From Beornsdale to Barnsdale: Difference between revisions
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<div class="no-img"><p id="byline">By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2017-06-01. Revised by {{#realname:{{REVISIONUSER}}}}, {{REVISIONYEAR}}-{{REVISIONMONTH}}-{{REVISIONDAY2}}.</p> | <div class="no-img"><p id="byline">By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2017-06-01. Revised by {{#realname:{{REVISIONUSER}}}}, {{REVISIONYEAR}}-{{REVISIONMONTH}}-{{REVISIONDAY2}}.</p> | ||
The important place-name 'Barnsdale' developed from OE 'Beornsdale' to ME 'Bern(e)sdale' to ModE 'Barnsdale'. | The important place-name 'Barnsdale' developed from OE 'Beornsdale' to ME 'Bern(e)sdale' to ModE 'Barnsdale'. According to the foremost authority on Yorkshire place-names, the etymology of "Barnsdale" is "Beorn's valley" (dale), Beorn being an Old English personal name, which occurs also in other place-names, for instance Barnsley (c. 18 km WSW of Barnsdale).<ref>{{:Smith, Albert Hugh 1961a}}, pt. II, p. 37.</ref> Here is in outline the process by which "Beorn" became "Barn": | ||
# Through an isolative sound change – a change that a sound undergoes irrespectively of the phonetic environment in which it occurs – the Old English diphthong <span class="nobreak">/eo/</span><ref>See [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_English_phonology Wikipedia: Old English Phonology.] For simplicity's sake I ignore the distinction between short and long Old English diphthongs which, I believe, is not relevant here. Since it does no harm here, I also do not uphold a terminological distinction between 'phoneme' and 'sound'. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoneme Phonemes] are put between slashes, for instance <span class="nobreak">/e/.</span></ref> developed into the Early Middle English semi-closed, front-rounded monophthong <span class="nobreak">/ø/.</span><ref name="svc">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_English_phonology#Middle_English_stressed_vowel_changes Wikipedia: Middle English phonology: Middle English stressed vowel changes.] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English Wikipedia: Phonological history of English.]</ref> | # Through an isolative sound change – a change that a sound undergoes irrespectively of the phonetic environment in which it occurs – the Old English diphthong <span class="nobreak">/eo/</span><ref>See [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_English_phonology Wikipedia: Old English Phonology.] For simplicity's sake I ignore the distinction between short and long Old English diphthongs which, I believe, is not relevant here. Since it does no harm here, I also do not uphold a terminological distinction between 'phoneme' and 'sound'. [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoneme Phonemes] are put between slashes, for instance <span class="nobreak">/e/.</span></ref> developed into the Early Middle English semi-closed, front-rounded monophthong <span class="nobreak">/ø/.</span><ref name="svc">[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_English_phonology#Middle_English_stressed_vowel_changes Wikipedia: Middle English phonology: Middle English stressed vowel changes.] and [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English Wikipedia: Phonological history of English.]</ref> | ||
# Except in the southwest of England, where it persisted for a couple of centuries and was represented in the written language by the letter "o", <span class="nobreak">/ø/</span> soon underwent another isolative sound change and was unrounded to <span class="nobreak">/e/.<ref name="svc"/></span> This is the sound unit represented by the first "e" in Bernesdale. | # Except in the southwest of England, where it persisted for a couple of centuries and was represented in the written language by the letter "o", <span class="nobreak">/ø/</span> soon underwent another isolative sound change and was unrounded to <span class="nobreak">/e/.<ref name="svc"/></span> This is the sound unit represented by the first "e" in Bernesdale. | ||
# During the Late Middle English period, more particularly the 15th century, a combinative – phonetically context dependent – sound change took place: /e/ changed to /a/ when followed by /r/. In other words, the sequence /er/ became /ar/.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English Wikipedia: Phonological history of English.]</ref> This is reflected in the change of spelling from Bern(e)sdale to Barn(e)sdale.<ref>For the loss of <span class="nobreak">/r/</span> after vowels in most dialects of English spoken in England, which happened much later and of course also affected the pronunciation of the place-name 'Barnsdale', see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhoticity_in_English Wikipedia: Rhoticity in English.]</ref> | # During the Late Middle English period, more particularly the 15th century, a combinative – phonetically context dependent – sound change took place: /e/ changed to /a/ when followed by /r/. In other words, the sequence /er/ became /ar/.<ref>[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English Wikipedia: Phonological history of English.]</ref> This is reflected in the change of spelling from Bern(e)sdale to Barn(e)sdale.<ref>For the loss of <span class="nobreak">/r/</span> after vowels in Received Pronunciation and most dialects of English spoken in England, which happened much later and of course also affected the pronunciation of the place-name 'Barnsdale', see [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rhoticity_in_English Wikipedia: Rhoticity in English.]</ref> | ||
=== See the following pages === | === See the following pages === | ||
<div class="century">{{#ask:[[Category:Places named Barnsdale]]| format=ul| class=ulcols|limit=1000|sort=Utitle}}</div> | <div class="century">{{#ask:[[Category:Places named Barnsdale]]|format=ul| class=ulcols|limit=1000|sort=Utitle}}</div> | ||
== Notes == | == Notes == | ||
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Latest revision as of 15:17, 17 May 2022
By Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2017-06-01. Revised by Henrik Thiil Nielsen, 2022-05-17.
The important place-name 'Barnsdale' developed from OE 'Beornsdale' to ME 'Bern(e)sdale' to ModE 'Barnsdale'. According to the foremost authority on Yorkshire place-names, the etymology of "Barnsdale" is "Beorn's valley" (dale), Beorn being an Old English personal name, which occurs also in other place-names, for instance Barnsley (c. 18 km WSW of Barnsdale).[1] Here is in outline the process by which "Beorn" became "Barn":
- Through an isolative sound change – a change that a sound undergoes irrespectively of the phonetic environment in which it occurs – the Old English diphthong /eo/[2] developed into the Early Middle English semi-closed, front-rounded monophthong /ø/.[3]
- Except in the southwest of England, where it persisted for a couple of centuries and was represented in the written language by the letter "o", /ø/ soon underwent another isolative sound change and was unrounded to /e/.[3] This is the sound unit represented by the first "e" in Bernesdale.
- During the Late Middle English period, more particularly the 15th century, a combinative – phonetically context dependent – sound change took place: /e/ changed to /a/ when followed by /r/. In other words, the sequence /er/ became /ar/.[4] This is reflected in the change of spelling from Bern(e)sdale to Barn(e)sdale.[5]
See the following pages
Notes
- ↑ Smith, A.H. The Place-Names of the West Riding of Yorkshire (English Place-Name Society, vols. XXX-XXXVII) (Cambridge, 1961-63), pt. II, p. 37.
- ↑ See Wikipedia: Old English Phonology. For simplicity's sake I ignore the distinction between short and long Old English diphthongs which, I believe, is not relevant here. Since it does no harm here, I also do not uphold a terminological distinction between 'phoneme' and 'sound'. Phonemes are put between slashes, for instance /e/.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Wikipedia: Middle English phonology: Middle English stressed vowel changes. and Wikipedia: Phonological history of English.
- ↑ Wikipedia: Phonological history of English.
- ↑ For the loss of /r/ after vowels in Received Pronunciation and most dialects of English spoken in England, which happened much later and of course also affected the pronunciation of the place-name 'Barnsdale', see Wikipedia: Rhoticity in English.