Study of b ｧ 1 ｧ 3 the Sounds y s M . OE4 'g o r 1 I n tr o d u c t i o n A C h art A S tu d y ｧ 4 *^ .5 C ^O for a n ｣J th e of J YJ C ?3 an d Jr j a c tu a lly R ep r e se n ta tio n 'g ' 蝣s o u n d s ｧ 6 of C o n c l u s io n 59 a p p l ie d of O E . j 1 As every student of English phonology is aware, the study of the sound-values of OE. letters is tremendously difficult, and this difficulty can be ascribed to the non -unification of phonetic symbols which famous scholars of English philology try to fall back upon for the representation of each sound value. To tell the truth, the international phonetic symbols are the only means for us foreign students of English to have recourse to when we want to arrive at the correct pronunciation of some difficult or unfamiliar words, especially that of OE. words. Good books there are in which the pronunciation of OE- words is dealt with. For instance, those books by Sweet, Wright, Cook, etc., may be found of great use to those native to England or Germany, but to us foreigners their respective ways of representing the sounds of OE- words are so different and complicated that we are at a loss which to take and which to reject, and, moreover, this non-unification results in making eminent Japanese scholars, such as Prof. Ichikawa, Prof. Otsuka, Prof. Kuriyagawa, etc., try to use different phonetic signs from one another. This is especially the case with the phonetic symbols for OE. 'g'. Herein lies the motive for my taking up the subject. Though scantily provided with necessary books of reference, I began the task of comparing the various ways in which 'g' sounds are represanted. If my present plan should prove of any service in alleviating the unnecessary burden on the part of new and young students of OE., I should rest satisfied. § 2 The following chart shows many varieties 'g' is transcribed by different philologists. al phonetic symbol Cy}, instead of Cgl of phonetic symbolsin As for me, I want to stick C&1 C91 or C?3- which to the interna-tion- P lo s iv e F r ic a t iv e (S t o p ) ( S p ir a n t) C 5 P a la ta l 9 i q* Ja V e la r (G u t t u ra l) Used by In te r n a t io n a l K J o n e s K A r m f ie l d K C u rm e K O t su k a K S w e et K X X g 60 X X Used Sweet Y Y g by the guttural Otsuka § N。w, a careful study 。f CE `g'has revealed that the th:ng for us to do first and foremost is to arrive at the exact idea of three sounds, that is, 〔9〕, 〔YX and 〔コ〕, two 〔Y,才〕 of which are non-English consonants. (1) 〔g〕 or 〔g〕 For a guttural explosive a phonetic sign Cg〕 has been in general use, but according to the Kenkyusha′s dictionary of English philology, Cg〕 is preferred to (p. 1046). (2) 〔 Y〕 As for 〔Y〕 it is described as very difficult for Englishmen or even impossible for us Japanese to acquire, though its voiceless counterpart 〔Ⅹ〕 is pronounced by Germans with perfect ease and naturalness, and even tolerably well by Japanese when carefully trained. Such is the difficulty of our acquiring the sound of I Y〕 that we had better refer to the following descriptions given by soms famous philologists or phoneticians. Jones (ォ) (The Pronunciation of Eng一ish, T94) Most people can mate 〔Ⅹ〕 easily ; but in cases of difficulty it may be arrived at by placing the tongue in the k position anL1 forcii一g the air through m a continuous stream. The next ste is to add voice to this. This gives the 、′ojeeu velar fricative, which is repre,糊ted phoneti蝕Hy by C¥〕 (b) Armfield (General Phonetics, P74) Corresponding to the s「und 〔Ⅹ〕 which is unvoiced, tfiere is naturllly a voiced counter resented in liorietic a一phabet by the sign 〔 3〕. It is found in Dutch and Flemish as well as Danish intervocaliealh. The I〕anish name Aage is pronounced 〔a: 9 a〕 It is by no means an easy sound to produce. (A Grammar of the German Language, P31) g」8 in colloquial North German a voiced spirant after back vowels, when also followed by a vowel : wagen, nagen, Fugen. Thephonetic symbol is 〔g〕. The Engl血g is here a stop, but this German sound is spirant, the brea仙con的itu'ng and no毛細ddenly stopped as in Eng王ish. Germans in the秋和th pronounce this g鵬in Engli叫, except that iもis voiceless. On the stage and in choice North German it is spoken as in English. (it) Jespersen (Modern English Grammar Vol. ∫. P22) 琵is back - open as in Dan. bage and a common German renunciation of sa (凡E.G. Part I, P235) The back open consonant 〔Ⅹ〕 is the sound of ch in the Scotch and German loch. The corresponding voice consonant 〔?〕 is heard in German sage. (可 li%魯平 (f,声音芋止論wi ll) 〔Ⅹ〕の有声はドイツ語では破裂音〔9〕の臨時変態であるが.オランダ語やスペイン語にはTE刺と認められてゐるといふ。 Gl (3) 〔亨〕 Palatalization was a marked characteristic of OE. `g'. The following are again what some scholars have to say about this point. (The Pronunciation of English, P160) 〔C〕 is a very `forward'〔k〕. It has a 〔j⊃ -glide following it; this ,an be seen from Fig. 39, which shows that it is not possible to pass from仙e position 〔C〕 to any vowel without performing the action of 〔ぶ・〔C〕 may be acquired by starting from 〔kj〕 and trying to pronou-ice this with a very forward tongue articulation and as nearly as possible as a single sound. 〔チ〕 is the correa onding voiced sound. (b) Armfield (General Phonetics, P91) In English, the word kind may be found in Victorian authors, who wish to repr℃sent Coこkney pronunciation, with the spelling kywd. These sounds, which are normal in Hungarian and some ∫ndian dialects,are re sentぐd in phonetic script by the svmbols 〔 JT-〕 for the voiced and 〔C〕 for the unvoiced form-. (<0 市河三富 (古代中世英語初歩) (注意:以下gの活字を以てgのゴジツク体に代える。 ) t,'`9'の口蓋化 `secgan'は正しくは〔seggjan〕と発音した方がよいかも知れない。それはC及びgにはvelar即ち軟口蓋の発苗(普通のけ〕〔g〕の発音)と同時にpalatal即ち硬口蓋の発音(〔kjj 〔gj〕に近きts)もあって,`secgan' などの場合はそれに属する。だから`pencan'thinkなど`peneean'と敬ってあるのを見ることもある。そういふC, gを表すのに初歩のtextでは己,畠を用いて区別するのか普通である。 (d) 了i'tt昏平 (音声学通論, 116頁, 179買う18O頁) 次に舌背中顎閉鎖の〔C,チ, P]が敢1けちれるのであるが、之は甚ブ」把束しにくい音である。〔C,チ〕は-ンガ1)ヤ君及印度語方言には正常であるが.多くの国語に於て臨時的に侍ほれてゐるO即ち次に述べる〔k. g〕が〔i, j〕の如き中顎母音的の音に先立つ時に臨時にあらわれる苗で、孝分に生態萩兜の対象になるものである., 〔C,守〕の聴覚効果が捕捉し難いものであるので・・・〔C・亨〕に比較的近いのは〔可, d5〕であるので諸言語に之が盛んに矧よれてゐるのであるo 隻 4 Two n。n-English sounds (Y,チ) which are characteristic 。f OE. ・g'having been thus carefully studied, the only task left for me to do is to apply these symbols to ths examples which Sweet, Wright, and some other philologists actually gave by way of explaining the various sound-values of OE.Yin their respective books. Sweet is the mosi thorough-going in his classification of the sounds of this OE. `g'- I want to quote each of his passages as a backbone, adding othars' to his where necessary, thus preventing me from bsing arbitrary in this practice of mine. The symbols given at the upper right hand corner of each section are the ones I applied to what these philologists had to say. 負 5 The Sound -Values of OE. 'g'Transcribed in Phonetic Symbols 62 a g had the sound of9 Cg〕 in go initially before back vow els. e.g- 云 (- g o) g o d (-g o d) (a) Before guttural vowels Initial g was a gutti汀al explosive and was pronounced like the g in N.且. good. 〔9〕 (Wright : E. OE. G.) (b) g ZsJ e.g. gi* (-*/) gearu (-ready) (TflL河:古代中性英訂FD.'fc) g had the sound of g 〔9〕 in go initially before y. e.g. gylden (-golden) g had the soun d of g in g o in も he group n g e.g . lang spring an 〔9 〕 I- long ) (ごsp ring ) losive, the former being nearly lib the g in NE. longer, ai sungon (-they sang) ; hungor (-hunger); lang (-Iong) ; and the l舶nearly like the g in NE. finger; as lengra (-longer) streng (-string) ; ping (-thing) 〔9〕 (Wright : K. OE. G.) (b) ngの9-〔g〕 (例) Iang 〔lagg〕 (long) (市河=古代中性英語初歩) (<O ngのgは〔g〕 -ニ〔9〕例) singan 〔siSgan〕 (-sing) (厨川:古代英語) gha dt hes o u ndo fgi ngobe f o r ec on s o n a n t s . e . g. t a e d bl e d. g had t hes ound ofg i n go when dou e. g. fi ogga 〔 9〕 ( =g l a d) ( ^fr o g) 63 〔 9〕 Medial gg was always a guttural explosive like the g in NE. good, as dogga (-dog) ; stigga (-stag). C9〕 (Wright : E. OE. G.I (6) g was sounded as in German sagen (like ch in loch, but With VOICc) medially between back vowels. C Yコ e.g. dagas (-days) boga (-bow) (a) g when not initial was pronounced 〔?〕, as in dagas (-days) burg (-city) , h瓦,lga (-saint). 〔Y〕 (Sweet :ざ・児. G. Part I, P241) (b) Medial intervocalic g was a guttural or a palatal spirant, the former being nearly Hl-e th旦g in NHG.sagen, as boga (-6oro) (==7aro) ; and the latter nearly like the g in mG. siegen, an bieg(e)an (-to bend) fasger (-/oc). (Wright: E. OE. G) CY] (c) ngのgを〔g〕と発毛する場合の他はドイツ語`sagen'の〔呂〕と発音する。 (例)瓦gen 〔a:Sen〕 (-ok)ォ,形容詞) (厨川古代英語9貫) Prof. Kuriyagiwa, uses 〔5〕 insteユd of 〔?〕. I wonder why. (d) In the oldest OE. initial g was a guttural呼irant liie the g often heard in丹fIO sagen, as g瓦st (-spint) ; god (-God) 〔Y〕 (Wright.・E. OE. G.) g was sounded as in German sagen (like ch in loch, but with voice) between 1 r and back vowels. 〔Yコ e.g. 瓦1gユ (-sォrai) beorgan (-soie) g Was sounded as in German sagen (like ch in loch, but with voice) finally afiher back vowels directly 〔 Y〕 ge・nog (-enough) Final g 、vas a guttural or a palatal jPj爪nt, as鵡g (-dough) ;plog cteg (こ-day) ; weg (-乱ray) ; bodig (-body) (--plough);or 〔Y〕 (Wrigbも: E. OE. G.) g wag aoundeLI as in German sagen (like ch in loch, but with voice) finally in consonant groups. 〔 Y〕・g. burg (-aty) mearg {-marrow) (Wright) 64 g h ad a sound lik e M nE .y in y e t initially b efo re 茸, 写 e .g . 皇g 皇iefan 〔j〕 (= yoォ) (= giv e) (a) Initial畠ilso had the souud 〔q〕, but seems also to have been pronounced 〔j〕 =ゑeard `yard;畠enumen `taken' 〔j〕 (Sweet 礼 E. G. Part I, P242) (b) Before palatal vowels initial g was a palatal spirant nearly like the j in NHG. jahr and the y in NE. ye, yon, as gear (-fe gave) ; giefan (-to give) ; geoc {-yoke) 〔j〕 (Wright : E. OE. G) g had a sound like Mnl弓y in yet medially before茸.亨, 〔j〕 e.g- Pe畠en {-servant) sSon - initial g had the sound 〔j〕 ex ept inthe combination噌J eg; da増(-軸) , 咋皇ep (-says) ; h年r￨jian (-rauage) 〔j〕 (Sweet NEG. P礼it I, P242) g had a souni〔1 like MnE. y hi yet finally in word or Ci⊃ syllable, after盲,蔓,喜. e.g. hali色 (-holy) weゑ (-玖・ay) da2台 (-day) sae畠ile (-sa(rf) (a) vg とcg以外の場合のgは〔j〕・ (例) da3台(daさj) (-day) か. myndi畠(Je - myndij) (-mindful) (厨川:古代英語) (b) Final g w'as a guもitural or a palatal spirant, as d瓦g (-dough) ; plog (-plough) ; mearg (-marro孔,) ∫ or pだg (-day) ; weg (-way) ∫ bodig (-hody). (Wright : E. OE. G) g had a sound like叫n甘. y in yet in some words after r, 1. 〔i〕 e.g. byr畠an (-bury) fylかn (-follozv) After n g sometimes had a sound like MnE. 〔チ〕≒EdB〕 dge in edge. eォS. sprengan (-scatter) 65 貰E W gin the combination ng was a front atop, this combination having the sound〔iiq〕, as in s守ngan (-singe) where the OE g lias a sound very similar to that of the 虹nE. g in singe. 〔†〕 (Sweet : JSEG. Part I, F242) (b) ng was pronounced like Mod. Eng. ng in finger when palatal it resembled 1 聖旦Inge. 3Fi官 ((プook : First Book in O.K.) (C) 〔j〕の位置から出る〔g〕のも (例) m弓rL皇an (mSt鳩an) (-mingle) (厨川.'古代英語) 亡門コ Cぎコ≒Ed3〕 eg represents the sound 〔d3〕 lengthened. e.g. ecg (-edge) scCgan (-so.v) (a)己負had the sound 〔qq〕 , as in bryと去(-bridge) , where again, the OE sound closely resembles the 〔dg〕 of bridge ; the c in thiさdigraph is intended to indicate the front sound. 〔J〕 (Sweet : NEG ・ Part I. P242) (ら) 〔j〕の位置から出る〔g〕の音を長くしたもの-〔gg〕ォftjE (例) 5e己かn 〔sE皇畠arL〕 (-*ay) (厨川:古代英語) (c) eg was heard like dg in Mod. Eng. bridge- (Cook:FirstBook in O.E.) 〔チ〕 (d) Medial and final cq was palatal explosive nearly lite the g in NE give, as lecg(e)an (-fo lay) ; secg(e)an (-io say) ; brycg (-bridge) 〔子〕 (Wright : E. OE. G) § N。ne would be s。 foolish as t。 believe that the sound 。f each OE. letter could be represented ii】 modern phonetic symb〇Is as precisely as it was actually pronounced about looo yearsago. This is clearly shown by the fact that Sweet and other philologists use in their respective books such expressions as `probable pronunc二ation,' `closely re- sembles-,'`a sound very similar to-, `was heard like- `nearly like-,'etc. Letters and words may survive, and grammar may outlive its possible changが> because they can be handed down to succeeding generations in black and white, but as for human speech-sounds, we find it very difficult to preserve them just as they were except by means of our present -day wonderful inventions, such as the phonograph and the wire - recorder. The modern progress of phonology and phonetics, however, coupled with the help of various laws of sound discovered by Grimm and Verner, has now mnde it possible for us to approach to approximate, if not exact, sound-values of letters pronounced ages ago. 66