Sievers Eduard. Grammar of Old English

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THE

CONSONANTS.

PART

II.

-THE CONSONANTS.

Survey

the

Old

English

Consonants.

169.

The

consonant-signs

of OE.

are

those

the

Latin

alphabet,

with the addition

the

letters

9" and

]?,

and

of a

special

character

for w.

Many

these letters

are,

however,

employed

with a twofold

value,

the

number of

characters

was

not

sufficient to

express

with

accuracy

the

distinctions current

the

spoken

lan-

guage.

The inexactness here noted

probably

referred

the

lack of

uniformity

the

pronunciation

the

Latin

letters.

170.

The

following

table contains the OE.

consonants,

arranged according

to their

phonetic

relations

LABIALS.

DENTALS.

PALATALS.

GUTTURALS.

Semi-vowels

. . .

. w

(i)

SONOROUS

J T

. .

CONSONANTS

Ll(

ulds

PHONOLOGY.

of all the letters

standing

for the

so-called

gut-

turals,

these

having

also a

palatal pronunciation

;

such

palatal

pronunciation

is indicated above

the

addition

the

usual letter.

SONOROUS

CONSONANTS.

The Semi-vowels.

171.

here

substituted

for

the Runic

character

we"n,

the

usual

symbol employed

the

manuscripts, repre-

sents the sound

English

or,

other

words,

a u

discharging

the

function of

a consonant.

NOTE 1. In

the

oldest

texts the wen is not

yet employed,

being

generally

used to denote the sound

question

uuer,

uueg, uurot,

clauue,

suualuue,

etc.

;

sometimes

simple

the

latter

being especially

common in North.

uer,

uoeg,

sualue

;

otherwise the

employment

for w is

chiefly

limited

to the combinations

described

172.

times we even

find

wu,

like North,

wuriotto for

wrioto,

etc.

NOTE 2.

German editors and

grammarians

often

follow the

example

of Grimm in

representing

the Runic

sign

wen

v. This is

objec-

tionable,

because it

thus becomes

impossible

to discriminate between

and

the labio-dental

spirant

(194)

;

yet

w sometimes Lat.

172. w

occurs

initially

before all

vowels

wdt,

wot

;

wer,

man

;

wine,

friend

;

word,

word

;

wund,

wound

;

wyrd,

fate

;

the

combinations

wr,

wl :

wrftan,

write

;

wrdt,

elephant's

trunk

;

wlftan,

see

;

wl<?nc,

proud,

etc.

;

the

combinations

cw, hw, dw, 3Fw, tw,

sw:

cweflFan,

say;

liwd,,

who;

dweorg,

dwarf;

9"\v6an,

wash;

twd, two;

swefan,

sleep.

NOTE.

The loss

of an

initial

w occurs

in the

negative

forms

of some

verbs :

ndt,

nytan, nysse

(420.

1),

nyllan

(428.

note

2),

nses,

nsferon

(427.

;

otherwise

only

occasionally

before

utoii,

for and beside

THE

CONSONANTS. 89

the

interjection

WHton

;

cucu, nauht, betuh, betux,

from

cwucu,

iisi

\vuht,

betwuh,

betwux

(71)

;

ealncg, ealnig,

from

ealne

weg

;

finally,

b.ti, how, tfi,

two

(324. 2),

from

*hwo,

*two. In

North,

also before

oe :

oeg,

coern,

for

woeg,

way,

cuoern,

quern.

173.

Medially,

holds

its

place

before

all

vowels

except

u and Prim.

OE.

without

change

sdwan,

sdwe,

spfwian,

spfwode.

disappears

before u and

and thus

frequently gives

rise to

contractions

Before

3Fra,

cla,

etc.

(ill

ff.),

ron from

r^owun

(396).

However,

w is

sometimes

restored

before

following

the

analogy

of other

forms,

cljlwu,

sawuii,

r^owun,

sgowim,

etc.

Before

in words like

ife, law, ssfe, sea, hrsfe,

corpse,

for

*di,

*sdi,

hrai,

from the

stems

aiwi-,

saiwi-,

hraiwi-;

after

consonants,

especially

certain

forms

of weak verbs

-rw and

-Iw,

sing. pres.

gieretJ

wieleST,

pret.

gierede,

wielede,

from

garwis,

walwis,

*garwida,

*walwida

(408.1);

cf.

also

pyle,

pillow,

from

Lat.

pulvinum.

But

these cases

is often

restored

from

other inflectional

forms,

in which

replaced

the

termination

or some other vowel

sfew, hrjfew,

gierweSF,

etc.

NOTE 1.

Ecthlipsis

of w before

original

(405.

appears

not

belong

OE.

in all

cases,

but sometimes to

Primitive

Germanic.

These

cases

are

not all

equally

clear;

for

ge,

safe, etc.,

compare,

for

example,

174. note 2.

The w

is retained in

cases like

6owic,

332

(but

North,

iuh,

beside

iuih).

NOTE 2.

Conversely,

w is

sometimes inserted to

prevent

the hiatus

which would

otherwise result between u and

following

inflectional

vowel

ruh,

gen.

ruwes

(for

rti-es,

295. note

1),

though

this

might

grammatical

change

(234).

The w of

Isevved,

from

laicus,

difficult

explanation.

XOTE

3. w

apt

disappear

from

the initial

position

the

second

member

compounds,

especially

before

as in

hlaford,

lord, fulluht,

baptism,

and

proper

nouns

Hroffulf,

for

hlafword,

PHONOLOGY.

-ward,

fullwuht

(fulwiht,

cf. also

fullian,

beside

ullwian,

baptize),

Hroffwulf

;

cf.

also such

words as

enetere,

enitre,

yearling,

from

senwintre,

and

perhaps

hwilendllc,

temporary,

for hwilwendlic.

174.

w is

originally

not allowed

to stand

as the final

syllable.

After a short

vowel

it is

vocalized,

and

contrac-

tion then

supervenes

cf.

nom.

ff^o,

cno,

from

KTe-u,

*cne-u,

for

*8Fewo,

*cnewo

(according

113; 130;

cf. also

73)

;

but

ateow,

cn^ow also

occur,

being

formed

upon

the

analogy

of the inflected

forms which

have

medial

After consonants

is vocalized

(o).

After a

short

syllable

the latter

remains

as the

final of a word:

cf.

the

nom. ace.

sing,

of wo-

and

wd-stems,

beam,

seam,

foeadu

(249;

260),

and

the

adj.

gearu

(300).

Likewise

the declension

and

comparison

adjec-

tives:

cf.

ace.

gearoiie,

gen.

dat.

sing.

fern,

gearore,

gen.

plur.

gearora

(300),

comp.

gearora

(307),

for

*gearwne,

etc.

Analogy

often

leads to the restora-

tion of

the

in a medial

position

: cf.

preterits

hierwde,

sierwde,

from

hierwan,

sierwaii

(408.

;

derivatives like nierwflr

(255.

3),

based

upon

nearo,

nearwes,

etc.

After

long

stem w

disappears (134.

d).

After

long

vowels

and

diphthongs

there seems to

be a total

disappearance

of the

,6,

aye

(Goth,

aiw)

;

hril,

corpse

(Goth,

hraiw)

;

snd,,

snow

(Goth, snaiws).

Not

infrequently,

however,

the

w of the other

forms is

introduced:

hrdw,

siuixv

;

this takes

place

almost

in-

variably

after

diphthongs,

as in

gle"aw

(63),

hre'ow

(64),

and in

the

interior

of a

word when there

syncope

middle

vowel,

as in

sdwle

(likewise

sdule),

from

sdwol,

soul;

m^owle

(Goth,

mawild,

73.

notel);

derivatives

lir^owsian,

rue,

from

Iireuwos6n

;

THE CONSONANTS.

especially

inflected

forms,

spw3F,

cngfewS

from

spdwan,

cn^wan

;

leewde

from

Isewan,

etc.

Neverthe-

less there

occur,

especially

North.,

forms

without

WS.

gecnsear,

getlede,

6orum,

North.

bilde, de,

set^ade,

for

geciisfewar, knows,

aetlewde,

North,

sete'awde,

showed,

dowrum,

your,

belsfcwde,

betrayed,

owde,

flock,

etc.

NOTE

Under

these

circumstances the

manuscripts

often

substitute

u for w :

saule,

sin'iu

;

rarely

after

diphthongs,

lateau,

hriou

the Kent. Gl.

WS.

-teow,

-hriow.

NOTE 2.

Perhaps,

too,

se, sse,

hrefe

(173. 2),

may

explained

this rule.

Contrariwise,

forms like cnsfeff

from

cnjewiUT,

iede

from

*auwida,

lecle

from

*lewida,

may

fall under the rule of

173. 2.

NOTE 3

(on

171-174).

For the effect of w

upon

neighboring

sounds see

71-73;

156.

NOTE 4.

certain

rather

doubtful

cases contraction seems

have

been

substituted

for

disappearance

after

long

vowel

(112;

118).

NOTE 5.

For

instead of

final w see

192. note 4.

NOTE 6. The

loss of the TV seems

practically

complete

WS.

hi(e)red,

Angl.

\iioro

family,

and in the

interjection

6ala;

eawla

occurs once

Ps.

and once in the

poetry (Metra,

15),

while of

the

simple

6aw

but one occurrence

has been noted

(Boeth.

110).

the

case

the

stem hreow-

rue,

and its

derivatives,

there is

considerable

fluctuation.

the

Cura Past, we

find

hrSosaff,

hreosunga,

wael-

hreoliee;

in the

Lindisfarne

Gospels

hr^onis is

frequent,

but

balanced

the

occurrence of such

fors

liruownis,

broawiiis.

In the Rushworth

Gospels

regular.

175. The

manuscripts

have no

sign

appropriated

the semi-vowel

(i.e.,

when consonantal in

function),

but

denote

it now

the

vowel

sign

and now

occupies

the

initial

position

foreign

words like

Idhannes, ludeas;

genuine

OE.

words

occurs

rarely,

and

almost

exclusively

before

iti, iung

(74).

medial

is more common :

h^ries,

ne.rian, etc.,

PHONOLOGY.

though

in such

instances the

perhaps

to be

regarded

vocalic,

or as

standing

for

he-ri-es,

he.-ri-jes

(cf.

below).

NOTE.

The i of

the 2d

class

of weak verbs

(411

ff.)

must

probably,

the

great

majority

instances,

be considered

vocalic,

even where

preceded

a short

syllable,

wunian,

macian,

fr^mian,

8\>iiinn

(400.

note

2).

far the

usual

sign.

Initially

appears

only

before

i, e, y,

since

unites

with

any

other vowel

to form

one of

the

diphthongs

ie, ea,

(74)

gif,

giet

(gy"t),

ge,

g6ar,

geong,

etc.

(but

also

giving,

etc.,

cf.

above).

Medially

it occurs also before

guttural

vowels

hergas,

h^rgum,

n^rgan.

Instead of

the

simple

often

find

(eg),

and

before

even

ige

heriges,

h^rigas,

herigeas,

nrig(e)an;

yet

this combination is

perhaps

intended

denote

the sounds

(cf.

above).

As a

final,

rare,

and is

only

met

with

after

long

vowel:

feg,

island; Weg,

hay

;

cleg,

imp.

call

(cf.

also

24.

note).

176.

Germanic

regularly

preserved

only

when

initial

;

when

medial,

only

occasionally

between

vowels,

as in

frfgea,

Lord

(beside

fr6a,

Goth,

frauja)

;

frfge,

nom.

plur.

masc.

ro,

free

;

fre"ogan,

liberate

;

cfe-

gan, call,

etc.;

and after

short vowel

consonant

(i.e.,

according

228,

after

a short

vowel

nerian,

h^rian,

w^rian, h^ries

Goth,

nasjan,

hazjan,

war-

jan.

bar

is.

177.

the

contrary,

older medial

always

lost

after a

long

closed

syllable.

This rule

applies

not

only

Germ,

but also to

Germ,

before

vowel

(inter-

changing

with

according

45.

8).

Whenever

this

did

not

become

final

(130.

note)

was

changed

THE

CONSONANTS.

Primitive

O"E.

(apparently

rather

late)

and

thus

coincided

with

the older

and

disappeared

under

the

same

circumstances

the latter.

Examples

are

older

verbs like

siellan, scieppan,

s^ttan,

l^cgan (400),

for

*salljan,

*skappjan, etc.,

OS.

s^llian,

scej>piaii,

s^ttian, l^ggian,

for

Goth,

saljan,

etc.

(228)

;

likewise

in nouns like

s^cg,

cynii

(246),

sibb

(257)

;

older

forms like

liierdes,

-das, -da,

-dum,

rices, -cu, -ca,

-cum

(246),

bejide,

-a,

-um

(257)

;

and

verbs

dman

(403),

for

*liirdies,

*rkies, *bandia,

*d<5mian,

etc.

NOTE.

Unequivocal

traces of the former

presence

1 after a

syllable,

are the

i-umlaut,

the

palatalization

preceding gutturals

(206.

6),

and

the

West Germ,

gemination

(228).

The

Liquids.

178.

The

OE.

was

probably

the

cerebral or in-

verted

still heard

Kent

and the

western counties of

England,

and common

America.

was

pronounced

with the

tip

the

tongue strongly

recurved and

ap-

proximated

to the

hard

palate,

for

this

supposition

alone

is it

possible

to account

for the

OE.

breaking

before

(79).

is of

frequent

occurrence

initial, medial,

and

final

;

less

frequently

geminated,

feorran,

far

; aflrran,

remove

;

steorra,

star

;

cierraii,

turn;

cf.

Goth,

fairra,

stairnS,

etc.

;

ierre,

angry

;

STyrre,

withered;

mierran,

pre-

vent

;

durraii,

dare

;

cf. Goth.

airzeis,

Jaursus,

jaii,

daursaii

(181.

;

PHONOLOGY.

resulting

from

syncope,

as in

wserra,

comp.

wser,

wary,

etc.

The

not

subject

gemination

before

(228).

179.

Medial

often

undergoes

metathesis

preceding

a vowel

has a

tendency

change

positions

with

it when

the latter

followed

s-combinations

iernan,

run; beornan,

burn;

burna,

fountain;

hors,

horse;

forsc,frog;

fersc,

fresh;

ftersean,

thirst;

berstan,

burst; lierst,

time

(cf.

Goth,

riimaii,

hri

1111:111,

etc.)

;

before

single

only

gsers,

grass

;

before

LWS.

bird,

beside

brid(d)

;

North.

<rd(d)a,

third

;

before 9

in -ferSF for

-friflF

proper

names

Tfdferff, Htinferff,

along

with

Tfdfriff,

etc.

these

examples may

added

corimch,

cornuc,

crane;

and,

conversely,

scruf,

beside

scurf,

scurf.

NOTE. Here

belong

also

sera,

house

Goth,

razn),

haern,

wave

(ON.

hrynn),

for

*rsezn,

*hraezn,

with assimilation of the

spirant

ii.

For the

relation of metathesis

breaking

see

79.

note 2.

The

converse

of the metathesis

already

described

takes

place

before ht

the North,

frohtian,

fear,

ryhtu,

fright,

beside

orhtian,

yrhtu

;

breht,

bright,

and its

derivatives,

beside

berht.

the

other

dialects,

-breht,

-briht

seems to occur

only

as the

second

element

compound

proper

nouns,

in Ce"olbreht.

180.

generally

stable,

whatever its

position

the

word. For

syllabic

see

139. Isolated

examples

ecthlipsis

are:

specan,

spsfec

(at

first

probably

Kentish),

for

and

beside

sprecan,

speak,

sprsfcc,

speech

; psfetigr

for

prsfetig,

tricky

;

North,

wixla,

exchange,

beside

wrixla

;

Ps.

ge^ndebyrdan,

^ndebyrdnis,

cf.

North,

ge^ndebred-

nian,

OE.

onbryrdiiis, inbryrdan,

etc.

Assimilation

lr to 11

in sciia.

for

and

beside

selra

comp.

(312)

;

THE

CONSONANTS.

sr to ss in

Ufessa,

simplified

wiersa, wyrsa

(312),

Goth,

wairsiza,

9isse

pron.

(338).

these

examples

always

springs

from

(181. 2)

;

but cf. also

usses,

etc.

(336)

from

usres.

NOTE. For

the loss of final Germanic z

see 182.

181. OE.

is of twofold

origin.

corresponds

Germ,

as in

rfce,

rtfedan, bringan,

beorgan,

wer

(Goth,

reiki,

r^dan,

briggaii,

bairgan,

wair).

This

may

occur in

any part

word.

Germ,

partly

retained in Goth, as

and

partly represented

mdra,

greater

;

are, ear;

h$r-

ian,

praise

;

n^rian,

save

(Goth,

niaiza,

ausd, hazjan,

nasjan).

Then

especially

grammatical

interchange

with

cosan, cas, curoii,

coreii

(233 ff.).

Likewise

in the combinations

rz,

ierre,

etc.

(178.

5),

and

zd:

reord,

speech;

hord,

treasure

(Goth,

razda,

huzd).

182.

This

from

restricted

the medial

position,

for initial

did

not

exist

Germanic,

and

originally

final

always

lost in

OE.,

whether

belonging

inflectional

or derivational

forms.

Under

the

head of

inflectional

endings

belongs,

for

example,

the Germ,

(Goth,

the

nom.

sing.,

that

many

gen. sing,

and

nom. ace.

plur.,

the s of the

sing,

opt.,

both

pres.

and

pret.,

that

of various

pronominal

forms,

etc.

;

examples

may

cited the nominatives

he,

hwa

(Goth.

is,

liwas),

plur.

we,

ge,

<Ta

(Goth,

weis, jus,

]?6s)

;

the

datives

me,

9"e

(Goth,

mis,

pus).

To the class

deri-

vational

forms

belong especially

the

comparative

adverbs

md,, be.t, le.ng,

etc.

(323),

Goth,

mais,

batis, laggis

;

the

nom.

sing,

the

os-,

es-stems

(288

ff.),

sige,

b^re,

l<jmb,

cealf,

Goth,

sigis,

bariz-,

etc.

PHONOLOGY.

NOTE. Where

an OE. r

appears

place

of an

originally

final

is in

consequence

reinsertion

from

polysyllabic

forms

;

so in

forms

sigor,

Igmbor,

etc., compared

with

sige, lo,mb

(289 ff.).

183.

The OE.

must

(disregarding

possible palatal-

ization before

have

had a twofold

pronunciation:

first,

that of an

ordinary

;

and

secondly,

pronuncia-

tion

nearly

quite

guttural,

wherever

caused break-

ing

of a

preceding

vowel

(80

if.).

Upon

what

this

difference

sound

depends

has as

yet

not been

determined

;

yet

it would seem that the

phonetic

en-

vironment was

not

the

only

factor concerned

(note,

for

example,

the difference between

siellan and

t^llan,

80.

note

158.

2).

may

occur in

any

part

word,

frequently

gem-

mated,

and

often vocalic

(140).

Metathesis

of 1

takes

place

in seld for

setl,

bold

for

botl,

spald

for

spjttl

(cf.

196.

;

and

likewise

the

proper

names

ending

-gils

from

-grfsl,

well

as in

the suffixes

-els from

-isl,

and

-ilfe, -elfe,

from

-ifli.

these

may

added occasional

did

from

ddl,

disease;

cealf- for

ceafl,

jaw

;

and

g^alh-

for

gagl,

palate.

The

Nasals.

m. n.

184. m

denotes the

labial,

and

conformity

with

Latin

usage,

not

only

the

dental,

but also the

guttural

and

palatal

nasal,

the

latter,

however,

only

when it

stands

immediately

before

one of

the

gutturals,

and

dental n

are found

in all

positions,

are

frequently

geminated,

and

occasionally

vocalic

(141

ff.).