Phonological Changes to the FACE and GOAT Sets in Late Modern English

Abstract

This study investigates the phonological changes in the lexical sets FACE and GOAT in Late Modern English. It particularly focuses on the phenomenon of monophthonging in these lexical sets. The study reviews literature and assesses vowel changes in these sets in the period from the eighteenth century up to the present-day. It discusses the impact made by the Great Vowel Shift and Long Mid Mergers on the vowels of these lexical sets. The material for the study comes from pronunciation dictionaries (Sheridan 1780, Walker 1791, Ellis 1889), corpora (Survey of English Dialects recordings), as well as contemporary studies (Watt & Milory (1999), Docherty & Foulkes (1999), Stoddart, Upton and Widdowson (1999), Network (1999), Mathisen (1999), Trudgill (1999), Tollfree (1999), Williams & Kerswill (1999), Mees & Collins (1999), Smith (1999), Chirrey (1999), McCafferty (1999), and Hickey (1999). The findings are discussed in a chronological order. The findings show that the phenomena of monophthonging is still retained in some English dialects in the period under study despite the important impact of the Long Mid Diphthonging on the vowels of these lexical sets.

Keywords: Phonological change, Late Modern English, FACE lexical set, GOAT lexical set, Monophthonging, Diphthonging, Great Vowel Shift, Long Mid Mergers.