From: Andrew Jarrette
Message: 58561
Date: 2008-05-17
We know that OE /æ/ and /A/ merged in very late OE / very
early ME, and we know that later on the value was /a/. It
seems to me that the simplest explanation is that the
initial merger was to /a/. Also early, but probably after
this merger (according to a chronology set out by Roger
Lass), is the raising of OE /æ:/ to /E:/, and the raising of
/A:/ to /O:/ is a bit later yet. At that point the full
non-northern system would have been:
i: i u u:
e: e o o:
E: O:
a
OSL then filled the missing /a:/ slot.
-----------Not to mention, in Southwest and Midland dialects,y: yø: ø?:?Andrew