Caunterbury
Middle English
editAlternative forms
edit- Canterbiri, Canterburi, Canterbury, Caunterbery, Caunterbiri, Caunterbiry, Caunterburi, Cawnterbery, Kaunterburi
Etymology
editFrom Old English Cantwarbyriġ, late form of Cantwara byriġ, dative and genitive of Cantwara burg.
The pronunciation with /au̯/ could just be analogy with variation between /au̯/ and /a/ in other words, but the influence of the lost /w/ in Old English Cantwara byriġ is also possible. Such a development is also seen in aunswere, variant of answere (“answer”); this is not a mere backspelling, as orthoepists commonly give pronunciations of answer with reflexes of /au̯/ in the Early Modern English period.[1][2]
Pronunciation
editProper noun
editCaunterbury
- Canterbury (a cathedral city in modern Kent, England)
- late 14th c. Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales. General Prologue: 15-16.
- And specially from every shires ende
Of Engelond, to Caunterbury they wende,- And specially from every shire's end
Of England they to Canterbury went,
- And specially from every shire's end
- late 14th c. Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales. General Prologue: 15-16.
Descendants
edit- English: Canterbury
- → Old French: Canterbiri, Cantorebiri
- French: Cantorbéry
References
edit- ^ Jespersen, Otto (1909) A Modern English Grammar on Historical Principles (Sammlung germanischer Elementar- und Handbücher; 9)[1], volumes I: Sounds and Spellings, London: George Allen & Unwin, published 1961, § 3.97, page 109.
- ^ Dobson, E. J. (1957) English pronunciation 1500-1700[2], second edition, volume II: Phonology, Oxford: Clarendon Press, published 1968, →OCLC, § 62, page 557.
Categories:
- Middle English terms inherited from Old English
- Middle English terms derived from Old English
- Middle English terms with IPA pronunciation
- Middle English lemmas
- Middle English proper nouns
- enm:Cities in Kent, England
- enm:Cities in England
- enm:Places in Kent, England
- enm:Places in England
- Middle English terms with quotations