User:Hazarasp/Historical lexical sets
| This is a Wiktionary user page. If you find this page on any site other than Wiktionary you are viewing a mirror site. Be aware that the page may be outdated, and that the user this page belongs to may have no personal affiliation with any site other than Wiktionary itself. The original page is located at https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/User:Hazarasp/Historical_lexical_sets. |
Here's a series of lists of words that have underwent (or haven't underwent) specific phonological developments.
General information
[edit]The pronunciation under discussion is /oːn/ (which would have resulted in RP /əʊn/, GA /oʊn/, NZE /ɐʉn/)
anon preserves a variant pronunciation with a low short vowel (compare British dialectal /wɒn/)
Words showing developments of Middle English /uːv/
[edit]Modern English /ʌv/) (really more of /ɐv/ in most dialects)
Unknown; word doesn't survive in the standard language.
Words where <t> is not pronounced with (historical) /θ/
[edit]Variably:
Now fully with /θ/ or its equivalent:
- author etc. (most Greek/Latin loans with belong here; they all originally had /t/; here spelling pronunciation was assisted by Modern Greek having /θ/ in the relevant words)
Words where <au> is pronounced with /ɒ/ in RP/AuE/NZE
[edit]- Australia (and derivatives)
- Australasia
- Austen (and derivatives)
- austere (and derivatives)
- Austin
- Austria (and derivatives)
- auction (in AuE/NZE; not in RP)
- caustic (sometimes)
- laurel
- laureate (sometimes)
- Lauren
- Laurence
- lauric (sometimes)
- sausage
Words where <wa> is pronounced /wɒ/ even after velars
[edit]Words where <wo> isn't pronounced /wɒ/ (except after velars)
[edit]Recent borrowings aren't included here.
- aquatic (now usually with /wɒ/)
- quaff (now usually with /wɒ/)
- quark (occasionally with /wɒ/)
- swarf (also with /wɒ/)
- swarve (also with /wɒ/)
- twat (also with /wɒ/)
- wharl
- wark
- wazz
- wazzock
Words with unstressed /ʌ/
[edit]Words with Middle English /ɛː/ as /ɛɪ/
[edit]Some words that have been respelled are missing from this list.
- break
- drain (the spelling is deceptive)
- Eames (sometimes)
- fake (possibly; if so the spelling is deceptive)
- faze (the spelling is deceptive)
- great
- Jane (the spelling is deceptive)
- lea, ley (sometimes)
- Leahy (possibly; confer the variant Lahey, which has a spelling indicative of ME /aː/)
- maintain (possibly; if so the spelling is deceptive)
- steak (possibly)
- yea, yay
- Yeats (sometimes)
Words with Middle English /ɛː/ or /eː/ as /ɛəɹ/
[edit]- bear
- e'er
- ere
- ne'er
- pear
- scare (the spelling is deceptive)
- swear
- tear ("rip")
- there
- wear
- were-
- where
Words with Middle English /ɛː/ as /ɛ/
[edit]Incomplete; to be completed at a later date. Some of these words were never lengthened in some ME dialects.
- beat (past form in some dialects)
- bread
- breast
- breath
- dead
- deaf (except for in dialects)
- death
- dread
- feather
- heather
- heaven
- head
- heavy
- lead (noun)
- leather
- red
- read (past form)
- shred
- spread
- stead
- sweat
- thread
- threat
- tread
- weather
Words with preservation of Middle English unstressed vowels
[edit]Words with former C/lj/
[edit]- blue
- cleuch
- clue
- exclude (not in NED)
- exclusive (not in NED)
- flew (not in NED)
- flue (not in NED)
- fluent (not in NED)
- fluke (not in NED)
- fluorescent (not in NED)
- fluoride (not in NED)
- glue
- glucose
- gluten
- include (not in NED)
- inclusive (not in NED)
- influence (not in NED)
- influential (not in NED)
- pleura (not in NED)
- pleuron (not in NED)
- plue (not in NED)
- plumage (not in NED)
- plume (not in NED)
- pluperfect (not in NED)
- plural (not in NED)
- pluricentral (not in NED)
- pluricentric (not in NED)
- plurifarious (not in NED)
- plurify (not in NED)
- Plutarch (not in NED)
- pluteus (not in NED)
- Pluto (not in NED)
- plutocracy (not in NED)
- pluvial (not in NED)
- pluvious (not in NED)
- sleuth (not in NED)
- slew (not in NED)
- sluice (not in NED)