Description: Alliteration and Sound Change in Early English This 2003 study uses evidence from early English verse to determine when certain sound changes took place. Donka Minkova (Author) 9780521032247, Cambridge University Press Paperback / softback, published 23 November 2006 424 pages 22.8 x 15.2 x 2.6 cm, 0.624 kg ' … the book may be seen by some as a tour de force through historical English phonotactics, and in view of the complexity of solutions offered the reaction of many a reader may be occasional frustration - about how difficult it is to answer questions that many of us have long thought to be settled.' Anglia This 2003 study uses evidence from early English verse to reconstruct the course of some central phonological changes in the history of the language. It builds on the premise that alliteration reflects faithfully the acoustic identity and similarity of stressed syllable onsets. Individual chapters cover the history of the velars, the structure and history of vowel-initial syllable onsets, the behaviour of onset clusters, and the chronology and motivation of cluster reduction (gn-, kn-, hr-, hl-, hn-, hw-, wr-, wl-). Examination of the patterns of group alliteration in Old and Middle English reveals a hierarchy of cluster-internal cohesiveness which leads to new conclusions regarding the causes for the special treatment of sp-, st-, sk- in alliteration. The analysis draws on phonetically based Optimality-Theoretic models. The book presents valuable information about the medieval poetic canon and elucidates the relationship between orality and literacy in the evolution of English verse. List of figures List of tables List of abbreviations Preface 1. Social and linguistic setting of alliterative verse in Anglo-Saxon and Medieval England 2. Linguistic structures in English alliterative verse 3. Segmental histories: velar palatalization 4. Syllable structure 5. ONSET and cluster alliteration in Old English: the case of sp-, st-, sk- 6. ONSET and cluster alliteration in Middle English 7. Verse evidence for cluster simplification in Middle English References Index of names Subject index. Subject Areas: Literary studies: poetry & poets [DSC], Historical & comparative linguistics [CFF], Sociolinguistics [CFB]
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BIC Subject Area 1: Literary studies: poetry & poets [DSC]
BIC Subject Area 2: Historical & comparative linguistics [CFF]
BIC Subject Area 3: Sociolinguistics [CFB]
Number of Pages: 424 Pages
Publication Name: Alliteration and Sound Change in Early English
Language: English
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Item Height: 228 mm
Publication Year: 2006
Type: Study Guide
Item Weight: 624 g
Subject Area: Religious Sociology
Author: Donka Minkova
Item Width: 152 mm
Series: Cambridge Studies in Linguistics
Format: Paperback
