Irish Influence in the Consonantal Spellings of Old English

The consonantal spellings of Old English (OE) were significantly influenced by the consonantal spellings of Old Irish (OI). 1) <th/þ> vs. (post-vocalic) <d/ð>: though OE did not have a distinction between /θ/ and /ð/, OI did, spelling this as <th> vs. (postvocalic) <d>. 2)...

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Main Author: David L. White
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Institute of English Studies 2017-10-01
Series:Anglica. An International Journal of English Studies
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.anglica.ia.uw.edu.pl/images/pdf/26-2-articles/Anglica_26-2_DLWhite_5-23.pdf
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author David L. White
author_facet David L. White
author_sort David L. White
collection DOAJ
description The consonantal spellings of Old English (OE) were significantly influenced by the consonantal spellings of Old Irish (OI). 1) <th/þ> vs. (post-vocalic) <d/ð>: though OE did not have a distinction between /θ/ and /ð/, OI did, spelling this as <th> vs. (postvocalic) <d>. 2) <h> vs. <ch>: though OE did not have a distinction between /h/ and /x/, OI did, spelling the latter as <ch>. 3) <ch> and <th>: both spellings appear to be from Irish. 4) <cg>: spellings of the “mixed voice” type, including “cg”, occur in OI, where they can spell either single or geminate voiced plosives. 5) <bb> (and <cg>): almost certainly in fi nal position <bb, cg> in OE represent singles, not geminates, as they can in OI. 6) Spelling rules referring to post-vocalic position: all cases show OE spelling having had, like OI spelling, rules referring to post-vocalic position, which appear to be additionally evidenced by “illogical doubling” in Northumbrian. 7) The meaning of <g> before front Vs: in OE spelling as in OI spelling, but not as in Roman Latin spelling, <g> before front Vs spells a palatal approximant rather than a palatal affricate. The overall conclusion is that the OE spelling system was developed by Irish missionary linguists.
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spelling doaj-art-dec2213ba28f41c5ba63a9909ad39ff22025-01-02T14:49:49ZengInstitute of English StudiesAnglica. An International Journal of English Studies0860-57340860-57342017-10-01262523Irish Influence in the Consonantal Spellings of Old EnglishDavid L. White0Independent scholarThe consonantal spellings of Old English (OE) were significantly influenced by the consonantal spellings of Old Irish (OI). 1) <th/þ> vs. (post-vocalic) <d/ð>: though OE did not have a distinction between /θ/ and /ð/, OI did, spelling this as <th> vs. (postvocalic) <d>. 2) <h> vs. <ch>: though OE did not have a distinction between /h/ and /x/, OI did, spelling the latter as <ch>. 3) <ch> and <th>: both spellings appear to be from Irish. 4) <cg>: spellings of the “mixed voice” type, including “cg”, occur in OI, where they can spell either single or geminate voiced plosives. 5) <bb> (and <cg>): almost certainly in fi nal position <bb, cg> in OE represent singles, not geminates, as they can in OI. 6) Spelling rules referring to post-vocalic position: all cases show OE spelling having had, like OI spelling, rules referring to post-vocalic position, which appear to be additionally evidenced by “illogical doubling” in Northumbrian. 7) The meaning of <g> before front Vs: in OE spelling as in OI spelling, but not as in Roman Latin spelling, <g> before front Vs spells a palatal approximant rather than a palatal affricate. The overall conclusion is that the OE spelling system was developed by Irish missionary linguists.http://www.anglica.ia.uw.edu.pl/images/pdf/26-2-articles/Anglica_26-2_DLWhite_5-23.pdfspellingOld Irishconsonants
spellingShingle David L. White
Irish Influence in the Consonantal Spellings of Old English
Anglica. An International Journal of English Studies
spelling
Old Irish
consonants
title Irish Influence in the Consonantal Spellings of Old English
title_full Irish Influence in the Consonantal Spellings of Old English
title_fullStr Irish Influence in the Consonantal Spellings of Old English
title_full_unstemmed Irish Influence in the Consonantal Spellings of Old English
title_short Irish Influence in the Consonantal Spellings of Old English
title_sort irish influence in the consonantal spellings of old english
topic spelling
Old Irish
consonants
url http://www.anglica.ia.uw.edu.pl/images/pdf/26-2-articles/Anglica_26-2_DLWhite_5-23.pdf
work_keys_str_mv AT davidlwhite irishinfluenceintheconsonantalspellingsofoldenglish