Old Valthungian: Difference between revisions

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[[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.
[[Category: Languages]]
[[Category: Conlangs]]
[[Category: Artlangs]]
[[Category: A posteriori]]
[[Category: Indo-European languages]]
[[Category: Germanic languages]]
[[Category: East Germanic languages]]
[[Category: Valthungian]]
[[Category: Gothic Romance]]


==Major Changes from Griutungi to Old Valthungian==
{{Bpnjohnson.info|Old Valthungian|Sou Vladyugutanei Tungou|soʊ̯ ˈwlɑ.ðʊ.ɡʊ.ta.neɪ̯ ˈtʊŋ.ɡoʊ̯|2018|Northern Italy, ca. 800ᴀᴅ‒1200ᴀᴅ|Indo-European|Indo-European|Germanic|East Germanic||||||}}
===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 ( < 400 a.d.)====
[[Old Valthungian]] represents a period in the development of the [[Valthungian]] language
Intervocalic voiced fricatives (i.e. /b/, /d/, and /g/) became spirantized: /β/, /ð/, and /ɣ/. This likely happened quite early, perhaps already by Proto-Germanic times, and was clearly in operation in Gothic as well.
lasting from around 800‒1200<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ad</span> marked mainly
by changes to geminates and metathesis of liquids, 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<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ad</span>.


{| style="vertical-align: text-top; border-spacing: 0; padding: 0;"
==Phonology of Old Valthungian ca. 950<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ad</span>==
 
===Consonants===
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; vertical-align:middle"
!width=100px|
!width=65px|'''Labial'''
!width=65px|'''Dental'''
!width=65px|'''Alveolar'''
!width=65px|'''Palatal'''
!width=65px|'''Dorsal'''
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
!'''Plosive'''
|style="border-left:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|'''p · b'''<br />/p · b/
| '''C'''
|'''t · d'''<br />/t · d/
|style="border-right:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|
| &nbsp;→&nbsp;
|
|style="border-left:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|'''k · g'''<br />/k · ɡ/
| <code>+cnt</code>
|style="border-right:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;/&nbsp;
| V ___ V
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
!'''Nasal'''
|style="border-left:solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|''' · m'''<br />/m/
| <code>+vox</code>
|
|style="border-right:solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|''' · n'''<br />/n/
| &nbsp;
|
| &nbsp;
|''' · n'''<ref>Before '''g''' or '''k'''</ref><br />[ŋ]
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
!'''Fricative'''
|style="border-left:solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|'''f · bv, fv'''<br />/ɸ · β/
| <code>-cnt</code>
|'''dv · þ'''<br />/ð · θ/
|style="border-right:solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|'''s · z'''<br />/s · ʐ/
| &nbsp;
|''' · jj'''<br />/ʝ/
| &nbsp;
|'''h · gy'''<br />/h · ɣ/
| &nbsp;
|-
| &nbsp;
!'''Approximant'''
| &nbsp;
|''' · v'''<br />/w/
| &nbsp;
|''' · l'''<br />/l/
|''' · r'''<br />/r/
|''' · j'''<br />/j/
|
|}
|}


''“A voiced non-continuant (i.e. stop) consonant becomes continuant (i.e. fricative) when intervocalic.''
===Vowels===
 
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; vertical-align:middle"
In more direct terms:
|-
 
! width=100px rowspan="2"|
{| style="vertical-align: text-top; border-spacing: 0; padding: 0;"
! colspan="2"| '''Short Vowels'''
! rowspan="6"|
! colspan="2"| '''Long Vowels'''
|-
! width=85px| '''Front'''
! width=65px| '''Back'''
! width=65px| '''Front'''
! width=65px| '''Back'''
|-
!'''Close'''
|'''i · eu'''<br />/ɪ · ʏ/
|'''u'''<br />/ʊ/
|'''ij · euv'''<br />/iː · yː/
|'''uv'''<br />/uː/
|-
!'''Mid-Close'''
|''' · y<ref>This was likely a lax central near-close vowel, not a front vowel; i.e. [ᵿ], not [ʏ]. It later merged with /y/.</ref>'''<br />/ᵿ/
|
|'''ei · eou'''<br />/eː · øː/
|'''ou'''<br />/oː/<ref>All of the mid-close long vowels may have been diphthongs, i.e. [eɪ̯], [œʏ̯], and [oʊ̯] – and 〈eou〉 was almost certainly [œʏ̯] – but the spelling of 〈ei〉 and 〈ou〉 is likely related to conventions borrowed from early Romance languages of the time rather than an indication of dipthongisation.</ref>
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
!'''Mid-Open'''
| '''b'''
|'''e, ea<ref>In the standardised orthography, 〈e〉 occurs only where adjacent to /r/ or /h/, while 〈ea〉 is the umlaut of /a/. It is likely they represented the same sounds, though some scholars contend that 〈ea〉 wa a more open [æ].</ref> · eo'''<br />/ɛ · œ/
| &nbsp;→&nbsp;
|'''o'''<br />[ɔ]
| '''β'''
|'''ae · eao'''<br />/ɛː · œː/
| &nbsp;/&nbsp;
|'''ao'''<br />/ɔː/
| ''any vowel'' } ___ { ''any vowel''
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
!'''Open'''
| '''d'''
|'''a'''<br />/a/
| &nbsp;→&nbsp;
|
| '''ð'''
|
| &nbsp;
|'''aa'''<br />/ɑː/<ref>All other back vowels seem to have distinguished umlaut forms, but the umlaut of 〈aa〉  is consistently written as 〈ae〉 and was presumably realized as [eː]. In an early version of the Chrysanthi Grammar, 〈eaa〉 was used for this purpose, but later versions have 〈ae〉 exclusively.</ref>
| &nbsp;
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
| '''g'''
| &nbsp;→&nbsp;
| '''ɣ'''
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|}
|}


====Syllabic Sonorants====
In addition to the vowels, certain sonorants may act as syllable nuclei (usually word-finally).


E.g. PGmc. ''*hlaibai'' ‘loaf.<span style="font-variant: small-caps">dat</span>’, ''*mōdēr'' ‘mother’, ''*ōganą'' ‘to fear’
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; vertical-align:middle"
→ Gothic ''hlaiba'' /hlɛ̄βa/, ''*mōdar'' /mōðar/, ''ōgan'' /ōɣan/
!width=100px|
~ Griutungi ''hlǣba'' /“”/, ''mōdar'', ''ōgan''
!width=65px|'''Labial'''
→ O.V. ''hlaeva'' /“”/, ''moðar'', ''oyan''
!width=65px|'''Alveolar'''
(eventually…)
!width=65px|'''Palatal'''
→ M.V. ''þlǣva'' /θlēva/, ''mōðr'' /mouðr̩/, ''ōgn'' /ougn̩/
!width=65px|'''Dorsal'''
→ Vlth. ''þlǣva'' /θlē̞vɑ/, ''mōðra'' /mauðrɑ/, ''ōgna'' /augnɑ/
|-
!'''Syllabics'''
|'''m'''<br />/m̩/
|'''n'''<br />/n̩/
|'''r'''<br />//
|'''l'''<br />//
|}


====Stage II ( ~ 400 a.d.)====
==Orthography of Old Valthungian==
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.
There is very little extant text in Old Valthungian, and what does exist is quite variable, but this is a “regularlised” version of the orthography used at the time around 950<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ad</span>, with notes where there are variants.


{| style="vertical-align: text-top; border-spacing: 0; padding: 0;"
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width: 1100px;"
|-
!colspan=5| Letters
|colspan=3 align="left"| The twenty-seven “official” letters of the Old Valthungian alphabet are very similar to the twenty-seven letter of the Gothic alphabet, right down to the order of their numbering. There were, however, many variants, ligatures, digraphs, trigraphs, and Latin and Greek letters thrown into the mix in the few small samples we have of definitive Old Valthungian texts.
|-
!width=65px| Griutungi
!width=65px| IPA
!width=65px| Old Val.
!width=65px| Roman.
!width=65px| Numeric<br />Value
!width=165px| Variants
!width=200px| Examples
!width=540px| Notes
|-
|valign="top"| a
|valign="top"| ɑ
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-a.png|13px|A]]
|valign="top"| '''a'''
|valign="top"| 1
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| ''r'''a'''ms'' ‘poor’<br />''g'''a'''f'' ‘gave’<br />'''''a'''nþ'''a'''r'' ‘second’
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|-
|valign="top"| b
|valign="top"| b
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-b.png|13px|B]]
|valign="top"| '''b'''
|valign="top"| 2
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''''b'''radvou'' ‘axe’<br />''krah'''b'''a'' ‘crab’<br />''lam'''b''''' ‘lamb’
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|-
|valign="top"| g
|valign="top"| ɡ
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-g.png|12px|G]]
|valign="top"| '''g'''
|valign="top"| 3
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''''g'''ibvan'' ‘to give’<br />'''''g'''raþs'' ‘yard’<br />''da'''g'''z'' ‘day’
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|-
|valign="top"| d
|valign="top"| d
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-d.png|17px|D]]
|valign="top"| '''d'''
|valign="top"| 4
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''''d'''agz'' ‘day’<br />''ah'''d'''i'' ‘egg’<br />''teihun'''d''''' ‘(multiple of) ten’
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|-
|valign="top"| e
|valign="top"| ɛ
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-e.png|13px|E]]
|valign="top"| '''e'''
|valign="top"| 5
|align="left" valign="top"| ai
|valign="top"| ''r'''e'''dva'' ‘earth’<br />''t'''e'''hsva'' ‘right-hand’<br />''b'''e'''rja'' ‘ferry’
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|-
|valign="top"| kw
|valign="top"| kʷ~kw
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-qv.png|23px|QV]]
|valign="top"| '''qv'''
|valign="top"| 6
|align="left" valign="top"| kv, q, ku, cv, cu
|valign="top"| '''''qv'''ernu'' ‘mill’<br />''in'''qv'''is'' ‘to you both’<br />''ri'''qv'''iza'' ‘darker’
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|-
|valign="top"| z
|valign="top"| ʐ
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-z.png|13px|Z]]
|valign="top"| '''z'''
|valign="top"| 7
|align="left" valign="top"| ȥ
|valign="top"| ''þi'''z'''ae'' ‘to that’<br />''hvi'''z'''a'''z'''ij'' ‘whatever’<br />''i'''z'''ous'' ‘hers’
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|-
|valign="top"| h
|valign="top"| h~x
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-h.png|13px|H]]
|valign="top"| '''h'''
|valign="top"| 8
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''''h'''retou'' ‘heart’<br />''te'''h'''un'' ‘ten’<br />''fa'''h''''' ‘glad’
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|-
|valign="top"| þ
|valign="top"| θ
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-th.png|18px|Þ]]
|valign="top"| '''þ'''
|valign="top"| 9
|align="left" valign="top"| th, fh, c<ref>'''c''' for /θ/ is anomalous, only appearing in one extant instance, and is most likely the result of a transcription error, though many have used it (grossly incorrectly) to associate Old Valthungian with the Iberian Goths, positing that this somehow relates to ''ceceo'' in modern Spanish. It absolutely does not, and the Old Valthungian speakers never came within 500 miles of present-day Spain, but facts have never stood in the way of good speculation.</ref>
|valign="top"| '''''þ'''ju'''þ''''' ‘people’<br />''frija'''þ'''vou'' ‘love’<br />''ljugyva'''þ''''' ‘light’
|align="left" valign="top"| From the Gothic '''𐌸''', this letter represented [θ] in Old Valthungian as it did in Gothic, but became [v] and was replaced by [[File:OV-hw.png|11px|Þ]] for [θ] in the 11th century.
|-
|valign="top"| i
|valign="top"| i
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-i.png|4px|I]]
|valign="top"| '''i'''
|valign="top"| 10
|align="left"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''''i'''gy'''i'''l'' ‘hedgehog’<br />'''''i'''zae'' ‘to her’<br />''þivgy'''i''''' ‘maid’
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|-
|valign="top"| k
|valign="top"| k
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-k.png|13px|K]]
|valign="top"| '''k'''
|valign="top"| 20
|align="left" valign="top"| c
|valign="top"| '''''k'''rots'' ‘short’<br />''tae'''k'''ros'' ‘brother-in-law’<br />''mas'''k''''' ‘mesh, grid’
|align="left" valign="top"| Sometimes written as '''kh''' or '''ch''' when aspirated.
|-
|valign="top"| l
|valign="top"| l~ɫ̩
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-l.png|13px|L]]
|valign="top"| '''l'''
|valign="top"| 30
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''''l'''angz'' ‘long’<br />''s'''l'''idva'''l'''ijks'' ‘amazing’<br />''tag'''l''''' ‘tail’
|align="left" valign="top"| (Syllabic and non-syllabic sonorants were not differentiated in Old Valthungian.)
|-
|valign="top"| m
|valign="top"| m~m̩
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-m.png|13px|M]]
|valign="top"| '''m'''
|valign="top"| 40
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''''m'''aedv'''m'''s'' ‘gift’<br />'''''m'''ikils'' ‘great’<br />''ogvu'''m'''a'' ‘primary’
|align="left" valign="top"| (Syllabic and non-syllabic sonorants were not differentiated in Old Valthungian.)
|-
|valign="top"| n
|valign="top"| n~n̩
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-n.png|13px|N]]
|valign="top"| '''n'''
|valign="top"| 50
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''''n'''aoþs'' ‘need’<br />'''''n'''iv'''n'''tehu'''n''''' ‘nineteen’<br />'''''n'''ima'''n''''' ‘to take’
|align="left" valign="top"| (Syllabic and non-syllabic sonorants were not differentiated in Old Valthungian.)
|-
|valign="top"| j
|valign="top"| j
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-j.png|13px|J]]
|valign="top"| '''j'''
|valign="top"| 60
|align="left" valign="top"| i
|valign="top"| '''''j'''eir'' ‘year’<br />'''''j'''ah'' ‘also’<br />'''''j'''uvs'' ‘you all’
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|-
|valign="top"| o
|valign="top"| ɔ
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-o.png|13px|O]]
|valign="top"| '''o'''
|valign="top"| 70
|align="left" valign="top"| au
|valign="top"| ''r'''o'''tigraþs'' ‘garden’<br />'''''o'''gyuma'' ‘chief’<br />''vr'''o'''ms'' ‘worm’
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|-
|valign="top"| p
|valign="top"| p
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-p.png|13px|P]]
|valign="top"| '''p'''
|valign="top"| 80
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''''p'''aedva'' ‘shirt’<br />'''''p'''ro'''p'''ora'' ‘purple’<br />''slei'''p'''an'' ‘to sleep’
|align="left" valign="top"| Sometimes written as '''ph''' when aspirated.
|-
|valign="top"| ī
|valign="top"| iː~ij
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-ij.png|10px|IJ]]
|valign="top"| '''ij'''
|valign="top"| 90
|align="left" valign="top"| ī, ei, ij
|valign="top"| '''''ij'''s'' ‘ice’<br />''t'''ij'''þs ‘time’<br />''divp'''ij''''' ‘depth’
|align="left" valign="top"| There is only scant evidence that this ligature was used to represent the value of the number ‘90’, and it is disputable whether the evidence in question is actually the 〈ij〉 ligature, or a holdover of the Gothic number  𐍁.
|-
|valign="top"| r
|valign="top"| r~r̩
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-r.png|13px|R]]
|valign="top"| '''r'''
|valign="top"| 100
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''''r'''iqvus'' ‘dark’<br />''b'''r'''oudv'''r''''' ‘brother’<br />''ve'''r''''' ‘man’
|align="left" valign="top"| (Syllabic and non-syllabic sonorants were not differentiated in Old Valthungian.)
|-
|valign="top"| s
|valign="top"| s
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-s.png|13px|S]]
|valign="top"| '''s'''
|valign="top"| 200
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''''s'''aovgyila'' ‘sun’<br />'''''s'''eh'''s'''tigju'''s''''' ‘sixty’<br />'''''s'''uv'''s''''' ‘sow’
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|-
|valign="top"| t
|valign="top"| t
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-t.png|13px|T]]
|valign="top"| '''t'''
|valign="top"| 300
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''''t'''ungl'' ‘star’<br />''s'''t'''ivgyi'''t'''i'' ‘patience’<br />'''''t'''rivgyijna'''t''''' ‘wooden’
|align="left" valign="top"| Sometimes written as '''th''' when aspirated.
|-
|valign="top"| w
|valign="top"| w
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-v.png|13px|V]]
|valign="top"| '''v'''
|valign="top"| 400
|align="left" valign="top"| vv, uu, ƿ
|valign="top"| '''''v'''lidvijs'' ‘wild’<br />''saliþ'''v'''a'' ‘guest room’<br />''s'''v'''ei'' ‘as though’
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|-
|valign="top"| f
|valign="top"| ɸ~f
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-f.png|12px|F]]
|valign="top"| '''f'''
|valign="top"| 500
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''''f'''im'''f''''' ‘five’<br />''svum'''f'''sl'' ‘’<br />''hlae'''f''''' ‘bread’
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|-
|valign="top"| kh
|valign="top"| kʰ
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-x.png|13px|KH]]
|valign="top"| '''x'''
|valign="top"| 600
|align="left" valign="top"| kh, ch, x, χ
|valign="top"| '''''X'''ristus'' ‘Christ’<br />''ev'''x'''aristja'' ‘eucharist’<br />''kate'''x'''ijns'' ‘remembrance’
|align="left" valign="top"| This Greek borrowing, which was incorporated into the Gothic alphabet as '''𐍇''', had merged phonologically with '''k''' by the Old Valthungian period, but was occasionally still emphasized with '''h''' or even with the Greek letter '''χ''' in positions which were not naturally aspirated. Indeed, '''h''' was sometimes added to segments which ''were'' naturally aspirated, as also happened with '''p''' and '''t'''.
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| hw
|style="border-left:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| xw
| '''C'''
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-hw.png|18px|HV]]
|style="border-right:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''hv'''
| &nbsp;→&nbsp;
|valign="top"| 700
|style="border-left:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| hv, hw, chv, hu
| <code>+cnt</code>
|valign="top"| '''''hv'''ilftri'' ‘curve’<br />''se'''hv'''an'' ‘to see’<br />''nei'''hv''''' ‘near’
|style="border-right:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| The Old Valthungian letter most commonly written as [[File:OV-hw.png|11px|HV]], from Gothic '''𐍈''',  is transliterated as '''hv''', but later came to represent [θ] during the 11th century.
| &nbsp;/&nbsp;
|style="border-left:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
| <code>+son</code>
|style="border-right:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;___&nbsp;
|style="border-left:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
| <code>+son</code>
|style="border-right:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| u
|style="border-left:solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| u
| <code>+vox</code>
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-u.png|13px|U]]
|style="border-right:solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''u'''
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| 800
| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''''u'''lbvand'''u'''s'' ‘rhinocerus’<br />'''''u'''bvils'' ‘evil’<br />'''''u'''nþ'' ‘until’
| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|style="border-left:solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
| <code>-nas</code>
|style="border-right:solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| j
|style="border-left:solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| ʝ
| <code>-cnt</code>
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-j2.png|8px|J2]]
|style="border-right:solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;  
|valign="top"| '''jj'''
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| 900
| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| i, j, ʒ
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| ''þri'''jj'''a'' ‘three’<br />''teao'''jj'''an'' ‘to do’<br />''bea'''jj'''ouþs'' ‘both’
| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|-
| &nbsp;
!colspan=5| Ligatures & Polygraphs
| &nbsp;
|colspan=3 align="left"| Most of these represent single phonemes and might be considered letters in their own right, but were not part of the numbered Gothic alphabet.
| &nbsp;
|-
| &nbsp;
!width=65px| Griutungi
| &nbsp;
!width=65px| IPA
| &nbsp;
!width=65px| Old Val.
| &nbsp;
!width=65px| Roman.
|}
!width=65px| Numeric<br />Value
 
!width=165px| Variants
''“A voiced non-continuant (i.e. stop) consonant 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).''
!width=200px| Examples
 
!width=540px| Notes
In more direct terms:
|-
 
|valign="top"| ā
{| style="vertical-align: text-top; border-spacing: 0; padding: 0;"
|valign="top"| ɑː
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-aa.png|28px|AA]]
|valign="top"| '''aa'''
|valign="top"| -
|align="left" valign="top"| a, ā
|valign="top"| ''h'''aa'''hs'' ‘shark’<br />''f'''aa'''han'' ‘to capture’<br />''andaþ'''aa'''ht'' ‘rational’
|align="left" valign="top"| Long vowels were sometimes indicated by doubling, sometimes with a macron or any of a half dozen other markings, or ignored completely.
|-
|valign="top"| ǣ
|valign="top"| ɛː
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-ae.png|28px|AE]]
|valign="top"| '''ae'''
|valign="top"| -
|align="left" valign="top"| ai, ee
|valign="top"| ''br'''ae'''þ'' ‘wide’<br />'''''ae'''dvij'' ‘mother’<br />''tw'''ae''''' ‘two’
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|-
|valign="top"| ǭ
|valign="top"| ɔː
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-ao.png|28px|AO]]
|valign="top"| '''ao'''
|valign="top"| -
|align="left" valign="top"| au, oa, oo, ō
|valign="top"| '''''ao'''gyou'' ‘eye’<br />''fr'''ao'''s'' ‘happy’<br />''n'''ao'''huhþan'' ‘still, yet’
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| b
| '''b'''
|valign="top"| β~v
| &nbsp;→&nbsp;
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-bv.png|26px|BV]]
| '''β'''
|valign="top"| '''bv'''
| &nbsp;/&nbsp;
|valign="top"| -
| V, l, r } ___ { V, l, r, m, n
|align="left" valign="top"| vv
|valign="top"| ''sil'''bv'''a'' ‘self’<br />''ar'''bv'''i'' ‘inheritance’<br />''hlae'''bv'''a'' ‘bread.<span style="font-variant: small-caps>dat</span>’
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| g
| '''d'''
|valign="top"| ɣ
| &nbsp;→&nbsp;
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-gy.png|25px|GY]]
| '''ð'''
|valign="top"| '''gy'''
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| -
| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| y, g
|valign="top"| ''ao'''gy'''ou'' ‘eye’<br />''ba'''gy'''ms'' ‘tree’<br />''i'''gy'''il'' ‘hedgehog’
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| d
| '''g'''
|valign="top"| ð
| &nbsp;→&nbsp;
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-ð.png|20px|DY]]
| '''ɣ'''
|valign="top"| '''dv'''
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| -
| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| dv, δ
|}
|valign="top"| ''ae'''dv'''ij'' ‘mother’<br />''dala'''dv'''a'' ‘down’<br />''þju'''dv'''ij'' ‘meaning’
 
|align="left" valign="top"| Though '''dv''' is used here for transcription, a letter derived from the Gothic letter ''dags'' (but resembling '''ϫ''', the Coptic ''gangia'') was more often used.  
====Stage III ( ~ 500 a.d.)====
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.
 
{| style="vertical-align: text-top; border-spacing: 0; padding: 0;"
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| -
|style="border-left:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| ɛ~æ
| '''C'''
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-ea.png|40px|EA]]
|style="border-right:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''ea'''
| &nbsp;→&nbsp;
|valign="top"| -
|style="border-left:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| e, ai, ae
| <code>+vox</code>
|valign="top"| ''s'''ea'''tjan'' ‘to set’<br />''Mbr'''ea'''jja'' ‘Maria’<br />'''''ea'''kijt'' ‘vinegar’
|style="border-right:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| This was used for the umlauted form of short '''a''' (Griutungi and Gothic '''a''').
| &nbsp;/&nbsp;
|style="border-left:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
| <code>+son</code>
|style="border-right:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;___&nbsp;
|style="border-left:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
| <code>+son</code>
|style="border-right:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| -
|style="border-left:solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| œː
| <code>-vox</code>
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-eao.png|40px|EAO]]
|style="border-right:solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''eao'''
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| -
| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| eoa, eō, eoo
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''''eao'''dvijs'' ‘desert’<br />''f'''eao'''djan'' ‘to feed’<br />''h'''eao'''hij'' ‘height’
| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| This was used for the umlauted form of '''ao''' (Griutungi '''ǭ''', Gothic '''au''').
| &nbsp;
|style="border-left:solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
| <code>-nas</code>
|style="border-right:solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| ē
|style="border-left:solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| eː~ei̯
| <code>+cnt</code>
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-ei.png|18px|EI]]
|style="border-right:solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''ei'''
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| -
| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| ē, ee, ej
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| ''m'''ei'''na'' ‘moon’<br />'''''ei'''maeti'' ‘ant’<br />''sw'''ei''''' ‘such, thus’
| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| -
|style="border-left:solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| (
|valign="top"| œ
| <code>-bck</code>
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-eo.png|25px|EO]]
|style="border-right:solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| )
|valign="top"| '''eo'''
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| -
| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| oe, ø
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| ''vr'''eo'''kjan'' ‘to work’<br />''r'''eo'''kjus'' ‘jug’<br />''d'''eo'''htrjus'' ‘daughters’
| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| This was used for the umlauted form of '''o''' (Griutungi '''o''', Gothic '''au''').
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|}
 
''“An unvoiced non-back continuant (i.e. fricative other than /h/<ref>It is likely that '''h''' was actually included in this change, as evidenced by certain changes in the Expansion of East Germanic Verschärfung, but that makes our formula more complicated and really doesn't change the outcome in any measurable way.</ref>) consonant becomes voiced when preceded by any non-nasal sonorant and followed by ''any''' sonorant.”''
 
In more direct terms:
 
{| style="vertical-align: text-top; border-spacing: 0; padding: 0;"
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| -
| '''f'''
|valign="top"| øː~øu̯
| &nbsp;→&nbsp;
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-eou.png|40px|EOU]]
| '''β'''
|valign="top"| '''eou'''
| &nbsp;/&nbsp;
|valign="top"| -
| V, l, r } ___ { V, l, r, m, n
|align="left" valign="top"| eoo, eō, ooe
|valign="top"| ''afm'''eou'''dvij'' ‘disagreement’<br />''m'''eou'''gyjis'' ‘girls’<br />''d'''eou'''mjan'' ‘to judge’
|align="left" valign="top"| This was used for the umlauted form of '''oo''' (Griutungi and Gothic '''ō''').
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| -
| '''þ'''
|valign="top"| y
| &nbsp;→&nbsp;
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-eu.png|28px|EU]]
| '''ð'''
|valign="top"| '''eu'''
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| -
| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| y, ue
|}
|valign="top"| ''f'''eu'''tlijns'' ‘fulfillment’<br />''s'''eu'''ndij'' ‘health’<br />'''''eu'''nkja'' ‘ounce’
 
|align="left" valign="top"| This was used for the umlauted form of '''u'''.
===Voicing and Devoicing of Consonant Clusters===
====Voicing of Word-Final /s/ after a Voiced Consonant====
Word-final /s/ was voiced after /b/, /d/, and /g/. (And thus I dispense with the mystery of what the phonetic and phonemic value of the /g/ of Gothic ''dags'' might have been!)
 
{| style="vertical-align: text-top; border-spacing: 0; padding: 0;"
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| -
| '''s'''
|valign="top"| yː
| &nbsp;→ &nbsp;
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-euv.png|42px|EUV]]
| '''z'''
|valign="top"| '''euv'''
| &nbsp;/&nbsp;
|valign="top"| -
|style="border-left:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| yy, uue, euu, eeu
| '''C'''
|valign="top"| ''h'''euv'''hjan'' ‘to hoard’<br />''s'''euv'''tijs'' ‘gentle’<br />''l'''euv'''kjan'' ‘to latch’
|style="border-right:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| This was used for the umlauted form of '''uv''' (Griutungi and Gothic '''ū''').
| &nbsp;___&nbsp;
| #
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| iu
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| iw
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-ju.png|23px|JU]]
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''iv'''
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| -
|style="border-left:solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| iu, ju, jv
| <code>+vox</code>
|valign="top"| '''''iv'''qv'' ‘up’<br />''kn'''iv''''' ‘knee’<br />''þ'''iv'''fs'' ‘thief’
|style="border-right:solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| ng
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| ŋɡ
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-ng.png|26px|NG]]
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''ng'''
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| 53
|style="border-left:solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| gg
| <code>-cnt</code>
|valign="top"| ''si'''ng'''van'' ‘to sing’<br />''ga'''ng'''an'' ‘to go’<br />''wi'''ng'''z'' ‘wing’
|style="border-right:solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| Sometimes written with '''g''' instead of '''n''' in a reflection of the Gothic.
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|}
 
''“Word-final '''s''' becomes voiced when following a voiced stop.”''
 
In more direct terms:
 
{| style="vertical-align: text-top; border-spacing: 0; padding: 0;"
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| nk
| '''s'''
|valign="top"| ŋk
| &nbsp;→&nbsp;
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-nk.png|27px|NK]]
| '''z'''
|valign="top"| '''nk'''
| &nbsp;/&nbsp;
|valign="top"| -
| '''b''', '''d''', '''g''' }
|align="left" valign="top"| gk, gc
| &nbsp;___&nbsp;
|valign="top"| ''dri'''nk'''an'' ‘to drink’<br />''a'''nk'''e'' ‘lower leg’<br />''u'''nk'''is'' ‘to us’
| #
|align="left" valign="top"| Sometimes written with '''g''' instead of '''n''' in a reflection of the Gothic.
|}
 
====Devoicing of Word-Internal Obstruent Clusters====
Word-internal obstruent clusters (specifically '''z''' followed by a voiced stop consonant) are devoiced.
 
{| style="vertical-align: text-top; border-spacing: 0; padding: 0;"
|-
| &nbsp;
| '''z'''
|style="border-left:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
| '''C'''
|style="border-right:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;→&nbsp;
|style="border-left:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
| <code>-vox</code>
|style="border-right:solid black 1px; border-top: solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;/&nbsp;
| V ___ V
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| nkw
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| ŋkw
|style="border-left:solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-nqv.png|38px|NQV]]
| <code>+vox</code>
|valign="top"| '''nqv'''
|style="border-right:solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| 56
| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| gq, gqv, nq, nkv, ncu...
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| ''i'''nqv'''ar'' ‘your’<br />''hri'''nkv'''an'' ‘to gather’<br />''sa'''nkv'''us'' ‘sunset’
| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| Sometimes written with '''g''' instead of '''n''' in a reflection of the Gothic.
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| ō
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| oː~ou̯
|style="border-left:solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-ou.png|28px|OU]]
| <code>-cnt</code>
|valign="top"| '''ou'''
|style="border-right:solid black 1px; border-bottom: solid black 1px;"| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| -
| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| oo, ō, o, ov
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| '''''ou'''s'' ‘river-mouth’<br />''s'''ou'''gila'' ‘sun’<br />''t'''ou''''' ‘to, toward’
| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|}
 
''“A cluster consisting of '''z''' followed by a voiced stop becomes unvoiced when intervocalic.”''
 
In more direct terms:
 
{| style="vertical-align: text-top; border-spacing: 0; padding: 0;"
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| ū
| '''zb'''
|valign="top"| uː
|
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-uv.png|28px|UV]]
| '''sp'''
|valign="top"| '''uv'''
| /  
|valign="top"| -
| ''any vowel'' } ___ { ''any vowel''
|align="left" valign="top"| ū, u, uu
|valign="top"| '''''uv'''htvou'' ‘pre-dawn’<br />''þ'''uv'''sundi'' ‘thousand’<br />''h'''uv'''s'' ‘shed’
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| f
| '''zd'''
|valign="top"| β~v
|
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-fv.png|28px|FV]]
| '''st'''
|valign="top"| '''fv'''
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| -
| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| f, v, bv
|valign="top"| ''u'''fv'''ar'' ‘over’<br />''ae'''fv'''rs'' ‘terrifying’<br />''vladvu'''fv'''ni'' ‘violence’
|align="left" valign="top"| &nbsp;
|-
|-
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| y
| '''zg'''
|valign="top"| ʏ~ᵿ
|
|valign="top"| [[File:OV-y.png|13px|Y]]
| '''sk'''
|valign="top"| '''y'''
| &nbsp;
|valign="top"| 400
| &nbsp;
|align="left" valign="top"| y, i, u, ui
|valign="top"| ''s'''y'''nagyovgyei'' ‘synagogue’<br />''h'''y'''hsopus'' ‘hyssop’<br />''þ'''y'''mjam'' ‘incense’
|align="left" valign="top"| It is likely that this was still a separate phoneme in Old Valthungian from the umlaut of '''u''', though some of the means of transcription overlapped a bit. This phoneme was used only in borrowings from the Greek, and after the Old Valthungian period, these two phonemes had completely merged.<br />Our intermediate transcription shows '''ÿ''' for the letter representing Gothic '''𐍅'''/'''w''' from Greek '''υ'''. The exact pronunciation is unknown, but it seems likely that it was differentiated from '''eu''' (the i-umlaut of /u/) in Old Valthungian. These two sounds had merged by the Middle Valthungian period. Numerically, it was equivalent to Gothic '''𐍅''' (400).
|}
|}


E.g. ''razda'' ‘language’ → ''rasta'', ''azgō'' ‘ashes’ →  ''askō'' …''aska''.
==An Old Valthungian Text==
 
Though there are very few extant Old Valthungian texts, obnoxiously large numbers of the Pater Noster text have been discovered. Here's one now:
===Change of /fl/ to /θl/===
This is an expansion of an earlier change in East Germanic in which /fl/ became /θl/ in certain questionable environments which may or may not have included back vowels and velar consonants (there are only a handful of attested words where this change appears in writings of the time). Shortly after the Griutungi split, all remaining word-initial instances of /fl/ became /θl/.
 
{|
|-
| &nbsp;|| '''fl''' → '''þl'''|| /|| #___
|}


''“All instances of '''fl''' become '''þl''' when word-initial.”''
[[File:OV Pater noster.png|Pater Noster in Old Valthungian ca. 952<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">ad</span>]]


===Changes to Geminate Consonants===
ahta unsar þuv in himinam vijhnae namou þijn
====Changes to Geminate Obstruents====
qvimae þivdyinahsus þijns vredyae vilja þijns
====Changes to Geminate Sonorants====
svei in himina jah an redyae hlaef unsaran
=====Stage I=====
þan sintijnan gif uns hipma dagya jah afleit
=====Stage II (Change of /pm/ to /tm/)=====
uns þeatij skulans sijjaem svasvei jah vijs
===Vowel Lengthening===
afleitam þaem skulam unsaraem jah nij bringaes
====Lengthening of Word-Final Stressed Vowels====
uns in fraestubvnjae ak leaosij uns af þapma
====Lengthening of /ij/====
ubvilin  untei þijna ist þivdyangradyi jah mahts
===Ī/J-Umlaut===
jah vludyus in aejugyins · ahmein
===Palatalization of /z/===
.
===Expansion of East Germanic Verschärfung===
====Change of /h(w)/ to /gw/====
====Change of /w/ to /wg/====
====Change of /j/ to /gj/====
===Change of Word-Initial /j/ to /g/===
===Deletion of Unstressed Word-Final /a/ in Specific Environments===
==Phonology of Old Valthungian ca. 950 a.d.==

Latest revision as of 04:08, 27 February 2024



Old Valthungian
Sou Vladyugutanei Tungou
Pronunciation[soʊ̯ ˈwlɑ.ðʊ.ɡʊ.ta.neɪ̯ ˈtʊŋ.ɡoʊ̯]
Created byBenJamin P. Johnson,

creator of:

curator of:

Date2018
SettingNorthern Italy, ca. 800ᴀᴅ‒1200ᴀᴅ
Indo-European
  • Germanic
    • East Germanic
      • Old Valthungian

Old Valthungian represents a period in the development of the Valthungian language lasting from around 800‒1200ad marked mainly by changes to geminates and metathesis of liquids, 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 950‒975ad.

Phonology of Old Valthungian ca. 950ad

Consonants

Labial Dental Alveolar Palatal Dorsal
Plosive p · b
/p · b/
t · d
/t · d/
k · g
/k · ɡ/
Nasal · m
/m/
· n
/n/
· n[1]
[ŋ]
Fricative f · bv, fv
/ɸ · β/
dv · þ
/ð · θ/
s · z
/s · ʐ/
· jj
/ʝ/
h · gy
/h · ɣ/
Approximant · v
/w/
· l
/l/
· r
/r/
· j
/j/

Vowels

Short Vowels Long Vowels
Front Back Front Back
Close i · eu
/ɪ · ʏ/
u
/ʊ/
ij · euv
/iː · yː/
uv
/uː/
Mid-Close · y[2]
/ᵿ/
ei · eou
/eː · øː/
ou
/oː/[3]
Mid-Open e, ea[4] · eo
/ɛ · œ/
o
[ɔ]
ae · eao
/ɛː · œː/
ao
/ɔː/
Open a
/a/
aa
/ɑː/[5]

Syllabic Sonorants

In addition to the vowels, certain sonorants may act as syllable nuclei (usually word-finally).

Labial Alveolar Palatal Dorsal
Syllabics m
/m̩/
n
/n̩/
r
/r̩/
l
/l̩/

Orthography of Old Valthungian

There is very little extant text in Old Valthungian, and what does exist is quite variable, but this is a “regularlised” version of the orthography used at the time around 950ad, with notes where there are variants.

Letters The twenty-seven “official” letters of the Old Valthungian alphabet are very similar to the twenty-seven letter of the Gothic alphabet, right down to the order of their numbering. There were, however, many variants, ligatures, digraphs, trigraphs, and Latin and Greek letters thrown into the mix in the few small samples we have of definitive Old Valthungian texts.
Griutungi IPA Old Val. Roman. Numeric
Value
Variants Examples Notes
a ɑ A a 1   rams ‘poor’
gaf ‘gave’
aar ‘second’
 
b b B b 2   bradvou ‘axe’
krahba ‘crab’
lamb ‘lamb’
 
g ɡ G g 3   gibvan ‘to give’
graþs ‘yard’
dagz ‘day’
 
d d D d 4   dagz ‘day’
ahdi ‘egg’
teihund ‘(multiple of) ten’
 
e ɛ E e 5 ai redva ‘earth’
tehsva ‘right-hand’
berja ‘ferry’
 
kw kʷ~kw QV qv 6 kv, q, ku, cv, cu qvernu ‘mill’
inqvis ‘to you both’
riqviza ‘darker’
 
z ʐ Z z 7 ȥ þizae ‘to that’
hvizazij ‘whatever’
izous ‘hers’
 
h h~x H h 8   hretou ‘heart’
tehun ‘ten’
fah ‘glad’
 
þ θ Þ þ 9 th, fh, c[6] þjuþ ‘people’
frijaþvou ‘love’
ljugyvaþ ‘light’
From the Gothic 𐌸, this letter represented [θ] in Old Valthungian as it did in Gothic, but became [v] and was replaced by Þ for [θ] in the 11th century.
i i I i 10   igyil ‘hedgehog’
izae ‘to her’
þivgyi ‘maid’
 
k k K k 20 c krots ‘short’
taekros ‘brother-in-law’
mask ‘mesh, grid’
Sometimes written as kh or ch when aspirated.
l l~ɫ̩ L l 30   langz ‘long’
slidvalijks ‘amazing’
tagl ‘tail’
(Syllabic and non-syllabic sonorants were not differentiated in Old Valthungian.)
m m~m̩ M m 40   maedvms ‘gift’
mikils ‘great’
ogvuma ‘primary’
(Syllabic and non-syllabic sonorants were not differentiated in Old Valthungian.)
n n~n̩ N n 50   naoþs ‘need’
nivntehun ‘nineteen’
niman ‘to take’
(Syllabic and non-syllabic sonorants were not differentiated in Old Valthungian.)
j j J j 60 i jeir ‘year’
jah ‘also’
juvs ‘you all’
 
o ɔ O o 70 au rotigraþs ‘garden’
ogyuma ‘chief’
vroms ‘worm’
 
p p P p 80   paedva ‘shirt’
propora ‘purple’
sleipan ‘to sleep’
Sometimes written as ph when aspirated.
ī iː~ij IJ ij 90 ī, ei, ij ijs ‘ice’
tijþs ‘time’
divpij ‘depth’
There is only scant evidence that this ligature was used to represent the value of the number ‘90’, and it is disputable whether the evidence in question is actually the 〈ij〉 ligature, or a holdover of the Gothic number 𐍁.
r r~r̩ R r 100   riqvus ‘dark’
broudvr ‘brother’
ver ‘man’
(Syllabic and non-syllabic sonorants were not differentiated in Old Valthungian.)
s s S s 200   saovgyila ‘sun’
sehstigjus ‘sixty’
suvs ‘sow’
 
t t T t 300   tungl ‘star’
stivgyiti ‘patience’
trivgyijnat ‘wooden’
Sometimes written as th when aspirated.
w w V v 400 vv, uu, ƿ vlidvijs ‘wild’
saliþva ‘guest room’
svei ‘as though’
 
f ɸ~f F f 500   fimf ‘five’
svumfsl ‘’
hlaef ‘bread’
 
kh KH x 600 kh, ch, x, χ Xristus ‘Christ’
evxaristja ‘eucharist’
katexijns ‘remembrance’
This Greek borrowing, which was incorporated into the Gothic alphabet as 𐍇, had merged phonologically with k by the Old Valthungian period, but was occasionally still emphasized with h or even with the Greek letter χ in positions which were not naturally aspirated. Indeed, h was sometimes added to segments which were naturally aspirated, as also happened with p and t.
hw xw HV hv 700 hv, hw, chv, hu hvilftri ‘curve’
sehvan ‘to see’
neihv ‘near’
The Old Valthungian letter most commonly written as HV, from Gothic 𐍈, is transliterated as hv, but later came to represent [θ] during the 11th century.
u u U u 800   ulbvandus ‘rhinocerus’
ubvils ‘evil’
u ‘until’
 
j ʝ J2 jj 900 i, j, ʒ þrijja ‘three’
teaojjan ‘to do’
beajjouþs ‘both’
 
Ligatures & Polygraphs Most of these represent single phonemes and might be considered letters in their own right, but were not part of the numbered Gothic alphabet.
Griutungi IPA Old Val. Roman. Numeric
Value
Variants Examples Notes
ā ɑː AA aa - a, ā haahs ‘shark’
faahan ‘to capture’
andaþaaht ‘rational’
Long vowels were sometimes indicated by doubling, sometimes with a macron or any of a half dozen other markings, or ignored completely.
ǣ ɛː AE ae - ai, ee braeþ ‘wide’
aedvij ‘mother’
twae ‘two’
 
ǭ ɔː AO ao - au, oa, oo, ō aogyou ‘eye’
fraos ‘happy’
naohuhþan ‘still, yet’
 
b β~v BV bv - vv silbva ‘self’
arbvi ‘inheritance’
hlaebva ‘bread.dat
 
g ɣ GY gy - y, g aogyou ‘eye’
bagyms ‘tree’
igyil ‘hedgehog’
 
d ð DY dv - dv, δ aedvij ‘mother’
daladva ‘down’
þjudvij ‘meaning’
Though dv is used here for transcription, a letter derived from the Gothic letter dags (but resembling ϫ, the Coptic gangia) was more often used.
- ɛ~æ EA ea - e, ai, ae seatjan ‘to set’
Mbreajja ‘Maria’
eakijt ‘vinegar’
This was used for the umlauted form of short a (Griutungi and Gothic a).
- œː EAO eao - eoa, eō, eoo eaodvijs ‘desert’
feaodjan ‘to feed’
heaohij ‘height’
This was used for the umlauted form of ao (Griutungi ǭ, Gothic au).
ē eː~ei̯ EI ei - ē, ee, ej meina ‘moon’
eimaeti ‘ant’
swei ‘such, thus’
 
- œ EO eo - oe, ø vreokjan ‘to work’
reokjus ‘jug’
deohtrjus ‘daughters’
This was used for the umlauted form of o (Griutungi o, Gothic au).
- øː~øu̯ EOU eou - eoo, eō, ooe afmeoudvij ‘disagreement’
meougyjis ‘girls’
deoumjan ‘to judge’
This was used for the umlauted form of oo (Griutungi and Gothic ō).
- y EU eu - y, ue feutlijns ‘fulfillment’
seundij ‘health’
eunkja ‘ounce’
This was used for the umlauted form of u.
- EUV euv - yy, uue, euu, eeu heuvhjan ‘to hoard’
seuvtijs ‘gentle’
leuvkjan ‘to latch’
This was used for the umlauted form of uv (Griutungi and Gothic ū).
iu iw JU iv - iu, ju, jv ivqv ‘up’
kniv ‘knee’
þivfs ‘thief’
 
ng ŋɡ NG ng 53 gg singvan ‘to sing’
gangan ‘to go’
wingz ‘wing’
Sometimes written with g instead of n in a reflection of the Gothic.
nk ŋk NK nk - gk, gc drinkan ‘to drink’
anke ‘lower leg’
unkis ‘to us’
Sometimes written with g instead of n in a reflection of the Gothic.
nkw ŋkw NQV nqv 56 gq, gqv, nq, nkv, ncu... inqvar ‘your’
hrinkvan ‘to gather’
sankvus ‘sunset’
Sometimes written with g instead of n in a reflection of the Gothic.
ō oː~ou̯ OU ou - oo, ō, o, ov ous ‘river-mouth’
sougila ‘sun’
tou ‘to, toward’
 
ū UV uv - ū, u, uu uvhtvou ‘pre-dawn’
þuvsundi ‘thousand’
huvs ‘shed’
 
f β~v FV fv - f, v, bv ufvar ‘over’
aefvrs ‘terrifying’
vladvufvni ‘violence’
 
y ʏ~ᵿ Y y 400 y, i, u, ui synagyovgyei ‘synagogue’
hyhsopus ‘hyssop’
þymjam ‘incense’
It is likely that this was still a separate phoneme in Old Valthungian from the umlaut of u, though some of the means of transcription overlapped a bit. This phoneme was used only in borrowings from the Greek, and after the Old Valthungian period, these two phonemes had completely merged.
Our intermediate transcription shows ÿ for the letter representing Gothic 𐍅/w from Greek υ. The exact pronunciation is unknown, but it seems likely that it was differentiated from eu (the i-umlaut of /u/) in Old Valthungian. These two sounds had merged by the Middle Valthungian period. Numerically, it was equivalent to Gothic 𐍅 (400).

An Old Valthungian Text

Though there are very few extant Old Valthungian texts, obnoxiously large numbers of the Pater Noster text have been discovered. Here's one now:

Pater Noster in Old Valthungian ca. 952ad

ahta unsar þuv in himinam vijhnae namou þijn
qvimae þivdyinahsus þijns vredyae vilja þijns 
svei in himina jah an redyae hlaef unsaran
þan sintijnan gif uns hipma dagya jah afleit
uns þeatij skulans sijjaem svasvei jah vijs
afleitam þaem skulam unsaraem jah nij bringaes
uns in fraestubvnjae ak leaosij uns af þapma
ubvilin  untei þijna ist þivdyangradyi jah mahts
jah vludyus in aejugyins · ahmein

.

  1. ^ Before g or k
  2. ^ This was likely a lax central near-close vowel, not a front vowel; i.e. [ᵿ], not [ʏ]. It later merged with /y/.
  3. ^ All of the mid-close long vowels may have been diphthongs, i.e. [eɪ̯], [œʏ̯], and [oʊ̯] – and 〈eou〉 was almost certainly [œʏ̯] – but the spelling of 〈ei〉 and 〈ou〉 is likely related to conventions borrowed from early Romance languages of the time rather than an indication of dipthongisation.
  4. ^ In the standardised orthography, 〈e〉 occurs only where adjacent to /r/ or /h/, while 〈ea〉 is the umlaut of /a/. It is likely they represented the same sounds, though some scholars contend that 〈ea〉 wa a more open [æ].
  5. ^ All other back vowels seem to have distinguished umlaut forms, but the umlaut of 〈aa〉 is consistently written as 〈ae〉 and was presumably realized as [eː]. In an early version of the Chrysanthi Grammar, 〈eaa〉 was used for this purpose, but later versions have 〈ae〉 exclusively.
  6. ^ c for /θ/ is anomalous, only appearing in one extant instance, and is most likely the result of a transcription error, though many have used it (grossly incorrectly) to associate Old Valthungian with the Iberian Goths, positing that this somehow relates to ceceo in modern Spanish. It absolutely does not, and the Old Valthungian speakers never came within 500 miles of present-day Spain, but facts have never stood in the way of good speculation.