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Full Description
This book examines the names by which we refer to the letters of the English alphabet, arguing that these letter names provide unrivalled insights into the phonological structure of English, present and past, as well as the many peculiarities of English pronunciation and spelling. Classified either as contronyms, ambinyms or tautonyms, the modern phonological profiles of our ancient Semitic letter names reveal what is unique to English, what is fundamental to language and how letter names emerge as the semiotic product of interchanging languages combined with intralanguage change. This volume promises a much more extensive and deeper linguistic treatment of English letter names than has previously been attempted. It will be of particular interest to students and scholars of historical linguistics, phonology and orthography, the history of English, semiotics, and language and literacy teaching.
Contents
PART I: INTRODUCTION TO ICONS OF THE ALPHABET.- Chapter 1. Another book on the alphabet?.- PART II: THE CONTRONYMS.- Chapter 2. Aitch: When a letter loses its phonetic 'ead but gains an orthographic foothold.- Chapter 3. Double U: When two /u/ make one /w/ and the phonetics of consonantalization.- PART III: THE AMBINYMS.- Chapter 4. The vocalic ambinyms: Pronouncing Ay as /e/, Ee as /i/ and I as /aɪ/ but Oh as /o/ and Yue as /ju/.- Chapter 5. Cee and Gee: The consonantal ambinyms and the digraph combination plus .- PART IV: THE TAUTONYMS.- Chapter 6. Vee and Zee: English fricatives find their voice.- Chapter 7. The vowel-consonant tautonyms: Syllabic consonants in Etruscan and English.- Chapter 8. Procrustean vowel length: The bimoraic weight of VC and CVV tautonyms.- PART V: CONCLUSION.- Chapter 9. Alphabetic iconography: A metalinguistic guide to phonologies and orthographies.
