Changes of Individual Vowels Phonemes in Middle English

1. In ME, there were two long phonemes o: a long open and a long closed.

(open) (closed)
They developed from two different OE phonemes: and (in Midland and
Southern dialects), but this vowel remained the same in Northern dialects.
OE > ME
e.g. hm - hm (spelling: ME hoom) (home)
bt - bt (spelling: ME boot) (boat)
OE > ME
e.g. t tth (ME sp. tooth) (tooth)
2. In ME there were also two phonemes e:

(open) (closed)
Long open developed from OE a and :
OE a, > ME
e.g. s s (sea)
ast st (east)
Long closed developed from OE o and :
OE o, > ME
e.g. cpan kpen
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son sn
3. ME a developed from OE :
OE > ME a
e.g. gld glad
ws was
4. OE short y and long y developed differently in different dialects:
a. OE y, y > ME i, in Northern and East Midland dialects

b. OE y, y > ME e, in the Kentish dialect

c. OE y, y > ME y, y in West-Midland and South-Western dialects
OE first (first) first (N. + E.M.); ferst (K.); fyrst (W.M. + S.)
However, in OE y denoted the sound []. After the change of [] into [i] the
letter y came to denote the sound [i], and so became an equivalent of the letter [i].
To
denote the sound [] in those dialects, where it was preserved, the letter u was
used,
influenced by French spelling.
Development of Other Vowels
OE e, , i, , o were unchanged in ME (tellan tellen; wrtan wrten).
OE mostly remained unchanged (ft, bc bk)
OE u, remained unchanged (sunu so[u]ne /sun) (son)
Monophthongization (Contraction) of Old English Diphthongs
All OE diphthongs were monophthongized in ME. They were contracted into
monophthongs, mostly variants [e]
e.g. a > : ald >eld ( often spelt ee: dop > dp, NE deep)
o > : horte > hrte

Rise of New Diphthongs and Related

Phenomena
New diphthongs arise in ME, basically different in type from the OE dipnthongs,
which were monophthongized in ME. The new diphthongs originate from
groups consisting of a vowel and either a palatal or a velar fricative.
The palatal fricative z [j] and the velar spirant z [] are vocalized, combine
with the preceding vowel, and yield diphthongs of a new type.
The palatal consonant yields diphthongs in -i and the velar one, which
seems to have possessed a labial element in its articulation from the outset, yields
diphthongs in -w.
The following changes took place accordingly:
1. Rise of diphthongs in -i:

e3> ai, ay e.g. d3> dai (day); w3> mai (may); l3> lai (lay); f3r > fair (fayr)
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e3 > ei, ey e.g. we3 > wei (wey); se3l > seil; re3n > rein
3 > ei, ey e.g.3r3> grei (grey); h3 > hei (hey)
2. Rise of diphthongs in w:
a3 > aw e.g. dra3an > drawen, 3na3an > gnawen, sa3u > sawe (saw,
legend)
3 > w e.g. 3en > wen (own) (except in the Northern dialect).
The new diphthongs contained a second narrow element, as distinct from
OE diphthongs, whose second element was always either as wide or even wider
than the first.
The fricatives 3[j] and 3 [] were also vocalized in some other words where no
diphthongs resulted from the process. Here we name to distinguish between two
cases:
1) the fricative is preceded by a narrow vowel, which combines with the
consonant into a long monophthong,
2) it is preceded by l or r which does not undergo any change in the
process.
3. Rise of long front vowels
i + 3> , e.g. i3el > l (hedgehog), ti3ele > tle (brick), si3e > sthe (scythe),
+ 3 > e.g. st3en > sten (ascend)
y +3 > in Northern and East Midland dialects, e.g. ry3e > re (rye), by3e >
beth (buys); in West Midland and South-Western dialects y + 3 > i:
rle, bleth; in Kentish y + 3 > ei: reye, beieth
y + 3 > (in North and East Midl. dialects), e.g. dry3e > dre (dry); in West
Midl. And South-Western dialects: y + 3> /: drie, dre; in Jentish
y + 3 >ei: dreie.
a + h >eih, ih e.g. hah > hein > high; nah > neih >nigh
o + 3, h > ei > i e.g. lo3an > leien > len (lie); oh > thigh
4. Rise of long back labialized vowels:

u + 3> u (spelt: ou, ow), e.g. fu3ol > foul (bird);

u + 3 > (spelt: ou,ow), e.g. b3an > bowen (bow).
The velar spirant 3 also changes into w after the liquids l and r:
l3 > lw e.g. 3al3e > galwe (gallows);
r3> rw e.g. mor3en > morwen (morning); bor3ian > borwen
(borrow); fol3ian > folwen (follow).

..

Development of French Sounds

Some Old French sounds had no counterparts in ME. When a word,
containing one of these sounds was borrowed by the English language, the sound
had to be substituted by some other sound or sound cluster which was nearest to
it.
e.g. The French front labialized vowel y was pronounced [iu] or [eu]:
OFr. nature [n a t j u r] - ME [n a t I u r] or [n a t e u r].
Special mention must be made on trench nasal vowels. French nasal vowels
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were replaced by corresponding simple vowels:
Fr. [n], [m] were substituted by in, im (instance, simple);
[n], [m] > en, em (offence, mention);
[n] > an, aun (abandon, chaunge);
[m] > am, aum (lampe, chaumbre);
[n] > oun, own (round, renown).