§ 6. Stein or Schtein?
The sequents sp, st, are perhaps universally converted into 'schp' and 'scht' in PG., as in 'geescht' for gehest, 'hascht' for hast, 'Kaschp'r' for Caspar, 'schtee˛' for stein, and 'schpeck' for speck, all of which are genuine German, as distinguished from Saxon, Anglo-saxon, and Hollandish, because S is incompatible before labials (w, m, p) and dentals (l, n, t) in High German. Hence, where Dutch has zwijn, smidt, and speelen, German has schwein, schmidt, and schpielen; and for Dutch forms like slijm, snee, and steen, German has schleim, schnee, and schtein; but as the German uses the conventional spellings 'spielen' and 'stein,' he is apt to fancy that a law of speech is of less importance than the flourishes of a writing-master, or the practice of a printing-office, even when his own speech should teach him the law.
That German has this feature practically, is proved by the fact that words apparently in sp-, st-, become schp-, scht-, when adopted into Russian, although this language has initial sp-, st-,—a transfer of speech rather than of spelling, which is as old as the thirteenth century, when the Old High German 'spiliman' (an actor) went into Old Slavonic as (using German spelling) 'schpiljman,' where 'spiljman' would have been more in accordance with the genius of the language.
§ 7. Vowel Changes.
Altho the pronunciation of many words is strictly as in High German, there are the following important variations. German a becomes normally the vowel of what and fall, but it has the Swiss characteristic of closing to 'o,' as in 'ool' (eel) G. aal; 'ee˛ mool' (once) G. ein mal; 'woor' (true) G. wahr; 'joor' (year) G. jahr; 'frooghǝ' (to ask) G. fragen; 'frook' (a question) G. frage; 'doo' (there) G. da; 'schloofǝ' (to sleep) G. schlafen; 'schtroos' (street) G. strasze; 'nooch' (towards) G. nach; 'hoor' (hair) G. haar, but 'paar' (pair) and others do not change.
The vowel of fat occurs in 'kschær' (harness) G. geschirr; 'hærpscht' (autumn) G. herbst; færtl (fourth) G. viertel; kærl (fellow) G. kerl.
German 'o' becomes 'u,' as in 'kumǝ' (u short, see [§ 2]) to come, Austrian kuma, G. kommen; 'schun' (already) G. schon; 'fun' (of) G. von; 'wuunǝ' (to reside) G. wohnen; 'wuu' (where) G. wo; 'sun' (sun) Austr. sunn, G. sonne; 'suu˛' and 'suun' (son) G. sohn; 'númitaag' and 'nómidaak' (afternoon) G. nachmittag; 'dunǝrschtaag' (thursday) G. donnerstag; 'hunich' (honey) G. honig.
German 'ei' is often 'ee,' as in 'heem' (home) G. heim; 'deel' (part) G. theil; 'seef' (soap) G. seife; 'bleech' (pale) G. bleich; eens (one) G. eins; 'tswee' (two) G. zwei.
Irregular forms appear in 'maulwarf' (mole) G. maulwurf; 'blĕs' (pale, rhyming lace) G. blass; 'siffer' (tippler) G. säufer; 'schpoot' (late) G. spät, ä long; 'm'r wellǝ' (we will) G. wir wollen; 'dii úmeesǝ' (the ant) G. die ameise; 'ep,' 'eb' (whether) G. ob; 'dærfǝ' (to dare) G. dürfen; 'færichtǝrlich' (frightful) G. fürchterlich; 'ich færicht mich dat [or dart, G. dort] anǝ tsu gee˛.' I fear me to go yonder.
'Dat anǝ' is for G. dort hin, 'anǝ' being a Swiss adverb made of G. an (on, towards). 'dat' is not common in PG. and it may have been brought from abroad, as it occurs in Suabian—