Consonant cluster reduction and change of language type: structural observations on phonotactic modification from Old to Middle English
2017
Abstract
The paper focuses on the interplay, observed in (particularly Early) Middle English and framed in terms of language typology, between the loss of endings as final unstressed syllables due to the overall rhythmical and prosodic changes, on the one hand, and the behaviour of consonant clusters in post-nuclear segments of the preceding syllables, i.e. processes observable, in the Early Middle English period, on the other hand. Comparing the behaviour of consonant combinations in Old and Middle English and its respective typological relevance, the paper contributes to the understanding of the "constructional" aspect of the emerging Middle English word-structure as part of the general trend towards the analytic structural tenor.