Word-Initial Prevocalic [h-] in Middle English

Abstract The present contribution discusses the phonological reality of initial fricative h- in words Germanic and French origin dialectally identified 106 texts from Innsbruck Corpus Middle English Prose (Markus 2008), with focus on native where is frequently mute, as confirmed by (a) h -less spellings like ouse for house or especially (b) use article an before -nouns. In early a phrase may testify to survival historical determiner (OE ān ) put both vowels consonants, but later this position indicate mute following noun (or adjective noun). paper offers numerical data concerning such distributions particular well analogous referring adjectives MIN THIN (later my thy ), final nasal consonant was lost when used function attribute. Consequently, development led rise set possessive syntactic, not phonological, distribution seem that loss prevocalic took place rather than whole region. evidence shows implementation contemporary distribution, i.e., consonants vowels, had partly regional character, its first traces coming 13 th century.