§ 20.MHG. has the following double consonants medially between vowels:bb,gg;pp,tt,ck;ff,ss,ȥȥ; mm, nn;ll,rr. They were always pronounced long as in Italian and Swedish, asbit-ter,bitter,ëȥ-ȥen,to eat,küs-sen,to kiss,müg-ge,midge,rin-nen,to run. In NHG. double consonants are never long, they merely indicate that the preceding vowel is short.§ 21.Phonetic Survey of the MHG. Consonants.Labial.Dental.Guttural.Voiceless explosivesfortisp,pplenisb,bbt,ttdk,ckg,ggSpirantsfortisf,fflenisvs,ss,sch,ȥ,ȥȥsh, (ch)Nasalsm,mmn,nnn(=ŋ)Liquidsl,ll;r,rrSemi-vowelsw,j(palatal)To the above must be added the aspiratehand the affricatae (i.e. an explosive + a homorganic spirant)z(i.e.ts) andpf(ph).2. Consonant Changes.§ 22.The most characteristic difference between High German and the other West Germanic languages is the shifting which the consonantsp,t,k,þ;pp,tt,kk,þþ; b(ƀ),d,g(ʒ);bb,dd,ggunderwent partly in the prehistoric and partly in the historic period of Old High German. In the following treatment of what is generally called the High German sound-shifting only such points are considered as are of importance for the purposes of this book. See Old High German Primer, §§82-6.§ 23.The voiceless explosivesp,t,kunderwent a two-fold treatment according to their position in the word: (1) Medially or finally after vowels; (2) Initially, medially and finally after consonants (l,m,n,r), and when doubled.Note.—p,t,kremained unshifted in the combinationssp,st,skas alsotin the combinationstr,ht,ft.1.Singlep,t,kwere shifted to the voiceless double spirantsff,ȥȥ,hh(also writtench) = MHG.ff (f), ȥȥ (ȥ), ch.p > ff. OE.open, OHG.offan, MHG.offen,open; OE.slǣpan, OHG.slāffan, MHG.slāfen,to sleep; OE.ūp, OHG. MHG.ūf,up.t > ȥȥ. OE.etan, OHG.ëȥȥan, MHG.ëȥȥen,to eat; OE.hātan, OHG.heiȥȥan, MHG.heiȥen,to call; OE.hwæt, OHG.hwaȥ, MHG.waȥ,what. In a few cases theȥ,ȥȥbecamesin MHG. beforetorst, as pret.sastefromsaȥte:setzen,to set;beste,best,leste,last= OHG.beȥȥisto,leȥȥisto.k > hh. OE.ic, OHG.ih, MHG.ich,I; OE.sprecan(specan), OHG.sprëhhan, MHG.sprëchen,to speak; OE.tācen, OHG.zeihhan, MHG.zeichen,token. Thischmust not be confused with the MHG.h,chwhich corresponded to Indo-Germanick(= Germanich), asziehen,to draw, lead, pret.zōch, cp. Lat.dūcō,I lead, see§34.The double consonants were simplified in OHG. and MHG. according to §32.2.p,tinitially, medially and finally after consonants (l,m,n,r), and when doubled, were shifted to the affricataepf(also writtenph),tz(generally writtenzzandz) = MHG.pf(ph),tz(z).p > pf. OE.pund, OHG. MHG.pfunt,pound; OE.gelimpan, OHG.gilimpfan, MHG.gelimpfen,to be meet;OE.scieppan, OHG.skepfen, MHG.schepfen,to create. Thepfbecamefafterlandralready in OHG., ashëlfan, MHG.hëlfen, OE.helpan,to help;wërfan, MHG.wërfen, OE.weorpan,to throw.t > z. OE.tunge, OHG.zunga, MHG.zunge,tongue; OE.heorte, OHG.hërza, MHG.hërze,heart; OE.sealt, OHG. MHG.salz,salt; OE.sittan, OHG.sizzen,sitzen, MHG.sitzen,to sit; OE.sceatt, OHG.scaz(gen.scazzes,scatzes), MHG.schaz(gen.schatzes),money, treasure.k,kk(writtenck) remained unshifted (except in High Alemanic), as OE.corn, OHG. MHG.korn,corn; OE.cnēo, OHG.kneo, MHG.knie,knee; OE.sincan, OHG.sinkan, MHG.sinken,to sink, pret.sanc; OE.þeccan, OHG. MHG.decken,to cover.§ 24.þbecamed, andþþbecamett, as OE.þorn, OHG. MHG.dorn,thorn; OE.brōþor, OHG. MHG.bruoder,brother. OE.smiþþe, OHG.smitta, MHG.smitte,smithy; OE.moþþe, late MHG.motte,moth.§ 25.The voiced explosivesb,d,g, and the voiced spirantsƀ,ʒdid not undergo the same universal shifting as the voiceless explosives.ƀ,ʒbecameb,g.b,gremained, anddbecamet, as OE.brōþor, OHG. MHG.bruoder,brother; OE.bēodan, OHG.biotan, MHG.bieten,to offer; Goth.giban(=giƀan), OHG.gëban, MHG.gëben,to give. OE.dohtor, OHG. MHG.tohter,daughter; OE.bēodan, OHG.biotan, MHG.bieten,to offer; OE.dēad, OHG. MHG.tōt,dead. OE.gōd, OHG. MHG.guot,good; OE.flēogan, OHG.fliogan, MHG.fliegen,to fly.§ 26.The double consonantsbb,dd,gg= OHG.pp(bb),tt,cc(gg), and MHG.pp(bb),tt,ck(gg), as OE.sibb, OHG.sippa(sibba), MHG.sippe(sibbe),relationship; OE.cribb, OHG.krippa(kribba), MHG.krippe (kribbe),crib. OE.biddan, OHG.bitten, MHG.bitten,laterbiten,to request; OE.þridda, OHG.dritto, MHG.dritte, laterdrite,third. OE.brycg, OHG.brucca (brugga), MHG.brücke(brügge),bridge. The fluctuation in the writing ofppandbb,ckandggis merely orthographical, and does not represent a difference in pronunciation. Both pairs were used to express the lenes medially between vowels. For other examples see§31.§ 27.The summary of the consonantal changes in §§23-6may be expressed as follows:—West Germanic.MHG.p;t;k;þ=ff (f), pf;ȥȥ (ȥ), z;ch;d.pp;tt;kk;þþ=pf;tz (z);ck;tt.b (ƀ);d;g (ʒ)=b;t;g.bb;dd;gg=pp (bb);tt;ck (gg).§ 28.The following sound-changes took place in primitive Germanic:—Every labial +tbecameft; every guttural +tbecameht; every dental +tbecamess, which was simplified tosafter long vowels. This explains the frequent interchange in MHG. betweenpf,bandf; betweenk,gandh; and betweenȥȥ,ȥandss,sin forms which are etymologically related.pf,b—f.schepfen,to create:geschaft,creature;gëben,to give:gift,gift;wëben,to weave: Englishweft.k,g—h.würken,to work: pret.worhte;denken,to think: pret.dāhte;mugen(mügen),to be able: pret.mohte;bringen,to bring: pret.brāhte.ȥȥ,ȥ—ss, s.gieȥen,to pour:güsse,inundation;wiȥȥen,to know: pret.wisse (wiste): wīs,wise;muoȥ,must: pret.muose(muoste);ëȥȥen,to eat:ās,carrion. Preterites likewiste,muostewere formed after the analogy of preterites likeworhte,dāhte, where thetwas regular.§ 29.The guttural nasalŋ(written n) only occurred inthe combinationsnk(nc) andng. It disappeared beforeh(= prim. Germanicχ) in primitive Germanic with lengthening of a preceding short vowel, asvāhenfrom prim. Germanic*faŋχanan,to seize, catch, beside p.p.gevangen; and similarlyhāhen,to hang, p.p.gehangen; pret.brāhte,dāhte,dūhte, besidebringen,to bring,denken,to think,dunken,to seem.The guttural nasal disappeared in an unstressed syllable when preceded by annin a stressed syllable in the course of the OHG. and MHG. period, as OHG.honag, MHG.honec, beside OHG.honang,honey; OHG.kunig, MHG.künec, beside OHG.kuning,king; OHG.pfennig, MHG.pfennic, beside OHG.pfenning, MHG.pfenninc, penny. And similarly with dentaln, assenedebesidesenende,longing, yearning.§ 30.Strong verbs, which have a medialv (f), d, h, sin the present, have respectivelyb,t,g (ng), rin the second person sing. pret. indicative, the preterite plural indicative, the pret. subjunctive and the past participle. This interchange of consonants is called Verner’s Law, see OHG. Primer, §§72,87:—Inf.Pret. Pl.P.P.v(f)—b.heven,to raisehuobengehaben.d—t.mīden,to avoidmitengemiten.snīden,to cutsnitengesniten.h—g.dīhen,to thrivedigengedigen.ziehen,to drawzugengezogen.slahen,to strikesluogengeslagen.h—ng(§29).hāhen,to hanghiengengehangen.vāhen,to catchviengengevangen.s—r.rīsen,to fallrirngerirn.kiesen,to choosekurngekorn.This law has, however, many exceptions in MHG. owing to levelling having taken place with the infinitive,present indicative and preterite singular, asrisen,gerisenbesiderirn,gerirn.The same interchange of consonants exists between strong verbs and their corresponding causative weak verbs, aslīden,to go:leiten,to lead;hāhen,to hang:hengen,to hang(trans.);ge-nësen,to be saved:nern,to save; and in nouns, &c., ashof(gen.hoves),court:hübesch,courtly;tōt(gen.tōdes),death:tōt(gen.tōtes),dead;swëher,father-in-law:swiger,mother-in-law;hase: Englishhare.§ 31.The doubling of consonants took place under certain well-defined rules partly in prim. Germanic and partly in prim. West Germanic, see the Author’s Hist. Germ. Grammar, §§202,213-14. Examples of words which had double consonants in prim. Germanic are:kopf, head;napf(OE.hnæp, gen.hnæppes),basin;boc(OE.bucca),buck, gen.bockes;rinnen,to run;swimmen,to swim;vol(gen.volles),full;vërre,far;gewisser,certain.The chief cases in which double consonants arose in prim. West Germanic were:—1.The assimilation ofƀn,ʒn,pntobb,gg,pp= MHG.pp,ck (gg),pf, asknappe:knabe,boy;rappe:rabe,raven;rocke:rogge,rye;tropfe,drop:triefen,to drip.2.p,t,kwere doubled before a followingrorl. The doubling regularly took place in the inflected forms, and was then extended to the uninflected forms by levelling, asapfel(OE.æppel),apple;kupfer(Lat.cuprum),copper;bitter(Goth.báitrs),bitter, see§23note;lützel(OS.luttil),little;acker(Goth.akrs),field;wacker(OE.wæccer),watchful. See§23, 2.3.All single consonants, exceptr, were doubled after a short vowel when there was originally ajin the next syllable. Thebb,dd,gg;pp,tt,kk, which thus arose, becamepp(bb),tt,ck(gg);pf,tz,ckin MHG. (§§23, 2,26), assippe(sibbe), Goth.sibja,relationship;bitten, laterbiten, Goth.bidjan,to request;tretten(wv.):trëten(sv.), to tread;brücke(brügge),bridge;ecke(egge),edge;mücke(mügge),midge;rücke(rügge),ridge, back.schepfen, Goth.skapjan,to create;hitze,heat:heiȥ,hot;netzen,to wet:naȥ,wet;setzen, Goth.satjan,to set;sitzen,to sit: pret.saȥ, p.p.gesëȥȥen;decken,to cover:dach,cover;lücke,gap:loch,hole.zellen, laterzeln,to count:zal,number.vremmen, latervremen(OE.fremman),to perform.henne,hen:hane,cock.In MHG. the double consonants in verbs were often simplified through the levelling out of forms which regularly had a single consonant, e.g. regular forms were:vremmen,to perform, sing.vremme,vremes(t),vremet, pl.vremmen,vremmet,vremment, pret.vremete, p.p.gevremet, then the stem-form with singlemwas levelled out into all the forms, and similarly with many other verbs, asdenen,to stretch;seln,to hand over;weln,to choose;wenen,to accustom;legenbesidelecken(leggen),to lay; and the strong verbsbiten,to beg;ligenbesidelicken (liggen),to lie down.§ 32.Double consonants were simplified:—1.When they became final, asboc,buck,kus,kiss,man,man,schif,ship,stum,dumb,vël,hide, beside gen.bockes,kusses,mannes,schiffes,stummes,vëlles; pret.maȥ,ran,traf, besidemëȥȥen,to measure,rinnen,to run,trëffen,to hit.2.Before other consonants, as pret.dacte (dahte), nante (nande), kuste, besidedecken,to cover,nennen,to name,küssen,to kiss.3.After consonants, as pret.sante(sande) from*santte, wante(wande) from*wantte, besidesenden,to send,wenden,to turn.4.After long vowels and diphthongs, as pret. sing.leitefrom*leitte, pret. pl.māȥen,trāfen,vielen, besideleiten,to lead,mëȥȥen,to measure,trëffen,to hit,vallen,to fall. This simplification of double consonants took place during the OHG. period, asslāfan,to sleep,heiȥan,to call,loufan,to run,zeichan,token, beside older OHG.slāffan,heiȥȥan,louffan,zeihhan.§ 33.In MHG. the lenesb,d,gbecame the fortesp,t,c (k)when they ended a syllable, that is when they came to stand finally, or medially before a voiceless consonant. Traces of this law existed already in OHG. The interchange between the lenes and fortes includes two independent processes, viz. the change of the medial lenesb,d,gto the final fortesp,t,k, and the change of the finalf,sto the medial intervocalic lenesvand to what is writtens(cp. also NHG.lesen,las). It must be noted that in MHG. the interchanging pairs of consonants were all voiceless and that the difference merely consisted in the intensity or force with which the sounds were produced. This is quite different from NHG. where the interchange is between voiced and voiceless sounds except in the case offwhich is voiceless in all positions in native words. Examples are:gëben,to give,gelouben,to believe,wërben,to turn, beside pret.gap,geloupte,warp; gen.lībes,lambes, beside nom.līp,life,lamp,lamb.binden,to bind,wërden,to become, beside pret.bant,wart; gen.kindes,tōdes, beside nom.kint,child,tōt,death.biegen,to bend,singen,to sing,zeigen,to show, beside pret.bouc,sanc,zeicte; gen.tages,bërges, beside nom.tac,day,bërc,mountain.nëve,nephew, besideniftel,niece; gen.hoves,brieves, beside nom.hof,court,brief,letter.kiesen,to choose,lësen,to gather,lœsen,to loose, beside pret.kōs,las,lōste; pl.hiuser, beside sing.hūs,house.§ 34.Finalchafter vowels interchanged with medialh, asschuoch,shoe, gen.schuohes;hōch,high, gen.hōhes;nāch,near, adv.nāhe; pret.geschach,sach, besidegeschëhen,to happen,sëhen,to see.The medial combinationslh,rhwere writtenlch,rchwhen they came to stand finally, asbevëlhen,to confide, pret.bevalch; gen.schëlhes,twërhes, beside nom.schëlch,twërch,askew, see§19.h(=ch) andchoften disappeared in unstressed syllables and particles, asē̆t,only,hīnte,hīnt,to-night,niet,not,dur,through, besideëht,hīnaht,niht,nieht,durch.§ 35.Initialjbecame or was writtengbefore a followingi, asgihet,he assures, beside inf.jëhen, pret.jach, and similarlyjësen,to ferment,jëten,to weed. In the verba pura forms with and without the intervocalic glidejexisted side by side in OHG. and MHG., asblüejen(OHG.bluojen) besideblüen(OHG.bluoen),to bloom; and similarlydræjen,to twist,müejen,to trouble,sæjen,to sow, besidedræn,müen,sæn. In a few words forms with and without intervocalicj (g)existed side by side, as gen.blīgesbeside nom.blī,lead;eijer,eigerbesideeier,eggs;frījen,frīgenbesidefrīen,to free;meige,meie,May;nerigen,nerjenbesidenern,to save,rescue;swerigen,swerjenbesideswern,to swear; gen.zwīges,zwīes, nom.zwī,twig; gen.zweiger,zweier,of two.§ 36.In OHG.wbecame vocalized toowhen it came to stand at the end of a word or syllable, and then generally disappeared after long vowels, but the medialwregularly remained in OHG. and MHG. when it was at the beginning of a syllable, asblā(OHG.blāo,blā),blue, gen.blāwes;snē(OHG.snēo,snē),snow, gen.snēwes;strō(OHG.strao,strōby contraction),straw, gen.strōwes;knie(OHG.kneo),knee, gen.kniewes, OHG.knëwes;schate(OHG.scato),shadow, gen.schat(e)wes; pret.blou,hiu,kou, besidebliuwen,to strike,houwen,to hew,kiuwen,to chew;fal(OHG.falo),fallow, gen.falwes;gar(OHG.garo),ready, gen.garwes;mël(OHG.mëlo),meal, gen.mëlwes;smër(OHG.smëro),fat; pret.smirte,ströute, besidesmirwen,to smear,ströuwen,to strew. See§9, r.Thewelement sometimes disappeared in the initial combinationsqua-,quā-,quë-,qui-,quī-partly with and partly without influencing the quality of the following vowel, as pret. sing.kam,kombesidequam,he came, pret. pl.kōmen,kāmenbesidequāmen;kālebesidequāle,torture;këcbesidequec,alive;korder,körderbesidequërder,bait;komen,kömen,kumenbesidequëmen,to come; pres. sing.kume,küm(e)s(t),kum(e)s(t),küm(e)t,kum(e)t= OHG.quimu,quimis,quimit;kückenbesidequicken,to enliven;kītbesidequīt=quidet,he says.§ 37.Medial-ibe-,-ide-,-ige-were sometimes contracted toī; and medial-age-,-ege-toei, asgīst,thou givest,gīt,he gives, besidegibes(t),gibet;quīst,thou sayest,quīt,he says, besidequides(t),quidet;līst,thou liest down,līt,he lies down, besideliges(t),liget.meitbesidemaget,maid;seist,thou sayest,seit,he says, besidesages(t),saget;leist,thou layest,leit,he lays, besideleges(t),leget;eislīchbesideegeslīch,terrible;geinbesidegegen,against.§ 38.Intervocalichoften disappeared when the first vowel was long, and then the two vowels underwent contraction, ashān,to hang,vān,to catch,vlēn,to implore,hō(adv.),high, besidehāhen,vāhen,vlēhen,hōhe. Other contracted forms will be found in the Glossary.§ 39.The finalrdisappeared after long vowels in monosyllables when the next word began with a consonant, but was often restored analogically, asdā(OHG.dār),there:dārinne,therein;wā(OHG.wār),where:wārinne,wherein;hie(OHG.hiar):hierunder,hereunder; adv.mē(OHG.mēr),more;ē(OHG.ēr),formerly;sā(OHG.sār),at once.§ 40.Medialt(§25) becamedafter nasals in late OHG. and early MHG., assenden,to send, gen.blindes(nom.blint,blind), pret.nande,he named,rūmde,he left, beside early MHG.senten,blintes,nante,rūmte. It also occasionally becamedafterl, ashaldenbesidehalten,to hold,soldebesidesolte, pret. ofsuln,shall.ACCIDENCECHAPTER IIIDECLENSION OF NOUNS§ 41.MHG. nouns have two numbers: singular and plural; three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter, as in OHG. and NHG., from which the gender of nouns in MHG. does not materially differ; four cases: nominative, accusative, genitive, and dative. Traces of an old locative occur in what is called the uninflected dative singular ofhūs,house, besidehūse, and in proper names likeEngellantbesideEngellande. The vocative is like the nominative.In MHG., as in the older periods of the other Germanic languages, nouns are divided into two great classes, according as the stem originally ended in a vowel or a consonant, cp. the similar division of nouns in Latin and Greek. Nouns whose stems originally ended in a vowel belong to the vocalic or so-called strong declension. Those whose stems originally ended in-nbelong to the so-called weak orn-declension. All other consonantal stems are generally put together under the general heading, ‘Minor Declensions’. In OHG. nouns whose stems originally ended in a vowel are subdivided into thea-declension including purea-stems,ja-stems, andwa-stems; theō-declension including pureō-stems,jō-stems, andwō-stems; theī̆-declension, and theu-declension. All the nouns belonging to theu-declension went over into otherdeclensions in MHG. (cp. §§43,44,49). But as all final vowels either disappeared (some of them already in OHG.) or were weakened toein MHG. (see §§7,8), it is no longer practicable to retain the OHG. subdivision fully without entering into the oldest and in many cases into the prehistoric period of the language, which would be quite out of place in a MHG. grammar. The old ‘Minor Declensions’ had begun to pass over into the vocalic, especially into thei-anda-, declensions in the oldest OHG. The remnants of the old inflexions preserved in MHG. will be noted in the following paragraphs. The neuter nouns whose stems originally ended in-os,-es(cp.§47) are in this Primer included in the strong declension.A. The Vocalic or Strong Declension.1.Masculine Nouns.§ 42.First declension.—To this declension belong all masculine nouns which form their plural in-eonly. It includes: (a) the old masculinea-stems; (b) the old masculinewa-stems which lost their final-wafter long vowels in OHG., assē,sea, gen.sēwes, pl.sēwe, and similarlybū,dwelling,rē(also neuter),corpse,snē,snow, see§36; and (c) the old masculinei-stems which could not have umlaut in the plural (§44).Sing.Nom. Acc.tac,daykil,quillengel,angelGen.tageskil(e)sengel(e)sDat.tagekil(e)engel(e)Plur.Nom. Acc. Gen.tagekil(e)engel(e)Dat.tagenkil(e)nengel(e)nOn the interchange between fortis and lenis, as intac,day,lop,praise,sant,sand,hof,court, gen.tages,lobes,sandes,hoves, see§33.Liketacare also declined the old consonantal stemsvīent,enemy, andvriunt,friend, but pl.vriundebeside the old pluralvriunt.Likekilare declined all monosyllabic masculine nouns having a short stem-vowel and ending in-lor-r(§9, 1).Likeengelare declined masculine polysyllabic nouns ending in-el,-em,-en,-er, when their stem-syllable is long, asmantel,mantle,ātem,breath,morgen,morning,acker,field. Those in-em,-engenerally retain theein the dative plural. Polysyllabic nouns with short stem-syllables fluctuate between the retention or loss of thee, as gen. sing.vogelesorvogels, dat. sing, and nom. acc. pl.vogeleorvogel, and similarlyvadem,thread,rëgen,rain,sumer,summer, see§9, 2.§ 43.Second declension.—To this declension belong all masculine nouns whose nom. and acc. singular end in-e, which is the only difference between this and the first declension. It includes: (a) the old masculineja-stems; (b) many oldu-stems with short stem-syllable, asfride(OHG.fridu),peace,site(OHG.situ),custom, and similarlyhuge,thought,mëte,mead,sigebesidesic,victory,wite,wood(see§36); (c) the old shorti-stemwine,friend; and (d) the old masculinewa-stemschate(gen.schat(e)wesbesideschates),shadow.Sing.Plur.Nom. Acc.hirte,shepherdhirteGen.hirteshirteDat.hirtehirten§ 44.Third declension.—To this declension belong all masculine nouns which form their plural in-eand withumlaut of the stem-vowel. It includes: (a) the old masculinei-stems; (b) the old masculineu-stemsun(OHG.sunu,sun),son; and (c) the two old consonant stemsfuoȥ,foot,zant(gen.zandes),zan,tooth.Sing.Plur.MHG.OHG.MHG.OHG.Nom. Acc.gastgast,guestgestegestiGen.gastesgastesgestegesteo,-ioDat.gastegastegestengestimThe singular of nouns of this declension was inflected like thea-stems (§42) already in OHG. And owing to the weakening of the case-endings of the plural in passing from OHG. to MHG. (§7), the only difference in the two declensions is the presence or absence of umlaut in the plural. The old masculinei-stems which could not have umlaut in the plural accordingly came to be inflected entirely like the old masculinea-stems, asschrit,step,snit,cut,biȥ,bite, pl.schrite,snite,biȥȥe. A further consequence of the singular being inflected alike in both declensions is that the olda-stems began to have umlaut in the plural after the analogy of thei-stems, asgedenke,thoughts,nägele,nails,wägene,wagons, besidegedanke,nagele,wagene.Nouns ending in the fortisp,t,c, orf(= Germanicf) regularly change the fortis to lenis in the inflected forms, askorp,basket,walt,wood,slac,blow,brief,letter, gen.korbes,waldes,stages,brieves.§ 45.The old consonant stemsvater,father,bruoder,brother, often remain uninflected in the singular, as gen.vater,bruoderbesidevaters,bruoders(cp.§9, 2). In the plural they take umlaut, asveter,brüeder. The old consonant stemman,man, is either declined liketac(§42) or remains uninflected throughout, asSing.Plur.Nom. Acc.manmanne,manGen.mannes,manmanne,manDat.manne,manmannen,manThe nom. pluralman, now writtenmann, is still preserved in counting, ashundert mann,a hundred men.2.Neuter Nouns.§ 46.First Declension.—To this declension belong all neuter nouns which have their nominative case singular and plural alike. It includes three different types of nouns: (a) The old neutera-stems likewort,word,venster,window. (b) The old neuterja-stems likekünne,race,generation,bette,bed,netze,net. The characteristic of this type of noun is that it has umlaut in all forms of the singular and plural when the stem-vowel is capable of it (cp.§31, 3). And (c) the old neuterwa-stems (cp.§36) likeknie,knee, gen.kniewes.Sing.Nom. Acc.wortvensterkünneknieGen.wortesvensterskünneskniewes(knies)Dat.wortevensterkünnekniewe(knie)Plur.Nom. Acc.wortvensterkünneknieGen.wortevensterkünnekniewe(knie)Dat.wortenvensternkünnenkniewen(knien)(a) On the interchange between the fortesp,t,cand the lenesb,d,g, as ingrap,grave,gëlt,money,dinc,thing, gen.grabes,gëldes,dinges, see§33.Likevensterare declined the neuter polysyllabic nouns ending in-el,-em,-en,-er, asluoder,bait,wāfen,wāpen,weapon;schapel,garland,gadem,house,wëter,weather. On the endings, see §§9,42.(b) Likekünneis also declined the old neuteru-stemvihe(OHG.fihu),cattle.(c) Likeknieare declinedmël,meal,rē(also masc.),corpse,smër,fat,strō,straw,tou,dew,wē,woe, gen.mëlwes,rēwes,smërwes,strōwes,touwes,wēwes, see§36.§ 47.Second declension.—To this declension belong all neuter nouns which form their plural in-erand by umlaut of the stem-vowel when it is capable of it. This class of nouns corresponds to the Latin neuters in-us, asgenus, gen.generis, pl.genera. The-er(OHG.-ir) was originally a stem-forming suffix which came to be regarded as a plural ending. In the oldest period of the language only about half-a-dozen nouns belonged to this class, but during the MHG. period nearly twenty neutera-stems passed into this declension, and in NHG. the number has increased to about a hundred.Sing.Plur.MHG.OHG.MHG.OHG.Nom. Acc.lamplamb,lamblemberlembirGen.lambeslambeslemberlembiroDat.lambelambelembernlembirumOn the loss of theein the gen. and dat. plural, see§9,2.Other examples are:ei(pl.eiger,eijer,eier, §35),egg,huon,hen,kalp,calf,rat,wheel,rint,bullock,tal,dale.3.Feminine Nouns.§ 48.First declension.—To this declension belong all feminine nouns having their nominative case singular and plural alike. It includes: (a) the old feminineō-stems, asgëbe,gift,sēle,soul,zal,number; (b) the old femininejō-stems, asküneginne,künegin,künegīn,queen, and similarlyvriundinne,friend,gütinne,goddess; (c) the old femininewō-stems with and withoutw, asbrāwe,brā,brow, pl.brābeside weak pl.brāwen;diuwe,diu,servant; (d) the old feminine abstract nouns in-ī, asvinster(OHG.finstrī),darkness,schœne(OHG.scōnī),beauty; and (e) the old consonant stem,swester,swëster,sister.Sing.Nom. Acc.gëbezalvinsterGen.gëbezalvinsterDat.gëbezalvinsterPlur.Nom. Acc.gëbezalvinsterGen.gëbenzalnvinsternDat.gëbenzalnvinsternOn the endings in nouns declined likezal,number,dol,pain,wal,choice,nar,food,schar,flock, andvinster, see §9, 1, 2.The gen. plural had the ending of the weak declension already in the oldest period of the language. Through the nom. singular and the gen. and dat. plural having the same endings as the feminine weak declension (§53),ō-stems began in OHG. to be inflected after the analogyof the weak declension, especially in the plural. This process spread considerably in MHG. with concrete nouns, but not often with abstract nouns.§ 49.Second declension.—To this declension belong all feminine nouns which form their plural in-eand have umlaut in the stem-vowel. It includes: (a) the old femininei-stems; (b) the oldu-stemhant,hand; and (c) several old consonantal stems, see below.Sing.Plur.MHG.OHG.MHG.OHG.Nom. Acc.anstanst,favourensteenstiGen.ensteoranstenstiensteensteo,-ioDat.ensteoranstenstienstenenstimInjugent(OHG.jugund, pl.jugundi),youth, gen. dat.jugendebesidejugent, pl.jugende, the original-ibeing in the third syllable did not cause umlaut in the stem-syllable; and similarlytugent,valour.hant,hand, originally belonged to theu-declension, which explains forms like gen. sing, and pluralhandebesidehende, dat. pl.handenbesidehenden. The old gen. plural has been preserved in NHG.allerhand, and the dat. plural inabhanden,beihanden,vorhanden,zuhanden.Several old consonant stems went over partly or entirely into this declension, viz.maget,meit(§37),maid, pl.mägedeormeide;kuo,cow, pl.küejeorküewe(OHG.kuoi),sū,sow, pl.siuwe(OHG.sūi); both these nouns generally remained uninflected in the gen. and dat. singular.naht,night, has gen. and dat. singularnahtbesidenähte; pl. nom. acc. gen.nahtbesidenähte, dat.nahtenbesidenähten, cp. also NHG.weihnachten, MHG.zën wīhen nahten. The MHG. adverbial gen.nahts,dës nahteswas formed after the analogy ofdës tages. Likenahtwere also inflectedbrust,breast, andburc,citadel.muoter,mother, andtohter,daughter, remain uninflected in the singular. In the plural they have umlaut:müeter,töhter.B. The Weak Declension (N-Stems).§ 50.The weak declension contains a large number of masculine and feminine nouns, but only four neuter nouns, viz.hërze,heart,ōre,ear,ouge,eye, andwange,cheek; these nouns, especiallyhërze, sometimes form their nom. acc. plural after the analogy of nouns likekünne(§46). The original case endings of the weak declension had disappeared in the oldest period of the language except in the nom. singular (masc.-o, fem., and neut.-a), the gen. pl. (ōno) and dat. pl. (-ōm). Owing to the weakening of the-o,-ato-ein MHG. the nom. singular became alike in all genders. And similarly the endings-ōno,-ōmand the endings of the other oblique forms were all weakened to-enin MHG. (§7), so that the element which originally formed part of the stem came to be regarded as a case ending.On the loss of the final and medialein nouns likear,eagle,bir(fem.),pear,gevangen(e),prisoner, beside the inflected formsarn,birn,gevangenfrom*gevangen-enthrough the intermediate stage*gevangenn, see§9,1,2.§ 51.1.Masculine Nouns.Sing.MHG.OHG.Nom.boteboto,messengerAcc.botenboton,-unGen.botenboten,-inDat.botenboten,-inPlur.Nom. Acc.botenboton,-unGen.botenbotōnoDat.botenbotōm§ 52.2.Neuter Nouns.Sing.MHG.OHG.Nom. Acc.hërzehërza,heartGen.hërzenhërzen,-inDat.hërzenhërzen,-inPlur.Nom. Acc.hërzenhërzun,-onGen.hërzenhërzōnoDat.hërzenhërzōm§ 53.3.Feminine Nouns.Sing.MHG.OHG.Nom.zungezunga,tongueAcc.zungenzungūnGen.zungenzungūnDat.zungenzungūnPlur.Nom. Acc.zungenzungūnGen.zungenzungōnoDat.zungezungōmC. Declension of Proper Names.§ 54.Names of persons ending inein the nominative follow the weak declension. Masculine names of persons take-esin the genitive,-ein the dative, and-enin the accusative after the analogy of the strong adjectives. The accusative ending-enwas sometimes extended to thedative, and the dative ending-eto the accusative. And sometimes both these cases were without endings. Names of countries ending in-lantoften have no ending in the dative, asEngellantbesideEngellande, see§41. Feminine names of persons ending in a consonant take-ein the genitive, dative and accusative, but occasionally remain uninflected throughout.Masculine.Nom.SīfritHageneGen.SīfridesHagenenDat. Acc.Sīfrit,Sīfride(n)HagenenFeminine.Nom.KriemhiltUoteGen. Dat. Acc.Kriemhilde,KriemhiltUotenCHAPTER IVADJECTIVESA. The Declension of Adjectives.1.The Strong Declension.§ 55.The MHG. adjectives are declined as strong or weak. They have three genders, and the same cases as nouns. The endings of the strong declension are partly nominal and partly pronominal. The nominal endings are: the accusative feminine singular, asblindelikegëbe(§48); and the genitive singular masculine and neuter, asblindesliketages,wortes(§§43,46). All the other endings are pronominal. The so-called uninflected form of adjectives in the nom. singular masculine and feminineand the nom. acc. neuter is a remnant of the time when adjectives and nouns were declined alike, see the Author’s Hist. Germ. Grammar, §§399-400. The strong declension includes three different types of adjectives, all of which are declined alike: (a) The olda-stems, asblint, infl. formblinter,blind;bar,bare,guot,good,heilec,holy,hol,hollow,michel,great,vinster,dark, and similarly with a very large number of adjectives, including the past participles of strong and weak verbs. (b) The oldja-stems, aslære(OHG.lāri), infl.lærer,empty;dünne,thin,enge,narrow,grüene,green,niuwe,new,reine,pure,schœne,beautiful,senfte,soft,wilde,wild, and many others, including the present participles of strong and weak verbs. Theja-stems only differ from thea-stems in having-ein the uninflected form and umlaut in the stem-syllable when it is capable of it. (c) The oldwa-stems, asblā(OHG.blāo,blā), infl. formblāwer,blue;gar(OHG.garo), infl. formgarwer(see §§9, 1,36),ready;grā,grey,val,fallow,gël,yellow,kal,bald, &c., all of which havewin the inflected forms.The adjectivali-andu-stems had come to be declined like theja-stems in the prehistoric period of the language, but a few remnants of such adjectives have survived in MHG. in forms without the final-ebeside those with it, asbereit,bereite,ready,dic,dicke,thick,gāch,gæhe,quick,grīs,grīse,old,grey,hēr,hēre,high,noble,rasch,resche,quick,rīch,rīche,noble,swā,swære,heavy,was,wasse,sharp.Sing.Masc.Neut.Fem.Nom.blinder,blindblindeȥblindiuAcc.blindenblindeȥblindeGen.blindesblindesblinder(e)Dat.blindem(e)blindem(e)blinder(e)Plur.Nom.blindeblindiublindeAcc.blindeblindiublindeGen.blinder(e)blinder(e)blinder(e)Dat.blindenblindenblindenOn the loss of the-einblindem(e),blinder(e), see§9, 2. Umlaut caused by the-iuoccurs in the nom. sing. feminine and nom. acc. pl. neuter ofal,all, andander,other, second, asälliu,ändriu. This rarely happens in other words.Sing.Masc.Neut.Fem.Nom.micheler,greatmichel(e)ȥmicheliuAcc.michel(e)nmichel(e)ȥmichel(e)Gen.michel(e)smichel(e)smichelre,michelerDat.michelme,michel(e)mmichelme,michel(e)mmichelre,michelerPlur.Nom.michel(e)micheliumichel(e)Acc.michel(e)micheliumichel(e)Gen.michelre,michelermichelre,michelermichelre,michelerDat.michel(e)nmichel(e)nmichel(e)nLikemichelare inflected monosyllabic adjectives ending in-l, -rwith a short stem-vowel, and polysyllabic adjectives ending in-el, -en, -er, asbar,bare,hol,hollow;zwīvel,doubtful,eigen,own,tougen,secret,ander,other, second,bitter,bitter,vinster,dark;ëben,even,übel,evil, bad, &c. See §9, 1, 2.2.The Weak Declension.§ 56.The weak declension of adjectives agrees exactly with that of the nouns.Sing.Masc.Neut.Fem.Nom.blinde,blindblindeblindeAcc.blindenblindeblindenGen.blindenblindenblindenDat.blindenblindenblindenPluralblindenfor all cases and genders.B. The Comparison Of Adjectives.§ 57.The comparative was formed by means of the suffix-er(e)= OHG.-iro, -ōro, and the superlative by means of the suffix-est(e)= OHG.-isto, -ōsto. On the loss of the medial or finalein such forms astiurre,dearer,tiurste;minner,minre,less,minnest,min(ne)ste, see§9, 3. Most monosyllables have umlaut in the comparative and superlative either exclusively or have mutated beside unmutated forms. The cause of these double forms is in a great measure due to the two OHG. double suffixes: comp.-iro, -ōroand superl.-isto, -ōstohaving fallen together in-er(e)and-est(e)in MHG., aselter,older,ermer,poorer,jünger,younger,grœȥer,greater,hœher,higher, besidealter,armer,junger,grōȥer,hōher; superl.eltest,ermest,jüngest,grœȥest,hœhest, besidealtest,armest,jungest,grōȥest,hōhest. Adjectives which have umlaut in the positive regularly preserve it in the comparative and superlative.The comparative is declined weak, but the superlative is declined strong and weak.§ 58.The following adjectives form their comparative and superlative from a different root than the positive:—guot,good,beȥȥer,beȥȥest,beste(§23).übel,bad,wirser,wirsest,wir(se)ste.lützel,little,minner,minre(§9, 3),minnest,min(ne)ste.michel,great,mērer,mēr(r)e, meiste.§ 59.The following adjectives are defective:—ērer,ērre,ërre,former,ērest,ērste,first.hinder,hinder,hinderste,hindmost.ober,upper,oberste,uppermost.leȥȥeste,leste(§23),last.vorder,former,vorderste,foremost.C. Formation of Adverbs from Adjectives.§ 60.1.By adding-e(= OHG.-o) to the adjective when this does not already end in-e, asëben,even,hōch,high,lanc,long: adv.ëbene,hōhe,lange;edele(OHG.edili),noble,übel(OHG.ubil),evil: adv.edele(OHG.edilo),übele(OHG.ubilo).2.Dissyllabic adjectives ending in-eand containing a mutated stem-vowel change it to the corresponding unmutated vowel, when used as adverbs, asschœne(OHG.scōni),beautiful,herte,hard,senfte,soft,süeȥe,sweet,swære,heavy: adv.schōne,harte,sanfte,suoȥe,swāre.3.By adding-līcheor-līchento the adjective, asganz,whole,vlīȥec,diligent: adv.ganzlīche(n),vlīȥeclīche(n).4.The comparative and superlative degrees of adverbs are the same as the corresponding uninflected forms of the adjectives without umlaut:—Adjectivelanc,longlengerlengest.Adverblangelanger(OHG.langōr)langest(OHG.langōst).§ 61.The following are irregular:—wol,wellbaȥ,betterbest(e),best.wirs,worsewirsest,wirste,worst.min,minner,minre,lessminnest,minste,least.mē,mēr,mēre,moremeist,meiste,most.ē,formerlyēr(e)st, ērste,first.§ 62.D. Numerals.Cardinal.Ordinal.ein,-er, -eȥ, -iu,oneērstezwei,twoanderdrī,threedrittevier,fourvierdefünf(finf),fivefünfte,finftesëhs,sixsëhstesiben,sevensibende,-teahte,eightahtede,ahteniun,nineniunde,-tezëhen,tenzëhende,-teeinlif(eilif),elevenei(n)lifte, eilftezwelf,twelvezwelftedrīzëhen,thirteendrīzëhendevierzëhen,fourteenvierzëhendefünfzëhen,fifteenfünfzëhendesëh(s)zëhen,sixteensë(h)szëhendesibenzëhen,seventeensibenzëhendeah(t)zëhen,eighteenah(t)zëhendeniunzëhen,nineteenniunzëhendezweinzic(or-zec),twentyzweinzigestedrīȥic„thirtydrīȥigestevierzic„fortyvierzigestefünfzic„fiftyfünfzigestesëhszic„sixtysëhszigestesibenzic„seventysibenzigesteah(t)zic„eightyah(t)zigesteniunzic„ninetyniunzigestezëhenzicorhunderthundredzëhenzigesteorhundertstezwei huntorhunderttwo hundredzweihundertstetūsentthousandtūsenstezwei tūsenttwo thousandzweitūsentste
§ 20.MHG. has the following double consonants medially between vowels:bb,gg;pp,tt,ck;ff,ss,ȥȥ; mm, nn;ll,rr. They were always pronounced long as in Italian and Swedish, asbit-ter,bitter,ëȥ-ȥen,to eat,küs-sen,to kiss,müg-ge,midge,rin-nen,to run. In NHG. double consonants are never long, they merely indicate that the preceding vowel is short.
§ 21.Phonetic Survey of the MHG. Consonants.
Voiceless explosives
To the above must be added the aspiratehand the affricatae (i.e. an explosive + a homorganic spirant)z(i.e.ts) andpf(ph).
§ 22.The most characteristic difference between High German and the other West Germanic languages is the shifting which the consonantsp,t,k,þ;pp,tt,kk,þþ; b(ƀ),d,g(ʒ);bb,dd,ggunderwent partly in the prehistoric and partly in the historic period of Old High German. In the following treatment of what is generally called the High German sound-shifting only such points are considered as are of importance for the purposes of this book. See Old High German Primer, §§82-6.
§ 23.The voiceless explosivesp,t,kunderwent a two-fold treatment according to their position in the word: (1) Medially or finally after vowels; (2) Initially, medially and finally after consonants (l,m,n,r), and when doubled.
Note.—p,t,kremained unshifted in the combinationssp,st,skas alsotin the combinationstr,ht,ft.
1.Singlep,t,kwere shifted to the voiceless double spirantsff,ȥȥ,hh(also writtench) = MHG.ff (f), ȥȥ (ȥ), ch.
p > ff. OE.open, OHG.offan, MHG.offen,open; OE.slǣpan, OHG.slāffan, MHG.slāfen,to sleep; OE.ūp, OHG. MHG.ūf,up.
t > ȥȥ. OE.etan, OHG.ëȥȥan, MHG.ëȥȥen,to eat; OE.hātan, OHG.heiȥȥan, MHG.heiȥen,to call; OE.hwæt, OHG.hwaȥ, MHG.waȥ,what. In a few cases theȥ,ȥȥbecamesin MHG. beforetorst, as pret.sastefromsaȥte:setzen,to set;beste,best,leste,last= OHG.beȥȥisto,leȥȥisto.
k > hh. OE.ic, OHG.ih, MHG.ich,I; OE.sprecan(specan), OHG.sprëhhan, MHG.sprëchen,to speak; OE.tācen, OHG.zeihhan, MHG.zeichen,token. Thischmust not be confused with the MHG.h,chwhich corresponded to Indo-Germanick(= Germanich), asziehen,to draw, lead, pret.zōch, cp. Lat.dūcō,I lead, see§34.
The double consonants were simplified in OHG. and MHG. according to §32.
2.p,tinitially, medially and finally after consonants (l,m,n,r), and when doubled, were shifted to the affricataepf(also writtenph),tz(generally writtenzzandz) = MHG.pf(ph),tz(z).
p > pf. OE.pund, OHG. MHG.pfunt,pound; OE.gelimpan, OHG.gilimpfan, MHG.gelimpfen,to be meet;OE.scieppan, OHG.skepfen, MHG.schepfen,to create. Thepfbecamefafterlandralready in OHG., ashëlfan, MHG.hëlfen, OE.helpan,to help;wërfan, MHG.wërfen, OE.weorpan,to throw.
t > z. OE.tunge, OHG.zunga, MHG.zunge,tongue; OE.heorte, OHG.hërza, MHG.hërze,heart; OE.sealt, OHG. MHG.salz,salt; OE.sittan, OHG.sizzen,sitzen, MHG.sitzen,to sit; OE.sceatt, OHG.scaz(gen.scazzes,scatzes), MHG.schaz(gen.schatzes),money, treasure.
k,kk(writtenck) remained unshifted (except in High Alemanic), as OE.corn, OHG. MHG.korn,corn; OE.cnēo, OHG.kneo, MHG.knie,knee; OE.sincan, OHG.sinkan, MHG.sinken,to sink, pret.sanc; OE.þeccan, OHG. MHG.decken,to cover.
§ 24.þbecamed, andþþbecamett, as OE.þorn, OHG. MHG.dorn,thorn; OE.brōþor, OHG. MHG.bruoder,brother. OE.smiþþe, OHG.smitta, MHG.smitte,smithy; OE.moþþe, late MHG.motte,moth.
§ 25.The voiced explosivesb,d,g, and the voiced spirantsƀ,ʒdid not undergo the same universal shifting as the voiceless explosives.ƀ,ʒbecameb,g.b,gremained, anddbecamet, as OE.brōþor, OHG. MHG.bruoder,brother; OE.bēodan, OHG.biotan, MHG.bieten,to offer; Goth.giban(=giƀan), OHG.gëban, MHG.gëben,to give. OE.dohtor, OHG. MHG.tohter,daughter; OE.bēodan, OHG.biotan, MHG.bieten,to offer; OE.dēad, OHG. MHG.tōt,dead. OE.gōd, OHG. MHG.guot,good; OE.flēogan, OHG.fliogan, MHG.fliegen,to fly.
§ 26.The double consonantsbb,dd,gg= OHG.pp(bb),tt,cc(gg), and MHG.pp(bb),tt,ck(gg), as OE.sibb, OHG.sippa(sibba), MHG.sippe(sibbe),relationship; OE.cribb, OHG.krippa(kribba), MHG.krippe (kribbe),crib. OE.biddan, OHG.bitten, MHG.bitten,laterbiten,to request; OE.þridda, OHG.dritto, MHG.dritte, laterdrite,third. OE.brycg, OHG.brucca (brugga), MHG.brücke(brügge),bridge. The fluctuation in the writing ofppandbb,ckandggis merely orthographical, and does not represent a difference in pronunciation. Both pairs were used to express the lenes medially between vowels. For other examples see§31.
§ 27.The summary of the consonantal changes in §§23-6may be expressed as follows:—
§ 28.The following sound-changes took place in primitive Germanic:—Every labial +tbecameft; every guttural +tbecameht; every dental +tbecamess, which was simplified tosafter long vowels. This explains the frequent interchange in MHG. betweenpf,bandf; betweenk,gandh; and betweenȥȥ,ȥandss,sin forms which are etymologically related.
pf,b—f.schepfen,to create:geschaft,creature;gëben,to give:gift,gift;wëben,to weave: Englishweft.
k,g—h.würken,to work: pret.worhte;denken,to think: pret.dāhte;mugen(mügen),to be able: pret.mohte;bringen,to bring: pret.brāhte.
ȥȥ,ȥ—ss, s.gieȥen,to pour:güsse,inundation;wiȥȥen,to know: pret.wisse (wiste): wīs,wise;muoȥ,must: pret.muose(muoste);ëȥȥen,to eat:ās,carrion. Preterites likewiste,muostewere formed after the analogy of preterites likeworhte,dāhte, where thetwas regular.
§ 29.The guttural nasalŋ(written n) only occurred inthe combinationsnk(nc) andng. It disappeared beforeh(= prim. Germanicχ) in primitive Germanic with lengthening of a preceding short vowel, asvāhenfrom prim. Germanic*faŋχanan,to seize, catch, beside p.p.gevangen; and similarlyhāhen,to hang, p.p.gehangen; pret.brāhte,dāhte,dūhte, besidebringen,to bring,denken,to think,dunken,to seem.
The guttural nasal disappeared in an unstressed syllable when preceded by annin a stressed syllable in the course of the OHG. and MHG. period, as OHG.honag, MHG.honec, beside OHG.honang,honey; OHG.kunig, MHG.künec, beside OHG.kuning,king; OHG.pfennig, MHG.pfennic, beside OHG.pfenning, MHG.pfenninc, penny. And similarly with dentaln, assenedebesidesenende,longing, yearning.
§ 30.Strong verbs, which have a medialv (f), d, h, sin the present, have respectivelyb,t,g (ng), rin the second person sing. pret. indicative, the preterite plural indicative, the pret. subjunctive and the past participle. This interchange of consonants is called Verner’s Law, see OHG. Primer, §§72,87:—
heven,to raise
mīden,to avoid
snīden,to cut
dīhen,to thrive
ziehen,to draw
slahen,to strike
h—ng(§29).
hāhen,to hang
vāhen,to catch
rīsen,to fall
kiesen,to choose
This law has, however, many exceptions in MHG. owing to levelling having taken place with the infinitive,present indicative and preterite singular, asrisen,gerisenbesiderirn,gerirn.
The same interchange of consonants exists between strong verbs and their corresponding causative weak verbs, aslīden,to go:leiten,to lead;hāhen,to hang:hengen,to hang(trans.);ge-nësen,to be saved:nern,to save; and in nouns, &c., ashof(gen.hoves),court:hübesch,courtly;tōt(gen.tōdes),death:tōt(gen.tōtes),dead;swëher,father-in-law:swiger,mother-in-law;hase: Englishhare.
§ 31.The doubling of consonants took place under certain well-defined rules partly in prim. Germanic and partly in prim. West Germanic, see the Author’s Hist. Germ. Grammar, §§202,213-14. Examples of words which had double consonants in prim. Germanic are:kopf, head;napf(OE.hnæp, gen.hnæppes),basin;boc(OE.bucca),buck, gen.bockes;rinnen,to run;swimmen,to swim;vol(gen.volles),full;vërre,far;gewisser,certain.
The chief cases in which double consonants arose in prim. West Germanic were:—
1.The assimilation ofƀn,ʒn,pntobb,gg,pp= MHG.pp,ck (gg),pf, asknappe:knabe,boy;rappe:rabe,raven;rocke:rogge,rye;tropfe,drop:triefen,to drip.
2.p,t,kwere doubled before a followingrorl. The doubling regularly took place in the inflected forms, and was then extended to the uninflected forms by levelling, asapfel(OE.æppel),apple;kupfer(Lat.cuprum),copper;bitter(Goth.báitrs),bitter, see§23note;lützel(OS.luttil),little;acker(Goth.akrs),field;wacker(OE.wæccer),watchful. See§23, 2.
3.All single consonants, exceptr, were doubled after a short vowel when there was originally ajin the next syllable. Thebb,dd,gg;pp,tt,kk, which thus arose, becamepp(bb),tt,ck(gg);pf,tz,ckin MHG. (§§23, 2,26), assippe(sibbe), Goth.sibja,relationship;bitten, laterbiten, Goth.bidjan,to request;tretten(wv.):trëten(sv.), to tread;brücke(brügge),bridge;ecke(egge),edge;mücke(mügge),midge;rücke(rügge),ridge, back.schepfen, Goth.skapjan,to create;hitze,heat:heiȥ,hot;netzen,to wet:naȥ,wet;setzen, Goth.satjan,to set;sitzen,to sit: pret.saȥ, p.p.gesëȥȥen;decken,to cover:dach,cover;lücke,gap:loch,hole.zellen, laterzeln,to count:zal,number.vremmen, latervremen(OE.fremman),to perform.henne,hen:hane,cock.
In MHG. the double consonants in verbs were often simplified through the levelling out of forms which regularly had a single consonant, e.g. regular forms were:vremmen,to perform, sing.vremme,vremes(t),vremet, pl.vremmen,vremmet,vremment, pret.vremete, p.p.gevremet, then the stem-form with singlemwas levelled out into all the forms, and similarly with many other verbs, asdenen,to stretch;seln,to hand over;weln,to choose;wenen,to accustom;legenbesidelecken(leggen),to lay; and the strong verbsbiten,to beg;ligenbesidelicken (liggen),to lie down.
§ 32.Double consonants were simplified:—
1.When they became final, asboc,buck,kus,kiss,man,man,schif,ship,stum,dumb,vël,hide, beside gen.bockes,kusses,mannes,schiffes,stummes,vëlles; pret.maȥ,ran,traf, besidemëȥȥen,to measure,rinnen,to run,trëffen,to hit.
2.Before other consonants, as pret.dacte (dahte), nante (nande), kuste, besidedecken,to cover,nennen,to name,küssen,to kiss.
3.After consonants, as pret.sante(sande) from*santte, wante(wande) from*wantte, besidesenden,to send,wenden,to turn.
4.After long vowels and diphthongs, as pret. sing.leitefrom*leitte, pret. pl.māȥen,trāfen,vielen, besideleiten,to lead,mëȥȥen,to measure,trëffen,to hit,vallen,to fall. This simplification of double consonants took place during the OHG. period, asslāfan,to sleep,heiȥan,to call,loufan,to run,zeichan,token, beside older OHG.slāffan,heiȥȥan,louffan,zeihhan.
§ 33.In MHG. the lenesb,d,gbecame the fortesp,t,c (k)when they ended a syllable, that is when they came to stand finally, or medially before a voiceless consonant. Traces of this law existed already in OHG. The interchange between the lenes and fortes includes two independent processes, viz. the change of the medial lenesb,d,gto the final fortesp,t,k, and the change of the finalf,sto the medial intervocalic lenesvand to what is writtens(cp. also NHG.lesen,las). It must be noted that in MHG. the interchanging pairs of consonants were all voiceless and that the difference merely consisted in the intensity or force with which the sounds were produced. This is quite different from NHG. where the interchange is between voiced and voiceless sounds except in the case offwhich is voiceless in all positions in native words. Examples are:gëben,to give,gelouben,to believe,wërben,to turn, beside pret.gap,geloupte,warp; gen.lībes,lambes, beside nom.līp,life,lamp,lamb.binden,to bind,wërden,to become, beside pret.bant,wart; gen.kindes,tōdes, beside nom.kint,child,tōt,death.biegen,to bend,singen,to sing,zeigen,to show, beside pret.bouc,sanc,zeicte; gen.tages,bërges, beside nom.tac,day,bërc,mountain.nëve,nephew, besideniftel,niece; gen.hoves,brieves, beside nom.hof,court,brief,letter.kiesen,to choose,lësen,to gather,lœsen,to loose, beside pret.kōs,las,lōste; pl.hiuser, beside sing.hūs,house.
§ 34.Finalchafter vowels interchanged with medialh, asschuoch,shoe, gen.schuohes;hōch,high, gen.hōhes;nāch,near, adv.nāhe; pret.geschach,sach, besidegeschëhen,to happen,sëhen,to see.
The medial combinationslh,rhwere writtenlch,rchwhen they came to stand finally, asbevëlhen,to confide, pret.bevalch; gen.schëlhes,twërhes, beside nom.schëlch,twërch,askew, see§19.h(=ch) andchoften disappeared in unstressed syllables and particles, asē̆t,only,hīnte,hīnt,to-night,niet,not,dur,through, besideëht,hīnaht,niht,nieht,durch.
§ 35.Initialjbecame or was writtengbefore a followingi, asgihet,he assures, beside inf.jëhen, pret.jach, and similarlyjësen,to ferment,jëten,to weed. In the verba pura forms with and without the intervocalic glidejexisted side by side in OHG. and MHG., asblüejen(OHG.bluojen) besideblüen(OHG.bluoen),to bloom; and similarlydræjen,to twist,müejen,to trouble,sæjen,to sow, besidedræn,müen,sæn. In a few words forms with and without intervocalicj (g)existed side by side, as gen.blīgesbeside nom.blī,lead;eijer,eigerbesideeier,eggs;frījen,frīgenbesidefrīen,to free;meige,meie,May;nerigen,nerjenbesidenern,to save,rescue;swerigen,swerjenbesideswern,to swear; gen.zwīges,zwīes, nom.zwī,twig; gen.zweiger,zweier,of two.
§ 36.In OHG.wbecame vocalized toowhen it came to stand at the end of a word or syllable, and then generally disappeared after long vowels, but the medialwregularly remained in OHG. and MHG. when it was at the beginning of a syllable, asblā(OHG.blāo,blā),blue, gen.blāwes;snē(OHG.snēo,snē),snow, gen.snēwes;strō(OHG.strao,strōby contraction),straw, gen.strōwes;knie(OHG.kneo),knee, gen.kniewes, OHG.knëwes;schate(OHG.scato),shadow, gen.schat(e)wes; pret.blou,hiu,kou, besidebliuwen,to strike,houwen,to hew,kiuwen,to chew;fal(OHG.falo),fallow, gen.falwes;gar(OHG.garo),ready, gen.garwes;mël(OHG.mëlo),meal, gen.mëlwes;smër(OHG.smëro),fat; pret.smirte,ströute, besidesmirwen,to smear,ströuwen,to strew. See§9, r.
Thewelement sometimes disappeared in the initial combinationsqua-,quā-,quë-,qui-,quī-partly with and partly without influencing the quality of the following vowel, as pret. sing.kam,kombesidequam,he came, pret. pl.kōmen,kāmenbesidequāmen;kālebesidequāle,torture;këcbesidequec,alive;korder,körderbesidequërder,bait;komen,kömen,kumenbesidequëmen,to come; pres. sing.kume,küm(e)s(t),kum(e)s(t),küm(e)t,kum(e)t= OHG.quimu,quimis,quimit;kückenbesidequicken,to enliven;kītbesidequīt=quidet,he says.
§ 37.Medial-ibe-,-ide-,-ige-were sometimes contracted toī; and medial-age-,-ege-toei, asgīst,thou givest,gīt,he gives, besidegibes(t),gibet;quīst,thou sayest,quīt,he says, besidequides(t),quidet;līst,thou liest down,līt,he lies down, besideliges(t),liget.meitbesidemaget,maid;seist,thou sayest,seit,he says, besidesages(t),saget;leist,thou layest,leit,he lays, besideleges(t),leget;eislīchbesideegeslīch,terrible;geinbesidegegen,against.
§ 38.Intervocalichoften disappeared when the first vowel was long, and then the two vowels underwent contraction, ashān,to hang,vān,to catch,vlēn,to implore,hō(adv.),high, besidehāhen,vāhen,vlēhen,hōhe. Other contracted forms will be found in the Glossary.
§ 39.The finalrdisappeared after long vowels in monosyllables when the next word began with a consonant, but was often restored analogically, asdā(OHG.dār),there:dārinne,therein;wā(OHG.wār),where:wārinne,wherein;hie(OHG.hiar):hierunder,hereunder; adv.mē(OHG.mēr),more;ē(OHG.ēr),formerly;sā(OHG.sār),at once.
§ 40.Medialt(§25) becamedafter nasals in late OHG. and early MHG., assenden,to send, gen.blindes(nom.blint,blind), pret.nande,he named,rūmde,he left, beside early MHG.senten,blintes,nante,rūmte. It also occasionally becamedafterl, ashaldenbesidehalten,to hold,soldebesidesolte, pret. ofsuln,shall.
§ 41.MHG. nouns have two numbers: singular and plural; three genders: masculine, feminine, and neuter, as in OHG. and NHG., from which the gender of nouns in MHG. does not materially differ; four cases: nominative, accusative, genitive, and dative. Traces of an old locative occur in what is called the uninflected dative singular ofhūs,house, besidehūse, and in proper names likeEngellantbesideEngellande. The vocative is like the nominative.
In MHG., as in the older periods of the other Germanic languages, nouns are divided into two great classes, according as the stem originally ended in a vowel or a consonant, cp. the similar division of nouns in Latin and Greek. Nouns whose stems originally ended in a vowel belong to the vocalic or so-called strong declension. Those whose stems originally ended in-nbelong to the so-called weak orn-declension. All other consonantal stems are generally put together under the general heading, ‘Minor Declensions’. In OHG. nouns whose stems originally ended in a vowel are subdivided into thea-declension including purea-stems,ja-stems, andwa-stems; theō-declension including pureō-stems,jō-stems, andwō-stems; theī̆-declension, and theu-declension. All the nouns belonging to theu-declension went over into otherdeclensions in MHG. (cp. §§43,44,49). But as all final vowels either disappeared (some of them already in OHG.) or were weakened toein MHG. (see §§7,8), it is no longer practicable to retain the OHG. subdivision fully without entering into the oldest and in many cases into the prehistoric period of the language, which would be quite out of place in a MHG. grammar. The old ‘Minor Declensions’ had begun to pass over into the vocalic, especially into thei-anda-, declensions in the oldest OHG. The remnants of the old inflexions preserved in MHG. will be noted in the following paragraphs. The neuter nouns whose stems originally ended in-os,-es(cp.§47) are in this Primer included in the strong declension.
1.Masculine Nouns.
§ 42.First declension.—To this declension belong all masculine nouns which form their plural in-eonly. It includes: (a) the old masculinea-stems; (b) the old masculinewa-stems which lost their final-wafter long vowels in OHG., assē,sea, gen.sēwes, pl.sēwe, and similarlybū,dwelling,rē(also neuter),corpse,snē,snow, see§36; and (c) the old masculinei-stems which could not have umlaut in the plural (§44).
On the interchange between fortis and lenis, as intac,day,lop,praise,sant,sand,hof,court, gen.tages,lobes,sandes,hoves, see§33.
Liketacare also declined the old consonantal stemsvīent,enemy, andvriunt,friend, but pl.vriundebeside the old pluralvriunt.
Likekilare declined all monosyllabic masculine nouns having a short stem-vowel and ending in-lor-r(§9, 1).
Likeengelare declined masculine polysyllabic nouns ending in-el,-em,-en,-er, when their stem-syllable is long, asmantel,mantle,ātem,breath,morgen,morning,acker,field. Those in-em,-engenerally retain theein the dative plural. Polysyllabic nouns with short stem-syllables fluctuate between the retention or loss of thee, as gen. sing.vogelesorvogels, dat. sing, and nom. acc. pl.vogeleorvogel, and similarlyvadem,thread,rëgen,rain,sumer,summer, see§9, 2.
§ 43.Second declension.—To this declension belong all masculine nouns whose nom. and acc. singular end in-e, which is the only difference between this and the first declension. It includes: (a) the old masculineja-stems; (b) many oldu-stems with short stem-syllable, asfride(OHG.fridu),peace,site(OHG.situ),custom, and similarlyhuge,thought,mëte,mead,sigebesidesic,victory,wite,wood(see§36); (c) the old shorti-stemwine,friend; and (d) the old masculinewa-stemschate(gen.schat(e)wesbesideschates),shadow.
§ 44.Third declension.—To this declension belong all masculine nouns which form their plural in-eand withumlaut of the stem-vowel. It includes: (a) the old masculinei-stems; (b) the old masculineu-stemsun(OHG.sunu,sun),son; and (c) the two old consonant stemsfuoȥ,foot,zant(gen.zandes),zan,tooth.
The singular of nouns of this declension was inflected like thea-stems (§42) already in OHG. And owing to the weakening of the case-endings of the plural in passing from OHG. to MHG. (§7), the only difference in the two declensions is the presence or absence of umlaut in the plural. The old masculinei-stems which could not have umlaut in the plural accordingly came to be inflected entirely like the old masculinea-stems, asschrit,step,snit,cut,biȥ,bite, pl.schrite,snite,biȥȥe. A further consequence of the singular being inflected alike in both declensions is that the olda-stems began to have umlaut in the plural after the analogy of thei-stems, asgedenke,thoughts,nägele,nails,wägene,wagons, besidegedanke,nagele,wagene.
Nouns ending in the fortisp,t,c, orf(= Germanicf) regularly change the fortis to lenis in the inflected forms, askorp,basket,walt,wood,slac,blow,brief,letter, gen.korbes,waldes,stages,brieves.
§ 45.The old consonant stemsvater,father,bruoder,brother, often remain uninflected in the singular, as gen.vater,bruoderbesidevaters,bruoders(cp.§9, 2). In the plural they take umlaut, asveter,brüeder. The old consonant stemman,man, is either declined liketac(§42) or remains uninflected throughout, as
The nom. pluralman, now writtenmann, is still preserved in counting, ashundert mann,a hundred men.
2.Neuter Nouns.
§ 46.First Declension.—To this declension belong all neuter nouns which have their nominative case singular and plural alike. It includes three different types of nouns: (a) The old neutera-stems likewort,word,venster,window. (b) The old neuterja-stems likekünne,race,generation,bette,bed,netze,net. The characteristic of this type of noun is that it has umlaut in all forms of the singular and plural when the stem-vowel is capable of it (cp.§31, 3). And (c) the old neuterwa-stems (cp.§36) likeknie,knee, gen.kniewes.
(a) On the interchange between the fortesp,t,cand the lenesb,d,g, as ingrap,grave,gëlt,money,dinc,thing, gen.grabes,gëldes,dinges, see§33.
Likevensterare declined the neuter polysyllabic nouns ending in-el,-em,-en,-er, asluoder,bait,wāfen,wāpen,weapon;schapel,garland,gadem,house,wëter,weather. On the endings, see §§9,42.
(b) Likekünneis also declined the old neuteru-stemvihe(OHG.fihu),cattle.
(c) Likeknieare declinedmël,meal,rē(also masc.),corpse,smër,fat,strō,straw,tou,dew,wē,woe, gen.mëlwes,rēwes,smërwes,strōwes,touwes,wēwes, see§36.
§ 47.Second declension.—To this declension belong all neuter nouns which form their plural in-erand by umlaut of the stem-vowel when it is capable of it. This class of nouns corresponds to the Latin neuters in-us, asgenus, gen.generis, pl.genera. The-er(OHG.-ir) was originally a stem-forming suffix which came to be regarded as a plural ending. In the oldest period of the language only about half-a-dozen nouns belonged to this class, but during the MHG. period nearly twenty neutera-stems passed into this declension, and in NHG. the number has increased to about a hundred.
On the loss of theein the gen. and dat. plural, see§9,2.
Other examples are:ei(pl.eiger,eijer,eier, §35),egg,huon,hen,kalp,calf,rat,wheel,rint,bullock,tal,dale.
3.Feminine Nouns.
§ 48.First declension.—To this declension belong all feminine nouns having their nominative case singular and plural alike. It includes: (a) the old feminineō-stems, asgëbe,gift,sēle,soul,zal,number; (b) the old femininejō-stems, asküneginne,künegin,künegīn,queen, and similarlyvriundinne,friend,gütinne,goddess; (c) the old femininewō-stems with and withoutw, asbrāwe,brā,brow, pl.brābeside weak pl.brāwen;diuwe,diu,servant; (d) the old feminine abstract nouns in-ī, asvinster(OHG.finstrī),darkness,schœne(OHG.scōnī),beauty; and (e) the old consonant stem,swester,swëster,sister.
On the endings in nouns declined likezal,number,dol,pain,wal,choice,nar,food,schar,flock, andvinster, see §9, 1, 2.
The gen. plural had the ending of the weak declension already in the oldest period of the language. Through the nom. singular and the gen. and dat. plural having the same endings as the feminine weak declension (§53),ō-stems began in OHG. to be inflected after the analogyof the weak declension, especially in the plural. This process spread considerably in MHG. with concrete nouns, but not often with abstract nouns.
§ 49.Second declension.—To this declension belong all feminine nouns which form their plural in-eand have umlaut in the stem-vowel. It includes: (a) the old femininei-stems; (b) the oldu-stemhant,hand; and (c) several old consonantal stems, see below.
ensteoranst
ensteoranst
Injugent(OHG.jugund, pl.jugundi),youth, gen. dat.jugendebesidejugent, pl.jugende, the original-ibeing in the third syllable did not cause umlaut in the stem-syllable; and similarlytugent,valour.
hant,hand, originally belonged to theu-declension, which explains forms like gen. sing, and pluralhandebesidehende, dat. pl.handenbesidehenden. The old gen. plural has been preserved in NHG.allerhand, and the dat. plural inabhanden,beihanden,vorhanden,zuhanden.
Several old consonant stems went over partly or entirely into this declension, viz.maget,meit(§37),maid, pl.mägedeormeide;kuo,cow, pl.küejeorküewe(OHG.kuoi),sū,sow, pl.siuwe(OHG.sūi); both these nouns generally remained uninflected in the gen. and dat. singular.naht,night, has gen. and dat. singularnahtbesidenähte; pl. nom. acc. gen.nahtbesidenähte, dat.nahtenbesidenähten, cp. also NHG.weihnachten, MHG.zën wīhen nahten. The MHG. adverbial gen.nahts,dës nahteswas formed after the analogy ofdës tages. Likenahtwere also inflectedbrust,breast, andburc,citadel.
muoter,mother, andtohter,daughter, remain uninflected in the singular. In the plural they have umlaut:müeter,töhter.
§ 50.The weak declension contains a large number of masculine and feminine nouns, but only four neuter nouns, viz.hërze,heart,ōre,ear,ouge,eye, andwange,cheek; these nouns, especiallyhërze, sometimes form their nom. acc. plural after the analogy of nouns likekünne(§46). The original case endings of the weak declension had disappeared in the oldest period of the language except in the nom. singular (masc.-o, fem., and neut.-a), the gen. pl. (ōno) and dat. pl. (-ōm). Owing to the weakening of the-o,-ato-ein MHG. the nom. singular became alike in all genders. And similarly the endings-ōno,-ōmand the endings of the other oblique forms were all weakened to-enin MHG. (§7), so that the element which originally formed part of the stem came to be regarded as a case ending.
On the loss of the final and medialein nouns likear,eagle,bir(fem.),pear,gevangen(e),prisoner, beside the inflected formsarn,birn,gevangenfrom*gevangen-enthrough the intermediate stage*gevangenn, see§9,1,2.
§ 51.
1.Masculine Nouns.
§ 52.
2.Neuter Nouns.
§ 53.
3.Feminine Nouns.
§ 54.Names of persons ending inein the nominative follow the weak declension. Masculine names of persons take-esin the genitive,-ein the dative, and-enin the accusative after the analogy of the strong adjectives. The accusative ending-enwas sometimes extended to thedative, and the dative ending-eto the accusative. And sometimes both these cases were without endings. Names of countries ending in-lantoften have no ending in the dative, asEngellantbesideEngellande, see§41. Feminine names of persons ending in a consonant take-ein the genitive, dative and accusative, but occasionally remain uninflected throughout.
1.The Strong Declension.
§ 55.The MHG. adjectives are declined as strong or weak. They have three genders, and the same cases as nouns. The endings of the strong declension are partly nominal and partly pronominal. The nominal endings are: the accusative feminine singular, asblindelikegëbe(§48); and the genitive singular masculine and neuter, asblindesliketages,wortes(§§43,46). All the other endings are pronominal. The so-called uninflected form of adjectives in the nom. singular masculine and feminineand the nom. acc. neuter is a remnant of the time when adjectives and nouns were declined alike, see the Author’s Hist. Germ. Grammar, §§399-400. The strong declension includes three different types of adjectives, all of which are declined alike: (a) The olda-stems, asblint, infl. formblinter,blind;bar,bare,guot,good,heilec,holy,hol,hollow,michel,great,vinster,dark, and similarly with a very large number of adjectives, including the past participles of strong and weak verbs. (b) The oldja-stems, aslære(OHG.lāri), infl.lærer,empty;dünne,thin,enge,narrow,grüene,green,niuwe,new,reine,pure,schœne,beautiful,senfte,soft,wilde,wild, and many others, including the present participles of strong and weak verbs. Theja-stems only differ from thea-stems in having-ein the uninflected form and umlaut in the stem-syllable when it is capable of it. (c) The oldwa-stems, asblā(OHG.blāo,blā), infl. formblāwer,blue;gar(OHG.garo), infl. formgarwer(see §§9, 1,36),ready;grā,grey,val,fallow,gël,yellow,kal,bald, &c., all of which havewin the inflected forms.
The adjectivali-andu-stems had come to be declined like theja-stems in the prehistoric period of the language, but a few remnants of such adjectives have survived in MHG. in forms without the final-ebeside those with it, asbereit,bereite,ready,dic,dicke,thick,gāch,gæhe,quick,grīs,grīse,old,grey,hēr,hēre,high,noble,rasch,resche,quick,rīch,rīche,noble,swā,swære,heavy,was,wasse,sharp.
On the loss of the-einblindem(e),blinder(e), see§9, 2. Umlaut caused by the-iuoccurs in the nom. sing. feminine and nom. acc. pl. neuter ofal,all, andander,other, second, asälliu,ändriu. This rarely happens in other words.
Likemichelare inflected monosyllabic adjectives ending in-l, -rwith a short stem-vowel, and polysyllabic adjectives ending in-el, -en, -er, asbar,bare,hol,hollow;zwīvel,doubtful,eigen,own,tougen,secret,ander,other, second,bitter,bitter,vinster,dark;ëben,even,übel,evil, bad, &c. See §9, 1, 2.
2.The Weak Declension.
§ 56.The weak declension of adjectives agrees exactly with that of the nouns.
Pluralblindenfor all cases and genders.
§ 57.The comparative was formed by means of the suffix-er(e)= OHG.-iro, -ōro, and the superlative by means of the suffix-est(e)= OHG.-isto, -ōsto. On the loss of the medial or finalein such forms astiurre,dearer,tiurste;minner,minre,less,minnest,min(ne)ste, see§9, 3. Most monosyllables have umlaut in the comparative and superlative either exclusively or have mutated beside unmutated forms. The cause of these double forms is in a great measure due to the two OHG. double suffixes: comp.-iro, -ōroand superl.-isto, -ōstohaving fallen together in-er(e)and-est(e)in MHG., aselter,older,ermer,poorer,jünger,younger,grœȥer,greater,hœher,higher, besidealter,armer,junger,grōȥer,hōher; superl.eltest,ermest,jüngest,grœȥest,hœhest, besidealtest,armest,jungest,grōȥest,hōhest. Adjectives which have umlaut in the positive regularly preserve it in the comparative and superlative.
The comparative is declined weak, but the superlative is declined strong and weak.
§ 58.The following adjectives form their comparative and superlative from a different root than the positive:—
beȥȥer,beȥȥest,beste(§23).
wirser,wirsest,wir(se)ste.
minner,minre(§9, 3),minnest,min(ne)ste.
mērer,mēr(r)e, meiste.
§ 59.The following adjectives are defective:—
ērer,ērre,ërre,former,
ērest,ērste,first.
leȥȥeste,leste(§23),last.
§ 60.1.By adding-e(= OHG.-o) to the adjective when this does not already end in-e, asëben,even,hōch,high,lanc,long: adv.ëbene,hōhe,lange;edele(OHG.edili),noble,übel(OHG.ubil),evil: adv.edele(OHG.edilo),übele(OHG.ubilo).
2.Dissyllabic adjectives ending in-eand containing a mutated stem-vowel change it to the corresponding unmutated vowel, when used as adverbs, asschœne(OHG.scōni),beautiful,herte,hard,senfte,soft,süeȥe,sweet,swære,heavy: adv.schōne,harte,sanfte,suoȥe,swāre.
3.By adding-līcheor-līchento the adjective, asganz,whole,vlīȥec,diligent: adv.ganzlīche(n),vlīȥeclīche(n).
4.The comparative and superlative degrees of adverbs are the same as the corresponding uninflected forms of the adjectives without umlaut:—
langer(OHG.langōr)
langest(OHG.langōst).
§ 61.The following are irregular:—
wirsest,wirste,worst.
min,minner,minre,less
minnest,minste,least.
mē,mēr,mēre,more
meist,meiste,most.
ēr(e)st, ērste,first.
§ 62.
D. Numerals.