West Germanic gemination
This article needs additional citations for verification. (March 2024) |
West Germanic gemination was a sound change that took place in all
Overview
When followed by /j/, consonants were lengthened (doubled). The consonant /r/, whether original or from earlier /z/ through rhotacization, was generally not affected; it occasionally shows gemination in Old High German, but inconsistently and this may be an analogical change. In contrast, the second element of the diphthongs iu and au was still underlyingly the consonant /w/ at this time, and therefore was lengthened as well.[1]
In Proto-Germanic, /j/ only appeared at the beginning of a syllable, primarily as the onset of a variety of suffixes and endings. It alternated with its syllabic counterpart /ij/ in accordance with a phonological rule known as
In the early history of most individual Germanic languages, syllabic /ij/ was generally lost, while consonantal /j/ was retained. Earlier consonantal /j/ is also lost, however, after a consonant that underwent gemination. Thus, /j/ remains only after /r/ (Old English werian < Proto-Germanic *warjaną), while /ij/ appears in all other cases, even those where Proto-Germanic had /j/ (such as *fuljaną above). It therefore appears that Sievers' law was still productive at this stage, and adapted to the new syllable length by changing the suffix from its consonantal to its syllabic variety.
Gemination triggered by /l/, /r/
West Germanic gemination also operated inconsistently on consonants followed by /l/ or /r/, e.g. Old English æppel 'apple' < Proto-Germanic *aplaz. In some cases this led to doublets, e.g.
Parallel changes in Old Norse
Similar changes occurred in the history of Old Norse, although with a more limited scope. The change applied only to the combinations /kj/ and /ɡj/, which were lengthened to /kːj/ and /ɡːj/. Other consonants were not affected. Contrary to the changes in West Germanic, the /j/ remained nonsyllabic after the change, and was therefore retained rather than lost like syllabic /ij/ was in other Old Norse words.
Effects
This change particularly affected the
Examples:
Proto-Germanic | Gothic | West Germanic | Old High German | Old Saxon | Old English
|
Old Norse
|
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
*hugjaną | hugjan | *huggijan(ą) | huggen | huggian | hycgan | hyggja | 'to think' (gemination also in ON) |
*bidjaną | bidjan | *biddijan(ą) | bitten | biddian | biddan | biðja | 'to ask' |
*hlahjaną | hlahjan | *hlahhijan(ą) | (h)lahhan | hlahhian | hlæhhan | hlæja (h lost in ON) | 'to laugh' |
*wandijaną | wandjan | *wendijan(ą) | wenten | wendian | wendan | venda | 'to turn' (no gemination before -ij-) |
*hailijaną | hailjan | *hailijan(ą) | heilen | hēlian | hǣlan | heila | 'to heal' (no gemination before -ij-) |
*farjaną | farjan | *ferjan(ą) | ferien | ferian | ferian | ferja | 'to carry' (no gemination of r) |
*nazjaną | nasjan | *nerjan(ą) | nerien | nerian | nerian | - | 'to heal' (no gemination of r from z) |
References
- ^ JSTOR 23737259.