ABBREVIATIONS, ETC.
| Goth. | = Gothic |
| Gr. | = Greek |
| HG. | = High German |
| Lat. | = Latin |
| MHG. | = Middle High German |
| NHG. | = New High German |
| OE. | = Old English |
| OHG. | = Old High German |
| OS. | = Old Saxon |
| P. Germ. | = Primitive Germanic |
| UF. | = Upper Franconian |
| UG. | = Upper German |
The asterisk * prefixed to a word denotes a theoretical form, as MHG. wärmen from *warmjan, to warm.
In representing prehistoric forms the following signs are used:— þ (= th in Engl. thin), ð (= th in Engl. then), ƀ (= a bilabial spirant, which may be pronounced like the v in Engl. vine), ʒ (= g often heard in German sagen), χ (= NHG. ch and the ch in Scotch loch), ŋ (= n in Engl. sunk).
GRAMMAR
INTRODUCTION
MIDDLE HIGH GERMAN
Middle High German (MHG.) embraces the High German language from about the year 1100 to 1500. It is divided into three great dialect-groups: Upper German, Franconian, and East Middle German.
1. Upper German is divided into: (a) Alemanic, embracing High Alemanic (Switzerland), and Low Alemanic (South Baden, Swabia, and Alsace). (b) Bavarian, extending over Bavaria and those parts of Austria where German is spoken.
2. Franconian (West Middle German), which is subdivided into Upper Franconian and Middle Franconian. Upper Franconian consists of East Franconian (the old duchy of Francia Orientalis) and Rhenish Franconian (the old province of Francia Rhinensis), Middle Franconian extending over the district along the banks of the Moselle and of the Rhine from Coblence to Düsseldorf.
3. East Middle German, extending over: Thuringia, Upper Saxony, and Silesia.
Since it is impossible to deal with all these dialects in an elementary book like the present, we shall confine ourselves almost exclusively to Upper German, and shall only deal with that period of Middle High German which extends from about 1200 to 1300.
PHONOLOGY
CHAPTER I
THE VOWELS
§ 2. MHG. had the following simple vowels and diphthongs:—
| Short vowels | a, ä, ë, | e, i, o, u, ö, ü. |
| Long vowels | ā, æ, | ē, ī, ō, ū, œ, iu. |
| Diphthongs | ei, ie, ou, uo, öu (eu), üe. |
Note.— ë represents primitive Germanic e (= Gr. ε, Lat. e, as in Gr. δέκα, Lat. decem, MHG. zëhen, ten) and is generally written ë in Old and Middle High German grammars, in order to distinguish it from the OHG. umlaut-e (§ 10). The former was an open sound like the e in English bed, whereas the latter was a close sound like the é in French été. ä was a very open sound nearly like the a in English hat, and arose in MHG. from the i-umlaut of a (§ 10). Good MHG. poets do not rhyme Germanic ë with the umlaut-e, and the distinction between the two sounds is still preserved in many NHG. dialects. In like manner the modern Bavarian and Austrian dialects still distinguish between ä and ë. In the MHG. period ä, ë, and e were kept apart in Bavarian, but in Alemanic and Middle German ä and ë seem to have fallen together in ë or possibly ä, as the two sounds frequently rhyme with each other in good poets. MHG. texts do not always preserve in writing the distinction between the old umlaut-e and the MHG. umlaut-ä, both being often written e in the same text.
Pronunciation of the Vowels.
§ 3. The approximate pronunciation of the above vowels and diphthongs was as follows:—
| a as in | NHG. mann | man, man. |
| ā„„ | Engl. father | hāt, has. |
| ä„„ | „man | mähte, powers. |
| æ„„ | „air | lære, empty. |
| ë„„ | „men | hëlfen, to help. |
| e„„ | Fr. été | geste, guests. |
| ē„„ | NHG. reh | sē, sea. |
| i„„ | Engl. bit | biten, to beg. |
| ī„„ | „ween | wīn, wine. |
| o„„ | „pot | golt, gold. |
| ō„„ | NHG. tot | tōt, dead. |
| u„„ | Engl. put | guldīn, golden. |
| ū„„ | „fool | hūs, house. |
| ö„„ | NHG. löcher | löcher, holes. |
| œ„„ | „schön | schœne, beautiful. |
| ü„„ | „füllen | vüllen, to fill. |
| iu„„ | „müde | hiuser, houses. |
| ei | = e + i | stein, stone. |
| ie | = i + e | knie, knee. |
| ou | = o + u | ouge, eye. |
| öu (eu) | = ö or e + ü | dröuwen, to threaten. |
| üe | = ü + e | grüeȥen, to greet. |
| uo | = u + o | bruoder, brother. |
To the above list should be added the MHG. e in unaccented syllables, which mostly arose from the weakening of the OHG. full vowels, as OHG. zunga, tongue, hirti, shepherd, namo, name, fridu, peace = MHG. zunge, hirte, name, fride; OHG. habēn, to have, scōnī, beauty, salbōn, to anoint, zungūn, tongues = MHG. haben, schœne, salben, zungen. The e in this position was pronounced like the -e in NHG. zunge, name, friede, &c.
Phonetic Survey of the MHG. Vowel-system.
| Palatal |
Short ä, ë, e, i, ö, ü. Long æ, ē, ī, œ, iu (= ü). |
| Guttural |
Short a, o, u. Long ā, ō, ū. |
The OHG. Equivalents of the MHG. Vowels.
§ 5. The following are the OHG. equivalents of the MHG. short vowels, long vowels and diphthongs of accented syllables:—
1. The short vowels a, ë, e, i, o, u = the corresponding OHG. short vowels, as tac, day, gast, guest, bant, he bound, gap, he gave = OHG. tag, gast, bant, gab.
wëc, way, nëmen, to take, zëhen, ten = OHG. wëg, nëman, zëhan.
geste, guests, lember, lambs, vert, he goes = OHG. gesti, lembir, ferit.
wiȥȥen, to know, hilfe, I help, visch, fish = OHG. wiȥȥan, hilfu, fisk.
got, God, wol, well, geholfen, helped = OHG. got, wola, giholfan.
sun, son, wurm, worm, gebunden, bound = OHG. sunu, wurm, gibuntan.
ä is the umlaut of a before certain consonant combinations which prevented umlaut from taking place in OHG., as mähte, powers, hältet, he holds, wärmen, to warm = OHG. mahti, haltit, warmen from *warmjan (§ 10). It also occurs in derivatives ending in -līch and -līn, as mänlīch, manly, tägelīch, daily, väterlīn, dim. of vater, father; and in words which originally had an i in the third syllable, the vowel of the second syllable having become i by assimilation, as mägede, maids, zäher(e), tears = OHG. magadi, zahari.
ö is the umlaut of OHG. o, as löcher, holes, möhte, I might = OHG. lohhir, mohti; götinne, goddess, beside got, God.
ü is the umlaut of OHG. u, as dünne, thin, süne, sons, züge, I might draw = OHG. dunni, suni, zugi.
2. The long vowels ā, ē, ī, ō, ū = the corresponding OHG. long vowels, as sāt, seed, slāfen, to sleep, nāmen, we took, dāhte, he thought = OHG. sāt, slāfan, nāmum, dāhta.
sēle, soul, mēre, more, lēren, to teach = OHG. sēla, mēro, lēren.
wīp, wife, sīn, his, bīȥen, to bite = OHG. wīb, sīn, bīȥan.
ōre, ear, tōt, death, kōs, I chose = OHG. ōra, tōd, kōs.
hūs, house, tūsent, thousand, dūhte, it seemed = OHG. hūs, dūsunt, dūhta.
æ is the umlaut of OHG. ā, as lære, empty, næme, thou tookest = OHG. lāri, nāmi.
œ is the umlaut of OHG. ō, as schœne, beautiful, hœher, higher, hœren, to hear = OHG. scōni, hōhiro, hōren from *hōrjan older *hausjan.
iu = (1) OHG. iu (diphthong), as liute, people, kiuset, he chooses = OHG. liuti, kiusit.
iu = (2) the umlaut of OHG. ū, as hiuser, houses, briute, brides = OHG. hūsir, brūti.
3. The diphthongs ei, ou, uo = the corresponding OHG. diphthongs, as bein, bone, leiten, to lead, schreip, I wrote = OHG. bein, leiten, screib.
ouge, eye, houbet, head, bouc, I bent = OHG. ouga, houbit, boug.
bruoder, brother, stuont, I stood, vuor, I went = OHG. bruoder, stuont, fuor.
ie = (1) OHG. ie (diphthong) older ia, ea, ē (Germanic ē), as hier, here, miete, pay, reward, gienc, I went = OHG. hier, mieta, gieng.
ie = (2) OHG. io (Germanic eu), as bieten, to offer, liep, dear = OHG. biotan, liob.
ie = (3) the OHG. io which occurs in the preterite of the old reduplicated verbs whose presents have ou, ō, uo (§ 87), as inf. loufen, to run, stōȥen, to push, ruofen, to call, preterite lief, stieȥ, rief = OHG. liof, stioȥ, riof.
ie = (4) Upper German iu (OHG. io) before labials and gutturals, as liup, dear, tiuf, deep, siuch, sick, liugen, to tell a lie = liep, tief, siech, liegen.
öu (eu) is the umlaut of OHG. ou, as löuber, leaves, löufel, runner = OHG. loubir, loufil.
üe is the umlaut of OHG. uo, as grüene, green, güete, goodness, vüere, thou didst go = OHG. gruoni, guotī, fuori.
Unaccented Vowels and Umlaut.
§ 6. The two most characteristic differences between OHG. and MHG. are: (1) the spread of umlaut (§ 10); (2) the weakening and partial loss of vowels in unaccented syllables.
1. The Weakening of Unaccented Vowels.
§ 7. The short vowels a, i, o, u, and the long vowels ē, ī, ō, ū were weakened to e. This e was pronounced like the final -e in NHG. leute, see § 3. Examples are:—
gëba, gift, hërza, heart, zunga, tongue, taga, days = MHG. gëbe, hërze, zunge, tage; heilag, holy, neut. blindaȥ, blind, nëman, to take = MHG. heilec, blindeȥ, nëmen.
kunni, race, generation, gesti, guests = MHG. künne, geste; kuning, king, beȥȥisto, best, dat. pl. gestim, to guests, gen. pl. lembiro, of lambs, nimit, he takes = MHG. künec, beȥȥest (beste), gesten, lember(e), nimet.
haso, hare, nom. acc. pl. fem. blinto, blind, gen. pl. tago, of days = MHG. hase, blinde, tage; acc. sing. hason, hare = MHG. hasen.
fridu, peace, dat. sing. gëbu, to a gift, nimu, I take = MHG. fride, gëbe, nime; dat. pl. tagum, to days, nāmum, we took = MHG. tagen, nāmen.
Nom. sing. masc. blintēr, blind, unsēr, our, habēn, to have, nëmēm, we may take = MHG. blinder, unser, haben, nëmen.
scōnī, beauty = MHG. schœne; sālīg, blessed, nāmīm, we might take = MHG. sælec, næmen.
salbōn, to anoint, suohtōs(t), thou soughtest, dat. pl. gëbōm, hërzōm = MHG. salben, suohtes(t), gëben, hërzen.
Gen. dat. acc. sing., nom. acc. pl. zungūn = MHG. zungen.
§ 8. The vowel in suffixal and derivative syllables was generally weakened to e just as in the inflexional syllables, but in some suffixal and derivative syllables which had a secondary accent the vowel was not weakened to e. This was especially the case with derivatives in -ære (denoting nomina agentis), -inne, -inc (-ing), linc (-ling), diminutives in -īn and -līn, abstract nouns in -nisse (-nusse, -nüsse), -unge. In others the vowel fluctuated between the full vowel and e, as in -isch beside -esch; -ic (= OHG. -ag, and -ī̆g) beside -ec; superlative of adjectives -ist (= OHG. -ist) beside -est (= OHG. -ōst); -sal beside -sel. Beside the full forms -līch, -rīch occurred the shortened forms -lich, -rich.
The OHG. endings of the present participle -anti, -enti, -ōnti, ēnti regularly became -ende, but -ant occurs in a few old participles which had become nouns, as heilant, Saviour, wīgant, warrior, vīant beside vīent (vīnt), fiend, enemy. Examples are: gartenære, gardener, schepfære, creator, schrībære, scribe.
küneginne, queen, vriundinne, female friend, wirtinne, mistress.
edelinc, son of a nobleman, hendelinc, glove, vingerlinc, ring; müedinc, unhappy man.
magedīn, little girl, vingerīn, ring; kindelīn, little child, vogelīn, little bird.
hindernisse, hindrance, verdërbnisse, destruction, vinsternisse, darkness, vancnüsse, captivity.
beȥȥerunge, improvement, handelunge, action, mëldunge, announcement.
himelisch, heavenly, irdisch, earthly, kindisch, childish, beside -esch.
heilic (OHG. heilag), holy, honic (OHG. honag, honig), honey, künic (OHG. cuning, cunig), king, manic (OHG. manag), many a, sælic (OHG. sālīg), blessed, beside -ec.
oberist beside oberest, highest.
kumbersal, distress, trüebsal, gloom, wëhsal beside wëhsel, change.
bitterlīch, bitterly, sicherlīch, surely, wīslīch, wisely, beside -lich.
Dietrīch, Heinrīch, beside -rich.
The OHG. pronominal ending of the nom. sing. fem. and the nom. acc. pl. neuter remained unweakened, as OHG. blintiu = MHG. blindiu (§ 55).
2. The Loss of Unaccented Vowels.
§ 9. The weakened e regularly disappeared:—
1. After l and r in dissyllables with short stems, as ar, older are (OHG. aro), eagle, acc. gen. dat. arn, beside name, name, namen; wol, older wole (OHG. wola), well; gar (OHG. garo), ready, milch (OHG. milih), milk, zal (OHG. zala), number; kil, quill, gen. kil(e)s, dat. kil, pl. nom. acc. kil, dat. kil(e)n, beside tac, day, gen. tages, dat. tage, pl. nom. acc. tage, dat. tagen; bërn, to bear, stëln, to steal, nern, to rescue, pres. sing. stil, stils(t), stilt; ner, ners(t), nert, beside hœren, to hear, pres. sing. hœre, hœres(t), hœret.
2. After liquids and nasals in trisyllabic and polysyllabic forms with long stems, as sælde (OHG. sālida), blessedness, hērsen, hërsen (OHG. hērisōn), to rule, zierde (OHG. ziarida), adornment, wandelte (OHG. wantalōta), I wandered, zwīfeln (OHG. zwīfalōn), to doubt, wundern (OHG. wuntarōn), to wonder, schœnste (OHG. scōnisto), most beautiful, diente, diende (OHG. dionōta), I served; dienest, service, gen. dienstes; engel, angel, gen. engel(e)s, dat. engel(e), pl. nom. acc. gen. engel(e), dat. engel(e)n, and similarly with words like acker, acre, lūter, clear, buosem, bosom, heiden, heathen; grœȥer (OHG. grōȥiro), greater, fem. dat. sing. grœȥer (OHG. grōȥiru); dat. sing. blindem(e), blind, guotem(e), good = OHG. blintemu, guotemu; gen. pl. blinder(e) = OHG. blintero. After the analogy of forms with long stems it was also dropped in forms with short stems, as pl. nagel, nails, vogel, birds, beside nagele, vogele; wider beside widere (OHG. widaro), wether, dat. sing. disem(e), this, vadem(e), thread, gen. vadem(e)s.
There was however a strong tendency in MHG. for the medial vowel to disappear in trisyllabic forms with long stems irrespectively as to whether they contained a liquid or a nasal, as market, market, gen. marktes; rīchsen (OHG. rīchisōn), to rule, ahte (OHG. ahtōta), he observed, wartte, warte (OHG. wartēta), he waited, vrāgte beside vrāgete (OHG. frāgēta), he asked, dancte beside dankete (OHG. dankōta), he thanked. See § 92.
3. In the medial syllable of trisyllabic forms with long stems having liquids or nasals in successive syllables, as dīme beside dīneme (OHG. dīnemu), dat. of dīn, thy; eime beside ein(e)me (OHG. einemu), dat. of ein, one; hērre, hërre (OHG. hēriro), master; minre beside minner(e) (OHG. minniro), less; tiurre (OHG. tiuriro), dearer.
4. Finally after a nasal, and medially after a nasal before a following t, in forms with short stems, as han(e), cock, nam(e), name, sun (OHG. sun, sunu), son, won(e), I dwell; man(e)t, he admonishes, won(e)t, he dwells, scham(e)t, he shames, nim(e)t, he takes, nëm(e)t, ye take; pret. won(e)te, scham(e)te. In these and similar forms the e was often restored through the influence of forms which regularly preserved the e.
Note.— The e, when not preceded by a nasal, was sometimes dropped in verbal forms ending in t. This was especially the case in wirst, wirt older wirdes(t), wirdet; siht, he sees, sëht, ye see, older sihet, sëhet; and often in forms like gilt, vint, spricht, sticht beside giltet, vindet, sprichet, stichet.
5. The superlative of adjectives often has double forms, the one with the loss of the medial e, and the other with the loss of the final e, as beste, best, ērste, first, grœste, greatest, leste, last, min(ne)ste, least, wir(se)ste, worst, beside beȥȥest(e), ērest(e), grœȥest(e), leȥȥest(e), minnest(e), wirsest(e), OHG. beȥȥisto, ēristo, grōȥisto, leȥȥisto, minnisto, wirsisto.
6. In the unstressed forms of dissyllables, as adv. ane, abe, mite, obe beside the prepositions an, on, ab, of, mit, with, ob, over; dat. sing. dëme, wëme, ime, beside dëm, wëm, im; unde, and, wande, for, because, beside und (unt), wan(d); hërre, vrouwe, beside hër, vrou before proper names and titles.
7. The e in the unaccented verbal prefixes be-, ge- often disappeared before l, n, r, as blīben, to remain, glīch, like, glit, member, glouben, to believe, gnāde, favour, gnanne, namesake, gnuoge, many, grade, quick, grëch, straight, beside belīben, gelīch, gelit, gelouben, genāde, genanne, genuoge, gerade, gerëch; it disappeared before vowels during the OHG. period, as bange, anxious: ange, anxiously, gëȥȥan p.p. of ëȥȥan, to eat, gunnan, MHG. gunnen, günnen, to grant.
3. Umlaut.
§ 10. By umlaut is meant the modification (palatalization) of an accented vowel through the influence of an ī̆ or j which originally stood in the following syllable. The only vowel which underwent this change in OHG. was a, which became close e (§ 2, note).
The change is first met with in OHG. monuments about the middle of the eighth century. In the ninth century the process was practically complete except when the a was followed by certain consonant combinations which prevented umlaut from taking place. These consonant combinations were:—
1. ht, hs, or consonant + w, as maht, power, pl. mahti; wahsit, he grows, inf. wahsan; bi-scatwen from *-scatwjan, to shade.
2. In Upper German before l + consonant, before hh, ch (= Germanic k), and often before r + consonant, and before h (= Germanic h), as Upper German haltit beside Upper Franconian heltit, he holds, inf. haltan; UG. altiro beside UF. eltiro, older; UG. sachit beside UF. sehhit, he quarrels, inf. sachan, Goth. sakan; UG. warmen beside wermen, Goth. warmjan, to warm; UG. slahit beside slehit, he strikes, inf. OHG. slahan, Goth. slahan.
3. In words ending in -nissi, -nissa, or -līh, as firstantnissi, understanding; infancnissa, assumption; kraftlīh, strong; tagalīh, daily.
Umlaut must have taken place earlier in the spoken language than it is expressed in late OHG. and early MHG. manuscripts, because the ī̆ which caused the umlaut was weakened to e in MHG. (§ 7) and j had disappeared except between vowels. The vowels and diphthongs which underwent umlaut in MHG. are a, o, u, ā, ō, ū, ou, uo. The umlaut of all these sounds was completed by about the year 1200.
a > e: gast, guest, pl. geste (OHG. gesti); lamp, lamb, pl. lember (OHG. lembir); inf. graben, to dig, pres. second and third pers. sing. grebes(t), grebet (OHG. grebis, grebit); lanc, long, beside lenge (OHG. lengī), length; brennen, Goth. brannjan, to burn; bette (OHG. betti), bed.
a > ä: From the twelfth century onwards the umlaut of a also occurs—often beside forms without umlaut—in words containing the consonant combinations which prevented umlaut from taking place in OHG., as pl. mähte (OHG. mahti), powers; geslähte (OHG. gislahti), race, generation; wähset (OHG. wahsit), he grows; wärmen (OHG. warmen, older *warmjan), to warm; Upper German älter (OHG. altiro), older; kälte (OHG. kaltī), coldness; hältet (OHG. haltit), he holds; äher (OHG. ahir), ear of corn; slähet (OHG. slahit), he strikes. It also occurs in derivatives ending in -līch, -līn, as mänlīch, manly, schämelīch, shameful, tägelīch, daily, väterlīch, fatherly, väterlīn, dim. of vater, father. It is likewise met with in MHG. words which originally had an i in the third syllable, the vowel of the second syllable having become i by assimilation, as frävele (OHG. frafali), bold, pl. mägede (OHG. magadi), maids, pl. zäher(e) (OHG. zahari), tears. See § 2, Note.
o > ö: Although ö, the umlaut of o, is common in MHG. and still commoner in NHG., yet all words containing this umlaut are really new formations due to levelling or analogy, because primitive Germanic u (§ 15) did not become o in OHG. when followed by an ī̆ or j in the next syllable. Examples are: boc, he-goat, beside dim. böcklīn (OHG. pochilī); dorf, village, beside pl. dörfer; got, God, beside götinne, goddess; hof, court, beside hövesch, courtly; loch (OHG. loh), hole, beside pl. löcher (OHG. lohhir); tohter, daughter, beside dim. töhterlīn; pret. subj. möhte (OHG. mohti), I might; törste (OHG. torsti), I might dare.
u > ü: dünne (OHG. dunni), thin; künne (OHG. kunni), race, generation; pl. süne (OHG. suni), sons; tür (OHG. turi), door; pret. subj. züge (OHG. zugi), inf. ziehen, to draw.
Note.— In Upper German certain consonant combinations often prevented umlaut from taking place where it might be expected. Of these the principal are:—
1. Before a liquid + consonant, as hulde (OHG. huldī), favour; schuldec (OHG. sculdīg), guilty; gedultec (OHG. gidultīg), indulgent; burge (OHG. burgi), dat. of burc, city; sturbe (OHG. sturbi), pret. subj. of stërben, to die; wurfe (OHG. wurfi), pret. subj. of wërfen, to throw, cp. 2 above.
2. u fluctuates with ü when followed by a nasal + consonant, as dunken, to seem, umbe, about, wunne, joy, beside dünken, ümbe (OHG. umbi), wünne. This fluctuation is especially common in the pret. subjunctive, as bunde, sunge, beside bünde, sünge, inf. binden, to bind, singen, to sing.
3. u fluctuates with ü when followed by gg, ck, pf, tz, ȥȥ, st, ch, and g, as brugge, brügge, brucke, brücke, bridge; mugge, mügge, mucke, mücke, midge; drucken, drücken, to press; hupfen, hüpfen, to hop; schupfen, schüpfen, to push; nutzen, nützen, to use; pret. subj. fluȥȥe, flüȥȥe; schuȥȥe, schüȥȥe, inf. flieȥen, to flow, schieȥen, to shoot; pl. bruste, brüste, breasts; kuchen, küchen, kitchen; pret. subj. fluge, flüge, inf. fliegen, to fly.
ā > æ: lære (OHG. lāri), empty; mære (OHG. māri), renowned; sæjen (OHG. sājan), to sow; pret. subj. næme (OHG. nāmi), pl. næmen (OHG. nāmīm), inf. nëmen, to take.
ō > œ: hœher (OHG. hōhiro), higher; hœhest (OHG. hōhisto), highest; hœren (OHG. hōren, from older *hōrjan), to hear; schœne (OHG. scōni), beautiful.
ū > iu: pl. briute (OHG. brūti), brides; hiuser (OHG. hūsir), houses.
Traces of the umlaut of ū, written iu (= ǖ), occur in late OHG. monuments of the tenth century. It is common in the writings of Notker († 1022), as hiute older hūti, skins; chriuter older chrūtir, herbs. In other writings of the tenth to the twelfth century the umlaut of ū is seldom found. Umlaut did not take place in Upper German before a following m, as rūmen from *rūmjan, to make room; sūmen from *sūmjan, to tarry.
ou > öu, often written eu, rarely oi, öi: löufel (OHG. loufil), runner; löuber (OHG. loubir), leaves.
Umlaut of ou did not take place in the combination ouw = OHG. ouw, auw, West Germanic aww, primitive Germanic awj, as frouwe (OHG. frouwa, prim. Germanic *frawjō-), woman; ouwe (OHG. ouwa, auwia, prim. Germanic *a(ʒ)wjō-), meadow; frouwen (OHG. frouwen, prim. Germanic *frawjan), to rejoice, and similarly douwen, to digest, drouwen, to threaten, strouwen, to strew. Forms like fröuwen, döuwen, dröuwen, ströuwen were analogical formations due to the influence of the pres. second and third pers. singular and the preterite which regularly had umlaut; see the Author’s Historical German Grammar, § 232.
Umlaut of ou did not take place in Upper German before labials and g, as erlouben, to allow, gelouben, to believe, houbet, head, koufen, to buy, troumen, to dream, toufen, to baptize, bougen, to bend, ougen, to show, beside Middle German erlöuben, gelöuben, höubet, köufen, tröumen, töufen, böugen, öugen.
uo > üe: grüene (OHG. gruoni), green; güete (OHG. guotī), goodness; vüeȥe (OHG. fuoȥi), feet; pret. pl. subj. vüeren (OHG. fuorīm), we might go, inf. varn, to fare, go; buoch, book, dim. büechlīn; muoter, mother, dim. müeterlīn.
The MHG. Equivalents of the OHG. Vowels.
§ 11. OHG. had the following short vowels, long vowels, and diphthongs:—
| Short Vowels | a, e, ë, | i, | o, | u. |
| Long Vowels | ā, ē, | ī, | ō, | ū. |
| Diphthongs | ei, | ie (ia, ea), io (eo), iu. |
ou (au), | uo. |
The following are the MHG. equivalents of the above simple vowels and diphthongs in accented syllables:—
1. The short vowels: Apart from the changes caused by umlaut, viz. a to ä, o to ö, u to ü (§ 10), and of ë to e before certain consonants, the OHG. short vowels remained in MHG., as
a = (1) MHG. a, as OHG. fater, father, tag, day, faran, to go = MHG. vater, tac, varn.
a = (2) MHG. ä, in words containing the consonant combinations which prevented umlaut from taking place in OHG., as OHG. mahti, powers, kaltī, coldness, ahir, ear of corn, warmen, to warm = MHG. mähte, kälte, äher, wärmen, see § 10.
e = MHG. e, as OHG. gesti, guests, lembir, lambs, brennen, to burn = MHG. geste, lember, brennen.
ë = (1) MHG. ë, as OHG. wëg, way, hëlfan, to help, stëlan, to steal = MHG. wëc, hëlfen, stëln.
ë = (2) MHG. e, before st, sch, and palatal g, as OHG. nëst, nest, swëster, sister = MHG. nest, swester; and similarly, gestern, yesterday, deste, all the more, weste, I knew, dreschen, to thrash, leschen, to go out, degen, warrior; and also in a few words before a following l, as helm, helmet, vels, rock, welch, which, &c.
i = MHG. i, as OHG. fisk, fish, nimu, I take, wiȥȥan, to know = MHG. visch, nime, wiȥȥen.
o = (1) MHG. o, as OHG. got, God, p.p. giholfan, helped, tohter, daughter = MHG. got, geholfen, tohter.
o = (2) MHG. ö, as OHG. lohhir, holes, mohti, I might = MHG. löcher, möhte.
u = (1) MHG. u, as OHG. sunu, sun, son, butum, we offered, buntum, we bound = MHG. sun, buten, bunden.
u = (2) MHG. ü, as OHG. dunni, thin, suni, sons = MHG. dünne, süne.
2. The long vowels: Apart from the changes caused by umlaut, viz. ā to æ, ō to œ, and ū to iu (§ 10), the OHG. long vowels remained in MHG., as
ā = (1) MHG. ā, as OHG. sāt, seed, slāfan, to sleep, dāhta, I thought = MHG. sāt, slāfen, dāhte.
ā = (2) MHG. æ, as OHG lāri, empty, nāmi, I might take = MHG. lære, næme.
ē = MHG. ē, as OHG. ēra, honour, lēren, to teach, sēla, soul = MHG. ēre, lēren, sēle.
ī = MHG. ī, as OHG. sīn, his, wīb, woman, snīdan, to cut = MHG. sīn, wīp, snīden.
ō = (1) MHG. ō, as OHG. ōra, ear, tōd, death, kōs, I chose = MHG. ōre, tōt, kōs.
ō = (2) MHG. œ, as OHG. hōhiro, higher, hōren, to hear, scōni, beautiful = MHG. hœher, hœren, schœne.
ū = (1) MHG. ū, as OHG. hūs, house, rūm, room, dūhta, it seemed = MHG. hūs, rūm, dūhte.
ū = (2) MHG. iu, as OHG. hūsir, houses, brūti, brides = MHG. hiuser, briute.
3. The diphthongs:
ei = MHG. ei, as OHG. bein, bone, leiten, to lead, sneid, I cut = MHG. bein, leiten, sneit.
ie (older ia, ea = Germanic ē) = MHG. ie, as OHG. hier, here, mieta, reward, hielt, I held, hieȥ, I called, slief, I slept = MHG. hier, miete, hielt, hieȥ, slief.
io (eo) = Germanic eu (§ 16), and the io (eo) in the preterites of the old reduplicated verbs whose presents have ou, ō, uo (§ 87).
io (eo) = MHG. ie, as OHG. liob, dear, biotan, to offer = MHG. liep, bieten; OHG. liof, I ran, stioȥ, I pushed, riof, I called = MHG. lief, stieȥ, rief.
iu = MHG. ǖ written iu, as OHG. liuti, people, kiusit, he chooses = MHG. liute, kiuset.
ou (older au) = (1) MHG. ou, as OHG. ouga, eye, boug, I bent, loufan, to run = MHG. ouge, bouc, loufen.
ou (older au) = (2) MHG. öu (eu), as OHG. loubir, leaves, loufil, runner = MHG. löuber, löufel.
uo = (1) MHG. uo, as OHG. bruoder, brother, muoter, mother, stuont, I stood = MHG. bruoder, muoter, stuont.
uo = (2) MHG. üe, as OHG. gruoni, green, fuoȥi, feet, = MHG. grüene, vüeȥe.
Ablaut (Vowel Gradation).
§ 12. By ablaut is meant the gradation of vowels both in stem and suffix, which was chiefly caused by the primitive Indo-Germanic system of accentuation. See the Author’s Historical German Grammar, § 23.
The vowels vary within certain series of related vowels, called ablaut-series. In MHG. there are six such series, which appear most clearly in the stem-forms of strong verbs. Four stem-forms are to be distinguished in a MHG. 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 first or third person of the preterite singular, (3) the stem of the preterite plural, to which belong the second person of the preterite singular and 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:—
| i. | ii. | iii. | iv. | |
| I. | ī | ei, ē | i | i |
| II. | ie | ou, ō | u | o |
| III. | i, ë | a | u | u, o |
| IV. | ë | a | ā | o |
| V. | ë | a | ā | ë |
| VI. | a | uo | uo | a |
Note.—1. On the difference between ei and ē, see § 17; ou and ō, § 18; and in Series III i and ë, § 14; u and o, § 15.
2. Strong verbs belonging to Series II have iu in the indicative pres. singular; and strong verbs belonging to Series III-V with ë in the infinitive have i in the indicative pres. singular (§§ 14, 16).
Examples.
| I. | snīden, to cut | snīde | sneit | sniten | gesniten; |
līhen, to lend |
līhe | lēch | lihen | gelihen. | |
| II. | biegen, to bend |
biuge | bouc | bugen | gebogen; |
sieden, to seethe |
siude | sōt | suten | gesoten. | |
| III. | binden, to bind |
binde | bant | bunden | gebunden; |
hëlfen, to help |
hilfe | half | hulfen | geholfen. | |
| IV. | nëmen, to take |
nime | nam | nāmen | genomen. |
| V. | gëben, to give |
gibe | gap | gāben | gegëben. |
| VI. | graben, to dig |
grabe | gruop | gruoben | gegraben. |
For further examples see the various classes of strong verbs §§ 76-86. Class VII of strong verbs embracing the old reduplicated verbs (§ 87) has been omitted from the ablaut-series, because the exact relation in which the vowel of the present stands to that of the preterite has not yet been satisfactorily explained.
Other Vowel Changes.
§ 13. Most of the following vowel changes took place in prehistoric times; but as they play an important part in the verbs and word-formation, &c., we shall give them here.
§ 14. ë (= Indo-Germanic e) became i in the prehistoric period of all the Germanic languages:—
1. Before a nasal + consonant, as OE. wind, OHG. MHG. wint, Lat. ventus, wind; OHG. fimf, finf, Gr. πέντε, five. This explains why verbs like MHG. binden, to bind, rinnen, to run, singen, to sing, belong to the same ablaut-series as hëlfen, to help, wërden, to become.
2. Before other consonants when followed by an ī̆ or j in the next syllable, and further in OHG. when followed by an u in the next syllable, as OHG. MHG. ist, Gr. ἐστί, is; OHG. fihu, Lat. pecu, cattle; ërde (OHG. ërda), earth, but irdīn, earthen; ligen (OHG. liggen from *ligjan), to lie down, sitzen (OHG. sitzen from *sitjan), to sit, but p.p. gelëgen (OHG. gilëgan), gesëȥȥen (OHG. gisëȥȥan). This explains why strong verbs belonging to the fourth (§§ 12, 82) and fifth (§§ 12, 83) ablaut-series have i throughout the present singular, and similarly in verbs belonging to the third (§§ 12, 81) series with ë in the infinitive, as
| OHG. nëman, to take, | three persons sing. | nimu, nimis(t), nimit. |
| MHG. nëmen,„ | „„„ | nime, nimes(t), nimet. |
| OHG. gëban, to give, | „„„ | gibu, gibis(t), gibit. |
| MHG. gëben,„ | „„„ | gibe, gibes(t), gibet. |
| OHG. hëlfan, to help, | „„„ | hilfu, hilfis(t), hilfit. |
| MHG. hëlfen,„ | „„„ | hilfe, hilfes(t), hilfet. |
§ 15. u, followed originally by an ā̆, ō̆, or ē in the next syllable, became o when not protected by a nasal + consonant or an intervening ī̆ or j; hence the interchange between u and o in the preterite plural and past participle of verbs belonging to the second ablaut-series (§§ 12, 78), as bugen (OHG. bugum), we bent, p.p. gebogen (OHG. gibogan); in the p.p. of verbs belonging to the third ablaut-series (§§ 12, 81), as gebunden (OHG. gibuntan), but geholfen (OHG. giholfan); in weak verbs as fürhten (OHG. furhten from *furhtjan), to fear, beside pret. vorhte (OHG. forhta); hügen (OHG. huggen from *hugjan) beside hogen (OHG. hogēn), to think; in preterite presents like durfen (OHG. durfum), we dare, beside pret. dorfte (OHG. dorfta); in many nouns and adjectives, as wolle (OHG. wolla), wool, beside wüllīn, wullīn, woollen; wolf (stem *wulfo-), wolf, beside wülpinne, she-wolf; vol, full, beside vülle (OHG. fullī), fulness; golt, gold, beside guldīn, golden.
§ 16. From primitive Germanic eu were developed two different diphthongs in OHG., viz. eu became eo (cp. § 15), later io, when originally followed by an ā̆, ō̆, or ē in the next syllable, and this io was regularly developed to ie in MHG.; whereas eu became iu in OHG. when originally followed by an ī̆, j or u in the next syllable, and this iu became ǖ (written iu) in MHG., even after the ī̆, j or u had been weakened to e. This law explains the difference between the diphthong ie in the infinitive and the simple vowel iu (= ǖ) in the three persons singular of the present indicative of verbs belonging to the second ablaut-series (§§ 12, 78), as
| OHG. biogan, to bend, | pres. sing. | biugu, biugis(t), biugit; |
| MHG. biegen,„ | „„ | biuge, biuges(t), biuget. |
Cp. further tief (OHG. tiof), deep, beside OHG. tiufī, depth; lieht (OHG. lioht), a light, beside liuhten (OHG. liuhten from *liuhtjan), to light.
Note.— The iu in the above and similar examples must not be confounded with the iu in the OHG. and MHG. combination iuw which arose from prim. Germanic eww (= euw), and ewj, as triuwe (OHG. triuwi, Goth. triggws), true; triuwen, trūwen, to trust, pret. triuete, triute, trūte; riuwe (OHG. riuwa), regret, bliuwen (OHG. bliuwan, Goth. bliggwan), to strike, and similarly, briuwen, to brew, kiuwen, to chew, riuwen, to regret; niuwe (OHG. niuwi, Goth. niujis, prim. Germanic stem-form *newja-), new. This iu before w never interchanged with MHG. ie from prim. Germanic eu, and explains why the strong verbs bliuwen, &c. have iu in all forms of the present.
§ 17. Accented primitive Germanic ai (= Goth. ái) became ē in OHG. before r, w, Germanic h (cp. § 23, 1), and finally; in MHG. it appears also as ē before the same consonants and finally, as mēre, mēr (OHG. mēro, Goth. máiza), more, lēren (OHG. lēren, Goth. láisjan), to teach; sēle (OHG. sēla, older sēula, Goth. sáiwala), soul; snē (OHG. snēo, Goth. snáiws), snow, gen. OHG. and MHG. snēwes; spīwen, to spit, pret. spē (OHG. spēo, Goth. spáiw); dīhen, to thrive, pret. dēch (OHG. dēh, Goth. dáih); wē (OHG. wē, Goth. wái), woe!; in all other cases ai became ei in both OHG. and MHG., as stein (Goth. stáins), stone, heiȥen (OHG. heiȥan, Goth. háitan), to call; snīden, to cut, pret. sneit (OHG. sneid, Goth. snáiþ). This accounts for the difference between the ei and ē in the preterite singular of strong verbs belonging to the first ablaut-series (§§ 12, 76).
§ 18. Primitive Germanic au became ō in OHG. before the consonants d, t, ȥ, s, n, r, l, and Germanic h (cp. 23, 1). Before other consonants and finally au became ou in the ninth century. Hence the difference between ō and ou in the preterite singular of strong verbs belonging to the second ablaut-series (§§ 12, 78), as:—
| Infinitive | bieten, to offer, | pret. sing. | bōt |
| „ | sieden, to seethe, | „„ | sōt |
| „ | kiesen, to choose, | „„ | kōs |
| „ | dieȥen, to roar, | „„ | dōȥ |
| „ | vliehen, to flee, | „„ | vlōch (OHG. flōh); |
| but„ | biegen, to bend, | „„ | bouc |
| „ | klieben, to cleave | „„ | kloup. |
CHAPTER II
THE CONSONANTS
1. Pronunciation of the Consonants.
§ 19. The MHG. consonant-system was represented by the following letters: b, c, ch, d, f, g, h, j, k, l, m, n, p, q, r, s, sch, t, v, w, (x), z, ȥ.
The letters k, l, m, n, p, t, w, (x) had nearly the same sound-values as in English. The remaining letters require special attention.
When the pronunciation of consonants merely differs in the intensity or force with which they are produced, they are called fortes or lenes according as they are produced with more or less intensity or force. In MHG. the consonants b, d, g were not voiced explosives like English b, d, g, but were voiceless lenes, and only differed from the fortes p, t, k in being produced with less intensity or force, see § 33. A similar difference in pronunciation existed between antevocalic and intervocalic v, s and final f, s, see § 33.
c and k represented the same sound. The latter was generally used at the beginning, and the former at the end of a syllable, as kunst, art; trinken, to drink, senken, to sink (trans.), pret. tranc, sancte.
ch had the same sound as in NHG. nacht, noch, as sprechen, to speak, pret. sprach; hōch, high.
f had a twofold pronunciation in the oldest HG. It was a labiodental when it arose from Germanic f (cp. OHG. fater, English father), and bilabial when it arose from Germanic p (cp. inf. OHG. slāfan, English sleep), but during the OHG. period the bilabial f became labiodental. The two kinds of f did not however completely fall together in pronunciation. f = Germanic f became a lenis initially before and medially between vowels, and was often written v in the former and generally v in the latter position, but remained a fortis—written f—when final. In MHG. it was also often written f initially before l, r, u, as fliehen, to flee, fride, peace, fünf, five, beside vliehen, vride, vünf. On the other hand f = Germanic p (§ 23, 1), which only occurred medially and finally, was a fortis and was always written f (ff), as slāfen, to sleep, pret. slief; tief, deep, schif (gen. schiffes), ship, offen, open. The two f sounds thus fell together when final, but the distinction between the two sounds was still preserved in MHG. in the intervocalic position, as hof, court, schif, ship, but gen. hoves, schiffes.
h before and after consonants was pronounced like ch, as fuhs, fox, naht, night, bevëlhen, to confide. In other cases it had the same sound as the h in English hat.
j had nearly the same sound as the y in English yet, as jār, year, junc, young; blüejen, to blossom.
q occurred only in combination with u as in English, as quëc, quick, alive, quëden, to say.
r was a trilled sound in all positions like Scotch r, as rōt, red, hart, hard, bërn, to bear, vater, father.
s was a lenis medially between vowels and probably also initially before vowels, but a fortis in other positions, as sun, son, wësen, to be, pret. was, bresten, to burst. It may be pronounced like the s in English sit.
sch was like the sh in English ship, as schif, ship, geschëhen, to happen, visch, fish.
v was a voiceless lenis, and may be pronounced like the v in NHG. voll. See f.
w was pronounced like the w in English wet, as wīn, wine, bliuwen, to strike.
z and ȥ were not distinguished in MHG. manuscripts, both being written z. Both z and ȥ (but ȥȥ medially between vowels when the first vowel was short) arose from Germanic t (see § 23). z had the sound-value of ts (= NHG. z): (a) always initially, as zīt, time; (b) medially and finally after consonants (l, m, n, r), as holz (gen. holzes), wood, hërze, heart, smërze, pain, ganz, whole; (c) finally after vowels (= Germanic tt) in those words which change final z to tz when it becomes medial, as schaz (gen. schatzes), OE. sceatt, money, treasure. MHG. intervocalic tz always arose from older tt, as setzen = OE. settan, to set. ȥ was a kind of lisped s and only occurred medially between and finally after vowels, as bīȥen, to bite, ëȥȥen, to eat, haȥ, hatred. It should be noted that good MHG. poets never rhymed pairs of words like was, was, and waȥ, what; missen, to miss, and wiȥȥen, to know.
ph and pf represent the same sound, viz. the pf in NHG. pfund, pound.