Re: [tied] Oddity of English

>
> What I personally find more puzzling is the occasional Mod.E. /O:/,

as

> in <broad> and in the variant pronunciation of <gone> as "gawn"
> (formerly also in a few other words). It reflects some kind of

irregular

> lowering in Early ModE, as if the vowel in these words had been

exempted

> from the normal raising and diphthongisation producing /oU/.

Would an irregular shortening followed by irregular lengthening have
done the trick?


Torsten