Re: [tied] Oddity of English

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, Piotr Gasiorowski <gpiotr@...> wrote:

> Don't be too sure of anything. OE a: is irregularly reflected as "short
> O" in <gone> and <shone>, and of course in several compounds where the
> shortening goes back to Middle English, such as <holiday> and <bonfire>.

Aren't the latter two regular? The first is an example of
'antepenultimate shortening', and the second is paralleled by the
infrequent placename _Stonton_ (< sta:n + tu:n) - infrequent because
the shortening usually occurred before rounding, yielding _Stanton_.

Richard.