Kent accent in the 19th century: PRICE and MOUTH

This post continues from the introductory Kent accent in the 19th century.

The PRICE and MOUTH vowels

Figure 14. The distribution of PRICE pronunciations by the seven informants. All but one had acquired the new pronunciation [ai] (N). The informant from Appledore in the south east still had the earlier pronunciation [ʌi] (O).

Figure 15: The distribution of MOUTH pronunciations by the seven informants. Three informants had acquired the new pronunciation, [æɒ], [æ:] (N) or its intermediate form [æʉ] (T). Three informants in the south and east, and one in the north (Stoke), still had the earlier pronunciation [ɛʉ] (O).

The earlier 19th century popular pronunciation in Kent for PRICE was [ʌi] and for MOUTH [ɛʉ]. The target model brought by migrating Londoners to the Estuary towns was [ai] or [ɑi], and [æ:] or [æɒ]. Figure 14 shows that six informants spread almost over all the county had already acquired a new [ai]-like timbre for PRICE, while Figure 15 shows that three informants spread across the northern half of the county had a new [æ:], [æɒ] or intermediate [æʉ] for MOUTH. Clearly, the PRICE change was nearly complete, while the MOUTH change was later and still in progress.

The MOUTH change is more complicated, and seems to be taken in two steps, to [æʉ] then [æɒ], at least by some informants. The beginning was modified first from [ɛ] to [æ], (from a palatal to a low pharyngeal constriction), and then the end from [ʉ] to [ɒ] (from a velar to a low pharyngeal constriction).

Sound examples

Figure 16. The only example of the earlier [əi]-like PRICE with F1 starting at 500-600Hz (Appledore).

Figure 17. An example of the new [ai]-like PRICE (F1 starting above 600Hz), and the earlier [ɛʉ]-like MOUTH (Denton).

Six out of the seven informants had the new [ai]-like PRICE pronunciation, the seventh still had the earlier [ʌi]-like PRICE (Figure 16). There was more variability between the informants regarding MOUTH and the sound examples are ordered accordingly, starting with the earlier [ɛʉ]-like pronunciation (Figures 16 and 17).

Appledore (born in 1880); earlier [ʌi]-like PRICE and earlier [ɛʉ]-like MOUTH:
bike, nine mile, price; down

Denton (born in 1888); new [ai]-like PRICE and earlier [ɛʉ]-like MOUTH:
nigh, fly; house, cows

Goudhurst (born in 1881); new [ai]-like PRICE and earlier [ɛʉ]-like MOUTH:
night, five, side; gone out, down

Stoke (born in 1868); new [ai]-like PRICE and earlier [ɛʉ]-like MOUTH:
night, size, despise; ploughed, now, pound, thousand

Figure 18. The intermediate new [æʉ]-like MOUTH (Staple).

Figure 19. A complete new [æ:] or [æa]-like MOUTH (Farningham).

Examples of the new MOUTH pronunciation starting from [æ]. The intermediate type (Figure 18) still rises to [ʉ]. The complete type (Figure 19) is a long [æ:], or moves towards [a] or [ɒ], with F1 staying above 600Hz all the time.

Staple (born in 188x); new [ai]-like PRICE and intermediate new [æʉ]-like MOUTH:
time, lively, spiteful; mouth, out, down

Warren Street (born in 1894); new [ai]-like PRICE, intermediate new [æʉ]-like MOUTH, and complete [æ:] or [æɒ]-like MOUTH:
tie, time, mile; grousers, down

Farningham (born in 1881); new [ai]-like PRICE and complete [æ:] or [æa]-like MOUTH:
size, I, alright; down, mouth, plough

The Great Vowel Shift

This change in PRICE and MOUTH is the latest step in the Great Vowel Shift for Kent (and the entire south east since it was happening in all directions from London). Starting from /ij/and /uw/ in the middle ages, with constrictions along the hard palate and velum respectively, these two phonemes have drifted through the vowel system until the starting element of each has now reached an [æ], [a] or [ɑ]-like timbre with a low pharyngeal constriction in most dialects of English around the world. Yet, other dialects are still waiting at the previous step where Kent was in the 19th century. Dialects do not necessarily progress in phase with each other. London had completed this step much earlier before the migration to the estuary towns and the home counties. RP had also completed it by 1800. Examples of dialects that still have [ʌi] and [ʌu] are found in Virginia and Canada, suggested by Robert Stockwell (2002, How much shifting actually occurred in the historical English vowel shift? in Donka Minkova and Robert Stockwell (eds), Studies in the History of the English Language: a Millenial Perspective, Berlin, Mouton de Gruyter, 267-281).

Figure 20. The two routes for the MOUTH vowel, designated polite and educated, or provincial, by the ortheoepists. They started from mediaeval /uw/ and lead to various contemporary Great Vowel Shift reflexes in Southern British English. Hart, Wallis, Cooper and Batchelor are orthoepists and grammarians reviewed by Chomsky and Halle (1968). The standard route found in the literature branches right through polite educated to RP, with pharyngeal constrictions for the first element of the diphthongs (through [o] and [ʌ], to [a]). The neglected route branches left through provincial (identified by Cooper); it had palatal constrictions for the first element (through [ɛ] to [æ] in popular London, Kent and Norfolk, and probably elsewhere).

Noam Chomsky and Morris Halle (1968, The Sound Pattern of English, Harper & Row, chapter 6) reviewed the evidence of orthoepists and grammarians like John Hart (16th century), John Wallis and Christopher Cooper (17th century) and Batchelor (18th century), who were not only separated in time but also spoke different dialects (Figure 20). Their review confirmed the original solution from Otto Jespersen (1909, A Modern English Grammar Vol. 1, Heidelberg, Winter). Just one common progression is established for PRICE: [ii] before 1500, [ei] in the 16th century, [ʌi] in the 17th and 18th centuries to contemporary [ai]. The standard solution for MOUTH proceeds from [uw] before 1500, through [ow] in the 16th century, [ʌw] in the 17th century, to [au]. However, this neglects a second MOUTH route leading to [ɛu] in 19th century Kent, reported by Ellis and found above in the SED recordings. This route was recognised by Christopher Cooper (Bertil Sundby, Ed., 1953, Christopher Cooper’s English Teacher (1687), Lund, Gleerup), who recorded it as a provincialism. Sundby also cited the dialect of Norfolk and Suffolk as sharing this route, which is confirmed now by listening to the SED and BBC recordings at the British Library (see also John Wells, 1982, Accents of English, Cambridge University Press, vol. 2 §4.3.3). It is very likely that this route via [ɛu] is common to the entire Southern British English region, including the south west (see Wells 1982 again, vol. 2 §4.3.7), and parts of the north (Wells 1982, vol. 2 §4.4.5). This would leave RP as the sole exponent and caretaker of the standard pharyngeal route to [au] in the south.

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