Sorry to ramble on but:
----- Original Message -----
From: "Robin Hamilton" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, November 30, 2008 1:15 AM
Subject: Re: Beowulf's Yogh
>> So, Dr. Hamilton, is this your question: "Why does the author of Beowulf
>> treat, for alliterative purposes, two distinct sounds ['y' as in 'yet',
>> and
>> 'g' as in 'get'] as if they were the same?
>
> Yup.
Were there two distinct sounds?
>
>> And, further, you wonder: "Were voiced and voiceless velar fricatives
>> distinct in Proto-Germanic?"
>
> I think that is what is puzzling me.
>
> (a) In Old English of the Eighth Century AD, as reflected in the text of
> Beowulf as we have it, voiced [<g>] and voiceless [<y>] velar fricatives
> [both represented by the yogh character in script] were distinct sounds.
How do we know there were two distinct sounds? We only have the text!!!
>
> (b) Was there a period in Proto-Germanic (the ur-language which later
> divided up into English, German, Norse, etc.) when there was a single sound
> which later split into voiced and voiceless velar fricatives?
Probably.
>
> (c) Hypothetically, does the composition, as opposed to the earliest
> written text, of Beowulf, represent a period before this split?
>
Not necessarily, as they could BOTH be before any split!
> R. and Roger
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