation in this stream can cause the children to interpret sounds differently from the way their parents did this in the preceding generation. Along with changes determined by socio- linguistic factors in later life, this is a major source of change in a language. 19 What are the pathways of language change? 20 When we grow older we can alter our pronunciation in order to (i) accommodate to others or (ii) to dissociate from others Accommodation Dissociation 21 How is language change transmitted? By face to face contact between speakers. 22 The historical background to English 23 The Germanic languages today 24 TheThe ssooururccee areasareas ofof GermanicGermanic trtriibesbes whowho camecame toto EnglandEngland inin thethe mimiddddlele ofof thethe 55tthh cencentturyury AAD.D. 25 26 Dialects of Old English West Saxon (south of the River Thames) Kentish (in the are of present-day Kent) Mercian (in the central and eastern part of England) Northumbrian (north of the River Humber) Scots (in the lowland area of present-day Scotland) Because of common linguistic features, Merician, Northumbrian and possibly Scots are often grouped together as Anglian. 27 The dialects of Old English 28 England during the Viking period Invasions start at the end of late 8th century, first plunderings, later settlement in Scotland and the north of England 29 30 TheThe DDananelawelaw During the Viking period the territory of England was divided into a Scandinavian and a West Saxon sphere of influence. The former was known as the Danelaw. In this region the greatest influence of the Vikings on the Old English was felt. Many Scandinavian placeanames are attested in the north of England. 31 Open page of Beowulf manuscript 32 On the right you see the opening lines of Beowulf. Click on the speaker symbols below to hear sections of the text spoken in what we assume was the West Saxon pronunciation of Old English. First section Second section Third section 33 England at the time of the Norman Invasion (1066) William the Conqueror 34 The Battle of Hastings (Sussex) in 1066 35 36 Middle English After the invasion of England by the Normans in 1066, the West Saxon 'standard', which was waning anyway due to natural language change, was dealt a death blow. Norman French became the language of the English court and clergy. English sank to the level of a patois (an unwritten dialect). With the loss of England for the French in 1204 English gradually emerged as a literary language again. For the development of the later standard it is importantto note (1) that it was London which was now the centre of the country and (2) that printing was introduced into England in thelate 15th century (1476 by Caxton). This latter fact contributed more than any single factor to the standardisationof English. It is obvious that for the production of printing fonts a standard form of the language must be agreed upon. This applied above all to spelling, an area of English which was quite chaotic in the pre-printing days of the Middle English period. 37 Middle English dialect areas 38 The dialects of Middle English The dialectal position of Middle English is basically a continuation of that of Old English. The most important extralinguisticfact for the development of the Middle English dialects is that the capital of the country was moved from Winchester (in the Old English period) to London by William the Conqueror in his attempt to diminish the political influence of the native English. NORTHERN This dialect is the continuation of the Northumbrian variant of Old English. Note that by Middle English times English had spread to (Lowland) Scotland and indeed led to a certain literary tradition developing there at the end of the Middle English period which has been continued up to the present time (with certain breaks, admittedly). Characteristics. Velar stops are retained (i.e. not palatalised) as can be seen in word pairs like rigg/ridge; kirk/church. 39 The dialects of Middle English KENTISH This is the most direct continuation of an Old English dialect and has more or less the same geographical distribution. Characteristics. The two most notable features of Kentish are (1) the existenceof /e:/ for Middle English /i:/ and (2) so-called "initial softening" which caused fricatives in word-initial position to be pronounced voiced as in vat, vane and vixen (female fox). SOUTHERN West Saxon is the forerunner of this dialect of Middle English. Note that the area covered in the Middle English period is greater than in the Old English period as inroads were made into Celtic-speaking Cornwall. This area becomes linguistically uninteresting in the Middle English period. It shares some features of both Kentish and West Midland dialects. 40 The dialects of Middle English WEST MIDLAND This is the most conservative of the dialect areas in the Middle English period and is fairly well-documented in literary works. It is the western half of the Old English dialect area Mercia. Characteristics. The retention of the Old English rounded vowels /y:/ and /ø:/ which in the East had been unrounded to /i:/ and /e:/ respectively. EAST MIDLAND This is the dialect out of which the later standard developed. To be precise the standard arose out of the London dialect of the late Middle English period. Note that the London dialect naturally developed into what is called Cockney today while the standard became less and less characteristic of a certain area and finally (after the 19th century) became the sociolectwhich is termed Received Pronunciation. Characteristics. In general those of the late embryonic Middle English standard. 41 Some figures from Chaucer‘s Canterbury Tales Geoffrey Chaucer (1340-1399) 42 The opening lines of the Canterbury Tales by Geoffrey Chaucer read by an actor in an accent which is assumed to be that used at Chaucer‘s time (late 14th century). 43 TheThe invinveennttionion ofof prprinintingting 44 The introduction of printing to England Printing was introduced to England in 1476 by William Caxton. This led to an increasing regularisation of orthography and morphology. 45 MMajajoorr lliinguisticnguistic dedevveeloloppmentsments aatt thethe outoutssetet ofof tthhee EarlEarlyy MMododernern PeriodPeriod 46 TheThe GreGreaatt VowelVowel ShiftShift The major change to affect the sound system of Middle English is that which resulted in a re-alignment of the system of long vowels and diphthongs which is traditionally known as the Great Vowel Shift. Essentially long vowels are raised one level and the two high vowels are diphthongised.