ABSTRACT
The later history of the vowels shows a gradual tendency to lose their length, and it is probable that the length was given up earlier in the north than in the south and that the process made its way southwards from thence. In any case these lengthened vowels are found in ME only before those consonants groups in which the second element is voiced. In later OE and in ME a number of lengthenings and shortenings took place, which have materially affected the modern language and therefore need consideration. They emphasize the gradual development of the language from Old English into and through Middle English, and the difficulty of making a definite division between the two. From the isolative changes in the quality of vowels it is necessary to pass on to those in quantity, which are chiefly combinative, that is due to the position of the vowel, and affecting it in combination with certain consonant-groups or other neighbouring sounds.
