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A

MIDDLE HIGH GERMAN
PRIMER

WITH

GRAMMAR, NOTES, AND GLOSSARY

BY

JOSEPH WRIGHT

M.A., PH.D., D.C.L., LL.D., LITT.D.

FELLOW OF THE BRITISH ACADEMY
CORPUS CHRISTI PROFESSOR OF COMPARATIVE PHILOLOGY
IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD

THIRD EDITION

RE-WRITTEN AND ENLARGED

OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1917

OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS

LONDON EDINBURGH GLASGOW NEW YORK
TORONTO MELBOURNE BOMBAY

HUMPHREY MILFORD

PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY

[ EXTRACTS FROM THE PREFACES]
TO THE FIRST AND SECOND EDITIONS

The present book has been written in the hope that it will serve as an elementary introduction to the larger German works on the subject from which I have appropriated whatever seemed necessary for the purpose. In the grammar much aid has been derived from Paul’s Mittelhochdeutsche Grammatik, second edition, Halle, 1884, and Weinhold’s Mittelhochdeutsche Grammatik, second edition, Paderborn, 1883. The former work, besides containing by far the most complete syntax, is also the only Middle High German Grammar which is based on the present state of German Philology.... I believe that the day is not far distant when English students will take a much more lively interest in the study of their own and the other Germanic languages (especially German and Old Norse) than has hitherto been the case. And if this little book should contribute anything towards furthering the cause, it will have amply fulfilled its purpose.

London: January, 1888.

When I wrote the preface to the first edition of this primer in 1888, I ventured to predict that the interest of English students in the subject would grow and develop as time went on, but I hardly expected that it would grow so much that a second edition of the book would be required within so short a period. It has been revised throughout, and several changes have been made in the phonology, but I have not thought it advisable to alter the general plan and scope of the former edition. After many years of personal experience as a teacher and examiner in the older periods of the German language, I have become firmly convinced that the larger books on the subject contain too many details for beginners. I feel sure that the easiest and best way to acquire a thorough knowledge of Middle High German is to start with an elementary book like the present, and then to learn the details of the grammar, especially the phonology of the various dialects, from a more advanced work.

Oxford: December, 1898.

PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION

In the preparation of the new edition, I have steadily kept in view the class of students for whom the book was originally written. When the first edition appeared twenty-eight years ago, there were very few students in this country who took up the serious study of the older periods of the various Germanic languages at the Universities. In late years, however, the interest in the study of these languages has grown so much that Honour Courses and Examinations in them have been established at all our Universities. The result is that a book even intended for beginners can now reasonably be expected to be of a higher standard than the previous editions of this Primer. The grammatical introduction has accordingly been entirely rewritten and expanded to more than twice its original size. The texts have also been nearly doubled by the addition of eighteen poems from Walther von der Vogelweide, and selections from Reinmar, Ulrich von Lichtenstein, and Wolfram von Eschenbach.

The greater part of Middle High German literature is so excellent and interesting that most students, who have mastered the grammatical introduction and read the texts in the Primer, will doubtless desire to continue the subject. Such students should procure a copy of either the Mittelhochdeutsche Grammatik by Hermann Paul, eighth edition, Halle, 1911, or the Mittelhochdeutsches Elementarbuch by Victor Michels, second edition, Heidelberg, 1912, where the Grammar, especially the phonology and syntax, can be studied in greater detail. They should also procure a copy of the Mittelhochdeutsches Taschenwörterbuch by Matthias Lexer, tenth edition, Leipzig, 1910, and also have access to the two standard Middle High German dictionaries— Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch mit Benutzung des Nachlasses von Georg Friedrich Benecke, ausgearbeitet von Wilhelm Müller und Friedrich Zarncke, drei Bände, Leipzig, 1854-61, and Mittelhochdeutsches Wörterbuch, von Matthias Lexer, zugleich als Supplement und alphabetischer Index zum Mittelhochdeutschen Wörterbuch von Benecke-Müller-Zarncke, drei Bände, Leipzig, 1872-78. An excellent bibliography of the best editions of the Middle High German texts— classified according to the dialects in which they were written— will be found on pp. 20-35 of Michels’ Elementarbuch.

May the new edition of the Primer continue to further the study of the subject in the future to the same extent as it has done in the past!

JOSEPH WRIGHT.

Oxford,
October, 1916.

[CONTENTS]

[ ABBREVIATIONS, ETC.]

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]

[§ 1.]

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:—

[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:—

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.

[§ 4.]

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:—

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:—

[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.

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

[§ 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

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:—

[ 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.

[§ 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.

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:—

[§ 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:—

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]).

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.

[§ 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.

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

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.

(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.

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.

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.

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].

[§ 51.]

1. Masculine Nouns.

[§ 52.]

2. Neuter Nouns.

[§ 53.]

3. Feminine Nouns.

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.

[ 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.

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.

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.

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:—

[§ 59.] The following adjectives are defective:—

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:—

[§ 61.] The following are irregular:—

[§ 62.]

D. Numerals.

[§ 63.] Ein follows the strong declension, when used as a numeral. The dat. einme is generally contracted to eime ([§ 9, 3]). When ein is used in the sense of alone, it follows the weak declension. On the inflexion of ander, second, see [§ 55]. Zwei and drī are declined as follows:—

[§ 64.] The other cardinals up to twelve are sometimes inflected; when such is the case the endings are:—

hundert and tūsent are neuter nouns.

[ CHAPTER V]

PRONOUNS

[§ 65.]

1. Personal.

[Note.—1.] The gen. ir is often used as a possessive pronoun. For ëȥ the form iȥ sometimes appears.

[2.] For the acc. pl. unsich the dat. uns is mostly used. iu is often used for iuch, and vice versa. im, ir are more usual than ime, ire.

[3.] The unstressed forms of personal pronouns are often attached to other words, as ichȥ, iȥ = ich ëȥ; ichne, ine, ichn = ich ne (not); tuostu = tuost du; dune, dun = du ne (not); tuoȥ = tuo ëȥ; eist, ēst = ëȥ ist; deiȥ = daȥ ëȥ; mohter = mohte ër; baten = bat in; wirȥ = wir ëȥ, &c.

[§ 66.]

2. Reflexive.

[§ 67.]

3. Possessive.

mīn, my; dīn, thy; sīn, his; ir, her; unser, our; iuwer, your; ir, their.

They are declined like the strong adjective michel, great ([§ 55]). The dat. sing. forms dīnme, sīnme are generally contracted to dīme, sīme, see [§ 9, 3].

[§ 68.]

4. Demonstrative.

Like dër is also declined jener, that, except that the Nom., Acc. sg. neut. ends in -eȥ. dër, &c., is used both as definite article and relative pronoun.

[Note.—1.] For the fem. nom. sing. and the neut. nom. acc. pl. diu, the form die was sometimes used; and conversely diu for die in the fem. acc. singular. diu and die were sometimes weakened to de, and to d’ before words beginning with a vowel. daȥ was sometimes weakened to deȥ, and still further to ȥ which was then attached to a preceding word, as lātȥ kind = lāt daȥ kint; anȥ, inȥ = an, in daȥ. dēst, deis, dēs = daȥ ist.

[2.] The various cases were often fused into one word with prepositions, as anme, ame, am = an dëme; zëme, zëm = ze dëme; ūfme = ūf dëme; zër = ze dër (fem.); übern = über dën; ūfën = ūf dën; zën = ze dën.

5. Relative.

[§ 69.] A relative pronoun proper did not exist in the oldest periods of the Germanic languages, and accordingly the separate languages expressed it in various ways. In MHG. the following pronouns and adverbial particles were used to express it:—

1. dër, daȥ (also used as a conjunction), diu, also in combination with the particles dar der dā. 2. sō, alsō (alse, als), as; sam (alsam), as. 3. dā(r), where, dar, thither, whither, darinne, therein, dannen, wherefrom, darumbe, therefore, dō, when, as. 4. Indefinite relatives, as swër (from sō wër), whoever, swelch, each who, swëder, who of two; swā, swar, wherever, swannen, swanne (swenne), whenever, swie, however, howsoever. 5. The conjunction unde, and.

6. Interrogative.

[§ 70.] The MHG. simple interrogative pronoun has no independent form for the feminine, and is declined in the singular only.

In the same manner are declined the compounds:

swër (from sō wër), whoever, etewër, eteswër, anyone, neiȥwër (= ne weiȥ wër, I do not know who), anyone.

wëder, who of two, is declined like a strong adjective; welīch (welch), which, is also declined like a strong adjective, but the nom. singular remains uninflected.

7. Indefinite.

[§ 71.] ander, other; dechein, dehein, dekein, no, none; dewëder, neither; ein, one, some one: when ein is used with the meaning alone it follows the weak declension; etelīch, etlīch, eteslīch, etslīch, anyone, many a, pl. = some; etewër, eteswër, anyone; etewaȥ, anything; iegelīch, ieslīch, iegeslīch, each; ieman, iemen, someone, somebody; iewëder, ietwëder, each; iewelīch, iewelich, each; iewiht, iht, anything; kein, no; man, one; manec, many a, declined maneger, manegeȥ, manegiu, &c.; nehein, no, none; niht, nothing; solch, such, declined like manec; sum, any one at all, pl. some; sumelīch, sumlīch, many a; swelch, each who; swër, whoever; wëder, which of two; welīch (welch), which, declined like manec.

[ CHAPTER VI]

VERBS

[§ 72.] The MHG. verb has the following independent forms:—one voice (active), two numbers, three persons, two tenses (present and preterite), two complete moods (indicative and subjunctive, the latter originally the optative), besides an imperative which is only used in the present tense; two verbal nouns (the present infinitive, and the gerund, generally called the inflected infinitive), a present participle with active meaning, and one verbal adjective (the past participle).

The MHG. verbs are divided into two great classes:—Strong and Weak. The strong verbs form their preterite (originally the perfect) and past participle by means of ablaut ([§ 12]). The weak verbs form their preterite by the addition of the syllable -te, and their past participle by means of a t-suffix. The strong verbs were originally further sub-divided into reduplicated and non-reduplicated verbs. The reduplication had, however, entirely disappeared in the oldest period of the language. The non-reduplicated verbs are divided into six classes according to the six ablaut-series ([§ 12]). The originally reduplicated verbs are put together here and called Class VII. Besides these two great classes of strong and weak verbs, there are a few others which will be treated under the general heading Minor Groups.

A. Strong Verbs.

[§ 73.] We are able to conjugate a MHG. strong verb when we know the four stems, as seen in (1) the infinitive or first pers. sing. of the present indicative, (2) the first or third pers. sing. of the preterite indicative, (3) the first pers. plural of the preterite indicative, (4) the past participle. The pret. subjunctive and the second pers. pret. indicative have the same stem-vowel as the pret. plural indicative.

[§ 74.] The conjugation of nëmen, OHG. nëman, to take, will serve as a model for all strong verbs.