From: tgpedersen
Message: 63429
Date: 2009-02-25
>That knowledge must be from something other than the orthography,
> --- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "tgpedersen" <tgpedersen@> wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> > I was wondering if the different outcomes of Engl. -ough was
> > caused by them being different from the beginning, thus
> > -ough /-oUx/ > /-of/ and
> > -ough /-oUG/ > /-oU/
> >
> >
> > Torsten
> >
>
> That's what I would think too, but the evidence doesn't present a
> clear-cut pattern:
>
> <enough> [inVf] from OE <genog> [jeno:x] or [j@...:x] with final
> /-x/, inflected <genoge> [jeno:Ge] or [j@...:G@] etc. > <enow>
> [inaU] archaic plural of <enough>, also = <enough>
> <tough> [tVf] from OE <toh> [to:x] with final /-x/
> <rough> [rVf] from OE <ruh> [ru:x] with final /-x/
> <cough> [kAf],[kOf] from OE *<cohhian> with /xx/
> <trough> [trAf], [trOf] from OE *trog [trOx] with final /-x/
> <laugh> [læf] from OE <hlæhhan> with /xx/
>
> BUT
> <though> [DoU] from Scand. *To:x, *Tox, with final /-x/
> <dough> [doU] from OE <dag> [dA:x] with final /-x/
> <bough> [baU] from OE <boh> [bo:x] with final /-x/
> <slough> [slaU] from OE <sloh> [slo:x] with final /-x/
> <plough> [plaU] from late OE <ploh> [plo:x] with final /-x/
> It is worth noting that the lower group of words are all nouns andThat word is strange.
> conjunctions with original long vowels, while the upper group of
> words are all adjectives, nouns with short vowels, or stem from OE
> geminated <hh>. In any case it looks unclear, but for phonological
> reasons I would say that OE final <-h> from *h or *g, and geminated
> <hh> after back vowels and retracted vowels, became [f] (and
> shortened preceding *[u:], from *u: and *o:, to [V]), while [G]
> from *g in medial position (as in inflected forms of nouns) as well
> as possibly analogically reintroduced *h in medial position
> probably produced diphthongs, [aU] from *[u:x] from both *[o:x] and
> *[u:x], [oU] from *[O:x] from [A:x].
> The development of <though> contradicts this, although some
> dialects developed it to forms such as <thof>. Perhaps it is
> explained by frequently having low stress.