Syllable Cut Prosody in Early Middle English

Abstract

Previous studies have been largely unsuccessful in investigating Middle English quantity changes in terms of moraic or foot structure. The present study approaches quantity changes as the consequence of the phonologization of a syllable cut prosody (Trubetzkoy's (1939) 'Silbenschnittkorrelation') and provides new evidence for the relevance of syllable cut to the diachronic phonology of English. The evidence is from the author's partial reconstruction of the phonological system of the early Middle English dialect represented in the Ormulum (Northeast Midlands, circa 1180), based solely on the orthographic and metrical evidence provided by its author, Orm. Although Orm's innovative orthographic system previously defied analysis, it is fully interpretable once the role of syllable cut is recognized. The analysis provides crucial support for the relevance of syllable cut to the diachronic phonology of English, and ultimately to the explanation of the pan-Germanic similarities in the 'breakdown' of phonological quantity.

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