User:Hazarasp/Historical lexical sets
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Here's a series of lists of words that have underwent (or haven't underwent) specific phonological developments.
General information[edit]
Words with the old pronunciation of "one"[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)