SC - Re: OT Middle English letters, pronounciation, accents.

[Elysant at aol.com]

- -Poster: <Elysant at aol.com>
 
<< > Also- infrequently- you might find a 'D',
 > capital or lower case, with a line through it. It is another symbol for
 > the 'th' sound and can be treated just like a thorn.

 Except the D is voiced and the thorn is not.  The difference between 
 Them and think.
  >>

For those of you interested in Welsh, this difference (voiced/unvoiced "th" 
sounds) is still kept in our language - the unvoiced "th" being written as 
"th", and the voiced "th" being written as "dd".  "Mynydd" (mountain) is 
pronounced "Muh-nith".

To tell the difference between voiced and unvoiced, we were taught in school 
in Britain that when one says the "voiced" "th", if one puts two fingers over 
one's Adam's Apple as one says the "th" sound, that there is a vibration 
felt. (e.g. "them"), whereas with the "unvoiced" "the"  (e.g. "think") - 
there is no vibration felt.

I also was someone who had the privilege of being able to listen to 
recordings of Middle English when I was doing my English "A" level curriculum 
years ago.  IIRC, the intonation sounded almost like a west country (of 
England) e.g. Somerset "burr", although I believe (again IIRC) I seem to 
remember being taught that the closest remnant to the pronunciation of Middle 
English that still exists in modern day English local accents and dialects is 
in Northhamptonshire and surrounding counties in a NW to WNW direction from 
London.  

Back to Period Cookery :-)

Elysant 
Who currently lives in Connecticut and hears that N.E. accent "ooaall" the 
time around here ;-)