This paper deals with the phonological reconstruction of Old English Palatalization in prefixed words focusing on how morphology interacts with phonology and how the phonological reconstruction can be substantially confirmed. It will be shown that the traditional descriptions of Old English Palatalization tend to oversimplify the contexts for its application and make predictions not consistent with other synchronic phonological phenomena. Once the sound values of the relevant consonants in Old English prefixed words are reconstructed, Middle English orthographic system and the alliterative convention in Old English versification, often used as major sources for the reconstruction of Old English sounds, will be explored in detail in order to evaluate the validity of the proposed phonological reconstruction.

This paper attempts to review the validity of metrical evidence for secondary stress in OE (Old English). Initiated by Huguenin (1901), the tradition of reconstructing secondary stress on the basis of meter builds on the isomorphy between language and meter. Even though the prosodic reconstruction from meter has proven to be fairly useful, there are certain properties to be carefully considered in order to argue for the existence of secondary stress in OE. It is argued that verse types, not alliteration, cannot be a reliable source for the reconstruction of secondary stress. Due to the differences with regard to fundamental assumptions on OE meter, the predictions on the placement of secondary stress are not consistent. In addition, most OE metrical systems are not free of inherent circularity between verse types and secondary stress. It is also demonstrated that given the distinct nature of stress assignment, secondary stress in compounds should be distinguished from that in noncompound words. Moreover OE secondary stress cannot be claimed to exist without the precise definition between compounds and noncompound words being properly reflected in the reconstruction process.

The historical origin of obstruent phonemes in English traces back to the Indo-European system. This paper attempts to account for two important developments (Grimm`s Law and Middle English phonemicization) within the framework of Optimality Theory. The proposal is crucially based on the rejection of a serial interpretation of Grimm`s Law and the substitution of the Maintain Contrast constraint with the interactions between symmetry in the system and the minimality of phonological change. In addition symmetry is claimed to function as a guiding principle whose manifestation can be extended to Middle English phonemicization. It is also shown that the application of nonsystemic faithfulness constraints to the systemic domain enables us to state a formal definition of the types of phonemic change.