User:Gilgamesh~enwiki/Evolution of Icelandic vowels

This is a user page project. As such, it may not be in an appropriate state for use as a reference.

This condensed illustration of the evolution of vowels in the Icelandic language is based largely (but not entirely) on Hreinn Benediktsson (1959) The Vowel System of Icelandic: A Survey of Its History, WORD, 15:2, 282-312, DOI: 10.1080/00437956.1959.11659700.

The reference used linguistic terminology that is unusual for Wikipedia:

• "Acute" vowels = front vowels
• "Compact" vowels = open vowels
• "Diffuse" vowels = close vowels
• "Flat" vowels = rounded vowels
• "Grave" vowels = back vowels
• "Natural" vowels = unrounded vowels

It is the hope that these notes can someday assist in the improvement of Wikipedia articles on the subject.

First Grammatical Treatise

Short monophthongs

	Front		Back
	Unrnd.	Rnd.	Unrnd.	Rnd.
Close	⟨i⟩ [i]	⟨y⟩ [y]		⟨u⟩ [u]
Mid	⟨e⟩ [e]	⟨ø⟩ [ø]		⟨o⟩ [o]
Open	⟨ę⟩ [ɛ]		⟨a⟩ [ɑ]	⟨ǫ⟩ [ɔ]

Short nasal monophthongs were allophones of their oral counterparts and are not differentiated here.

Long oral monophthongs

	Front		Back
	Unrnd.	Rnd.	Unrnd.	Rnd.
Close	⟨í⟩ [iː]	⟨ý⟩ [yː]		⟨ú⟩ [uː]
Mid	⟨é⟩ [eː]	⟨œ⟩ [øː]		⟨ó⟩ [oː]
Open	⟨æ⟩ [ɛː]		⟨á⟩ [ɑː]	⟨ǫ́⟩ [ɔː]

Long nasal monophthongs

	Front		Back
	Unrnd.	Rnd.	Unrnd.	Rnd.
Close	⟨i̇́⟩ [ĩː]	⟨ẏ́⟩ [ỹː]		⟨u̇́⟩ [ũː]
Mid	⟨ė́⟩ [ẽː]	⟨œ̇⟩ [ø̃ː]		⟨ȯ́⟩ [õː]
Open	⟨æ̇⟩ [ɛ̃ː]		⟨ȧ́⟩ [ɑ̃ː]	⟨ǫ̇́⟩ [ɔ̃ː]

Diphthongs

Front		Back
Unrnd.	Rnd.
⟨ei⟩ [ɛ͡i]	⟨ey⟩ [œ͡y]	⟨au⟩ [ɔ͡u]

Evolution

	Early 12 c.	Mid 12 c.	Late 12 c.	13 c.	14 c.	15 c.	16 c.	20 c.
	⟨a⟩ [ɑ]	⟨a⟩ [ä]		⟨a⟩ [ä]		⟨a⟩ [ä]	⟨a⟩ [äː]
							⟨a⟩ [ä]
						⟨a⟩gi [ä͡i]
				⟨a⟩ng [ɒː]	⟨a⟩ng [ɑːᵘ]	⟨a⟩ng [ɑ͡u]
	⟨ę⟩ [ɛ]	⟨e⟩ [e̞]	⟨e⟩ ʲ[e̞]	⟨e⟩ ʲ[e̞]		⟨e⟩ ʲ[ɛ]	⟨e⟩ ʲ[ɛː]	⟨e⟩ ʲ[e͡ɛː~ɪ͡ɛː]
							⟨e⟩ ʲ[ɛ]	⟨e⟩ ʲ[e̞]
	⟨e⟩ [ˈe]					⟨e⟩gi ʲ[ɛ͡i]
				⟨e⟩ng ʲ[e̞ː]	⟨e⟩ng ʲ[e̞ːⁱ]	⟨e⟩ng ʲ[ɛ͡i]
	⟨i⟩ [.e]	⟨i⟩ [ɪ]	⟨i⟩ ʲ[ɪ]	⟨i⟩ ʲ[ɪ]		⟨i⟩ ʲ[ɪ]	⟨i⟩ ʲ[ɪː]	⟨i⟩ ʲ[ɪ͡eː~ɪ͡ɛː]
							⟨i⟩ ʲ[ɪ]
	⟨i⟩ [i]					⟨i⟩gi ʲ[ɪ͡i]	⟨i⟩gi ʲ[i]
				⟨i⟩ng ʲ[iː]			⟨i⟩ng ʲ[i]
	⟨ǫ⟩ [ɔ]	⟨ǫ⟩ [ɵ̞]	⟨ö⟩ [ɵ̞]	⟨ö⟩ [ɵ̞]		⟨ö⟩ [ɞ]	⟨ö⟩ [ɞː]	⟨ö⟩ [ɵ͡ɞː~ᵿ͡ɞː]
							⟨ö⟩ [ɞ]	⟨ö⟩ [ɵ̞]
	⟨ø⟩ [ø]	⟨ø⟩ [ø̞]				⟨ö⟩gi [ɞ͡i]
				⟨ö⟩ng [ɵ̞ː]	⟨ö⟩ng [ɵ̞ːʸ]	⟨ö⟩ng [ɞ͡i]
			g⟨jö⟩ ʲ[ɵ̞]	g⟨jö⟩ ʲ[ɵ̞]		g⟨jö⟩ ʲ[ɞ]	g⟨jö⟩ ʲ[ɞː]	g⟨jö⟩ ʲ[ɵ͡ɞː~ᵿ͡ɞː]
							g⟨jö⟩ ʲ[ɞ]	g⟨jö⟩ ʲ[ɵ̞]
						g⟨jö⟩gi ʲ[ɞ͡i]
				g⟨jö⟩ng ʲ[ɵ̞ː]	g⟨jö⟩ng ʲ[ɵ̞ːʸ]	g⟨jö⟩ng ʲ[ɞ͡i]
	Early 12 c.	Mid 12 c.	Late 12 c.	13 c.	14 c.	15 c.	16 c.	20 c.
	⟨o⟩ [ˈo]	⟨o⟩ [o̞]		⟨o⟩ [o̞]		⟨o⟩ [ɔ]	⟨o⟩ [ɔː]	⟨o⟩ [o͡ɔː~ʊ͡ɔː]
							⟨o⟩ [ɔ]	⟨o⟩ [o̞]
						⟨o⟩gi [ɔ͡i]
				⟨o⟩ng [o̞ː]	⟨o⟩ng [o̞ːᵘ]	⟨o⟩ng [ɔ͡u]
	⟨u⟩ [.o]	⟨u⟩ [ʊ]		⟨u⟩ [ʊ]		⟨u⟩ [ᵿ]	⟨u⟩ [ᵿː]	⟨u⟩ [ᵿ͡ɵː~ᵿ͡ɞː]
							⟨u⟩ [ᵿ]
	⟨u⟩ [u]					⟨u⟩gi [ᵿ͡i]
				⟨u⟩ng [uː]			⟨u⟩ng [u]
	⟨y⟩ [y]	⟨y⟩ [ʏ]	⟨y⟩ ʲ[ʏ]	⟨y⟩ ʲ[ʏ]		⟨u⟩ [ᵿ]	⟨u⟩ [ᵿː]	⟨u⟩ [ᵿ͡ɵː~ᵿ͡ɞː]
							⟨u⟩ [ᵿ]
						⟨u⟩gi [ᵿ͡i]
						g⟨ju⟩ ʲ[ᵿ]	g⟨ju⟩ ʲ[ᵿː]	g⟨ju⟩ ʲ[ᵿ͡ɵː~ᵿ͡ɞː]
							g⟨ju⟩ ʲ[ᵿ]
						g⟨ju⟩gi ʲ[ᵿ͡i]
						⟨y⟩ ʲ[ɪ]	⟨y⟩ ʲ[ɪː]	⟨y⟩ ʲ[ɪ͡eː~ɪ͡ɛː]
							⟨y⟩ ʲ[ɪ]
						⟨y⟩gi ʲ[ɪ͡i]	⟨y⟩gi ʲ[i]
				⟨y⟩ng ʲ[yː]		⟨y⟩ng ʲ[iː]	⟨y⟩ng ʲ[i]
	Early 12 c.	Mid 12 c.	Late 12 c.	13 c.	14 c.	15 c.	16 c.	20 c.
	⟨ó⟩ [oː]	⟨ó⟩ [o̞ː]			⟨ó⟩ [o̞ːᵘ]	⟨ó⟩ [ɔ͡u]	⟨ó⟩ [ɔ͡uː]
	⟨ȯ́⟩ [õː]
							⟨ó⟩ [ɔ͡u]
	⟨ǫ̇́⟩ [ɔ̃ː]
	⟨ǫ́⟩ [ɔː]	⟨á⟩ [ɒː]			⟨á⟩ [ɑːᵘ]	⟨á⟩ [ɑ͡u]	⟨á⟩ [ɑ͡uː]
	⟨á⟩ [ɑː]
							⟨á⟩ [ɑ͡u]
	⟨ȧ́⟩ [ɑ̃ː]
	⟨ę́, æ⟩ [ɛː]	⟨æ⟩ [æː]	⟨æ⟩ ʲ[æː]	⟨æ⟩ ʲ[æː]	⟨æ⟩ ʲ[æːⁱ]	⟨æ⟩ ʲ[a͡i]	⟨æ⟩ ʲ[a͡iː]
	⟨ę̇́, æ̇⟩ [ɛ̃ː]
	⟨ǿ, œ⟩ [øː]	⟨ǿ, œ⟩ [ø̞ː]	⟨œ⟩ ʲ[œː]				⟨æ⟩ ʲ[a͡i]
	⟨ø̇́, œ̇⟩ [ø̃ː]
	⟨é⟩ [eː]	⟨é⟩ [e̞ː]	⟨é⟩ ʲ[e̞ː]		⟨é⟩ ʲ[e̞ːⁱ]	⟨é⟩ ʲ[i͡ɛ]	⟨é⟩ [jɛː]	⟨é⟩ [je͡ɛː~jɪ͡ɛː]
	⟨ė́⟩ [ẽː]						⟨é⟩ [jɛ]	⟨é⟩ [je̞]
	⟨í⟩ [iː]	⟨í⟩ [iː]	⟨í⟩ ʲ[iː]			⟨í, ý⟩ ʲ[iː]	⟨í, ý⟩ ʲ[iː]
	⟨i̇́⟩ [ĩː]
	⟨ý⟩ [yː]	⟨ý⟩ [yː]	⟨ý⟩ ʲ[yː]				⟨í, ý⟩ ʲ[i]
	⟨ẏ́⟩ [ỹː]
	⟨ú⟩ [uː]	⟨ú⟩ [uː]					⟨ú⟩ [uː]
	⟨u̇́⟩ [ũː]						⟨ú⟩ [u]
	Early 12 c.	Mid 12 c.	Late 12 c.	13 c.	14 c.	15 c.	16 c.	20 c.
	⟨ei⟩ [ɛ͡i]	⟨ei⟩ [e̞͡i]	⟨ei⟩ ʲ[e̞͡i]			⟨ei, ey⟩ ʲ[ɛ͡i]	⟨ei, ey⟩ [ɛ͡iː]
	⟨ey⟩ [œ͡y]	⟨ey⟩ [ø̞͡y]	⟨ey⟩ ʲ[ø̞͡y]	⟨ey⟩ ʲ[e̞͡y]			⟨ei, ey⟩ [ɛ͡i]
	⟨au⟩ [ɔ͡u]	⟨au⟩ [ɵ̞͡u]		⟨au⟩ [ɵ̞͡y]		⟨au⟩ [ɞ͡i]	⟨au⟩ [ɞ͡iː]
							⟨au⟩ [ɞ͡i]

• The entries ⟨jö⟩ and ⟨ju⟩ that appear in this table specifically refer to those instances of the vowels ⟨ö⟩ and ⟨u⟩ that occur directly after palatal consonants that are spelt ⟨gj⟩ and ⟨kj⟩; the ⟨j⟩ does not otherwise independently surface in these circumstances.
• Not included in the table is the evolution of the Old Norse vowel ⟨ø⟩ specifically in its capacity as the grammatical i-umlaut of the vowel ⟨o⟩. In modern Icelandic this use of ⟨ø⟩ has mostly become ⟨e⟩ instead of the vowel's more regular evolution towards ⟨ö⟩ or ⟨jö⟩, and the reference does not explain when the change took place.
• The 20th c. row covers flámæli, a major phonological merger of the near-close long vowels with their mid long vowel counterparts that developed during the early half of the 20th century, and is mentioned in the reference as (at the time of publication) having been well under way. (Flámæli does not affect short vowels.) But since the reference was published, flámæli was vigorously opposed throughout the Icelandic media and education system (dialect speakers were in particular banned from being heard on national stage or on broadcast airwaves), and the merger was forcibly reverted in younger generations, but completed unopposed in diaspora dialects spoken by Icelandic Americans and Icelandic Canadians.

Further reading

• Íslensk málsaga (in Icelandic)