Alliteration and Sound Change in Early English

Alliteration and Sound Change in Early English

by Donka Minkova
Alliteration and Sound Change in Early English
ISBN-10:
0521032245
ISBN-13:
9780521032247
Pub. Date:
10/28/2006
Publisher:
Cambridge University Press

Overview

Alliteration and Sound Change in Early English

Minkova (English language, U. of California-Los Angeles) uses evidence from alliterative verse to explore the development of some important phonological features of Old and Middle English. Assuming that the distribution of forms in verse is governed both by conformity to a metrical template and by linguistically circumscribed preferences, she says, patterns found in early English alliterative compositions provide a valuable resource for reconstructing the contemporary languages. Her study also casts light on the relationship between orality and literacy in the evolution of English verse. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780521032247
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Publication date: 10/28/2006
Series: Cambridge Studies in Linguistics Series , #101
Pages: 424
Product dimensions: 5.98(w) x 8.98(h) x 0.94(d)

Table of Contents

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.

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