Historical Sound Changes from Proto-Germanic to East Germanic (ca. 400b.c.-0)

It should be noted that many of these changes preceded what we think of as "Proto-Germanic" or "Common Germanic," but I include them here because they have important phonological or orthographic information, or because the same changes occurred in different ways in East Germanic and North-West Germanic.

First Umlaut

Stage 1.

e > i / V[+str] … __[-str] ! {r,h⁽ʷ⁾,+}

  • /e/ > /i/ when unstressed following a stressed vowel except before /r/, /h/, /hʷ/, or a morpheme boundary.

Stage 2.

e > i / __[+str] ! {r,h⁽ʷ⁾,+}

  • /e/ > /i/ when stressed except before /r/, /h/, /hʷ/, or a morpheme boundary.

(Stage 3: See EGmc Reflex of 1st Umlaut.)

Has to precede Mora Loss

Has to precede ŋ-deletion

/ŋ/-Deletion

Vŋh > V[+lng, +nas]Øh

  • A vowel, followed by the sequence /ŋh/ (where /h/=[h,x]), becomes long and nasal and /ŋ/ is deleted (in all environments).

Intervocalic Spirantization

C[+vce,-cnt] > [+cnt] / V__V

In other words,

b,d,g > β,ð,γ / V__V

  • A voiced non-continuant consonant (i.e. a voiced stop) becomes continuant (i.e. a fricative) when intervocalic.

EGmc Reflex of 1st Umlaut

This rule is really "Stage 3" of First Umlaut, also called East Germanic Expansion of First Umlaut

i,u > e,o / __[+str]{r,h⁽ʷ⁾}

  • /i/ becomes /e/ and /u/ becomes /o/ when stressed before /r/, /h/, or /hʷ/

Monophthongization of Unstressed /ai, au/

ai,au > ɛ̄,ɔ̄ / σ[-str]__[-str]Co#

  • Has to precede Mora Loss

Mora Loss

Mora Loss consists of three contemporaneous changes to unstressed word-final syllables: The deletion of non-strident coronal consonants, the deletion of short vowels, and the shortening of long vowels.

Coronal Consonant Deletion

C[+obs][+cor][-sdt] > Ø / V[-str]Co__##

  • A non-strident coronal obstruent (i.e. /t, þ, d/, but not /s, z/) is deleted after an unstressed vowel when word-final. (One or more consonants - probably sonorants - may intervene between the unstressed vowel and the word-final consonant.)

E.g.

  • ‘ten’, ‘honey’, ‘from behind’
  • PIE *déḱm̥t, *mélit, *h₂epóteroṓd >
  • PGmc *téhund, *míliþ, *áfterôt >
  • EGmc *téhun_, *míli_, *áfterô_ >
  • Gothic taihun, *mili, aftarō

Unstressed Final Short Vowel Deletion

V[-lng][-str]([-rnd] for a. and c.) > Ø / a) σ(V[+lng]{V, C})C__(z)#
  b) V[-str]C__(z)#
  c) C[-rnd]#

  • a) An unstressed unrounded short vowel (i.e. /a, e, i/) is deleted if following a stressed syllable (containing a long diphthong or a long vowel followed by a consonant) when word-final or before word-final /z/.
  • b) An unstressed short vowel (i.e. /a, e, i, u/) is deleted after an unstressed syllable when word-final or before word-final /z/.
  • c) (Later), unstressed /a, e, i/ is deleted when word-final.
  • NB: At this stage of the language, there was no short /o/; when /ō/ was shortened in East Germanic, it was lowered to /a/. (In North and West Germanic, /ō/ was raised to /u/.)

E.g.

  • ‘fear’, ‘I have seen’ (> ‘I know’), ‘day’; ‘son’
  • PIE *ā́gʰes, *wóido, *dʰegʷʰos; *suHnús >
  • PGmc *ṓgiz, *waita, *dagaz; *sunuz >
  • EGmc *ōg_z, *wait_, *dag_z; *sunuz >
  • Gothic ōgs, *wait, dags, but sunus.

Final Unstr. Long Vowel Shortening

V[+lng][-str] > [-lng] / __#

Unstressed long vowels are shortened when word-final.

E.g.

  • ‘I carry’, ‘day’ (instr.)
  • PIE *bʰérō, *dʰogʰʷṓ >
  • PGmc *bérō, *dágō >
  • EGmc *bero, *dago >
  • Gothic baira, daga

Historical Sound Changes from East-Germanic to Gothic (ca. 0-400a.d.)

[these changes still need to be ordered correctly]

z-Deletion, Obstruent Devoicing

z → ∅ / V[-lng]{r,s}___#

  • /z/ is deleted word-finally after a short vowel followed by /r/ or /s/.

E.g.:

  • ‘man’, ‘fall’, ‘shoulder’
  • PGmc *weraz, *drusaz, *amsaz >
  • Egmc *wirz, *drusz, *amsz >
  • Gothic waír, drus, ams

h-Deletion

Long Vowel Lowering

Glide Gemination (EGmc Verschärfung Stage I)

Glide Insertion

m-Assimilation

Change of Initial fl to þl

r,n-Dissimilation

Change of am to um, Post-tonic e to a

Thurneysen's Law

EGmc Verschärfung Stage II

Historical Sound Changes from Gothic to Old Valthungian (ca. 400-800a.d.)

Expansion of Gothic Glide Insertion

This is a slightly altered continuation of the earlier East Germanic Glide Insertion rule; the rule remains persistent throughout Valthungian grammar.

j /   V   ___ + V
-bck
-low
w /   V   ___ + V
+bck
-low
  1. /j/ is inserted between two vowels, the first of which is a non-low front vowel (e,ē,i,ī).
  2. /w/ is inserted between two vowels, the first of which is a non-low back vowel (o,ō,u,ū).
  3. E.g.

Obstruent Devoicing (Persistent)

  C   [-vox] / ___ { -vox
+vox         {#
+obs          
+cnt          
  1. A voiced continuant obstruent (/v/, /ð/, or /z/) becomes unvoiced (/f/, /þ/, or /s/, respectively) before another unvoiced consonant or when word-final.
  2. This is a persistent rule inherited from Proto-Germanic, and remains persistent throughout the transition to Classical Valthungian.
  3. E.g. wivna ‘to weave’ has preterite wōf ‘wove’

Geminate Simplification (Type I, Persistent)

CC C / ___ { C or C } ___
          { #   # }  
  1. Geminates become simplified when adjacent to another consonant or when word-initial or -final.
    1. (Not that geminates are likely to occur word-initially; usually this occurs as the result of vowel deletion.)
  2. This is a persistent rule inherited from Proto-Germanic. It remains persistent until it is changed in Geminiate Simplification II and then vanishes, as all geminates have been deleted from the language.
  3. E.g.
    • swamm ‘swam’, past of swimman ‘to swim’, → swam, but switman.
    • kunnan ‘can’ has past of kunþa ‘could’ → kutnan, kunþa.

Intervocalic Voiced Stop to Fricative Expansion

Stop Insertion after Nasals

Expansion of East Germanic /fl/-to-/θl/

Voicing and Devoicing of Obstruent Clusters

Clitic Separation

Geminate Simplification (Type II, Synchronic)

Short Vowel Lengthening

Expansion of East Germanic Verschärfung

Long Diphthong Extension

Glide Deletion

Deletion of Final Unstressed /a/

Diphthong Changes

Historical Sound Changes from Old to Middle Valthungian (ca. 800-1200a.d.)

Rejection of Greek Fricatives

Rhotacism

Stressed Long Vowel Raising

Vowel Tensing

Deletion and Assimilation of /h/

Palatalisation & Affrication

Unstressed Vowel Reduction and Deletion

Historical Sound Changes from Middle to Classical Valthungian (ca. 1200-1600a.d.)

Unstressed Vowel Reduction and Deletion

Unpacking

Deletion of /b,f/

Deletion of /g/ between Nasals