Preface

It was originally intended that this Grammar should form one of the volumes of the Students’ Series of Comparative and Historical Grammars, but some time ago I was informed by the Delegates of the Clarendon Press that a third edition of my Gothic Primer was required. It then became a question whether it would be better to issue the Primer in a revised form, or to set to work at once to write the present Grammar. I laid the two alternatives before the Delegates, and they preferred to accept the latter.

As a knowledge of Gothic is indispensable to students of the oldest periods of the other Germanic languages, this book will, I trust, be found useful at any rate to students whose interests are mainly philological and linguistic. I have adopted as far as possible the same method of treating the subject as in my Old English and Historical German Grammars. Considerable care and trouble have been taken in the selection of the material contained in the chapters relating to the phonology and accidence, and I venture to say that the student, who thoroughly masters the book, will not only have gained a comprehensive knowledge of Gothic, but will also have acquired a considerable knowledge of Comparative Germanic Grammar.

In selecting examples to illustrate the sound-laws I have tried as far as possible to give words which also occur in the other Germanic languages, especially in Old English and Old High German. The Old English and Old High German cognates have been added in the Glossary.

In order to give the student some idea of the skill of Ulfilas as a translator I have added the Greek text to St. Matthew Ch. VI, St. Mark Chapters I-V, and St. Luke Ch. XV. This will also be useful as showing the influence which the Greek syntax had upon the Gothic.

The Glossary not only contains all the words occurring in the Gothic Text (pp. 200-91), but also all the words contained in the Phonology and Accidence, each referred to its respective paragraph. A short list of the most important works relating to Gothic will be found on pp. 197-9.

From my long experience as teacher of the subject, I should strongly recommend the beginner not to work through the Phonology and the philological part of the Accidence at the outset, but to read Chapter I on Gothic pronunciation, and then to learn the paradigms, and at the same time to read some of the easier portions of the Gospels. This is undoubtedly the best plan in the end, and will lead to the most satisfactory results. In fact, it is in my opinion a sheer waste of time for a student to attempt to study in detail the phonology of any language before he has acquired a good working knowledge of its vocabulary and inflexions.

In conclusion I wish to express in some measure the heartfelt thanks I owe to my wife for her valuable help in compiling the Glossary.

Joseph Wright.

Oxford,
January, 1910.

Contents

Introduction

Classification of the Indo-Germanic languages, and a few characteristics of the Germanic languages (§ 1).

Chapter I
Alphabet and Pronunciation

The Gothic alphabet (§ 2). Representation of the Gothic vowel-system (§ 3). Pronunciation of the Gothic vowels:—a, ā (§ 4); ē (§ 5); i, ei (§ 6); ō (§ 7); u, ū (§ 8); iu (§ 9); aí, ái, ai (§ 10); aú, áu, au (§ 11). The Gothic vowel-system (§ 12). Representation of the Gothic consonant-system (§ 13). Pronunciation of the Gothic consonants:—b (§ 14); d (§ 15); f (§ 16); g (§ 17); h (§ 18); ƕ (§ 19); j (§ 20); k (§ 21); l, m, n (§ 22); p (§ 23); q (§ 24); r (§ 25); s (§ 26); t (§ 27); þ (§ 28); w (§ 29); z (§ 30). Phonetic survey of the Gothic sound-system (§ 31). Stress (§§ 32-4).

Chapter II
The Prim. Germanic Equivalents of the Indo-Germanic Vowel-sounds

The Indo-Germanic vowel-system (§ 35). a (§ 36); e (§ 37); i (§ 38); o (§ 39); u (§ 40); ə (§ 41); ā (§ 42); ē (§ 43); ī (§ 44); ō (§ 45); ū (§ 46); ai (§ 47); ei (§ 48); oi (§ 49); au (§ 50); eu (§ 51); ou (§ 52). The Indg. vocalic nasals and liquids:—m (§ 53); n (§ 54); r (§ 55); l (§ 56).

Chapter III
The Prim. Germanic Vowel-system

Table of the Prim. Germanic vowel-system (§ 57). The change of a to ā (§ 59); the change of e to i, and of i to ī (§ 60); the change of i to e (§ 61); the change of u to o, and of u to ū (§ 62); the change of eu to iu (§ 63). The vowel-system at the close of the Prim. Germanic period, and table showing the normal development of the vowels in the various Germanic languages (§ 64).

Chapter IV
The Gothic Development of the General Germanic Vowels of Accented Syllables

Short vowels: a (§ 65); e (§§ 66-7); i (§§ 68-9); o (§§ 70-1); u (§§ 72-3). Long vowels: ā (§ 74); ǣ (§§ 75-6); ē (§ 77); ī (§ 78); ō (§§ 79-81); ū (§ 82). Diphthongs: ai (§ 83); au (§ 84); iu (§ 85); eu (§ 86).

Chapter V
The Gothic Development of the Prim. Germanic Vowels of Unaccented Syllables

Chapter VI
The Prim. Germanic Equivalents of the Gothic Vowel-sounds

Chapter VII
Ablaut (§§ 122-5)

Chapter VIII
The First Sound-shifting, Verner’s Law, and other Consonant Changes which took place in the Prim. Germanic. Language

Chapter IX
The Gothic Development of the General Germanic Consonant-system

Chapter X
Declension of Nouns

Chapter XI
Adjectives

Chapter XII
Pronouns

Chapter XIII
Verbs

Chapter XIV
Adverbs, Prepositions and Conjunctions

Chapter XV
Word-Formation

Chapter XVI
Syntax

Text

Introduction
St. Matthew
St. Mark
St. Luke
St. John
The Second Epistle to Timothy

Notes

Glossary

Proper Names

Glossary Of Proper Names

Abbreviations, etc.

Introduction

§ 1. Gothic forms one member of the Germanic (Teutonic) branch of the Indo-Germanic family of languages. This great family of languages is usually divided into ten branches:—

1. Aryan, consisting of: (1) The Indian group, including the language of the Vedas, classical Sanskrit, and the Prākrit dialects; (2) The Iranian group, including (a) West Iranian (Old Persian, the language of the Persian cuneiform inscriptions, dating from about 520-350 B.C.); (b) East Iranian (Avesta—sometimes called Zend-Avesta, Zend, and Old Bactrian—the language of the Avesta, the sacred books of the Zoroastrians).

2. Tocharian, now extinct, represented by texts discovered in Chinese Turkestan, which are thought to be anterior to the tenth century A.D.

3. Hittite, a language spoken in Asia Minor in the second millennium B.C. Although the vocabulary of Hittite contains many non-Indo-Germanic elements, it possesses definite grammatical affinities with other Indo-Germanic languages.

4. Armenian, the oldest monuments of which belong to the fifth century A.D.

5. Greek, with its numerous dialects.

6. Albanian, the language of ancient Illyria. The oldest monuments belong to the seventeenth century.

7. Italic, consisting of Latin and the Umbrian-Samnitic dialects. From the popular form of Latin are descended the Romance languages: Portuguese, Spanish, Catalan, Provençal, French, Italian, Raetoromanic, Rumanian or Wallachian.

8. Keltic, consisting of: (1) Gaulish (known to us by Keltic names and words quoted by Latin and Greek authors, and inscriptions on coins); (2) Britannic, including Cymric or Welsh, Cornish, and Bas-Breton or Armorican (the oldest records of Cymric and Bas-Breton date back to the eighth or ninth century); (3) Gaelic, including Irish-Gaelic, Scotch-Gaelic, and Manx. The oldest monuments are the old Gaelic ogam inscriptions, which probably date as far back as about A.D. 500.

9. Baltic-Slavonic, consisting of: (1) The Baltic division, embracing (a) Old Prussian, which became extinct in the seventeenth century, (b) Lithuanian, (c) Lettic (the oldest records of Lithuanian and Lettic belong to the sixteenth century); (2) the Slavonic division, embracing: (a) the South-Eastern group, including Russian (Great Russian, White Russian, and Little Russian), Bulgarian, and Illyrian (Servian, Croatian, Slovenian); (b) the Western group, including Czech (Bohemian), Sorabian (Wendish), Polish and Polabian.

10. Germanic, consisting of:—

    1. Gothic. Almost the only source of our knowledge of the Gothic language is the fragments of the biblical translation made in the fourth century by Ulfilas, the Bishop of the West Goths. See pp. 195-7.

    2. Scandinavian or North Germanic—called Old Norse until about the middle of the eleventh century—which is sub-divided into two groups: (a) East Scandinavian, including Swedish, Gutnish, and Danish; (b) West Scandinavian, including Norwegian, and Icelandic.

       The oldest records of this branch are the runic inscriptions, some of which date as far back as the third or fourth century.

    3. West Germanic, which is composed of:—

       1. High German, the oldest monuments of which belong to about the middle of the eighth century.
       2. Low Franconian, called Old Low Franconian or Old Dutch until about 1200.
       3. Low German, with records dating back to the ninth century. Up to about 1200 it is generally called Old Saxon.
       4. Frisian, the oldest records of which belong to the fourteenth century.
       5. English, the oldest records of which belong to about the end of the seventh century.

Phonology

Chapter I
Alphabet and Pronunciation

§ 2. The Gothic monuments, as handed down to us, are written in a peculiar alphabet which, according to the Greek ecclesiastical historians Philostorgios and Sokrates, was invented by Ulfilas. But Wimmer¹ and others have clearly shown that Ulfilas simply took the Greek uncial alphabet as the basis for his, and that in cases where this was insufficient for his purpose he had recourse to the Latin and runic alphabets. The alphabetic sequence of the letters can be determined with certainty from the numerical values, which agree as nearly as possible with those of the Greek. Below are given the Gothic characters in the first line, in the second line their numerical values, and in the third line their transliteration in Roman characters.

¹ Wimmer, ‘Die Runenschrift,’ Berlin, 1887; pp. 259—74.

A. The Vowels.

§ 3. The Gothic vowel-system is represented by the five elementary letters a, e, i, o, u, and the digraphs ei, iu, ai, and au.

Vowel-length was entirely omitted in writing. The sign ¯, placed over vowels, is here used to mark long vowels.

The vowels e, o (uniformly written ē, ō in this grammar) were always long. a, u had both a short and a long quantity. i was a short vowel, the corresponding long vowel of which was expressed by the digraph ei after the analogy of the Greek pronunciation of ει in the fourth century. iu was a falling diphthong. Each of the digraphs ai, au was used without distinction in writing to express three different sounds which are here written ái, aí, ai and áu, aú, au.

A brief description of the sound-values of the above vowel-system will be given in the following paragraphs. Our chief sources for ascertaining the approximate quality and quantity of the Gothic simple vowels and diphthongs are:—(1) The pronunciation of the Greek and Latin alphabets as they obtained in the fourth century; the former of which was taken by Ulfilas as the basis for representing his own native sound-system. (2) A comparison of the Gothic spelling of Greek loan-words and proper names occurring in Ulfilas with the original Greek words. (3) The spelling of Gothic proper names found in Greek and Latin records of the fourth to the eighth century. (4) The occasional fluctuating orthography of one and the same word in the biblical translation. (5) Special sound-laws within the Gothic language itself. (6) The comparison of Gothic with the other Old Germanic languages.

§ 4. a had the same sound as the a in NHG. mann, as ahtáu, eight; akrs, field; dags, day; namō, name; giba, gift; waúrda, words.

ā had the same sound as the a in English father. In native Gothic words it occurs only in the combination āh (see § 59), as fāhan, to catch, seize; brāhta, I brought; þāhō, clay.

§ 5. ē was a long close e-sound, strongly tinctured with the vowel sound heard in NHG. sie, she. Hence we sometimes find ei (that is ī), and occasionally i, written where we should etymologically expect ē, and vice versa. These fluctuations occur more frequently in Luke than elsewhere; examples are: qeins = qēns, Luke ii. 5; faheid = fahēþ, Luke ii. 10. spēwands = speiwands, Mark vii. 33; miþþanē = miþþanei, Luke ii. 43; izē = izei, Mark ix. 1. birusjōs = bērusjōs, Luke ii. 41; duatsniwun = duatsnēwun, Mark vi. 53. usdrēbi = usdribi, Mark v. 10. Examples are: jēr, year; slēpan, to sleep; nēmum, we took; swē, as; hidrē, hither.

§ 6. i was probably a short open vowel like the i in English bit, as ik, I; itan, to eat; fisks, fish; bindan, to bind; arbi, heritage; bandi, a band.

ī (written ei) was the vowel sound heard in NHG. sie, she. Cp. the beginning of § 5. Examples are: swein, swine, pig; beitan, to bite; gasteis, guests; manageí, multitude; áiþei, mother.

§ 7. ō was a long close vowel, strongly tinctured with the vowel sound heard in NHG. gut, good. Hence we occasionally find u written where we should etymologically expect ō, and vice versa, as supūda = supōđa, Mark ix. 50; ūhtēdun = ōhtēdun, Mark xi. 32. faíhō = faíhu, Mark x. 23. Examples are: ōgan, to fear; ōgjan, to terrify; brōþar, brother; sōkjan, to seek; saísō, I sowed; haírtō, heart.

§ 8. u had the same sound as the vowel in English put, as ubils, evil; ufta, often; fugls, fowl, bird; sunus, son; bundans, bound; faíhu, cattle; sunu (acc. sing.), son.

ū had the same sound as the u in NHG. gut, as ūt, ūta, out; ūhtwō, early morn; brūþs, bride; hūs, house; þūsundí, thousand.

§ 9. iu was a falling diphthong (i.e. with the stress on the i), and pronounced like the ew in North. Engl. dial, pronunciation of new. It only occurs in stem-syllables (except in ūhtiugs, seasonable), as iupa, above; þiuda, people; driusan, to fall; tríu, tree; kniu, knee.

§ 10. As has already been pointed out in § 3, the digraph ai was used by Ulfilas without distinction in writing to represent three different sounds which were of threefold origin. Our means for determining the nature of these sounds are derived partly from a comparison of the Gothic forms in which they occur with the corresponding forms of the other Indo-Germanic languages, and partly from the Gothic spelling of Greek loan-words. The above remarks also hold good for the digraph au, § 11.

aí was a short open e-sound like the ë in OHG. nëman, and almost like the a in English hat. It only occurs before r, h, ƕ (except in the case of aíþþáu, or, and possibly waíla, well, and in the reduplicated syllable of the pret. of strong verbs belonging to Class VII). See §§ 67, 69, 311. Examples are: aírþa, earth; baíran, to bear; waírpan, to throw, faíhu, cattle; taíhun, ten; saílƕan, to see; aíáuk, I increased; laílōt, I let; haíháit, I named. But see pp. 367 ff.

ái was a diphthong and had the same sound as the ei in NHG. mein, my, and nearly the same sound as the i in English mine, as áiþs, oath; áins, one; hláifs, loaf; stáins, stone; twái, two; nimái, he may take.

ai had probably the same pronunciation as OE. ǣ (i.e. a long open e-sound). It occurs only in very few words before a following vowel (§ 76), as saian, to sow; waian, to blow; faian, to blame; and possibly in armaiō, mercy, pity. But see pp. 367 ff.

§ 11. aú was a short open o-sound like the o in English not. It only occurs before r and h, as haúrn, horn; waúrd, word; daúhtar, daughter; aúhsa, ox. See §§ 71, 73, and pp. 367 ff.

áu was a pure diphthong and had approximately the same sound as the ou in English house, as áugō, eye; áusō, ear; dáuþus, death; háubiþ, head; ahtáu, eight; nimáu, I may take.

au was a long open o-sound like the au in English aught. It only occurs in a few words before a following vowel (§ 80), as staua, judgment; taui, deed; trauan, to trust; bauan, to build, inhabit. Cp. §§ 3 and 10. But see pp. 367 ff.

§ 12. From what has been said in §§ 4-11, we arrive at the following Gothic vowel-system:—

B. The Consonants.

§ 13. According to the transcription adopted in § 2 the Gothic consonant-system is represented by the following letters, which are here re-arranged after the order of the English alphabet:—b, d, f, g, h, ƕ, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, t, þ, w, z.

§ 14. b had a twofold pronunciation. Initially, as also medially and finally after consonants, it was a voiced explosive like English b, as barn, child; blinds, blind; baíran, to bear; salbōn, to anoint; arbi, heritage; lamb, lamb; -swarb, he wiped.

Medially after vowels it was a voiced bilabial spirant, and may be pronounced like the v in English live, which is a voiced labio-dental spirant, as haban, to have; sibun, seven; ibns, even. See § 161.

§ 15. d had a twofold pronunciation. Initially, as also medially and finally after consonants, it was a voiced explosive like the d in English do, as dags, day; dáuþus, death; dragan, to draw; kalds, cold; bindan, to bind, band, he bound; huzd, treasure; also when geminated, as iddja, I went.

Medially after vowels it was a voiced interdental spirant nearly like the th in English then, as fadar, father; badi, bed; biudan, to offer. See § 173.

§ 16. f was probably a voiceless bilabial spirant like the f in OHG. slāfan, to sleep; a sound which does not occur in English. It may, however, be pronounced like the f in English life, which is labio-dental, as fadar, father; fulls, full; ufar, over; wulfs, wolf; fimf, five; gaf, he gave.

§ 17. g. The exact pronunciation of this letter cannot be determined with certainty for all the positions in which it is found.

Initial g probably had the same sound as the g in English go, as gōþs, good; giban, to give; the same may also have been the pronunciation of g in the combination vowel + g + consonant (other than a guttural), as bugjan, to buy; tagla, hairs; tagra (nom. pl.), tears. Cp. §§ 167-8.

Medially between vowels it was a voiced spirant like the widely spread pronunciation of g in NHG. tage, days, as áugō, eye; steigan, to ascend. Cp. § 168.

Final postvocalic g and g in the final combination gs was probably a voiceless spirant like the ch in NHG. or in Scotch loch, as dag (acc. sing.), day; mag, he can; dags, day. Cp. § 169.

Before another guttural it was used to express a guttural nasal (ŋ) like the γ in Greek ἄγγελος, angel; ἄγχι, near; and the ng in English thing, or the n in think, as aggilus, angel; briggan, to bring; figgrs, finger; drigkan, to drink; sigqan, to sink.

The combination ggw was in some words equal to ŋ + gw, and in others equal to gg (a long voiced explosive) + w. When it was the one, and when the other, can only be determined upon etymological grounds. Examples of the former are siggwan, to sing; aggwus, narrow; and of the latter bliggwan, to beat, strike; trlggws, true, faithful. Cp. § 151.

§ 18. h, initially before vowels and probably also medially between vowels, was a strong aspirate, as haban, to have; haírtō, heart; faíhu, cattle; gateihan, to announce. Cp. § 164. In other positions it was a voiceless spirant like the NHG. ch in nacht, night, as hláifs, loaf; nahts, night; falh, I hid; jah, and.

§ 19. ƕ was either a labialized h or else a voiceless w. It may be pronounced like the wh in the Scotch pronunciation of when, as ƕeila, time; ƕōpan, to boast; aƕa. river; saíƕan, to see; saƕ, he saw; nēƕ (av.), near. Cp. notes to § 2.

§ 20. j (that is i in the function of a consonant) had nearly the same sound-value as English y in yet. It only occurs initially and medially, as jēr, year; juggs, young; juk, yoke; lagjan, to lay; niujis, new; fijands, fiend, enemy.

§ 21. k had the same sound as English k, except that it must be pronounced initially before consonants (l, n, r). It occurs initially, medially, and finally, as kaúrn, corn; kniu, knee; akrs, field; brikan, to break; ik, I; juk, yoke.

§ 22. l, m, n had the same sound-values as in English. They all occur initially, medially, and finally, in the function of consonants.

l. laggs, long; láisjan, to teach; háils, hale, whole; haldan, to hold; skal, I shall; mēl, time.

m. mēna, moon; mizdō, meed, reward; namō, name; niman, to take; nam, he took; nimam, we take.

n. nahts, night; niun, nine; mēna, moon; rinnan, to run; láun, reward; kann, I know.

In the function of vowels they do not occur in stem-syllables, as fugls, fowl, bird; tagl, hair; sigljō, seal; máiþms, gift; bagms, tree, beam; ibns, even; táikns, token. See § 169.

§ 23. p had the same sound as English p in put. It occurs initially (in loan-words only), medially, and finally, as pund, pound; páida, coat; plinsjan, to dance; slēpan, to sleep; diups, deep; hilpan, to help; saíslēp, he slept; skip, ship.

§ 24. q was a labialized k, and may be pronounced like the qu in English queen, as qiman, to come; qēns, wife; sigqan, to sink; riqis, darkness; sagq, he sank; bistugq, a stumbling. See §§ 2 note 3, 163.

§ 25. r was a trilled lingual r, and was also so pronounced before consonants, and finally, like the r in Lowland Scotch. It occurs as a consonant initially, medially, and finally, as raíhts, right, straight; rēdan, to counsel; baíran, to bear; barn, child; fidwōr, four; daúr, door.

In the function of a vowel it does not occur in stem-syllables, as akrs, field; tagr, tear; huggrjan, to hunger. Cp. § 159.

§ 26. s was a voiceless spirant in all positions like the s in English sin, as sama, same; sibun, seven; wisan, to be; þūsundi, thousand; hūs, house; gras, grass.

§ 27. t had the same sound-value as English t in ten, as taíhun, ten; tunþus, tooth; háitan, to name; mahts, might, power; haírtō, heart; wáit, I know; at, to, at.

§ 28. þ was a voiceless spirant like the th in English thin, as þagkjan, to think; þreis, three; brōþar, brother; brūþs, bride; miþ, with; fanþ, he found.

§ 29. w (i. e. u in the function of a consonant) had mostly the same sound-value as the w in English wit. After diphthongs and long vowels, as also after consonants not followed by a vowel, it was probably a kind of reduced u-sound, the exact quality of which cannot be determined. Examples of the former pronunciation are:—wēns, hope; witan, to know; wrikan, to persecute; swistar, sister; taíhswō, right hand. And of the latter:—snáiws, snow; waúrstw, work; skadwjan, to overshadow.

§ 30. z was a voiced spirant like the z in English freeze, and only occurs medially in regular native Gothic forms, as huzd, hoard, treasure; hazjan, to praise; máiza, greater. But see § 175.

§ 31.

Phonetic Survey of the Gothic Sound-system

To these must also be added the nasals m, n, and the liquids l, r in the function of vowels. See § 159.

To these must be added the aspirate h. See § 2 note 1 for 𐍇.

In Gothic as in the oldest period of the other Germanic languages, intervocalic double consonants were really long, and were pronounced long as in Modern Italian and Swedish, thus atta = at-ta, father; manna = man-na, man.

Stress (Accent).

§ 32. All the Indo-Germanic languages have partly pitch (musical) and partly stress accent, but one or other of the two systems of accentuation always predominates in each language, thus in Sanskrit and Old Greek the accent was predominantly pitch, whereas in the oldest periods of the Italic dialects, and the Keltic and Germanic languages, the accent was predominantly stress. This difference in the system of accentuation is clearly seen in Old Greek and the old Germanic languages by the preservation of the vowels of unaccented syllables in the former and the weakening or loss of them in the latter. In the early period of the parent Indg. language, the stress accent must have been more predominant than the pitch accent, because it is only upon this assumption that we are able to account for the origin of the vowels ī̆, ū̆, ə (§ 35, Note 1), the liquid and nasal sonants (§§ 53-6), and the loss of vowel often accompanied by a loss of syllable, as in Greek gen. πα-τρ-όs beside acc. πα-τέρ-α; πέτ-ομαι beside έ-πτ-όμην; Gothic gen. pl. aúhs-nē beside acc. *aúhsa-ns. It is now a generally accepted theory that at a later period of the parent language the system of accentuation became predominantly pitch, which was preserved in Sanskrit and Old Greek, but which must have become predominantly stress again in prim. Germanic some time prior to the operation of Verner’s law (§ 136).

The quality of the accent in the parent language was partly ‘broken’ (acute) and partly ‘slurred’ (circumflex). This distinction in the quality of the accent was preserved in prim. Germanic in final syllables containing a long vowel, as is seen by the difference in the development of the final long vowels in historic times according as they originally had the ‘broken’ or ‘slurred’ accent (§§ 87 (1), 89).

In the parent language the chief accent of a word did not always fall upon the same syllable of a word, but was free or movable as in Sanskrit and Greek, cp. e. g. Gr. nom. πατήρ, father, voc. πάτερ, acc. πατέρα; Skr. ḗmi, I go, pl. imás, we go. This free accent was still preserved in prim. Germanic at the time when Verner’s law operated, whereby the voiceless spirants became voiced when the vowel immediately preceding them did not bear the chief accent of the word (§ 136). At a later period of the prim. Germanic language, the chief accent of a word became confined to the first syllable. This confining of the chief accent to the first syllable was the cause of the great weakening—and eventual loss—which the vowels underwent in unaccented syllables in the prehistoric period of the individual Germanic languages (Ch. V). And the extent to which the weakening of unaccented syllables has been carried in some of the Modern Germanic dialects is well illustrated by such sentences as: as et it mǫən, I shall have it in the morning; ast ə dunt if id kud, I should have done it if I had been able (West Yorks.).

§ 33. The rule for the accentuation of uncompounded words is the same in Gothic as in the oldest period of the other Germanic languages, viz. the chief stress fell upon the first syllable, and always remained there even when suffixes and inflexional endings followed it, as áudags, blessed; niman, to take; reikinōn, to rule; the preterite of reduplicated verbs, as laílōt : lētan, to let; haíháit : háitan, to call; blindamma (masc. dat. sing.), blind; dagōs, days; gumanē, of men; nimanda, they are taken; barnilō, little child; bērusjōs, parents; brōþrahans, brethren; dalaþrō, from beneath; dáubiþa, deafness; mannisks, human; þiudinassus, kingdom; waldufni, power. The position of the secondary stress in trisyllabic and polysyllabic words fluctuated in Gothic, and with the present state of our knowledge of the subject it is impossible to formulate any hard and fast rules concerning it.

In compound words it is necessary to distinguish between compounds whose second element is a noun or an adjective, and those whose second element is a verb. In the former case the first element had the chief accent in the parent Indg. language; in the latter case the first element had or had not the chief accent according to the position of the verb in the sentence. But already in prim. Germanic the second element of compound verbs nearly always had the chief accent; a change which was mostly brought about by the compound and simple verb existing side by side. This accounts for the difference in the accentuation of such pairs as ándahafts, answer: andháfjan, to answer; ándanēms, pleasant: andníman, to receive.

§ 34. As has been stated above, compound words, whose second element is a noun or an adjective, had originally the chief stress on the first syllable. This simple rule was preserved in Gothic, as frakunþs, OE. fracuþ, despised; gaskafts, OHG. gascaft, creation; unmahts, infirmity; ufkunþi, knowledge; usfilh, burial; akranaláus, without fruit; allwaldands, the Almighty; brūþfaþs, bridegroom; gistradagis, to-morrow; láushandja, empty-handed; twalibwintrus, twelve years old; þiudangardi, kingdom. But in compound verbs the second element had the chief stress, as atlagjan, to lay on; duginnan, to begin; frakunnan, to despise; gaqiman, to assemble; usfulljan, to fulfil. When, however, the first element of a compound verb was separated from the verb by one or more particles, it had the chief stress, as gá-u-ƕa-sēƕi, Mark viii. 23; díz-uh-þan-sat, Mark xvi. 8.

Chapter II
The Primitive Germanic Equivalents of the Indo-Germanic Vowel-sounds

§ 35. The parent Indo-Germanic language had the following vowel-system:—

§ 36. a (Lat. a, Gr. α) remained, as Lat. ager, Gr. ἀγρός, Skr. ájras, Goth. akrs, O.Icel. akr, OS. akkar, OHG. ackar, OE. æcer, field, acre; Gr. ἅλς, Lat. gen. salis, Goth. O.Icel. OS. salt, OHG. salz, OE. sealt, salt; Lat. aqua, Goth. aƕa, OS. OHG. aha, OE. ēa from *eahu, older *ahu, water, river; Lat. alius, Gr, ἄλλος, Goth. aljis, other.

§ 37. e (Lat. e, Gr. ε) remained, as Lat. ferō, Gr. φέρω, I bear, O.Icel. bera, OS. OHG. OE. beran, to bear; Lat. edō, Gr. ἔδομαι, Skr. ádmi, I eat, O.Icel. eta, OHG. eȥȥan, OS. OE. etan, to eat; Lat. pellis, Gr. πέλλα, OS. OHG. fel, OE. fell, skin, hide.

§ 38. i (Lat. i, Gr. ι) remained, as Gr. Hom. ϝίδμεν, Skr. vidmá, Goth. witum, O.Icel. vitum, OS. witun, OHG. wiȥȥum, OE. witon, we know, cp. Lat. vidēre, to see; Lat. piscis, Goth. fisks, O.Icel. fiskr, OS. fisk, OHG. OE. fisc, fish; Lat. vidua (adj. fem.), bereft of, deprived of, Goth. widuwō, OS. widowa, OHG. wituwa, OE. widewe, widow.

§ 39. o (Lat. o, Gr. o) became a in stem-syllables, as Lat. octō, Gr. ὀκτώ, Goth. ahtáu, OS. OHG. ahto, OE. eahta, eight; Lat. hostis, stranger, enemy, Goth. gasts, OS. OHG. gast, OE. giest, guest; Lat. quod, Goth. ƕa, O.Icel. hvat, OS. hwat, OHG. hwaȥ, OE. hwæt, what; Skr. kás, who?

§ 40. u (Lat. u, Gr. υ) remained, as Gr. κυνός (gen. sing.), Goth. hunds, O.Icel. hundr, OHG. hunt, OS. OE. hund, dog, hound; Gr. θύρᾱ, OS. duri, OHG. turi, OE. duru, door; Skr. bu-budhimá, we watched, Gr. πέ-πυσται, he has inquired, Goth. budum, O.Icel. buðum, OS. budun, OHG. butum, OE. budon, we announced, offered.

§ 41. ə became a in all the Indo-Germanic languages, except in the Aryan branch, where it became i, as Lat. pater, Gr. πατήρ, O.Ir. athir, Goth. fadar, O.Icel. faðir, OS. fader, OHG. fater, OE. fæder, father, Skr. pitár- (from *pətér-), father; Lat. status, Gr. στατός, Skr. sthitás, standing, Goth. staþs, O.Icel. staðr, OS. stad, OHG. stat, OE. stede, prim. Germanic *stadiz, place.

§ 42. ā (Lat. a, Gr. Doric ᾱ, Attic, Ionic η) became ō, as Lat. māter, Gr. Dor. μᾱ́τηρ, O.Icel. mōðir, OS. mōdar, OHG. muoter, OE. mōdor, mother; Gr. Dor. φρᾱ́τηρ, member of a clan, Lat. frāter, Skr. bhrā´tar-, Goth. brōþar, O.Icel. brōðir, OS. brōthar, OHG. bruoder, OE. brōþor, brother; Lat fāgus, beech, Gr. Dor. φᾱγός, a kind of oak, Goth. bōka, letter of the alphabet, O.Icel. OS. bōk, book, OE. bōc-trēow, beech-tree.

§ 43. ē (Lat. ē, Gr. η) remained, but it is generally written ǣ (= Goth. ē, O.Icel. OS. OHG. ā, OE. ǣ) in works on Germanic philology, as Lat. ēdimus, Skr. ādmá, Goth. ētum, O.Icel. ātum, OS. ātun, OHG. āȥum, OE. ǣton, we ate; Lat. mēnsis, Gr. μήν, month, Goth. mēna, O.Icel. māne, OS. OHG. māno, OE. mōna, moon; Goth. gadēþs, O.Icel. dāð, OS. dād, OHG. tāt, OE. dǣd, deed, related to Gr. θή-σω, I shall place.

§ 44. ī (Lat. ī, Gr. ῑ) remained, as Lat. su-īnus (adj.), belonging to a pig, Goth. swein, O.Icel. svīn, OS. OHG. OE. swīn, swine, pig; cp. Skr. nav-ínas, new; Lat. sīmus, OS. sīn, OHG. sīm, OE. sī-en, we may be; Lat. velīmus = Goth. wileima (§ 343).

§ 45. ō (Lat. ō, Gr. ω) remained, as Gr. πλωτός, swimming, Goth. flōdus, O.Icel. flōð, OHG. fluot, OS. OE. flōd, flood, tide, cp. Lat. plōrāre, to weep aloud; Gr. Dor. πώς, Skr. pā́t, Goth. fōtus, O.Icel. fōtr, OHG. fuoȥ, OS. OE. fōt, foot; Goth. dōms, O.Icel. dōmr, OHG. tuom, OS. OE. dōm, judgment, sentence, related to Gr. θωμός, heap; Lat. flōs, Goth. OE. blōma, OS. blōmo, OHG. bluoma, blossom, flower.

§ 46. ū (Lat. ū, Gr. ῡ) remained, as Lat. mūs, Gr. μῦς, Skr. mūš-, O.Icel. OHG. OE. mūs, mouse; Lat. sūs, Gr. ὗς, OHG. OE. sū, sow, pig; Goth. fūls, O.Icel. fūll, OHG. OE. fūl, foul, related to Lat. pūteō, I smell bad, Gr. πῡ́θω, I make to rot.

§ 47. ai (Lat. ae, Gr. αι, Goth. ái, O.Icel. ei, OS. ē, OHG. ei (ē), OE. ā) remained, as Lat. aedēs, sanctuary, originally fire-place, hearth, Skr. ḗdhas, firewood, Gr. αἴθω I burn, OHG. eit, OE. ād, funeral pile, ignis, rogus; Lat. aes, Goth. áiz, O.Icel. eir, OHG. ēr, OE. ār, brass, metal, money; Lat. caedō, I hew, cut down, Goth. skáidan, OS. skēdan, skēđan, OHG. sceidan, OE. scādan, sceādan, to divide, sever.

§ 48. ei (Lat. ī (older ei), Gr. ει) became ī, as Gr. στείχω, I go, Goth. steigan (ei = ī), O.Icel. stīga, OS. OHG. OE. stīgan, to ascend; Gr. λείπω, I leave, Goth. lelƕran, OS. OHG. līhan, OE. lēon from *līohan, older *Iīhan, to lend; Lat. dīcō, I say, tell, Gr. δείκνῡμι, I show, Goth. ga-teihan, to tell, declare, OS. af-tīhan, to deny, OHG. zīhan, OE. tēon, to accuse; Skr. bhḗdati, he splits, Goth. beitan, OE. OS. bītan, OHG. bīȥan, to bite.

§ 49. oi (O.Lat. oi (later ū), Gr. οι) became ai (cp. § 39), as Gr. οἴδε, Skr. vḗda, Goth. wáit, O.Icel. veit, OS. wet, OHG. weiȥ, OE. wāt, he knows; O.Lat. oinos, later ūnus, Goth. áins, O.Icel. einn, OS. ēn, OHG. ein, OE. ān, one, cp. Gr. οἰνή, the one on dice; Gr. πέ-ποιθε, he trusts, Goth. báiþ, O.Icel. beið, OS. bēd, OHG. beit, OE. bād, he waited for; Gr. τοί = Goth. þái (§ 265).

§ 50. au (Lat. au, Gr. αυ, Goth. áu, O.Icel. au, OS. ō, OHG. ou (ō), OE. ēa) remained, as Lat. auris, Goth. áusō, OS. OHG. ōra, OE. ēare, ear; Lat. augeō, Gr. αὐξάνω, I increase, Goth. áukan, O.Icel. auka, OS. ōkian, OHG. ouhhōn, OE. ēacian, to add, increase; cp. Skr. ṓjas-, strength.

§ 51. eu (Lat. ou (later ū), Gr. ευ, Goth. iu, O.Icel. jō (jū), OS. OHG. io, OE. ēo) remained, as Gr. γεύω, I give a taste of, Goth. kiusan, O.Icel. kjōsa, OS. OHG. kiosan, OE. cēosan, to test, choose; Gr. πεύθομαι, I inquire, Skr. bṓdhati, he is awake, learns, Goth. ana-biudan, to order, command, O.Icel. bjōða, OS. biodan, OHG. biotan, OE. bēodan, to offer; Lat. doucō (dūcō), I lead, Goth. tiuhan, OS. tiohan, OHG. ziohan, to lead, draw. See § 63.

§ 52. ou (Lat. ou (later ū), Gr. ου) became au (cp. § 39), as prim. Indg. *roudhos, Goth. ráuþs, O.Icel. rauðr, OS. rōd, OHG. rōt, OE. rēad, red, cp. Lat. rūfus, red; prim. Indg. *bhe-bhoudhe, Skr. bubṓdha, has waked, Goth. báuþ, O.Icel. bauð, OS. bōd, OHG. bōt, OE. bēad, has offered.

§ 53. m (Lat. em, Gr. α, αμ) became um, as Gr. άμο- (in άμόθεν, from some place or other), Goth. sums, O.Icel. sumr, OS. OHG. OE. sum, some one; Gr. ἑκατόν, Lat. centum (with n from m by assimilation, and similarly in the Germanic languages), Goth. OE. OS. hund, OHG. hunt, hundred, all from a prim. form *kmtóm.

§ 54. n (Lat. en, Gr. α, αν) became un, as Lat. commentus (pp.), invented, devised, Gr. αὐτό-ματος, acting of one’s own will, Goth. ga-munds, OHG. gi-munt, OE. ge-mynd, remembrance, prim. form *mntós (pp.) from root men-, think; OS. wundar, OHG. wuntar, OE. wundor, wonder, cp. Gr. άθρέω from *ϝαθρέω, I gaze at.

§ 55. r (Lat. or, Gr. αρ, ρα) became ur, ru, as OHG. gi-turrum, OE. durron, we dare, cp. Gr. θαρσύς (θρασύς), bold, θαρσέω, I am of good courage; dat. pl. Gr. πατράσι, Goth. fadrum, OHG. faterum, OE. fæd(e)rum, to fathers; Lat. porca, the ridge between two furrows, OHG. furuh, OE. furh, furrow.

§ 56. l (Lat. ol, Gr. αλ, λα) became ul, lu, as Goth. fulls, O.Icel. fullr, OHG. vol, OS. OE. full, prim. form *plnós, full; Goth. wulfs, O.Icel. ulfr, OHG. wolf, OS. OE. wulf, prim. form *wlqos, wolf.

Chapter III
The Primitive Germanic Vowel-system

§ 57. From what has been said in §§ 36-52, we arrive at the following vowel-system for the prim. Germanic language:—

§ 58. This system underwent several modifications during the prim. Germanic period, i.e. before the parent language became differentiated into the various separate Germanic languages. The most important of these changes were:—

§ 59. a + ŋꭓ became āꭓ, as Goth. OS. OHG. fāhan, O.Icel. fā, OE. fōn, from *faŋꭓanan, to catch, seize, cp. Lat. pangō, I fasten; Goth. þāhta (inf. þagkjan), OS. thāhta, OHG. dāhta, OE. þōhte from older *þaŋꭓta-, *þaŋꭓtō-, I thought, cp. O.Lat. tongeō, I know. Every prim. Germanic ā in accented syllables was of this origin. Cp. § 42.

§ 60. e became i under the following circumstances:—

1. Before a nasal + consonant, as Goth. OS. OE. bindan, O.Icel. binda, OHG. bintan, to bind, cp. Lat. of-fendimentum, chin-cloth, of-fendix, knot, band, Gr. πενθερός, father-in-law, Lat. ventus, Goth. winds, O.Icel. vindr, OS. OE. wind, OHG. wint, wind; Gr. πέντε, Goth. fimf, O.Icel. fim(m), OHG. fimf, finf, five. This i became ī under the same conditions as those by which a became a (§ 59), as Goth. þeihan, OS. thīhan, OE. ðēon, OHG. dīhan, from *þiŋꭓanan, older *þeŋꭓanan, to thrive. The result of this sound-law was the reason why the verb passed from the third into the first class of strong verbs (§ 300), cp. the isolated pp. OS. gi-þungan, OE. ge-ðungen.

2. When followed by an i, ī, or j in the next syllable, as Goth. OS. OHG. ist. OE. is, from *istl, older *esti = Gr. ἔστι, is; OHG. irdīn, earthen, beside erda, earth; Goth. midjis, O.Icel. miðr, OS. middi, OE. midd, OHG. mitti, Lat. medius, from an original form *medhjos, middle; OS. birid, OHG. birit, he bears, from an original form *bhéreti, through the intermediate stages *ƀéređi, *ƀériđi, *ƀíriđi, beside inf. beran; O.Icel. sitja, OS. sittian, OHG. slzzen, OE. sittan, from an original form *sedjonom, to sit.

3. In unaccented syllables, except in the combination -er when not followed by an i in the next syllable, as OE. fēt, older fœ̄t, from *fōtiz, older *fōtes, feet, cp. Lat. pedes, Gr. πόδες. Indg. e remained in unaccented syllables in the combination -er when not followed by an i in the next syllable, as acc. OS. fader, OHG. fater, OE. fæder, Gr. πατέρα, father; OE. hwæþer, Gr. πότερος, which of two.

§ 61. i, followed originally by an ā̆, ō̆, or ē in the next syllable, became e when not protected by a nasal + consonant or an intervening i or j, as O.Icel. verr, OS. OHG. OE. wer, Lat. vir, from an original form *wiros, man; OHG. OE. nest, Lat. nīdus, from an original form *nlzdos. In historic times, however, this law has a great number of exceptions owing to the separate languages having levelled out in various directions, as OE. spec beside spic, bacon; OHG. lebara beside OE. lifer, liver; OHG. leocōn beside OE. liccian, to lick; OHG. lebēn beside OE. libban, to live; OHG. quec beside OE. cwlc, quick, alive.

§ 62. a, followed originally by an ā̆, ō̆, or ē in the next syllable, became o when not protected by a nasal+consonant or an intervening i or j, as OE. dohtor, OS. dohter, OHG. tohter, Gr. θυγάτηρ, daughter; O.Icel. ok, OHG. joh, Gr. ζυγόν, yoke; OE. OS. god, OHG. got, from an original form *ghutóm, god, beside OHG. gutin, goddess; pp. OE. geholpen, OS. giholpan, OHG. giholfan, helped, beside pp. OE. gebunden, OS. gibundan, OHG. gibuntan, bound; pp. OE. geboden, OS. gibodan, OHG. gibotan, offered, beside pret. pl. OE. budon, OS. budun, OHG. butum, we offered. Every prim. Germanic o in accented syllables was of this origin. Cp. § 39.

u became ū under the same conditions as those by which a and i became ā and ī, as pret. third pers. singular Goth. þūhta, OS. thūhta, OHG. dūhta, OE. þūhte, beside inf. Goth. þugkjan, OS. thunkian, OHG. dunken, OE. þyncan, to seem; and similarly in Goth. ūhtwō, OS. OHG. ūhta, OE. ūhte, daybreak, dawn.

§ 63. The diphthong eu became iu when the next syllable originally contained an i, ī, or j, cp. § 60 (2), but remained eu when the next syllable originally contained an ā̆, ō̆, or ē. The iu remained in OS. and OHG., but became jū (ȳ by i-umlaut) in O.Icel., and īo (īe by i-umlaut) in OE., as Goth. liuhtjan, OS. liuhtian, OHG. liuhten, OE. līehtan, to give light, beside OS. OHG. lioht, OE. lēoht, a light; O.Icel. dȳpt, OS. diupi, OHG. tiufī, OE. dīepe, depth, beside O.Icel. djūpr, OS. diop, OHG. tiof, OE. dēop, deep; OS. kiusid, OHG. kiusit, O.Icel. kȳs(s), OE. cīesþ, he chooses, beside inf. OS. OHG. kiosan, O.Icel. kjōsa, OE. cēosan, to choose.

§ 64. From what has been said in §§ 59-63, it will be seen that the prim. Germanic vowel-system had assumed the following shape before the Germanic parent language became differentiated into the various separate languages:—

The following table contains the normal development of the above vowel-system in Goth. O.Icel. OS. OHG. and OE. stem-syllables:—

Chapter IV
The Gothic Development of the General Germanic Vowel-system

A. The short vowels of accented syllables

a

§ 65. Germanic a remained unchanged in Gothic, as Goth. dags, OE. dæg, OS. dag, OHG. tag, O.Icel. dagr, day; Goth. gasts, OS. OHG. gast, guest; Goth. fadar, OE. fæder, O.Icel. faeðir, OS. fader, OHG. fater, father; Goth. ahtáu, OS. OHG. ahto, eight; Goth. OE. OS. OHG. faran, O.Icel. fara, to go; Goth. OE. OS. band, OHG. bant, he bound, Goth. inf. bindan (§ 303); Goth. OS. OHG. O.Icel. nam, he took, Goth. inf. niman (§ 305); Goth. OS. O.Icel. gaf, OHG. gab, he gave, Goth. inf. giban (§ 307).

e

§ 66. Germanic e became i, as Goth. wigs, OE. OS. OHG. weg, O.Icel. vegr, way; Goth. hilms, OE. OS. OHG. helm, helm; Goth. swistar, OS. swestar, OHG. swester, sister; Goth. hilpan (§ 303), OE. OS. helpan, OHG helfan, to help; Goth. stilan (§ 306), OE. OS. OHG. stelan, O.Icel. stela, to steal; Goth. itan (§ 308), OE. OS. etan, OHG. eȥȥan, O.Icel. eta, to eat.

§ 67. This i became broken to e (written aí) before r, h, and ƕ, as Goth. haírtō, OS. herta, OHG. herza, heart; Goth. aírþa, OS. ertha, OHG. erda, earth; Goth. waírþan (§ 303), OS. werthan, OHG. werdan, O.Icel. verða, to become; Goth. baíran (§ 305), OE. OS. OHG. beran, O.Icel. bera, to bear; Goth. raíhts, OS. OHG. reht, right; Goth. taíhun, OS. tehan, OHG. zehan, ten; Goth. saíƕan (§ 307), OS. OHG. sehan, to see.

i

§ 68. Germanic i generally remained in Gothic, as Goth. fisks, OS. OE. fisc, OHG. fisk, O.Icel. fiskr, fish; Goth. widuwō, OE. wiđewe, OS. widowa, OHG. wituwa, widow; Goth. OE. OS. witan, OHG. wiȥȥan, O.Icel. vita, to know; Goth. nimiþ, OE. nimeþ, OS. nimid, OHG. nimit, he takes; Goth. bitum, OE. biton, OHG. biȥȥum, O.Icel. bitom, we bit, inf. Goth. beitan (§ 299), pp, Goth. bitans, OE. biten, OHG. gibiȥȥan, O.Icel. bitenn; Goth. bidjan, OE. biddan, O.Icel. biðja, OS. biddian, OHG. bitten, to pray, beg, entreat. See § 60.

§ 69. Germanic i became broken to e (written aí) before r, h, ƕ, as Goth. baíriþ, OS. birid, OHG. birit, he bears, cp. § 60 (2), Goth. inf. baíran; Goth. maíhstus, OHG. mist (from *mihst), dunghill, cp. Mod. English dial. mixen; Goth. ga-taíhun, they told, OE. tigon, OHG. zigun, they accused, Goth. inf. ga-teihan (§ 299), pp. Goth. taíhans, OE. tigen, OHG. gi-zigan; Goth. laíƕum, OE. -ligon, OHG. liwum, we lent, inf. Goth. leiƕan (§ 299), pp. Goth. laíƕans, OE. -ligen, OHG. giliwan, OS. -liwan.

o

§ 70. Germanic o became u, as Goth. juk, OHG. joh, OE. geoc, yoke; Goth. guþ, OE. OS. god, OHG. got, god; Goth. huzd, OS. hord, OHG. hort, treasure; pp. Goth. budans, OE. geboden, OS. gibodan, OHG. gibotan, O.Icel. boðenn, inf. Goth. biudan (§ 301), to offer; Goth. pp. hulpans, OE. geholpen, OS. giholpan, OHG. giholfan, Goth. inf. hilpan (§ 303), to help; pp. Goth. numans, OHG. ginoman, Goth. inf. niman (§ 305), to take. See § 62.

§ 71. The u, which arose from Germanic o (§ 70), became broken to o (written aú) before r and h, as Goth. waúrd, OE. OS. word, OHG. wort, word; Goth. daúhtar, OE. dohtor, OS. dohtar, OHG. tohter, daughter; pp. Goth. taúhans, OE. getogen, OS. -togan, OHG. gizogan, O.Icel. togenn, Goth. inf. tiuhan (§ 301), to lead; Goth. waúrhta, OE. worhte, OHG. worhta, he worked, inf. Goth. waúrkjan, OHG. wurken; pp. Goth. waúrþans, OE. geworden, OS. giwordan, OHG. wortan, O.Icel. orðenn, Goth. inf. waírþan (§ 303), to become; pp. Goth. baúrans, OE. geboren, OS. OHG. giboran, O.Icel. borenn, inf. Goth. baíran (§ 305), to bear; Goth. ga-daursta, OE. dorste, OS. gi-dorsta, OHG. gi-torsta, he dared; inf. Goth. ga-daúrsan (§ 335).

u

§ 72. Germanic u generally remained in Gothic, as Goth. juggs, OS. OHG. jung, young; Goth. hunds, OE. OS. hund, O.Icel. hundr, OHG. hunt, dog, hound; Goth. sunus, OE. OS. OHG. sunu, son; Goth. hugjan, OS. huggian, OHG. huggen, to think; Goth. budum, OE. budon, OS. budun, OHG. butum, O.Icel. buðom, we offered, announced, inf. Goth. biudan (§ 301); Goth. bundum, OE. bundon, OS. bundun, OHG. buntum, O.Icel. bundom, we bound, Goth. inf. bindan (§ 303), pp. Goth. bundans, OE. gebunden, OS. gibundan, OHG. gibuntan, O.Icel. bundenn. See § 40.

§ 73. Germanic u became broken to o (written aú) before r and h, as Goth. saúhts, OS. OHG. suht, Germanic stem suhti-, sickness; Goth. waúrms, OS. OHG. wurm, OE. wyrm, stem wurmi-, serpent, worm; Goth. waúrkjan, OHG. wurken, to work; Goth. waúrþun, OE. wurdon, OS. wurdun, OHG. wurtun, O.Icel. urðo, they became, Goth. inf. waírþan (§ 303); Goth. taúhun, OE. tugon, OHG. zugun, they drew, pulled; Goth. inf. tiuhan (§ 301).

B. The long vowels of accented syllables

ā

§ 74. The ā, which arose from a according to § 59, remained in Gothic, as hāhan, to hang; faúrahāh (faúrhāh), curtain, veil, lit. that which hangs before; gahāhjō (av.), in order, connectedly; brāhta, he brought, inf. briggan; gafāhs, a catch, haul, related to gafāhan, to seize; fram-gāhts, progress, related to gaggan, to go; þāhō, clay; unwāhs, blameless.

ǣ

§ 75. Germanic ǣ (= OE. ǣ, OS. OHG. O.Icel. ā) became ē in Gothic, as Goth. ga-dēþs, OE. dǣd, OS. dād, OHG. tāt, deed; Goth. mana-sēþs, multitude, world, lit. man-seed, OE. sǣd, OS. sād, OHG. sāt, seed; Goth. ga-rēdan, to reflect upon, OE. rǣdan, OS. rādan, OHG. rātan, O.Icel, rāða, to advise; Goth. bērum, OE. bǣron, OS. OHG. bārum, O.Icel. bārom, we bore, Goth. inf. baíran (§ 305); Goth. sētun, OE. sǣton, OS. sātun, OHG. sāȥun, O.Icel. sāto, they sat, Goth. inf. sitan (§ 308).

§ 76. The Germanic combination ǣj became ǣ (written ai, the long vowel corresponding to aí) in Gothic before vowels. This ai was a long open e-sound like the ǣ in OE. slǣpan or the vowel sound in English their. It occurs in very few words: as Goth. saian, OE. sāwan, OS. sāian, OHG. sāen, O.Icel. sā, to sow, Goth. waian, OE. wāwan, OHG. wāen (wājen), to blow; Goth. faianda, they are blamed. But in unaccented syllables the combination -ǣji- became -ái-, as habáis, thou hast, habáiþ, he has, from prim. Germanic *ꭓaƀǣjizi, *ꭓaƀǣjiđi.

ē

§ 77. Germanic ē, which cannot be traced back phonologically to Indo-Germanic ē (§ 43), is of obscure origin. In Gothic the two sounds fell together in ē, but in the other Germanic languages they are kept quite apart, cp. §§ 43, 75.

Germanic ē appears in Gothic as ē (OE. OS. O.Icel. ē, OHG. ē, later ea, ia, ie). In Goth. it occurs in a few words only, as Goth. OE. OS. O.Icel. hēr, OHG. hēr (hear, hiar, hier), here; Goth. fēra, OHG. fēra (feara, fiara), country, region, side, part; Goth. mēs, OE. mēse (mȳse), OHG. meas (mias), table, borrowed from vulgar Lat. mēsa, classical Lat. mēnsa. Cp. § 5.

ī

§ 78. Germanic ī, written ei in Gothic, remained, as Goth. swein, OE. OS. OHG. swīn, O.Icel. svīn, pig, cp. Lat. su-īnu-s, pertaining to a pig; Goth. ƕeila, a while, time, season, OE. hwīl, a while, OS. hwīla (hwīl), time, OHG. wīla (hwīl), time, hour, O.Icel. hvīl, place of rest; Goth. seins, OE. OS. OHG. sīn, his; Goth. steigan (§ 300), OE. OS. OHG. stīgan, O.Icel. stīga, to ascend. Cp. §§ 5, 6, 44, 48.

ō

§ 79. Germanic ō remained in Gothic, as Goth. fōtus, OE. OS. fōt, OHG. fuoȥ, O.Icel. fōtr, foot, cp. Gr. Doric πώς; Goth. flōdus, OE. OS. flōd, OHG. fluot, O.Icel. flōð, flood, stream; Goth. brōþar, O.Icel brōðir, OE. brōþor, OS. brōðer, OHG. bruoder, brother; Goth. OE. OS. O.Icel. fōr, OHG. fuor, I fared, went, Goth. inf. faran (§ 309). Cp. §§ 42, 45.

§ 80. The Germanic combination ōw became a long open o-sound (written au) before vowels, as Goth. sauil, sun, cp. OE. O.Icel. Lat. sol; Goth. staua, (masc.) judge, (fem.) judgment, stauida, I judged (inf. stōjan), cp. Lithuanian stovéti, to stand, O.Bulgarian staviti, to place; taui (gen. tōjis), deed; afdauidái, pp. masc. nom. pi. exhausted, inf. *afdōjan.

Here probably belong also bauan, to inhabit, OE. OHG. būan, to till, dwell; bnauan, to rub; trauan, OHG. trūēn, OS. trūōn, to trow, trust.

§ 81. The Germanic combination ōwj became ōj, as stōja, I judge, from *stōwjō, older *stōwijo; tōjis (from *tōwjis), gen. sing, of taui, deed.

ū

§ 82. Germanic ū remained in Gothic, as Goth. hūs (in gud-hūs, temple), OE. OS. OHG. O.Icel. hūs, house; Goth. rūms, OE. OS. OHG. O.Icel. rūm, room, related to Lat. rū-s (gen. rū-ris), open country; Goth. þūsundi, OE. þūsend, OS. thūsundig, OHG. dūsunt, O.Icel. þūsund, thousand; Goth. fūls, OE. OHG. fūl, O.Icel. fūll, foul; Goth. ga-lūkan, to shut, close, OE. lūcan, OHG. lūhhan, O.Icel. lūka, to lock.

On the ū in forms like þūhta, it seemed, appeared; hūhrus, hunger; jūhiza, younger; ūhtwō, early morn, see § 62.

C. The diphthongs of accented syllables

ai

§ 83. Germanic ai (OE. ā, OS. ē, OHG. ei (ē), O.Icel. ei) remained in Gothic, as Goth. áins, OE. ān, OS. ēn, OHG. ein, O.Icel. einn, one; Goth. háils, OE. hāl, OS. hēl, OHG. heil, hale, whole, sound; Goth. stáins, OE. stān, OS. stēn, OHG. stein, O.Icel. steinn, stone; Goth. stáig, OE. stāg, OS. stēg, OHG. steig, he ascended, Goth inf. steigan (§ 300); Goth. háitan (§ 313), OE. hātan, OS. hētan, OHG. heiȥan, O.Icel. heita, to name, call. Cp. §§ 47, 49.

au

§ 84. Germanic au (OE. ēa, OS. ō, OHG. ou (ō), O.Icel. au) remained in Gothic, as Goth. áugō, OE. ēage, OS. ōga, OHG. ouga, O.Icel. auga, eye ; Goth. háubiþ (gen. haubidis), OE. hēafod, OS. hōƀid, OHG. houbit, O.Icel. haufuþ, head; Goth. dáuþus, OE. dēað, OS. dōth, OHG. tōd, death; Goth. ráuþs, O.Icel. rauðr, OE. rēad, OS. rōd, OHG. rōt, red; Goth. gáumjan, to perceive, observe, OS. gōmian, OHG. goumen, to pay attention to; Goth. -hláupan, OE. hlēapan, OS. -hlōpan, OHG. louffan, O.Icel. hlaupa, to leap, run; pret. 1, 3 sing. Goth. káus, OE. cēas, OS. OHG. kōs, O.Icel. kaus, inf. Goth. kiusan (§ 302), to choose. Cp. §§ 50, 52.

iu

§ 85. The iu, which arose from older eu (§ 63), remained in Gothic, as Goth. niujis, OS. OHG. niuwi, stem *niuja-, older *neujo-, new; Goth. stiurei (in us-stiurei, excess, riot), cp. OHG. stiurī, greatness, magnificence; Goth. kiusiþ, OS. kiusid, OHG. kiusit, he chooses, tests; Goth. liuhtjan, OS. liuhtian, OHG. liuhten, to light; Goth. stiurjan, to establish, OHG. stiuren, to support, steer.

eu

§ 86. eu (OE. ēo, OS. OHG. io (eo), O.Icel. jō (jū)) became iu in Gothic, as Goth. diups, OE. dēop, OS. diop, OHG. tiof, O.Icel. djūpr, deep; Goth. liuhaþ, OE. lēoht, OS. OHG. lioht, a light, cp. Gr. λευκός, light, bright; Goth. liufs, OE. lēof, OS. liof, OHG. liob, O.Icel. ljūfr, dear; Goth. tiuhan (§ 301), OS. tiohan, OHG. ziohan, to draw, pull; Goth. fra-liusan, OE. for-lēosan, OS. far-liosan, OHG. fir-liosan, to lose.

Chapter V
The Gothic Development of the Primitive Germanic Vowels of Unaccented Syllables

§ 87. In order to establish and illustrate the Gothic treatment of the vowels of final syllables by comparison with other non-Germanic languages, Lat., Greek, &c., it will be useful to state here a law, relating to the general Germanic treatment of Indo-Germanic final consonants, which properly belongs to a later chapter:—

(1) Final -m became -n. This -n remained when protected by a particle, e.g. Goth. þan-a (§ 265), the = Skr. tám, Lat. is-tum, Gr. τόν. But when it was not protected by a particle, it, as also Indo-Germanic final -n, was dropped in prim. Germanic after short vowels; and the preceding vowel underwent in Gothic just the same treatment as if it had been originally final, i.e. it was dropped with the exception of u, e.g. acc. sing. Goth. wulf, wolf = Skr. vŕkam, Gr. λύκον, Lat. lupum; nom. acc. sing. Goth. juk, yoke = Skr. yugám, Gr. ζυγόν, Lat. jugum; inf. niman from *nemanan, to take; acc. sing. Goth. ga-qumþ, a coming together, assembly = Skr. gátim, Gr. βάσιν, prim. form *ɡmtím, a going; cp. also the Lat. endings in partim, sitim, &c.

Acc. sing. Goth, sunu, son = Skr. sūnúm, cp. the endings in Gr. ἡδύν, sweet; Lat. fructum, fruit; acc. sing. Goth. fōtu, foot, cp. Lat. pedem, Gr. πόδα (§ 53). But the -un from Indg. vocalic -m disappeared in words of more than two syllables, as acc. sing, guman from *ʒomanun = Lat. hominem, man ; brōþar from *ƀroðþerun, brother, cp. Lat. frātrem. In Gothic sibun, seven, and taíhun, ten, for older *sibu, *taíhu, the final -n was re-introduced through the influence of the inflected forms (§ 247).

Note.—The oldest Norse runic inscriptions still retained these final vowels, as acc. sing. staina beside Goth. stáin, stone; acc. sing. neut. horna beside Goth. haúrn, horn; nom. sing. gastiR beside Goth. gasts, guest, stranger.

On the other hand, final -n merely became reduced after long vowels in prim. Germanic, and only disappeared in the course of the individual Germanic languages; the process being that the long oral vowels became nasalized and then at a later stage became oral again (cp. § 59 note). After the disappearance of the nasal element, the long vowel remained in Gothic when it originally had the ‘slurred’ (circumflex) accent, but became shortened when it originally had the ‘broken’ (acute) accent, as gen. pl. dagē, of days; gastē, of guests; hananē, of cocks; haírtanē, of hearts; baúrgē, of cities; the -ē of which corresponds to a prim. Germanic -ǣ̃n, Indg. -ē̃m, but this ending only occurs in Gothic and has never been satisfactorily explained; the ending in the other Germanic and Indo-Germanic languages presupposes -ō̃m which regularly appears as -ō in the Gothic gen. pl. gibō, of gifts; bandjō, of bands; tuggōnō, of tongues; manageinō, of multitudes, cp. Gr. θεῶν, of gods; but acc. sing. giba from *ʒeƀōn, Indg. -ā́m, cp. Gr. χώρᾱν, land, and acc. fem. þō, the = Skr. tā́m, acc. fem. ní áinō-hun (§ 89 note), no one; nom. sing. hana from *ꭓanēn or -ōn, cp. Gr. ποιμήν, shepherd, ἡγεμών, leader; nasida from *nasiđōn, I saved.

Note.—For full details concerning the Germ. treatment in final syllables of Indg. vowels with the ‘slurred’ and ‘broken’ accent, see Streitberg’s ‘Urgermanische Grammatik’, ch. ix.

(2) The Indg. final explosives disappeared in prim. Germanic, except after a short accented vowel, as pres. subj. baírái, OE. OS. OHG. bere, from an original form *bhéroĩt, he may bear; pret. pl. bērun, OE. bǣron, OS. OHG. bārun, they bore, original ending -nt with vocalic n (§ 54); Goth. mēna from an original form *mēnōt, moon; Goth. þat-a, OE. þæt, OS. that, Indg. *tod, that, the; OE. hwæt, OS. hwat = Lat. quod, what, beside Gothic ƕa (§ 273); OE. æt, OS. at = Lat. ad, at.

(3) Indg. final -r remained, as Goth, fadar, O.Icel. faðir, OE. fæder, OS. fader, OHG. fater = Lat. pater, Gr. πατήρ, father.

a. Short Vowels.

§ 88. With the exception of u all other prim. Indo-Germanic final short vowels, or short vowels which became final in prim. Germanic (§ 87), were dropped in Gothic, as also were short vowels in the final syllables of dissyllabic and polysyllabic words when followed by a single consonant:—

Goth. wáit = Gr. οἶδα, Skr. vḗda, I know; wáist = Gr. οἶσθα, Skr. vḗttha, thou knowest; hlaf, I stole = Gr. κέκλοφα.

Goth. akrs, field = Gr. ἀγρός; wulfs = Gr. λύκος, Skr. vŕkas, Lat. lupus, wolf, cp. nom. sing. O.Norse runic inscription HoltingaR; numans from *nomanaz, taken; gen. sing. dagis, from *đaʒesa, of a day, cp. O.Bulgarian česo = Goth. ƕis, whose; af, of, from = Gr. ἄπο; nom. sing, haírdeis, shepherd, from *ꭓirđij-az.

Voc. sing. Goth. wulf = Gr. λύκε, Lat. lupe, Skr. vŕka; nim, take thou = Gr. νέμε; nasei, from *nasiji, save thou; baíriþ, ye bear = Gr. φέρετε; wáit, he knows = Gr. οἶδε; láiƕ, he lent = Gr. λέλοιπε, he has left; fimf, five, cp. Gr. πέντε; mik (acc.), me, cp. Gr. έμέγε; nom. pl. Goth. gumans from *ʒomaniz, men = Lat. homines, cp. Gr. ἄκμονες, anvils; nom. pl. gasteis from *ʒastij-(i)z, guests = Lat. hostēs, from *hostejes, strangers, enemies, cp. Gr. πόλεις is from πόλεjες, cities; nom. pl. sunjus, from *suniuz, older *suneu-es, sons = Skr. sūnávas, cp. Gr. ἡδεῖς from ἡδέϝες, sweet.

hráin, from *hráini (neut.), clean, pure, cp. Gr. ἴδρι, skilful; dat. sing. gumin from *gomini = Lat. homini, to a man, cp. Gr. ποιμένι, to a shepherd; dat. sing, brōþr from *ƀrōþri = Lat. frātri, to a brother, cp. Gr. πατρί; baíris = Skr. bhárasi, thou bearest; baíriþ = Skr. bhárati, he bears; baírand = Gr. Dor. φέροντι, Skr. bháranti, they bear; nom. sing. gasts = O.Norse runic inscription gastiR, guest, Lat. hostis; waírs, from *wirsiz (av.), worse, cp. Lat. magis, more.

Nom. acc. neut. Goth. faíhu = Lat. pecu, cattle, cp. Gr. ἄστυ, city; filu, much = Gr. πολύ, many; nom. sing. sunus = Skr. sūnús, son, cp. the endings in Gr. νέκυς, corpse, Lat. fructus, fruit.

b. Long Vowels.

§ 89. Prim. Indg. long final vowels, or those which became final in prim. Germanic (§ 87 and note), became shortened in polysyllabic words, when the vowels in question originally had the ‘broken’ accent, but remained unshortened when they originally had the ‘slurred’ accent.

Examples of the former are:—fem. nom. sing, giba, from *ʒebō, gift (cp. sō, § 265), cp. Gr. χώρᾱ, land, Indg. -ā́; neut. nom. acc. pl. juka, from *jukō (cp. neut. nom. acc. pl. þō, § 265), Skr. (Vedic) yugā́, O.Lat. jugā, Indg. -ā́.

baíra, Lat. ferō, Gr. φέρω, I bear, Indg. -ṓ; mēna, moon, cp. mēnōþs, month, particle -ō preserved in forms like acc. sing, ƕan-ō-h, each, everyone, but shortened in acc. forms like ƕan-a, whom?; þan-a, this; þat-a, that; blindan-a, blind.

Pret. 3 sing. nasida, he saved, Indg. -dhḗt, cp. nasidēs; áinamma, dat. (properly instrumental) sing. masc. neut. of áins, one, beside áinummē-hun, to anyone; ƕamma?, to whom? beside ƕammē-h, to everyone; dat. sing. masc. neut. þamma, to this, from an Indg. instrumental form *tosmḗ (cp. Goth, þē, § 265 note); dat. sing, daga, to a day, from Indg. *dhoɡhḗ or -ṓ; baíráima, we may bear, Indg. *mḗ.

þiwi (gen. þiujōs), maid-servant, formed from *þius (pl. þiwōs), man-servant, like Skr. dēvī́, goddess, from dēvás, god; frijōndi, from *frijōndī (fem.), friend, cp. Skr. pres. part. fem. bhárantī; wili, from *wilī, he will, cp. wileima, we will; nēmi, from *nǣmi, he might take, cp. nēmels. Cp. § 154.

Examples of the latter are:—undarō, under, cp. Skr. adharā́d, below, Indg. ablative ending -ō̃d; of the same origin is the -ō in adverbs like þiubjō, secretly, glaggwō, accurately; and in adverbs with the suffix -þrō (§ 348), as ƕaþrō, whence, þaþrō, thence. Nom. tuggō, tongue, haírtō, heart, Indg. -ō̃.

The preservation of the final -ē in adverbs with the suffix -drē (§ 348) is also due to the vowel having had originally the ‘slurred’ accent.

c. Diphthongs.

§ 90. Originally final -ai became -a in polysyllables, as baírada, he is borne = Gr. mid. φέρεται; baíranda, they are borne=Gr. mid. φέρονται; faúra, before, cp. Gr. παραί, beside.

Originally long diphthongs became shortened in final syllables, as ahtáu, from an original form *oktṓu, eight; dat. sing. gibái. from *ʒeƀōĩ, older *ghebhāĩ, to a gift, cp. Gr. χώρᾳ for *χώραι; θεᾴ, to a goddess; dat. sing. sunáu, to a son, from loc. form *sunēu; dat. sing. anstái, to a favour, from locative form *anstēi, cp. Gr. πόληϊ; habáis, from *ꭓaƀǣ(j)iz(i), thou hast, habáiþ, from *ꭓaƀǣ(j)iđ(i), he has.

Chapter VI
The Germanic Equivalents of the Gothic Vowel-sounds

A. The vowels of accented syllables

i. Short Vowels.

§ 91.

§ 92.

§ 93.

§ 94.

§ 95.

ii. Long Vowels.

§ 96.

§ 97.

§ 98.

§ 99.

§ 100.

§ 101.

§ 102.

iii. Diphthongs.

§ 103.

§ 104.

§ 105.

B. The vowels of medial syllables

i. Short Vowels.

§ 106.

§ 107.

§ 108.

ii. Long Vowels.

§ 109.

§ 110.

§ 111.

iii. Diphthongs.

§ 112.

§ 113.

C. Final vowels

i. Short Vowels.

§ 114.

§ 115.

§ 116.

ii. Long Vowels.

§ 117.

§ 118.

§ 119.

iii. Diphthongs.

§ 120.

§ 121.

Chapter VII
Ablaut (Vowel Gradation)

§ 122. By ablaut is meant the gradation of vowels both in stem and suffix, which was caused by the primitive Indo-Germanic system of accentuation. See § 32.

The vowels vary within certain series of related vowels, called ablaut-series. In Gothic, to which this chapter will chiefly be limited, there are seven such series, which appear most clearly in the stem-forms of the various classes of strong verbs. Four stem-forms are to be distinguished in a Gothic strong verb which has vowel gradation as the characteristic mark of its different stems:—(1) the present stem, to which belong all the forms of the present, (2) the stem of the preterite singular, (3) the stem of the preterite plural, to which also belongs the whole of the preterite subjunctive, (4) the stem of the past participle.

By arranging the vowels according to these four stems, we arrive at the following system:—

But although the series of vowels is seen most clearly in the stem-forms of strong verbs, the learner must not assume that ablaut occurs in strong verbs only. Every syllable of every word of whatever part of speech contains some form of ablaut. E.g. the sonantal elements in the following stem-syllables stand in ablaut relation to each other:—un-weis, unknowing, ignorant: witan, to know; *leisan [láis (§ 333), I know], to know: láisareis, teacher: lists, cunning, wile.

liufs, dear: ga-láubjan, to believe: lubō, love; siuks, sick, ill: saúhts, sickness; ana-biudan, to command: ana-búsns, command; fra-liusan, to lose: fra-lusts, loss.

bindan, to bind: bandi, band, bond: ga-bundi, bond; rinnan, to run: rannjan (wv.), to let run: runs, a running, issue; þaírsan, to be withered: þaúrsnan, to become withered: þaúrsus, withered.

baíran, to bear: barn, child: bērusjōs, parents: baúr, son; qiman, to come: ga-qumþs, a coming together, assembly; man, I think: muns, thought; ga-taíran, to tear in pieces: ga-taúra, a tear, rent; qinō, woman: qēns, wife, woman.

mitan, to measure: us-mēt, manner of life, commonwealth; giban, to give: gabei, wealth.

batiza, better: bōta, advantage; saþs, full: ga-sōþjan, to fill, satisfy; dags, day: ahtáu-dōgs (aj.), eight days old; fraþjan, to understand: frōdei, understanding; graban, to dig: grōba, ditch, hole.

mana-sēþs, mankind, world, lit. man-seed: saian, to sow; ga-dēþs, deed: dōms, judgment, cp. Gr. τί-θημι, I place, put: θωμός, heap; waian, to blow: wōds, raging, mad.

Examples of ablaut relation in other than stem-syllables are:—

Nom. pl. anstei-s, favours: gen. sing. anstái-s: acc. pl. ansti-ns; nom. pl. sunju-s (original form *suneu-es, § 88), sons: gen. sing. sunáu-s: acc. pl. sunu-ns; fulgi-ns (aj.), hidden: fulha-ns, pp. of filhan, to hide; gen. sing. dagi-s, of a day: acc. pl. daga-ns; baíra-m, we bear: baíri-þ, ye bear = Gr. φέρο-μεν: φέρε-τε; brōþa-r, brother: dat. sing. brōþ-r, cp. Gr. πατή-ρ: dat. πατ-ρ-ί; gen. sing. *aúhsi-ns, of an ox: acc. pl. *aúhsa-ns: gen. pl. aúhs-nē.

§ 123. In the following paragraphs will be given the Germanic equivalents of the above seven ablaut series, with one or two illustrations from Gothic. For further examples see the various classes of strong verbs, §§ 299-310.

Ablaut-series I.

§ 124.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

§ 125. The ablaut-series as given in § 124 have, for practical reasons, been limited to the phases of ablaut as they appear in the various classes of strong verbs. From an Indo-Germanic point of view the series I-V belong to one and the same series which underwent in Germanic various modifications upon clearly defined lines. What is called the sixth ablaut-series in the Germanic languages is really a mixture of several original series, owing to several Indg. vowel-sounds having fallen together in prim. Germanic; thus the a, which occurs in the present and the past participle, corresponds to three Indg. vowels, viz. a (§ 36), o (§ 39), and ə (§ 41); and the ō in the preterite corresponds to Indg. ā (§ 42) and Indg. ō (§ 45). In a few isolated cases there are also phases of ablaut which do not manifest themselves in the various parts of strong verbs, as e.g. acc. pl. *aúhsa-ns, oxen: gen. pl. aúhs-nē, where the vowel disappears altogether, as in Gr. πέτομαι: ἐ-πτ-όμην; slaúhts, slaughter: slahan (VI), to slay; lats, slothful: lētan (VII), to let; raþjō, number, account: rēdan (VII), to counsel; lūkan, to lock: pret. sing. láuk (II), which is an aorist-present like Gr. τῡ́φω, τρῑ́βω, another similar aorist-present form is trudan (IV), to tread. For the phases of ablaut which do not occur in the various parts of strong verbs, and for traces of ablaut-series other than those given above, the student should consult Brugmann’s Kurze vergleichende Grammatik der indogermanischen Sprachen, pp. 138-50.

Chapter VIII
The First Sound-shifting, Verner’s law, and other Consonant Changes which took place in the Primitive Germanic Language

§ 126. The first sound-shifting, popularly called Grimm’s Law, refers to the changes which the Indo-Germanic explosives underwent in the period of the Germanic primitive community, i.e. before the Germanic parent language became differentiated into the separate Germanic languages:—Gothic, O. Norse, O. English, O. Frisian, O. Saxon (= O. Low German), O. Low Franconian (O. Dutch), and O. High German.

The Indo-Germanic parent language had the following system of consonants:—

§ 127. In the following tables of the normal equivalents of the Indg. explosives in Latin, Greek, and the Germanic languages, Table I contains the Indg. tenues p, t, k, the mediae b, d, g and the pure velars q, ɡ. Table II contains the Indg. mediae aspiratae and the velars q, ɡ with labialization. The equivalents in the Germanic languages do not contain the changes caused by Verner’s Law, &c. The East Franconian dialect is taken as the normal for OHG.

The following points should be noticed:—

(1) The Indg. tenues p, t, k and the mediae b, d, g generally remained unchanged in Latin and Greek.

(2) The pure velars (q, ɡ) fell together with the palatals k, g in Latin and Greek. They became ꭓ, k in prim. Germanic, and thus fell together with the ꭓ, k from Indg. k, g.

(3) The pure velar ɡh fell together with the original palatal gh in Latin and Greek.

(4) The Indg. mediae aspiratae became in prehistoric Latin and Greek tenues aspiratae, and thus fell together with the original tenues aspiratae.

(5) The Indg. tenues aspiratae became voiceless spirants in prim. Germanic, and thus fell together with the voiceless spirants from the Indg. tenues. See § 130.

(6) In Latin Indg. q with labialization became qu, rarely c. ɡ with labialization became v (but gu after n, and g when the labialized element had been lost, as gravis = Gr. βαρύς, heavy).

Indg. ph, bh became f initially and b medially.

Indg. th, dh became f initially, ƀ medially before and after r, before l and after u (w), in other cases d.

Indg. kh, gh became h initially before and medially between vowels; g before and after consonants, and f before u (w).

Indg. qh, ɡh with labialization became f initially, v medially except that after n they became gu.

(7) In Greek Indg. q, ɡ with labialization became π, β before non-palatal vowels (except u) and before consonants (except Indg. j); τ, δ before palatal vowels; and κ, γ before and after u.

Indg. ph, bh became φ; th, dh became θ; and kh, gh became χ.

Indg. qh, ɡh with labialization became φ before non-palatal vowels (except u) and before consonants (except Indg. j); θ before palatal vowels; and χ before and after u.

(8) When two consecutive syllables would begin with aspirates, the first was de-aspirated in prehistoric times in Sanskrit and Greek, as Skr. bándhanam, a binding, Goth. OE. bindan, OHG. bintan, to bind; Skr. bódhati, he learns, is awake, Gr. πεύθεται, he asks, inquires, Goth. ana-biudan, OE. bēodan, to bid, OHG. biotan, to offer, root bheudh-; Gr. κανθύλη, a swelling, OE. gund, OHG. gunt, matter, pus; Gr. θρίξ, hair, gen. τριχός; ἔχω, I have, fut. ἕξω.

(9) In OHG. the prim. Germanic explosives p, t became the affricatae pf, tz (generally written zz, z), initially, as also medially after consonants, and when doubled. But prim. Germanic p, t, k became the double spirants ff, ȥȥ, hh (also written ch) medially between vowels and finally after vowels. The double spirants were simplified to f, ȥ, h when they became final or came to stand before other consonants, and also generally medially when preceded by a long vowel or diphthong.

§ 128. The Indg. tenues p, t, k, q, became in prim. Germanic the voiceless spirants f, þ, ꭓ, ꭓ(ꭓw).

p>f. Lat. pēs, Gr. πούς, Goth. fōtus, OE. OS. fōt, OHG. fuoȥ, O.Icel. fōtr, foot; Lat. pecu, Goth. faíhu, OE. feoh, OS. fehu, OHG. fihu (fehu), O.Icel. fē, cattle; Lat. piscis, Goth. fisks, OS. OHG. fisk, OE. fisc, O.Icel. fiskr, fish; Lat. nepos, Goth. *nifa, OE. nefa, OHG. nefo, O.Icel. nefe, nephew; Lat. clepō, Gr. κλέπτω, I steal, Goth. hlifan, to steal.

t>þ. Lat. trēs, Gr. τρεῖς, Goth. *þreis, OE. þrī, OS. thria, O.Icel. þrīr, OHG. drī, three; Lat. tu, Gr. Dor. τύ, Goth. þu, OE. O.Icel. þū, OS. thū, OHG. dū, thou; Lat. vertō, I turn, Goth. waírþan, OE. weorðan, OS. werthan, O.Icel. verða, OHG. werċan, to become; Lat. frāter, Goth. brōþar, OE. brōðor, OS. brōthar, O.Icel. brōðir, OHG. bruoder, brother.

k>ꭓ. Lat. canis, Gr. κύων, Goth. hunds, OE. OS. hund, O.Icel. hundr, OHG. hunt, hound, dog; Lat. cor (gen. cordis), Gr. καρδία, Goth. haírtō, OE. heorte, OS. herta, O.Icel. hjarta, OHG. herza, heart; Lat. decem, Gr. δέκα, Goth. taíhun, OS. tehan, OHG. zehan, ten; Lat. pecu, Goth. faíhu, cattle; Lat. dūcō, I lead, Goth. tiuhan, OS. tiohan, OHG. ziohan, to draw, lead.

q>ꭓ (ꭓw). Lat. capiō, I take, Goth. hafjan, OE. hebban, OS. hebbian, OHG. heffen, O.Icel. hefja, to raise; Lat. clepō, Gr. κλέπτω, I steal, Goth. hlifan, to steal; Lat. vincō, I conquer, Goth. weihan, OHG. wīhan, to fight; Lat. canō, I sing, Goth. hana, OE. hana, hona, O.Icel. hane, OS. OHG. hano, cock, lit. singer.

Lat. quis, Goth. ƕas, OE. hwā, OS. hwē, OHG. hwer (wer), who?; Lat. linquō (pf. līquī), Gr. λείπω (from *leiqō), I leave, Goth. leiƕan, OE. lēon (from *līhan), OHG. līhan, to lend.

§ 129. The Indg. mediae b, d, g, ɡ became the tenues p, t, k, k(kw).

b>p. O. Bulgarian slabŭ, slack, weak, Goth. slēpan, OE. slæpan, OS. slāpan, OHG. slāfan, to sleep, originally to be slack; Lat. lūbricus for *slūbricus, slippery, Goth. sliupan, OE. slūpan, OHG. sliofan, to slip; Lithuanian dubús, Goth. diups, OE. dēop, OS. diop, O.Icel. djūpr, OHG. tiof, deep; Lithuanian trobá, house, related to Goth. þaúrp, field, OE. þorp, OS. thorp, OHG. dorf, village. b was a rare sound in the parent language.

d>t. Lat. decem, Gr. δέκα, Goth. taíhun, O.Icel. tīo, OE. tīen, OS. tehan, OHG. zehan, ten; gen. Lat. pedis, Gr. ποδός, nom. Goth. fōtus, O.Icel. fōtr, OE. OS. fōt, OHG. fuoȥ, foot; Lat. dūcō, I lead, Goth. tiuhan, to draw, lead; Gr. καρδία, Lat. gen. cordis, Goth. haírtō, heart; Lat. vidēre, to see, Goth. OE. OS. witan, O.Icel. vita, OHG. wiȥȥan, to know; Lat. edere, Goth. itan, OE. OS. etan, O.Icel. eta, OHG. eȥȥan, to eat.

g>k. Lat. genu, Gr. γόνυ, Goth. kniu, OE. cnēo, OS. OHG. kneo, O.Icel. knē, knee; Lat. gustō, I taste, Gr. γεύω, I let taste, Goth. kiusan, OE. cēosan, OS. OHG. kiosan (keosan), O.Icel. kjōsa, to test, choose: Lat. ager, Gr. ἀγρός, Goth. akrs, OE. æcer, OS. akkar, OHG. ackar, field, land; Lat. egō, Gr. ἐγώ, Goth. OS. ik, OE. ic, O.Icel. ek, OHG. ih, I.

ɡ>k(kw). Lat. gelu, frost, Goth. kalds, OE. ceald, OS. kald, OHG. kalt, O.Icel. kaldr, cold; Lat. augēre, Goth. áukan, O.Icel. auka, OS. ōkian (wv.), OHG. ouhhōn (wv.), to add, increase, cp. also OE. part. adj. ēacen, great; Lat. jugum, Gr. ζυγόν, Goth. juk, OE. geoc, OHG. joh, yoke.

Gr. βίος from *ɡīwos, life, Lat. vīvos (*gwīwos), Goth. qius (gen. qiwis), OE. cwicu, OS. quik, OHG. quec, O.Icel. kvikr, quick, alive; Gr. βαίνω for *βανjω, older *βαμjω, I go, Lat. veniō for *gwemjō, I come, Indg. form *ɡmjō, Goth. qiman, OHG. queman, OE. OS. cuman, O.Icel. koma, to come; Skr. gurúṣ, Gr. βαρύς, from *ɡr-rus, Lat. gravis, Goth. kaúrus from prim. Germ. *k(w)uruz, heavy; Gr. ἔρεβος, Goth. riqis (stem riqiza-), prim. form *reɡos, darkness; Gr. Boeotian βανά, Goth. qinō, OE. cwene, OS. OHG. quena, woman, wife.

§ 130. The Indg. tenues aspiratae became voiceless spirants in prim. Germanic, and thus fell together with and underwent all further changes in common with the voiceless spirants which arose from the Indg. tenues (§ 128), the latter having also passed through the intermediate stage of tenues aspiratae before they became spirants. The tenues aspiratae were, however, of so rare occurrence in the prim. Indg. language that two or three examples must suffice for the purposes of this book; for further examples and details, the learner should consult Brugmann’s Grundriss der vergleichenden Grammatik der indogermanischen Sprachen, vol. I:—Skr. root sphal-, run violently against, O.Icel. falla, OS. OHG. fallan, OE. feallan, to fall; Gr. ἀ-σκηθής, unhurt, Goth. skaþjan, OE. sceþþan, OHG. skadōn, to injure; Gr. σχίζω, I split, Goth. skáidan, OE. scādan, OHG. sceidan, to divide, separate; φάλλη, O.Icel. hvalr, OE. hwæl, OHG. (h)wal, whale; Skr. kváthati, it boils, Goth. ƕaþjan, to foam.

§ 131. The Indg. mediae aspiratae probably became first of all the voiced spirants ƀ, đ, ʒ, ʒ(w). For the further development of these sounds during the prim. Germanic period see §§ 132, 133.

§ 132. ƀ, đ initially, and ƀ, đ, ʒ medially after their corresponding nasals, became the voiced explosives b, d, g:—

b. Goth. baíran, OE. OS. OHG. beran, O.Icel. bera, to bear, Skr. bhárāmi, Gr. φέρω, Lat. ferō, I bear; Goth. beitan, O.Icel. bīta, OE. OS. bītan, OHG. bīȥȥan, to bite, Skr. bhédāmi, Lat. findō, I cleave; Goth. brōþar, OE. brōðor, OS. brōthar, OHG. bruoder, O.Icel. brōðir, Skr. bhrátar-, Lat. frāter, brother, cp. also Gr. φράτηρ, φράτωρ.

Goth. *kambs, OE. camb, OHG. camb (chamb), O.Icel. kambr, comb, Skr. jámbhas, tooth, Gr. γόμφος, bolt, nail, prim. form *gombhos.

d. Goth. dags, OE. dæg, OS. dag, O.Icel. dagr, OHG. tag, day, Skr. ni-dāghás, older *ni-dhāghás, hot season, summer, Indg. form *dhoghos; Goth. ga-dēþs (stem ga-dēdi-), OE. dæd, OS. dād, O.Icel. dāð, OHG. tāt, deed, related to Gr. θή-σω, I shall place, Skr. dhāma, law, dwelling-place, rt. dhē-; Goth. daúhtar, OE. dohtor, OS. dohter, OHG. tohter, Gr. θυγάτηρ, daughter.

Goth. OE. OS. bindan, O.Icel. binda, OHG. bintan, to bind, Skr. bándhanam, a binding, cp. Gr. πενθερός, father-in-law, Lat. of-fendimentum, chin-cloth, rt. bhendh-.

g. Goth. aggwus, OE. enge, OS. OHG. engi, narrow, cp. Lat. angō, Gr. ἄγχω, I press tight, rt. angh-; Goth. laggs, OE. lang, long, OS. OHG. lang, O.Icel. langr, Lat. longus, long.

§ 133. ƀ, đ, ʒ remained in other positions, and their further development belongs to the history of the separate Germanic languages. In Goth. ƀ, đ (written b, d) remained medially after vowels, but became explosives (b, d) after consonants. They became f, þ finally after vowels and before final -s. ʒ remained medially between vowels, and medially after vowels before voiced consonants, but became ꭓ (written g) finally after vowels and before final -s. It became g initially, and also medially after voiced consonants. See §§ 166-9. In O.Icel. ƀ (written f) remained medially between and finally after voiced sounds, but became f before voiceless sounds. đ (written ð) generally remained medially and finally. ʒ remained medially after vowels and liquids, but became ꭓ and then disappeared finally. It became g initially. đ became d in all the West Germanic languages and then d became t in OHG. In OE. ƀ (generally written f) remained between voiced sounds, but became voiceless f finally. ʒ remained in the oldest period of the language. In OS. ƀ (written ƀ, b) generally remained between voiced sounds. It became f medially before l and n, and before voiceless consonants, and also finally. ʒ (written g) remained initially and medially, but became ꭓ finally, although it was generally written g. In OHG. ƀ, ʒ became b, g. Geminated ƀƀ, đđ, ʒʒ, of whatever origin, became bb, dd, gg in the prehistoric period of all the Germanic languages. Examples are:—Goth. *nibls, OS. neƀal, OHG. nebul, Lat. nebula, Gr. νεφέλη, mist, cloud, cp. Skr. nábhas, Gr. νέφος, cloud; Goth. liufs, O.Icel. ljūfr, OE. lēof, OS. liof, OHG. liob, dear, original form *leubhos, cp. Skr. lúbhyāmi, I feel a strong desire, Lat. lubet (libet), it pleases; OE. OS. ūder, OHG. uter, Skr. udhar, Gr. οὖθαρ, udder; Goth. ráuþs, O.Icel. rauðr, OE. rēad, OS. rōd, OHG. rōt, prim. form *roudhos, cp. Skr. rudhirás, Gr. ἐ-ρυθρός, prim. form *rudhros, red; Goth. OE. guma, O.Icel. gume, OS. OHG. gumo, Lat. homō, prim. stem-form *ghomon-, -en-, man; OE. gōs, O.Icel. gās, OHG. gans, Gr. χήν, goose; OE. OS. OHG. wegan, Goth. ga-wigan, O.Icel. vega, to move, carry, Lat. vehō, prim. form *weghō, I carry; Goth. gasts, OE. giest, O.Icel. gestr, OS. OHG. gast, guest, Lat. hostis, stranger, enemy, prim. form *ghostis; Goth. steigan, O.Icel. stīga, OE. OS. OHG. stīgan, to ascend, Gr. στείχω, prim. form *steighō, I go, cp. Lat. vestīgium, footstep.