§ 20. MHG. has the following double consonants medially between vowels: bb, gg; pp, tt, ck; ff, ss, ȥȥ; mm, nn; ll, rr. They were always pronounced long as in Italian and Swedish, as bit-ter, bitter, ëȥ-ȥen, to eat, küs-sen, to kiss, müg-ge, midge, rin-nen, to run. In NHG. double consonants are never long, they merely indicate that the preceding vowel is short.
§ 21. Phonetic Survey of the MHG. Consonants.
| Labial. | Dental. | Guttural. | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Voiceless explosives |
fortis p, pp lenis b, bb |
t, tt d |
k, ck g, gg |
| Spirants |
fortis f, ff lenis v |
s, ss, sch, ȥ, ȥȥ s |
h, (ch) |
| Nasals | m, mm | n, nn | n (= ŋ) |
| Liquids | l, ll; r, rr | ||
| Semi-vowels | w, j (palatal) | ||
To the above must be added the aspirate h and the affricatae (i.e. an explosive + a homorganic spirant) z (i.e. ts) and pf (ph).
2. Consonant Changes.
§ 22. The most characteristic difference between High German and the other West Germanic languages is the shifting which the consonants p, t, k, þ; pp, tt, kk, þþ; b (ƀ), d, g (ʒ); bb, dd, gg underwent partly in the prehistoric and partly in the historic period of Old High German. In the following treatment of what is generally called the High German sound-shifting only such points are considered as are of importance for the purposes of this book. See Old High German Primer, §§ 82-6.
§ 23. The voiceless explosives p, t, k underwent a two-fold treatment according to their position in the word: (1) Medially or finally after vowels; (2) Initially, medially and finally after consonants (l, m, n, r), and when doubled.
Note.— p, t, k remained unshifted in the combinations sp, st, sk as also t in the combinations tr, ht, ft.
1. Single p, t, k were shifted to the voiceless double spirants ff, ȥȥ, hh (also written ch) = MHG. ff (f), ȥȥ (ȥ), ch.
p > ff. OE. open, OHG. offan, MHG. offen, open; OE. slǣpan, OHG. slāffan, MHG. slāfen, to sleep; OE. ūp, OHG. MHG. ūf, up.
t > ȥȥ. OE. etan, OHG. ëȥȥan, MHG. ëȥȥen, to eat; OE. hātan, OHG. heiȥȥan, MHG. heiȥen, to call; OE. hwæt, OHG. hwaȥ, MHG. waȥ, what. In a few cases the ȥ, ȥȥ became s in MHG. before t or st, as pret. saste from saȥte: setzen, to set; beste, best, leste, last = OHG. beȥȥisto, leȥȥisto.
k > hh. OE. ic, OHG. ih, MHG. ich, I; OE. sprecan (specan), OHG. sprëhhan, MHG. sprëchen, to speak; OE. tācen, OHG. zeihhan, MHG. zeichen, token. This ch must not be confused with the MHG. h, ch which corresponded to Indo-Germanic k (= Germanic h), as ziehen, to draw, lead, pret. zōch, cp. Lat. dūcō, I lead, see § 34.
The double consonants were simplified in OHG. and MHG. according to § 32.
2. p, t initially, medially and finally after consonants (l, m, n, r), and when doubled, were shifted to the affricatae pf (also written ph), tz (generally written zz and z) = MHG. pf (ph), tz (z).
p > pf. OE. pund, OHG. MHG. pfunt, pound; OE. gelimpan, OHG. gilimpfan, MHG. gelimpfen, to be meet; OE. scieppan, OHG. skepfen, MHG. schepfen, to create. The pf became f after l and r already in OHG., as hëlfan, MHG. hëlfen, OE. helpan, to help; wërfan, MHG. wërfen, OE. weorpan, to throw.
t > z. OE. tunge, OHG. zunga, MHG. zunge, tongue; OE. heorte, OHG. hërza, MHG. hërze, heart; OE. sealt, OHG. MHG. salz, salt; OE. sittan, OHG. sizzen, sitzen, MHG. sitzen, to sit; OE. sceatt, OHG. scaz (gen. scazzes, scatzes), MHG. schaz (gen. schatzes), money, treasure.
k, kk (written ck) remained unshifted (except in High Alemanic), as OE. corn, OHG. MHG. korn, corn; OE. cnēo, OHG. kneo, MHG. knie, knee; OE. sincan, OHG. sinkan, MHG. sinken, to sink, pret. sanc; OE. þeccan, OHG. MHG. decken, to cover.
§ 24. þ became d, and þþ became tt, as OE. þorn, OHG. MHG. dorn, thorn; OE. brōþor, OHG. MHG. bruoder, brother. OE. smiþþe, OHG. smitta, MHG. smitte, smithy; OE. moþþe, late MHG. motte, moth.
§ 25. The voiced explosives b, d, g, and the voiced spirants ƀ, ʒ did not undergo the same universal shifting as the voiceless explosives. ƀ, ʒ became b, g. b, g remained, and d became t, as OE. brōþor, OHG. MHG. bruoder, brother; OE. bēodan, OHG. biotan, MHG. bieten, to offer; Goth. giban (= giƀan), OHG. gëban, MHG. gëben, to give. OE. dohtor, OHG. MHG. tohter, daughter; OE. bēodan, OHG. biotan, MHG. bieten, to offer; OE. dēad, OHG. MHG. tōt, dead. OE. gōd, OHG. MHG. guot, good; OE. flēogan, OHG. fliogan, MHG. fliegen, to fly.
§ 26. The double consonants bb, dd, gg = OHG. pp (bb), tt, cc (gg), and MHG. pp (bb), tt, ck (gg), as OE. sibb, OHG. sippa (sibba), MHG. sippe (sibbe), relationship; OE. cribb, OHG. krippa (kribba), MHG. krippe (kribbe), crib. OE. biddan, OHG. bitten, MHG. bitten, later biten, to request; OE. þridda, OHG. dritto, MHG. dritte, later drite, third. OE. brycg, OHG. brucca (brugga), MHG. brücke (brügge), bridge. The fluctuation in the writing of pp and bb, ck and gg is merely orthographical, and does not represent a difference in pronunciation. Both pairs were used to express the lenes medially between vowels. For other examples see § 31.
§ 27. The summary of the consonantal changes in §§ 23-6 may be expressed as follows:—
| West Germanic. | MHG. | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| p; t; k; þ | = ff (f), pf; | ȥȥ (ȥ), z; | ch; d. |
| pp; tt; kk; þþ | = pf; | tz (z); | ck; tt. |
| b (ƀ); d; g (ʒ) | = b; | t; | g. |
| bb; dd; gg | = pp (bb); | tt; | ck (gg). |
§ 28. The following sound-changes took place in primitive Germanic:—Every labial + t became ft; every guttural + t became ht; every dental + t became ss, which was simplified to s after long vowels. This explains the frequent interchange in MHG. between pf, b and f; between k, g and h; and between ȥȥ, ȥ and ss, s in forms which are etymologically related.
pf, b—f. schepfen, to create: geschaft, creature; gëben, to give: gift, gift; wëben, to weave: English weft.
k, g—h. würken, to work: pret. worhte; denken, to think: pret. dāhte; mugen (mügen), to be able: pret. mohte; bringen, to bring: pret. brāhte.
ȥȥ, ȥ—ss, s. gieȥen, to pour: güsse, inundation; wiȥȥen, to know: pret. wisse (wiste): wīs, wise; muoȥ, must: pret. muose (muoste); ëȥȥen, to eat: ās, carrion. Preterites like wiste, muoste were formed after the analogy of preterites like worhte, dāhte, where the t was regular.
§ 29. The guttural nasal ŋ (written n) only occurred in the combinations nk (nc) and ng. It disappeared before h (= prim. Germanic χ) in primitive Germanic with lengthening of a preceding short vowel, as vāhen from prim. Germanic *faŋχanan, to seize, catch, beside p.p. gevangen; and similarly hāhen, to hang, p.p. gehangen; pret. brāhte, dāhte, dūhte, beside bringen, to bring, denken, to think, dunken, to seem.
The guttural nasal disappeared in an unstressed syllable when preceded by an n in a stressed syllable in the course of the OHG. and MHG. period, as OHG. honag, MHG. honec, beside OHG. honang, honey; OHG. kunig, MHG. künec, beside OHG. kuning, king; OHG. pfennig, MHG. pfennic, beside OHG. pfenning, MHG. pfenninc, penny. And similarly with dental n, as senede beside senende, longing, yearning.
§ 30. Strong verbs, which have a medial v (f), d, h, s in the present, have respectively b, t, g (ng), r in the second person sing. pret. indicative, the preterite plural indicative, the pret. subjunctive and the past participle. This interchange of consonants is called Verner’s Law, see OHG. Primer, §§ 72, 87:—
| Inf. | Pret. Pl. | P.P. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| v(f)—b. | heven, to raise |
huoben | gehaben. |
| d—t. | mīden, to avoid |
miten | gemiten. |
snīden, to cut |
sniten | gesniten. | |
| h—g. | dīhen, to thrive |
digen | gedigen. |
ziehen, to draw |
zugen | gezogen. | |
slahen, to strike |
sluogen | geslagen. | |
h—ng (§ 29). |
hāhen, to hang |
hiengen | gehangen. |
vāhen, to catch |
viengen | gevangen. | |
| s—r. | rīsen, to fall |
rirn | gerirn. |
kiesen, to choose |
kurn | gekorn. |
This law has, however, many exceptions in MHG. owing to levelling having taken place with the infinitive, present indicative and preterite singular, as risen, gerisen beside rirn, gerirn.
The same interchange of consonants exists between strong verbs and their corresponding causative weak verbs, as līden, to go: leiten, to lead; hāhen, to hang: hengen, to hang (trans.); ge-nësen, to be saved: nern, to save; and in nouns, &c., as hof (gen. hoves), court: hübesch, courtly; tōt (gen. tōdes), death: tōt (gen. tōtes), dead; swëher, father-in-law: swiger, mother-in-law; hase: English hare.
§ 31. The doubling of consonants took place under certain well-defined rules partly in prim. Germanic and partly in prim. West Germanic, see the Author’s Hist. Germ. Grammar, §§ 202, 213-14. Examples of words which had double consonants in prim. Germanic are: kopf, head; napf (OE. hnæp, gen. hnæppes), basin; boc (OE. bucca), buck, gen. bockes; rinnen, to run; swimmen, to swim; vol (gen. volles), full; vërre, far; gewisser, certain.
The chief cases in which double consonants arose in prim. West Germanic were:—
1. The assimilation of ƀn, ʒn, pn to bb, gg, pp = MHG. pp, ck (gg), pf, as knappe: knabe, boy; rappe: rabe, raven; rocke: rogge, rye; tropfe, drop: triefen, to drip.
2. p, t, k were doubled before a following r or l. The doubling regularly took place in the inflected forms, and was then extended to the uninflected forms by levelling, as apfel (OE. æppel), apple; kupfer (Lat. cuprum), copper; bitter (Goth. báitrs), bitter, see § 23 note; lützel (OS. luttil), little; acker (Goth. akrs), field; wacker (OE. wæccer), watchful. See § 23, 2.
3. All single consonants, except r, were doubled after a short vowel when there was originally a j in the next syllable. The bb, dd, gg; pp, tt, kk, which thus arose, became pp (bb), tt, ck (gg); pf, tz, ck in MHG. (§§ 23, 2, 26), as sippe (sibbe), Goth. sibja, relationship; bitten, later biten, Goth. bidjan, to request; tretten (wv.): trëten (sv.), to tread; brücke (brügge), bridge; ecke (egge), edge; mücke (mügge), midge; rücke (rügge), ridge, back. schepfen, Goth. skapjan, to create; hitze, heat: heiȥ, hot; netzen, to wet: naȥ, wet; setzen, Goth. satjan, to set; sitzen, to sit: pret. saȥ, p.p. gesëȥȥen; decken, to cover: dach, cover; lücke, gap: loch, hole. zellen, later zeln, to count: zal, number. vremmen, later vremen (OE. fremman), to perform. henne, hen: hane, cock.
In MHG. the double consonants in verbs were often simplified through the levelling out of forms which regularly had a single consonant, e.g. regular forms were: vremmen, to perform, sing. vremme, vremes(t), vremet, pl. vremmen, vremmet, vremment, pret. vremete, p.p. gevremet, then the stem-form with single m was levelled out into all the forms, and similarly with many other verbs, as denen, to stretch; seln, to hand over; weln, to choose; wenen, to accustom; legen beside lecken (leggen), to lay; and the strong verbs biten, to beg; ligen beside licken (liggen), to lie down.
§ 32. Double consonants were simplified:—
1. When they became final, as boc, buck, kus, kiss, man, man, schif, ship, stum, dumb, vël, hide, beside gen. bockes, kusses, mannes, schiffes, stummes, vëlles; pret. maȥ, ran, traf, beside mëȥȥen, to measure, rinnen, to run, trëffen, to hit.
2. Before other consonants, as pret. dacte (dahte), nante (nande), kuste, beside decken, to cover, nennen, to name, küssen, to kiss.
3. After consonants, as pret. sante (sande) from *santte, wante (wande) from *wantte, beside senden, to send, wenden, to turn.
4. After long vowels and diphthongs, as pret. sing. leite from *leitte, pret. pl. māȥen, trāfen, vielen, beside leiten, to lead, mëȥȥen, to measure, trëffen, to hit, vallen, to fall. This simplification of double consonants took place during the OHG. period, as slāfan, to sleep, heiȥan, to call, loufan, to run, zeichan, token, beside older OHG. slāffan, heiȥȥan, louffan, zeihhan.
§ 33. In MHG. the lenes b, d, g became the fortes p, t, c (k) when they ended a syllable, that is when they came to stand finally, or medially before a voiceless consonant. Traces of this law existed already in OHG. The interchange between the lenes and fortes includes two independent processes, viz. the change of the medial lenes b, d, g to the final fortes p, t, k, and the change of the final f, s to the medial intervocalic lenes v and to what is written s (cp. also NHG. lesen, las). It must be noted that in MHG. the interchanging pairs of consonants were all voiceless and that the difference merely consisted in the intensity or force with which the sounds were produced. This is quite different from NHG. where the interchange is between voiced and voiceless sounds except in the case of f which is voiceless in all positions in native words. Examples are: gëben, to give, gelouben, to believe, wërben, to turn, beside pret. gap, geloupte, warp; gen. lībes, lambes, beside nom. līp, life, lamp, lamb. binden, to bind, wërden, to become, beside pret. bant, wart; gen. kindes, tōdes, beside nom. kint, child, tōt, death. biegen, to bend, singen, to sing, zeigen, to show, beside pret. bouc, sanc, zeicte; gen. tages, bërges, beside nom. tac, day, bërc, mountain. nëve, nephew, beside niftel, niece; gen. hoves, brieves, beside nom. hof, court, brief, letter. kiesen, to choose, lësen, to gather, lœsen, to loose, beside pret. kōs, las, lōste; pl. hiuser, beside sing. hūs, house.
§ 34. Final ch after vowels interchanged with medial h, as schuoch, shoe, gen. schuohes; hōch, high, gen. hōhes; nāch, near, adv. nāhe; pret. geschach, sach, beside geschëhen, to happen, sëhen, to see.
The medial combinations lh, rh were written lch, rch when they came to stand finally, as bevëlhen, to confide, pret. bevalch; gen. schëlhes, twërhes, beside nom. schëlch, twërch, askew, see § 19. h (= ch) and ch often disappeared in unstressed syllables and particles, as ē̆t, only, hīnte, hīnt, to-night, niet, not, dur, through, beside ëht, hīnaht, niht, nieht, durch.
§ 35. Initial j became or was written g before a following i, as gihet, he assures, beside inf. jëhen, pret. jach, and similarly jësen, to ferment, jëten, to weed. In the verba pura forms with and without the intervocalic glide j existed side by side in OHG. and MHG., as blüejen (OHG. bluojen) beside blüen (OHG. bluoen), to bloom; and similarly dræjen, to twist, müejen, to trouble, sæjen, to sow, beside dræn, müen, sæn. In a few words forms with and without intervocalic j (g) existed side by side, as gen. blīges beside nom. blī, lead; eijer, eiger beside eier, eggs; frījen, frīgen beside frīen, to free; meige, meie, May; nerigen, nerjen beside nern, to save, rescue; swerigen, swerjen beside swern, to swear; gen. zwīges, zwīes, nom. zwī, twig; gen. zweiger, zweier, of two.
§ 36. In OHG. w became vocalized to o when it came to stand at the end of a word or syllable, and then generally disappeared after long vowels, but the medial w regularly remained in OHG. and MHG. when it was at the beginning of a syllable, as blā (OHG. blāo, blā), blue, gen. blāwes; snē (OHG. snēo, snē), snow, gen. snēwes; strō (OHG. strao, strō by contraction), straw, gen. strōwes; knie (OHG. kneo), knee, gen. kniewes, OHG. knëwes; schate (OHG. scato), shadow, gen. schat(e)wes; pret. blou, hiu, kou, beside bliuwen, to strike, houwen, to hew, kiuwen, to chew; fal (OHG. falo), fallow, gen. falwes; gar (OHG. garo), ready, gen. garwes; mël (OHG. mëlo), meal, gen. mëlwes; smër (OHG. smëro), fat; pret. smirte, ströute, beside smirwen, to smear, ströuwen, to strew. See § 9, r.
The w element sometimes disappeared in the initial combinations qua-, quā-, quë-, qui-, quī- partly with and partly without influencing the quality of the following vowel, as pret. sing. kam, kom beside quam, he came, pret. pl. kōmen, kāmen beside quāmen; kāle beside quāle, torture; këc beside quec, alive; korder, körder beside quërder, bait; komen, kömen, kumen beside quëmen, to come; pres. sing. kume, küm(e)s(t), kum(e)s(t), küm(e)t, kum(e)t = OHG. quimu, quimis, quimit; kücken beside quicken, to enliven; kīt beside quīt = quidet, he says.
§ 37. Medial -ibe-, -ide-, -ige- were sometimes contracted to ī; and medial -age-, -ege- to ei, as gīst, thou givest, gīt, he gives, beside gibes(t), gibet; quīst, thou sayest, quīt, he says, beside quides(t), quidet; līst, thou liest down, līt, he lies down, beside liges(t), liget. meit beside maget, maid; seist, thou sayest, seit, he says, beside sages(t), saget; leist, thou layest, leit, he lays, beside leges(t), leget; eislīch beside egeslīch, terrible; gein beside gegen, against.
§ 38. Intervocalic h often disappeared when the first vowel was long, and then the two vowels underwent contraction, as hān, to hang, vān, to catch, vlēn, to implore, hō (adv.), high, beside hāhen, vāhen, vlēhen, hōhe. Other contracted forms will be found in the Glossary.
§ 39. The final r disappeared after long vowels in monosyllables when the next word began with a consonant, but was often restored analogically, as dā (OHG. dār), there: dārinne, therein; wā (OHG. wār), where: wārinne, wherein; hie (OHG. hiar): hierunder, hereunder; adv. mē (OHG. mēr), more; ē (OHG. ēr), formerly; sā (OHG. sār), at once.
§ 40. Medial t (§ 25) became d after nasals in late OHG. and early MHG., as senden, to send, gen. blindes (nom. blint, blind), pret. nande, he named, rūmde, he left, beside early MHG. senten, blintes, nante, rūmte. It also occasionally became d after l, as halden beside halten, to hold, solde beside solte, pret. of suln, shall.
ACCIDENCE
CHAPTER III
DECLENSION OF NOUNS
§ 41. MHG. nouns have two numbers: singular and plural; three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter, as in OHG. and NHG., from which the gender of nouns in MHG. does not materially differ; four cases: nominative, accusative, genitive, and dative. Traces of an old locative occur in what is called the uninflected dative singular of hūs, house, beside hūse, and in proper names like Engellant beside Engellande. The vocative is like the nominative.
In MHG., as in the older periods of the other Germanic languages, nouns are divided into two great classes, according as the stem originally ended in a vowel or a consonant, cp. the similar division of nouns in Latin and Greek. Nouns whose stems originally ended in a vowel belong to the vocalic or so-called strong declension. Those whose stems originally ended in -n belong to the so-called weak or n-declension. All other consonantal stems are generally put together under the general heading, ‘Minor Declensions’. In OHG. nouns whose stems originally ended in a vowel are subdivided into the a-declension including pure a-stems, ja-stems, and wa-stems; the ō-declension including pure ō-stems, jō-stems, and wō-stems; the ī̆-declension, and the u-declension. All the nouns belonging to the u-declension went over into other declensions in MHG. (cp. §§ 43, 44, 49). But as all final vowels either disappeared (some of them already in OHG.) or were weakened to e in MHG. (see §§ 7, 8), it is no longer practicable to retain the OHG. subdivision fully without entering into the oldest and in many cases into the prehistoric period of the language, which would be quite out of place in a MHG. grammar. The old ‘Minor Declensions’ had begun to pass over into the vocalic, especially into the i- and a-, declensions in the oldest OHG. The remnants of the old inflexions preserved in MHG. will be noted in the following paragraphs. The neuter nouns whose stems originally ended in -os, -es (cp. § 47) are in this Primer included in the strong declension.
A. The Vocalic or Strong Declension.
1. Masculine Nouns.
§ 42. First declension.—To this declension belong all masculine nouns which form their plural in -e only. It includes: (a) the old masculine a-stems; (b) the old masculine wa-stems which lost their final -w after long vowels in OHG., as sē, sea, gen. sēwes, pl. sēwe, and similarly bū, dwelling, rē (also neuter), corpse, snē, snow, see § 36; and (c) the old masculine i-stems which could not have umlaut in the plural (§ 44).
| Sing. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. Acc. | tac, day | kil, quill | engel, angel |
| Gen. | tages | kil(e)s | engel(e)s |
| Dat. | tage | kil(e) | engel(e) |
| Plur. | |||
| Nom. Acc. Gen. | tage | kil(e) | engel(e) |
| Dat. | tagen | kil(e)n | engel(e)n |
On the interchange between fortis and lenis, as in tac, day, lop, praise, sant, sand, hof, court, gen. tages, lobes, sandes, hoves, see § 33.
Like tac are also declined the old consonantal stems vīent, enemy, and vriunt, friend, but pl. vriunde beside the old plural vriunt.
Like kil are declined all monosyllabic masculine nouns having a short stem-vowel and ending in -l or -r (§ 9, 1).
Like engel are declined masculine polysyllabic nouns ending in -el, -em, -en, -er, when their stem-syllable is long, as mantel, mantle, ātem, breath, morgen, morning, acker, field. Those in -em, -en generally retain the e in the dative plural. Polysyllabic nouns with short stem-syllables fluctuate between the retention or loss of the e, as gen. sing. vogeles or vogels, dat. sing, and nom. acc. pl. vogele or vogel, and similarly vadem, thread, rëgen, rain, sumer, summer, see § 9, 2.
§ 43. Second declension.—To this declension belong all masculine nouns whose nom. and acc. singular end in -e, which is the only difference between this and the first declension. It includes: (a) the old masculine ja-stems; (b) many old u-stems with short stem-syllable, as fride (OHG. fridu), peace, site (OHG. situ), custom, and similarly huge, thought, mëte, mead, sige beside sic, victory, wite, wood (see § 36); (c) the old short i-stem wine, friend; and (d) the old masculine wa-stem schate (gen. schat(e)wes beside schates), shadow.
| Sing. | Plur. | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. Acc. | hirte, shepherd | hirte |
| Gen. | hirtes | hirte |
| Dat. | hirte | hirten |
§ 44. Third declension.—To this declension belong all masculine nouns which form their plural in -e and with umlaut of the stem-vowel. It includes: (a) the old masculine i-stems; (b) the old masculine u-stem sun (OHG. sunu, sun), son; and (c) the two old consonant stems fuoȥ, foot, zant (gen. zandes), zan, tooth.
| Sing. | Plur. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MHG. | OHG. | MHG. | OHG. | |
| Nom. Acc. | gast | gast, guest | geste | gesti |
| Gen. | gastes | gastes | geste | gesteo, -io |
| Dat. | gaste | gaste | gesten | gestim |
The singular of nouns of this declension was inflected like the a-stems (§ 42) already in OHG. And owing to the weakening of the case-endings of the plural in passing from OHG. to MHG. (§ 7), the only difference in the two declensions is the presence or absence of umlaut in the plural. The old masculine i-stems which could not have umlaut in the plural accordingly came to be inflected entirely like the old masculine a-stems, as schrit, step, snit, cut, biȥ, bite, pl. schrite, snite, biȥȥe. A further consequence of the singular being inflected alike in both declensions is that the old a-stems began to have umlaut in the plural after the analogy of the i-stems, as gedenke, thoughts, nägele, nails, wägene, wagons, beside gedanke, nagele, wagene.
Nouns ending in the fortis p, t, c, or f (= Germanic f) regularly change the fortis to lenis in the inflected forms, as korp, basket, walt, wood, slac, blow, brief, letter, gen. korbes, waldes, stages, brieves.
§ 45. The old consonant stems vater, father, bruoder, brother, often remain uninflected in the singular, as gen. vater, bruoder beside vaters, bruoders (cp. § 9, 2). In the plural they take umlaut, as veter, brüeder. The old consonant stem man, man, is either declined like tac (§ 42) or remains uninflected throughout, as
| Sing. | Plur. | |
|---|---|---|
| Nom. Acc. | man | manne, man |
| Gen. | mannes, man | manne, man |
| Dat. | manne, man | mannen, man |
The nom. plural man, now written mann, is still preserved in counting, as hundert mann, a hundred men.
2. Neuter Nouns.
§ 46. First Declension.—To this declension belong all neuter nouns which have their nominative case singular and plural alike. It includes three different types of nouns: (a) The old neuter a-stems like wort, word, venster, window. (b) The old neuter ja-stems like künne, race, generation, bette, bed, netze, net. The characteristic of this type of noun is that it has umlaut in all forms of the singular and plural when the stem-vowel is capable of it (cp. § 31, 3). And (c) the old neuter wa-stems (cp. § 36) like knie, knee, gen. kniewes.
| Sing. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. Acc. | wort | venster | künne | knie |
| Gen. | wortes | vensters | künnes | kniewes (knies) |
| Dat. | worte | venster | künne | kniewe (knie) |
| Plur. | ||||
| Nom. Acc. | wort | venster | künne | knie |
| Gen. | worte | venster | künne | kniewe (knie) |
| Dat. | worten | venstern | künnen | kniewen (knien) |
(a) On the interchange between the fortes p, t, c and the lenes b, d, g, as in grap, grave, gëlt, money, dinc, thing, gen. grabes, gëldes, dinges, see § 33.
Like venster are declined the neuter polysyllabic nouns ending in -el, -em, -en, -er, as luoder, bait, wāfen, wāpen, weapon; schapel, garland, gadem, house, wëter, weather. On the endings, see §§ 9, 42.
(b) Like künne is also declined the old neuter u-stem vihe (OHG. fihu), cattle.
(c) Like knie are declined mël, meal, rē (also masc.), corpse, smër, fat, strō, straw, tou, dew, wē, woe, gen. mëlwes, rēwes, smërwes, strōwes, touwes, wēwes, see § 36.
§ 47. Second declension.—To this declension belong all neuter nouns which form their plural in -er and by umlaut of the stem-vowel when it is capable of it. This class of nouns corresponds to the Latin neuters in -us, as genus, gen. generis, pl. genera. The -er (OHG. -ir) was originally a stem-forming suffix which came to be regarded as a plural ending. In the oldest period of the language only about half-a-dozen nouns belonged to this class, but during the MHG. period nearly twenty neuter a-stems passed into this declension, and in NHG. the number has increased to about a hundred.
| Sing. | Plur. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MHG. | OHG. | MHG. | OHG. | |
| Nom. Acc. | lamp | lamb, lamb | lember | lembir |
| Gen. | lambes | lambes | lember | lembiro |
| Dat. | lambe | lambe | lembern | lembirum |
On the loss of the e in the gen. and dat. plural, see § 9, 2.
Other examples are: ei (pl. eiger, eijer, eier, § 35), egg, huon, hen, kalp, calf, rat, wheel, rint, bullock, tal, dale.
3. Feminine Nouns.
§ 48. First declension.—To this declension belong all feminine nouns having their nominative case singular and plural alike. It includes: (a) the old feminine ō-stems, as gëbe, gift, sēle, soul, zal, number; (b) the old feminine jō-stems, as küneginne, künegin, künegīn, queen, and similarly vriundinne, friend, gütinne, goddess; (c) the old feminine wō-stems with and without w, as brāwe, brā, brow, pl. brā beside weak pl. brāwen; diuwe, diu, servant; (d) the old feminine abstract nouns in -ī, as vinster (OHG. finstrī), darkness, schœne (OHG. scōnī), beauty; and (e) the old consonant stem, swester, swëster, sister.
| Sing. | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. Acc. | gëbe | zal | vinster |
| Gen. | gëbe | zal | vinster |
| Dat. | gëbe | zal | vinster |
| Plur. | |||
| Nom. Acc. | gëbe | zal | vinster |
| Gen. | gëben | zaln | vinstern |
| Dat. | gëben | zaln | vinstern |
On the endings in nouns declined like zal, number, dol, pain, wal, choice, nar, food, schar, flock, and vinster, see § 9, 1, 2.
The gen. plural had the ending of the weak declension already in the oldest period of the language. Through the nom. singular and the gen. and dat. plural having the same endings as the feminine weak declension (§ 53), ō-stems began in OHG. to be inflected after the analogy of the weak declension, especially in the plural. This process spread considerably in MHG. with concrete nouns, but not often with abstract nouns.
§ 49. Second declension.—To this declension belong all feminine nouns which form their plural in -e and have umlaut in the stem-vowel. It includes: (a) the old feminine i-stems; (b) the old u-stem hant, hand; and (c) several old consonantal stems, see below.
| Sing. | Plur. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| MHG. | OHG. | MHG. | OHG. | |
| Nom. Acc. | anst | anst, favour | enste | ensti |
| Gen. | enste or anst |
ensti | enste | ensteo, -io |
| Dat. | enste or anst |
ensti | ensten | enstim |
In jugent (OHG. jugund, pl. jugundi), youth, gen. dat. jugende beside jugent, pl. jugende, the original -i being in the third syllable did not cause umlaut in the stem-syllable; and similarly tugent, valour.
hant, hand, originally belonged to the u-declension, which explains forms like gen. sing, and plural hande beside hende, dat. pl. handen beside henden. The old gen. plural has been preserved in NHG. allerhand, and the dat. plural in abhanden, beihanden, vorhanden, zuhanden.
Several old consonant stems went over partly or entirely into this declension, viz. maget, meit (§ 37), maid, pl. mägede or meide; kuo, cow, pl. küeje or küewe (OHG. kuoi), sū, sow, pl. siuwe (OHG. sūi); both these nouns generally remained uninflected in the gen. and dat. singular. naht, night, has gen. and dat. singular naht beside nähte; pl. nom. acc. gen. naht beside nähte, dat. nahten beside nähten, cp. also NHG. weihnachten, MHG. zën wīhen nahten. The MHG. adverbial gen. nahts, dës nahtes was formed after the analogy of dës tages. Like naht were also inflected brust, breast, and burc, citadel.
muoter, mother, and tohter, daughter, remain uninflected in the singular. In the plural they have umlaut: müeter, töhter.
B. The Weak Declension (N-Stems).
§ 50. The weak declension contains a large number of masculine and feminine nouns, but only four neuter nouns, viz. hërze, heart, ōre, ear, ouge, eye, and wange, cheek; these nouns, especially hërze, sometimes form their nom. acc. plural after the analogy of nouns like künne (§ 46). The original case endings of the weak declension had disappeared in the oldest period of the language except in the nom. singular (masc. -o, fem., and neut. -a), the gen. pl. (ōno) and dat. pl. (-ōm). Owing to the weakening of the -o, -a to -e in MHG. the nom. singular became alike in all genders. And similarly the endings -ōno, -ōm and the endings of the other oblique forms were all weakened to -en in MHG. (§ 7), so that the element which originally formed part of the stem came to be regarded as a case ending.
On the loss of the final and medial e in nouns like ar, eagle, bir (fem.), pear, gevangen(e), prisoner, beside the inflected forms arn, birn, gevangen from *gevangen-en through the intermediate stage *gevangenn, see § 9, 1, 2.
1. Masculine Nouns.
| Sing. | ||
|---|---|---|
| MHG. | OHG. | |
| Nom. | bote | boto, messenger |
| Acc. | boten | boton, -un |
| Gen. | boten | boten, -in |
| Dat. | boten | boten, -in |
| Plur. | ||
| Nom. Acc. | boten | boton, -un |
| Gen. | boten | botōno |
| Dat. | boten | botōm |
2. Neuter Nouns.
| Sing. | ||
|---|---|---|
| MHG. | OHG. | |
| Nom. Acc. | hërze | hërza, heart |
| Gen. | hërzen | hërzen, -in |
| Dat. | hërzen | hërzen, -in |
| Plur. | ||
| Nom. Acc. | hërzen | hërzun, -on |
| Gen. | hërzen | hërzōno |
| Dat. | hërzen | hërzōm |
3. Feminine Nouns.
| Sing. | ||
|---|---|---|
| MHG. | OHG. | |
| Nom. | zunge | zunga, tongue |
| Acc. | zungen | zungūn |
| Gen. | zungen | zungūn |
| Dat. | zungen | zungūn |
| Plur. | ||
| Nom. Acc. | zungen | zungūn |
| Gen. | zungen | zungōno |
| Dat. | zunge | zungōm |
C. Declension of Proper Names.
§ 54. Names of persons ending in e in the nominative follow the weak declension. Masculine names of persons take -es in the genitive, -e in the dative, and -en in the accusative after the analogy of the strong adjectives. The accusative ending -en was sometimes extended to the dative, and the dative ending -e to the accusative. And sometimes both these cases were without endings. Names of countries ending in -lant often have no ending in the dative, as Engellant beside Engellande, see § 41. Feminine names of persons ending in a consonant take -e in the genitive, dative and accusative, but occasionally remain uninflected throughout.
| Masculine. | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nom. | Sīfrit | Hagene |
| Gen. | Sīfrides | Hagenen |
| Dat. Acc. | Sīfrit, Sīfride(n) | Hagenen |
| Feminine. | ||
| Nom. | Kriemhilt | Uote |
| Gen. Dat. Acc. | Kriemhilde, Kriemhilt | Uoten |
CHAPTER IV
ADJECTIVES
A. The Declension of Adjectives.
1. The Strong Declension.
§ 55. The MHG. adjectives are declined as strong or weak. They have three genders, and the same cases as nouns. The endings of the strong declension are partly nominal and partly pronominal. The nominal endings are: the accusative feminine singular, as blinde like gëbe (§ 48); and the genitive singular masculine and neuter, as blindes like tages, wortes (§§ 43, 46). All the other endings are pronominal. The so-called uninflected form of adjectives in the nom. singular masculine and feminine and the nom. acc. neuter is a remnant of the time when adjectives and nouns were declined alike, see the Author’s Hist. Germ. Grammar, §§ 399-400. The strong declension includes three different types of adjectives, all of which are declined alike: (a) The old a-stems, as blint, infl. form blinter, blind; bar, bare, guot, good, heilec, holy, hol, hollow, michel, great, vinster, dark, and similarly with a very large number of adjectives, including the past participles of strong and weak verbs. (b) The old ja-stems, as lære (OHG. lāri), infl. lærer, empty; dünne, thin, enge, narrow, grüene, green, niuwe, new, reine, pure, schœne, beautiful, senfte, soft, wilde, wild, and many others, including the present participles of strong and weak verbs. The ja-stems only differ from the a-stems in having -e in the uninflected form and umlaut in the stem-syllable when it is capable of it. (c) The old wa-stems, as blā (OHG. blāo, blā), infl. form blāwer, blue; gar (OHG. garo), infl. form garwer (see §§ 9, 1, 36), ready; grā, grey, val, fallow, gël, yellow, kal, bald, &c., all of which have w in the inflected forms.
The adjectival i- and u-stems had come to be declined like the ja-stems in the prehistoric period of the language, but a few remnants of such adjectives have survived in MHG. in forms without the final -e beside those with it, as bereit, bereite, ready, dic, dicke, thick, gāch, gæhe, quick, grīs, grīse, old, grey, hēr, hēre, high, noble, rasch, resche, quick, rīch, rīche, noble, swā, swære, heavy, was, wasse, sharp.
| Sing. | |||
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. | blinder, blind | blindeȥ | blindiu |
| Acc. | blinden | blindeȥ | blinde |
| Gen. | blindes | blindes | blinder(e) |
| Dat. | blindem(e) | blindem(e) | blinder(e) |
| Plur. | |||
| Nom. | blinde | blindiu | blinde |
| Acc. | blinde | blindiu | blinde |
| Gen. | blinder(e) | blinder(e) | blinder(e) |
| Dat. | blinden | blinden | blinden |
On the loss of the -e in blindem(e), blinder(e), see § 9, 2. Umlaut caused by the -iu occurs in the nom. sing. feminine and nom. acc. pl. neuter of al, all, and ander, other, second, as älliu, ändriu. This rarely happens in other words.
| Sing. | |||
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. | micheler, great | michel(e)ȥ | micheliu |
| Acc. | michel(e)n | michel(e)ȥ | michel(e) |
| Gen. | michel(e)s | michel(e)s | michelre, micheler |
| Dat. | michelme, michel(e)m | michelme, michel(e)m | michelre, micheler |
| Plur. | |||
| Nom. | michel(e) | micheliu | michel(e) |
| Acc. | michel(e) | micheliu | michel(e) |
| Gen. | michelre, micheler | michelre, micheler | michelre, micheler |
| Dat. | michel(e)n | michel(e)n | michel(e)n |
Like michel are inflected monosyllabic adjectives ending in -l, -r with a short stem-vowel, and polysyllabic adjectives ending in -el, -en, -er, as bar, bare, hol, hollow; zwīvel, doubtful, eigen, own, tougen, secret, ander, other, second, bitter, bitter, vinster, dark; ëben, even, übel, evil, bad, &c. See § 9, 1, 2.
2. The Weak Declension.
§ 56. The weak declension of adjectives agrees exactly with that of the nouns.
| Sing. | |||
| Masc. | Neut. | Fem. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nom. | blinde, blind | blinde | blinde |
| Acc. | blinden | blinde | blinden |
| Gen. | blinden | blinden | blinden |
| Dat. | blinden | blinden | blinden |
Plural blinden for all cases and genders.
B. The Comparison Of Adjectives.
§ 57. The comparative was formed by means of the suffix -er(e) = OHG. -iro, -ōro, and the superlative by means of the suffix -est(e) = OHG. -isto, -ōsto. On the loss of the medial or final e in such forms as tiurre, dearer, tiurste; minner, minre, less, minnest, min(ne)ste, see § 9, 3. Most monosyllables have umlaut in the comparative and superlative either exclusively or have mutated beside unmutated forms. The cause of these double forms is in a great measure due to the two OHG. double suffixes: comp. -iro, -ōro and superl. -isto, -ōsto having fallen together in -er(e) and -est(e) in MHG., as elter, older, ermer, poorer, jünger, younger, grœȥer, greater, hœher, higher, beside alter, armer, junger, grōȥer, hōher; superl. eltest, ermest, jüngest, grœȥest, hœhest, beside altest, armest, jungest, grōȥest, hōhest. Adjectives which have umlaut in the positive regularly preserve it in the comparative and superlative.
The comparative is declined weak, but the superlative is declined strong and weak.
§ 58. The following adjectives form their comparative and superlative from a different root than the positive:—
| guot, good, | beȥȥer, beȥȥest, beste (§ 23). |
| übel, bad, | wirser, wirsest, wir(se)ste. |
| lützel, little, | minner, minre (§ 9, 3), minnest, min(ne)ste. |
| michel, great, | mērer, mēr(r)e, meiste. |
§ 59. The following adjectives are defective:—
ērer, ērre, ërre, former, |
ērest, ērste, first. |
| hinder, hinder, | hinderste, hindmost. |
| ober, upper, | oberste, uppermost. |
leȥȥeste, leste (§ 23), last. |
|
| vorder, former, | vorderste, foremost. |
C. Formation of Adverbs from Adjectives.
§ 60. 1. By adding -e (= OHG. -o) to the adjective when this does not already end in -e, as ëben, even, hōch, high, lanc, long: adv. ëbene, hōhe, lange; edele (OHG. edili), noble, übel (OHG. ubil), evil: adv. edele (OHG. edilo), übele (OHG. ubilo).
2. Dissyllabic adjectives ending in -e and containing a mutated stem-vowel change it to the corresponding unmutated vowel, when used as adverbs, as schœne (OHG. scōni), beautiful, herte, hard, senfte, soft, süeȥe, sweet, swære, heavy: adv. schōne, harte, sanfte, suoȥe, swāre.
3. By adding -līche or -līchen to the adjective, as ganz, whole, vlīȥec, diligent: adv. ganzlīche(n), vlīȥeclīche(n).
4. The comparative and superlative degrees of adverbs are the same as the corresponding uninflected forms of the adjectives without umlaut:—
| Adjective | lanc, long | lenger | lengest. |
| Adverb | lange | langer |
langest |
§ 61. The following are irregular:—
| wol, well | baȥ, better | best(e), best. |
| wirs, worse | wirsest, wirste, worst. |
|
min, minner, minre, less |
minnest, minste, least. |
|
mē, mēr, mēre, more |
meist, meiste, most. |
|
| ē, formerly | ēr(e)st, ērste, first. |
D. Numerals.
| Cardinal. | Ordinal. | |
|---|---|---|
| ein, -er, -eȥ, -iu, one | ērste | |
| zwei, two | ander | |
| drī, three | dritte | |
| vier, four | vierde | |
| fünf (finf), five | fünfte, finfte | |
| sëhs, six | sëhste | |
| siben, seven | sibende, -te | |
| ahte, eight | ahtede, ahte | |
| niun, nine | niunde, -te | |
| zëhen, ten | zëhende, -te | |
| einlif (eilif), eleven | ei(n)lifte, eilfte | |
| zwelf, twelve | zwelfte | |
| drīzëhen, thirteen | drīzëhende | |
| vierzëhen, fourteen | vierzëhende | |
| fünfzëhen, fifteen | fünfzëhende | |
| sëh(s)zëhen, sixteen | së(h)szëhende | |
| sibenzëhen, seventeen | sibenzëhende | |
| ah(t)zëhen, eighteen | ah(t)zëhende | |
| niunzëhen, nineteen | niunzëhende | |
| zweinzic (or -zec), | twenty | zweinzigeste |
| drīȥic„ | thirty | drīȥigeste |
| vierzic„ | forty | vierzigeste |
| fünfzic„ | fifty | fünfzigeste |
| sëhszic„ | sixty | sëhszigeste |
| sibenzic„ | seventy | sibenzigeste |
| ah(t)zic„ | eighty | ah(t)zigeste |
| niunzic„ | ninety | niunzigeste |
|
zëhenzic or hundert |
hundred | zëhenzigeste or hundertste |
|
zwei hunt or hundert |
two hundred | zweihundertste |
| tūsent | thousand | tūsenste |
| zwei tūsent | two thousand | zweitūsentste |