PREFACE -- ABBREVIATIONS -- INTRODUCTION -- I. PHONEMIC OPPOSITIONS BASED ON TONE FEATURES -- A. The dynamics of timbre oppositions in the OE vowel system -- 1. The appearance of the opposition of timbre gliding in the subsystem of tense (long) vowel phonemes -- 2. The extension of the opposition of timbre gliding to the subsystem of lax (short) vowel phonemes by breaking -- 3. Palatalization and velar umlaut as additional sources of phonemes with timbre gliding -- 4. Palatal umlaut as a stage in the extension of the opposition of timbre gliding -- 5. The general rearrangement of timbre oppositions in Late OE -- 6. Summary -- B. The rearrangement of the localization opposition in the OE consonant system -- 1. The split in the back consonants and its links with the rearrangements in timbre oppositions -- II. PHONEMIC OPPOSITIONS BASED ON SONORITY AND PROTENSITY FEATURES -- A. The oppositions of tenseness (length) in OE vowels and consonants -- 1. The phonological interpretation of protensity features -- 2. The establishment of tenseness oppositions in OE vowels and consonants and the distributional properties of tense phonemes -- 3. Vowel lengthening before certain consonant clusters as the final stage in the extension of tenseness oppositions in OE -- B. The rearrangement in the system of phonemic oppositions in Early ME -- 1. The replacement of the consonantal oppositions of tenseness and voice by the opposition of fused tenseness -- 2. The replacement of the opposition of vocalic tenseness by the new opposition of abruptness -- C. The evolution of the opposition of vocalic abruptness in ME and MnE -- 1. The rearrangement in the ME system of vowel phonemes and in their distribution -- 2. Vocalization of certain consonants and the emergence of non-abrupt gliding phonemes -- 3. The Great Vowel Shift -- 4. The formation of the MnE vowel system.

D. Summary -- III. ON FUNCTIONAL FACTORS IN THE DYNAMICS OF THE ENGLISH PHONOLOGICAL SYSTEM -- A. The construction of English phonetic words -- 1. The primaries -- a. Onsets -- b. Peaks -- c. Codas -- 2. Relations between primaries -- 3. The constructional potential and its realization -- B. Quantitative relations between the lexical and phonic tiers in the macrosystem of language -- 1. On the relationship between the constructional potential and its realization -- 2. A mathematical model for the realization of the constructional potential -- C. The functional determination of the numerical composition of the phonological system as a factor in its dynamics -- REFERENCES -- INDEX OF NAMES -- INDEX OF SUBJECTS.