The loss of [ei] : [ai] opposition in Middle English
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Date
2007
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Adam Mickiewicz University
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Abstract
On the basis of several electronic and online corpora this paper discusses the temporal and regional
conditioning of the elimination of the diphthong [ei] in Middle English, a process which
led to a restructuring of the system of English diphthongs. The study exploits the so-called impure
rhymes found in poetic texts from various areas of England. Although Luick’s hypothesis concerning
an early change in the North is not invalidated, the examples adduced here seem to indicate
that an early merger of [ei] with [ai] may have also taken place in the northern areas of the
West Midland.
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Studia Anglica Posnaniensia, vol. 43 (2007), pp. 3-16