Old Valthungian
Old Valthungian represents a period in the development of the Valthungian language lasting from around 800‒1200 a.d. marked mainly by changes to geminates and intervocalic consonants, as well as the introduction of Germanic ī/j-umlaut and some small but important changes to all of the vowels. Though this is a range which experienced many changes, the most representative example of “Old Valthungian” is the language as it is captured in a few surviving texts believed to date to around 950‒975 a.d.
Major Phonological Changes from Griutungi to Old Valthungian
Spirantization of Fricatives
This is a change that had likely already started long before the division between Gothic and Griutungi, and probably happened similarly in Gothic as well. In the Griutungi lineage, it occurred in three distinct stages:
Stage I
Intervocalic voiced fricatives (i.e. /b/, /d/, and /g/) became spirantized: /β/, /ð/, and /ɣ/. This likely happened quite early, and was clearly in operation in Gothic as well.
| C [+vox] [-cnt] |
→ | [+cnt] | / | V___V |
“A voiced non-continuant (i.e. stop) becomes continuant (i.e. fricative) when intervocalic.”
In more direct terms:
| b, d, g} | → | β, ð, ɣ | / | any vowel }___{ any vowel |
Stage II
The same process occurred, but in Stage II the environment changes to include /l/ and /r/ before the stop and any sonorant (i.e. /l/, /r/, /m/, or /n/) after. This likely occurred before or during the time of Griutung proper, and may have happened in a similar environment in Gothic.
| C [+vox] [-cnt] |
→ | [+cnt] | / | V,l,r}___[+son] |
“A voiced non-continuant (i.e. stop) becomes continuant (i.e. fricative) when preceded by a vowel or a liquid and followed by any sonorant (a vowel, a liquid, or a nasal).”
In more direct terms:
| b, d, g} | → | β, ð, ɣ | / | any vowel, l, or r}___{ any vowel, l, r, m, or n |
Stage III
In the final stage, which happened significantly after the earlier two (probably not before 900 a.d.), the unvoiced continuants /f/ and /θ/, became voiced in the same environment as stage II.
| C [-vox] [+cnt] [-bck] |
→ | [+vox] | / | V,l,r}___[+son] |
“An unvoiced non-back continuant (i.e. fricative other than /h/) becomes voiced when preceded by a vowel or a liquid and followed by any sonorant (a vowel, a liquid, or a nasal).”
In more direct terms:
| f, θ} | → | β, ð} | / | any vowel, l, or r}___{ any vowel, l, r, m, or n |