Old English Ea in Middle Kentish Place-Names (Critical Essay‪)‬

ABSTRACT This research paper intends to contribute to the study of Medieval English dialectology by focusing on Kentish, traditionally regarded as a Middle English dialect in which sounds and linguistic changes behave differently. This contribution will be done through the formal analysis of Old English ea, a relevant dialectal variable, in Middle Kentish place-names. It is common knowledge name-forms provide real (and sometimes unique) information about the behaviour of certain phonological distinctions. Accordingly, we will concentrate on the analysis of this onomastic material and compare our conclusions, firstly, with other place-name studies, and secondly, with other more traditional phonological distributions attained by authors who have based their analyses on individual literary works reflecting this regional variety of the English Middle Ages.