1. Quantitative:

Reduction – weakening and disappearance of unstressed vowels. As far as the stress was mainly on the root the vowels in prefixes and suffixes got weak and underwent reduction. In unstressed position only two vowels were left – [ə] and [i]. They had never been contrasted.

E.g. ME tale [‘ta:lə], body [‘bodi]

Shortening – all long vowels became short before consonant clusters (NB!! except [ld, nd, mb] – before these clusters vowels remained long or if a vowel was short it became long)

Lengthening (12^th – 13^th c.) – short vowels became long:

• before clusters [ld, nd, mb];

• in 2-syllable words, only to [e, o, a] in open stressed syllable

2 . Qualitative:

The system of vowels in ME were no longer symmetrical as it was in OE

Short Vowels

• [y] changed to [i] e.g. OE hyll – ME hill (hill);

• [æ] changed to [a] e.g. OE wæs – ME was (was).

Great Vowel Shift – the change that happened in the 14^th – 16^th c. and affected all long monophthongs + diphthong [au]. As a result these vowels were:

• diphthongized;

• narrowed (became more closed);

• both diphthongized and narrowed.

11. English phraseology. Classification of phraseological units It has been repeatedly pointed out that word-groups viewed as functionally and semantically inseparable units are traditionally regarded as the subject matter of phraseology. English and American linguists as a rule confine themselves to collecting various words, word-groups and sentences presenting some interest either from the point of view of origin, style, usage, or some other feature peculiar to them. These units are habitually described as idioms but no attempt has been made to investigate these idioms as a separate class of linguistic units or a specific class of word-groups. In Modern linguistics there is considerable confusion about terminology associated with word groups. Russian scholars use phraseological units introduced y V.V.Vinogradov. The term idiom is widely used by Western scholars. There exist other terms denoting the same linguistic phenomenon: set expression, set phrase, fixed word groups, collocations.

The term set-phrase implies that the basic criterion of differentiation is stability of the lexical components and grammatical structure of word-groups. The term idioms generally implies that the essential feature of the linguistic units under consideration is idiomaticity or lack cf motivation. This term habitually used by English and American linguists is very often treated as synonymous with the term phraseological unit

Idioms are mostly based on metaphors which makes the transferred meaning of the whole expression more or less transparent. If we analyse such idioms, as, e.g., to carry coals to Newcastle, to fall between two stools (if something falls between two stools, it fails because it is neither one type of thing nor another and if someone falls between two stools, they fail because they try to combine two different types of thing that cannot be combined). It is also suggested that idioms in general have very much in common with quotations from literary sources, some of which also exist as idiomatic ready-made units with a specialised meaning of their own. Such quotations which have acquired specialised meaning and idiomatic value, as, e.g., to be or not to be (Shakespeare), to cleanse the Augean stables (mythology), a voice crying out in the wilderness (the Bible)

The confusion in terminology reflects insufficiency of wholy reliable criteria by which phraseological units can be distinguished from free word–groups (свободные словосочетания). It should be pointed out that this freedom of word–groups is relative because they are each time built anew in the speech, whereas phraseological units are used as ready made units with fixed and costant structures. There is a considerable number of classifications based on different principles and created by different scholars. The traditional and the oldest principle is based on their original content and may be called thematic. Phraseological units are classified according to their source of origin. The latter referst to the particular sphere of human activity, life, natural phenomenon (ethimological principle). Example: to be all at sea – to be unable to understand to sink swim (пан или пропал), in deep water (в беде). The classification system of phraseological units by V.Vinogradov was the first classification system based on the semantic principle. his classification is founded on the degree of semantic cohesion between the components of a phraseological unit. Vinogradov distinguished 3 classes: –phraseological combinations (фразеологические сочетания) –phraseological unities (фразеологические единства) –phraseological fusions (фразеологические сращения) Phraseological combinations – word groups with a partially changed meaning. They are clearly motivated , that is the meaning of the unit can be easily deduced from the meaning of its constituents. example: to be good at, to have a bite, to take for granted. Phraseological unities – word groups with a completely changed meaning. That is the meaning of the unit does not correspond to the meaning of its parts. They are motivated units. Example: lose one's head, to lock the stable door after the horse is stolen. Phraseological fusions – word groups with a completely changed meaning , but they are demotivated . Their meaning cannot be deduced from the meaning of its constituents. Example: ruck and crop (entirely), kick the bucket=die The classification does not take into account the structural characteristics of phraseological units. Such a principle is based on the ability to perform the same syntactic functions as words. Accrding to this approach the following groups can be distinguished: –verbal (to get the upper hand) –substantive (cat and dog life, red tape, brown study) –adjectival (safe and sound, cool as a cucumber) –interjectional (good Heavens!) Smirnitsky combines both the approaches.