The and Alternation in the History of English
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 6031590 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Peter J Grund (0000-0003-4978-2413, University of Kansas, corresponding author), Matti Peikola (0000-0002-9004-8926, University of Turku, corresponding author), Johanna Rastas (University of Turku, corresponding author), Xin Wen (0000-0002-2558-3930, University of Kansas, corresponding author), Wen Xin (0009-0003-3835-0751, University of Kansas) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 96 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 127-160 |
| Publication date | 2021-05-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | American Speech (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0003-1283 • E-ISSN: 1527-2133 |
| Publisher | Duke University Press (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.1215/00031283-8661851 |
| OpenAlex | W3089280819 |
| Language | EN |
| References cited | 28 |
In the Early Modern English period (roughly 1500s–1700s), the use of the letters and went through a change from a positionally constrained system (i.e., initial , medial ) to a system based on phonetic value, with marking vowels and consonants. The exact dynamics of this transition have received little attention, however, and the standard account is exclusively based on printed sources. Using a data set of 3,801 examples from 107 handwritten legal documents from the witch trials in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692 and 1693, this study indicates that the current narrative is oversimplified and that behind the transition from one system to another lies a complex process of experimentation and variation. The study charts the and usage in the handwriting of nineteen recorders who subscribe to various “mixed” systems that conform neither to the positional nor the phonetic system. In addition to the positional and phonetic constraints, a range of other linguistic and extralinguistic factors appears to have influenced the recorders’ alternation between and , from lexical item and graphotactics to textual history
Alternation (linguistics · Art · Biology · Linguistics · Literature · Narrative · Physics · Statistics · Value (mathematics · Variation (astronomy · Witch · History · Lexicography and Language Studies · Linguistic Variation and Morphology · Linguistics and language evolution · Mathematics · Philosophy
Phonology and Morphology
Phonology and Morphology
Records of the Salem Witch-Hunt
The Salem Witchcraft Papers
Trial discourse and manuscript context
A Graphemic-Phonemic Study of a Middle English Manuscript
A Linguistic Atlas of Late Mediaeval English
Introduction to Early Modern English
Learning to Read and Write in Colonial America
The Salem Witchcraft Papers
From Tongue to Text
| Citation velocity | historical |
|---|---|
| Highly cited | No |