Infinitivebieten, 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.