Edited by Irén Hegedűs and Alexandra Fodor
[Current Issues in Linguistic Theory 325] 2012
► pp. 43–72
This paper explores the phonological origins of Old English in light of the major theories proposed for grouping the early Germanic dialects and, in particular, for assigning Old English to a specific branch or subbranch of Germanic. Our survey demonstrates that the consonantal roots of Old English are ProtoGermanic, and that the accented vocalic roots are NorthWest Germanic (non-Gothic), but that the unaccented vocalic roots of Old English can, at best, be assigned to Proto-West Germanic. Our further phonological deliberations substantiate Hans Kuhn’s hypothesis of a NorthSea Germanic subgroup of West Germanic (consisting of Old English, Old Frisian and Old Saxon) rather than Henry Sweet’s theory of an Anglo-Frisian subgroup (without Old Saxon participation). But by positing phonological evidence which underpins the notion of a North-Sea Germanic Sprachkreis emerging prior to the Anglo-Saxon exodus from the Continent, our analysis dissociates itself from Kuhn’s chronological concept of NorthSea Germanic.
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