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, // 52 3
A SHORT
COMPARATIVE GERAMIMAR
OF
ENGLISH AND GERMAN.
“THE ACADEMY,” IN REVIEWING THE FRENCE
IDDITION (6th January, 1894), writes:—
“The object of this very able and interesting book is to enable
students who know something of modern German and modern English,
to understand the relation in phonology and grammar between those
languages, and their common relation to Greek and Latin. The attempt
is novel and somewhat daring, but M. Henry has been in a surprising
degree successful. The book, in fact, forms an excellent introduction
to the comparative philology of the Indo-European languages, its
peculiar value being due to the fact that the principles of the science
are throughout presented in their application to the explanation of
phenomena with which the learner is already familiar. The index of
English words illustrated contains about nine hundred entries, and the
index of German words nearly as many.”—The Academy.
A SHORT
comparative GRAMMAR
OF 4. e e
,--------> “
ENGLISH AND GERMAN
AS TRACED BACK TO THEIR COMMON ORIGIN AND CONTRASTED
WITH THE CLASSICAL LANGUAGES
BY
VICTOR HENRY
Leputy-Professor of Comparative Philology in The Unwersity of Paris, Doctor of Letters,
and Doetor of Laws
AUTHOR OF “A COMPARATIVE GRAMMAR OF GREEK AND LATIN ?”
TRANSLATED BY THE AUTHOR,
*S*
: Nāy; º
53 * *ºs º
: ſº ſº. A ſ)
º § '' }
§§ *** * > *
*Aſſº; A
Fº ,5:=.
§§§ * E
§ 0 whom
SWAN SONNEN SCHEIN & CO
NEW YORK : MACMILLAN & CO







1894
BUTLER & TANNER,
THE SELwood PRINTING WoRKs,
FROME, AND LONDON.
^,
P. R. E. F. A. C. E.
Titº French edition of this work, published in November, 1893
(Paris, Hachette), was reviewed shortly afterwards in the
Academy (no. 1131), in so friendly and sympathetic a spirit
that I feel bound to express my gratitude to the anonymous
critic, both for the valuable suggestions he made, and for the
praise he gave to my book. Of the former I have, as he will
perceive, availed myself as far as possible, and have deferred to
his opinion in almost every case. There is, however, one point
on which he appears to have misjudged me ; he evidently
missed the note on page 23 (p. 21 of this translation), and was
therefore led to suppose that I had stated as a fact that an
r-vowel actually existed in English. The confusion is only
apparent; for the sake of brevity I thought it advisable not to
separate the English final r from the other English and from the
German final liquids and nasals, but at the same time I reminded
my French readers that the r in this position had become an
untrilled vowel, and I referred them for further details to a
subsequent section. And I am still inclined to believe this
course the best for my purpose, especially when we take into
consideration the fact, of which there is hardly any doubt, that
as recently as two centuries ago the r was no less trilled in
mother than it is at the present day in raven.
A few words are necessary in regard to the terminology
adopted in this work. Since the words “phonèmes’’ for
“sounds” and “apophonie” for “vowel-gradation ” were not
W b
vi PREFACE.
adopted by the skilful translator of my Comparative Grammar
of Greek and Latin—of which the present book is a symmetrical
counterpart—I did not think it right to introduce them here :
convenient as they are, I have tried to do without them. But
as the term “metaphony” for G. “Umlaut " has no exact
equivalent in scientific language, I have ventured to introduce
it to the notice of English scholars and teachers in the belief
that, when once naturalised, they will find it a serviceable and
almost indispensable acquisition. “Pregermanic,” though a
somewhat loose translation of G. “Urgermanisch,” is at any
rate brief and unmistakable, considering that the notion equiva-
lent to “Vorgermanisch,”—which in the present state of our
knowledge is scarcely distinguishable from “Indo-European "-
never occurs in my work, and, when occurring elsewhere,
may easily be expressed by some such unobjectionable term as
“Ante-Germanic.” Lastly, I have retained the term “deflected
grade,” which Mr. Elliott adopted in his translation, for the
o-shade of an Indo-European syllable containing an e, seeing that
the only reason which can be urged against it is that it means
nothing. And this indeed is precisely the reason why I adopted
it many years ago and still adhere to it, since, as it means
nothing, it suffices to represent the fact we desire to express,
without introducing any misleading connotation. We know
what a “normal” syllable is, namely, one that is accented,—
and what a “reduced" syllable is, namely, one that is unac-
cented,—but we are quite unable to account for the fact that,
in certain derivations, the e of the root or the suffix is regularly
changed to 0. Such terms as “nebentonige Hochstufe,” besides
being rather cumbrous, are merely fitted to conceal our own
ignorance and to prejudge the solution of a question which had
as yet better remain unsettled, and which indeed may never
receive a complete and satisfactory answer."
1 The theory that the deflected grade of the root has any connection with
the primitive accentuation becomes more and more improbable, or, at ºmy
rate, impossible to demonstrate. See Henry, Muséon, III., (1884), p. 502,
and now Streitberg, die Entstehung der Dehnstuſe (1894), p. 62.
PREFACE. vii
The present work, as my friendly critic points out in the
review already referred to, is intended to introduce the com-
parative method to students who have already some knowledge
of both the English and German languages. An English
reader will find it accessible if he has mastered the general
outlines of the grammatical structure of German. So much
indeed is necessary—for the comparative method does not pre-
tend to teach the rudiments—but at the same time it is amply
sufficient ; and I venture to emphasize this point at the outset,
lest the student should fear to be unequal to the task and
should decline to undertake it for lack of knowledge, which, far
from being required beforehand, is presented to him as it
becomes necessary in each chapter of this Grammar. He must,
too, bear in mind that the comparative study of the Germanic
languages forms an independent whole in itself and does not
necessarily presuppose a knowledge either of Sanskrit, or
Greek, or even Latin, and that all the instances quoted in the
following pages from foreign languages are intended to aid
those who are already acquainted with them, not to disconcert
those to whom they are unfamiliar. It must further be re-
membered that, while a teacher may sometimes be compelled to
enter into minute details in order to provide for the wants of
more mature students, the beginner may very well pass these
over, or at any rate need not remember them. He must use
his own tact and judgment in making a choice between the
facts and ideas suggested to him, in dwelling upon those which
will aid his memory and in overlooking such as might encumber
it, and, in a word, in limiting his researches to the objects he
has in view, according as he intends merely to compare
German and English, or to obtain a general idea of the complete
history of the Germanic languages, or even to glance at the
primitive features of the Indo-European mother-tongue.
The student should also beware of too readily accepting con-
clusions without understanding the evidence on which they are
based, nor should he wait to examine one subject thoroughly
before passing to another. This fragmentary method of learn-
viii PIREFACE,
ing, although of great practical utility, must necessarily seem
rather discouraging to the linguistic student, since he will know
nothing of the goal to which his steps are leading him, and
when he at length reaches it he may have forgotten the road
he has traversed. Hence I should advise him, in the first
place, to read the book as a whole, omitting nothing, of course,
but without waiting to consider specially any passages which
at first sight may appear difficult or obscure. It must, for
example, be confessed that pure phonetics have little charm for
the uninitiated reader; it almost requires a special sense to
admire a beautiful correspondence of vowels or consonants, no
less than a neat formula in mathematics. Word-formation
itself, especially when confined within the narrow limits which
a primer imposes, seldom appears sufficiently clear and cogent
to compensate for the inevitable dryness of its main statements.
It is not until he comes to grammar proper, that is, to the
study of declension and conjugation, that he will find himself
quite at home. Here, at any rate, nothing is unfamiliar to
him, and he may even verify for himself facts of which he has
hitherto remained ignorant. He will now begin to understand
the reasons for the phonetic and etymological processes which
may have at first proved bewildering. Were he now to re-open
the book after this first perusal, he would find a new and
unexpected light cast upon most of the points which he had
wisely reserved for further examination. In this second reading
he should avail himself, to a large extent, of the numerous
references given in the notes at the foot of the page; he should,
for instance, associate the theory of final s with the study of
plurals and genitives, or that of medial s with the formation
of German plurals in er, or vowel-gradation with the classifica-
tion of the so-called Germanic strong verbs; in short, he should
take a broad survey of the vast tract of knowledge into which
a sound method has led him step by step.
In the next place, I would recommend my readers to make
frequent use of the indexes of words which are given at the
end of the book. The examples have been purposely multi-
PREFACE. ix
plied, and, though of course the most typical among them must
occur several times in different places, constant care has been
taken to vary them as much as possible, in such a way as to
include nearly all the important words of both languages, and
thus to supply the student with a double etymological vocabu-
lary, reduced to its simplest elements. He will find it advan-
tageous to take cognate words, and to compare them with each
other, vowel for vowel and consonant for consonant, and so
obtain a clear idea of the correspondences or phonetic discords
they disclose. He may then turn for verification to the com-
plete and detailed dictionaries in which Prof. Skeat and Prof.
Kluge have displayed so much erudition and industry.
Finally, although the immediate object of this work is the
comparative study of Modern English and German, I may
perhaps indulge in the hope that for some students it may also
serve as a primer of the earlier languages, and enable them to
translate, without further help than that of an appropriate
glossary, such easy texts as may be found in an elementary
chrestomathy of Middle English or Middle High German, of
Old English or Old High German, or even of Low German or
Gothic. This, for a tolerably experienced student, is by far the
most valuable of all trainings, and he would hardly be likely to
meet with any serious difficulties, apart from the variable and
arbitrary character of many old transliterations; but if he has
once been informed, that Otfrid, for instance, still writes every-
where th for initial d, or that Notker, in certain well-defined
positions, replaces b, d and g, respectively, by p, t and k, or that
the Old English texts spell as ed., ed., etc., the diphthongs which
were actually sounded Ča, 60, it will only require a little care
and attention on his part to triumph over these obstacles.
Whatever languages he chooses for study, I should advise him
in any case to begin with the Gospels, which are usually trans-
lated word for word, so that the difficulties of syntax are
avoided; here, too, it is easy to verify and compare. Other
texts, for more advanced students, are mentioned below in a
bibliographical note.
X PREFACE,
It is perhaps almost superfluous to add that this is by no
means a servile translation of the French. Besides silently
correcting errors which were pointed out by my critics or
discovered by myself, I have introduced into it some slight
modifications which seemed convenient in a book intended for
the use of English students and teachers, and, as a matter of
fact, if the two texts are compared, few pages will be found
the same. For any further suggestions from English critics—
supposing they find the work in its new shape worthy of their
attention—I shall be truly thankful. I must also express my
indebtedness to Mr. D. B. Kitchin, M.A., late of Trinity
College, Cambridge, who has been good enough to revise my
manuscript and to polish my rough continental English;-to
Messrs. Swan Sonnenschein & Co., who undertook the publica-
tion of this translation and entrusted me with its completion
without any other guarantee than that of my name;—and,
finally, to the printers, whose skill, judgment and care have
overcome the difficulties of their task and enabled the work to
attain at least the material accuracy which the reader expects
and the author desires.
W. HENRY
PARIs, May 1st, 1894.
(1)
(8)
(9)
(Io)
(II)
(12)
(13)
(14)
(15)
(16)
(17)
(20)
(21)
(22)
(24)
(25)
(26)
(27)
(28)
(29)
(30)
(33)
(34)
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAGE
PREFACE - * V
TABLE of ContFNTs . . xi
TRANSLITERATION . e . xvii
CoNVENTIONAL SIGNS . * * g * g & & . xxiii
BIBLIoGRAPHICAL NoTE XXV
INTRODUCTION 1
FIR, ST PAR. T.
SOUNDS . g g s 15
CHAPTER I.--THE ELEMENTS OF PHYSIological, PHONETICs 18
Section I.-The Production of Sounds 19
Section II.-Classification of Sounds . tº 23
§ 1.-Vowels, Semi-vowels and Diphthong 23
§ 2. —Consonant-Vowels ſº & 25
§ 3.-Consonants g º * 26
CHAPTER II.--Wow ELS AND DIPHTHoNgs † º 29
Section I.-Vocalic Laws in English and German. 29
§ 1.-Recent Vowel Change & 30
§ 2.—Shortening and Lengthening . ſº 39
§ 3.−Old English Vowel-Breaking . ë wº e 42
§ 4.—Metaphony (Vowel Mutation or Modification) 43
§ 5.—Pregermanic Compensatory Lengthening . . 49
Section II.-Primitive Vowels and Diphthongs and their
IEvolution & ū g te * & 51
§ 1.-Short and long e 52
§ 2.-Short and long 54
§ 3.-Short and long w * & 55
§ 4.—Diphthongs of short e & e * 57
§ 5.—Short a and o, and their Diphthongs 59
§ 6.—Long a and o . ſº † te {} 62
Section III.-Vowels in Final Syllables . 63
§ 1.-Final Vowels tº º º º g . 64
§ 2.-Non-final Vowels e g te tº. . . . 65
Xi
xii TABLE OF CONT ENTS.
PAGE
(35) CHAPTER III.-SEMI-Vowels AND ConsonANT-Vowels . . 66
Section I.-Semi-vowels . g & tº g g º . 66
(36) § 1.-Semi-vowel y . * g e e g * . 66
(37) § 2. —Semi-vowel w . & ſe & g * tº . 68
(38) Section II.-Consonant-Vowels º tº g e g . 69
(39) § 1.--Nasals ſº * & g g º gº e . 69
(41) § 2. —Liquids e e º * tº & t e . 72
(43) Section III.- Indo-European Vowel-Gradation (Apophony) . 74
(44) § 1.-The Principle of Vowel-Gradation . {} tº . 75
(45) § 2. —Germanic Vowel-Gradation * * ſº . 77
(46) CHAPTER IV.-ExPLoSIVE CoNsonANTS AND THEIR SUBSTITUTEs 82
(47) Section I.-The Second Consonantal Shifting . § g . 83
(48) § 1. —Labials e º & tº º * ſº . 84
(49) § 2. — Dentals e * g † * • * * © , 88
(50) § 3. –Gutturals . & tº º tº & * e . 91
(51) Section II.- The First Consonantal Shifting . & º , 98
(52) § 1.-Grimm's and Werner's Laws . e t * . 100
(54) § 2.-Primitive Voiceless Explosives e g e . 104
(56) § 3. — Primitive Voiced Aspirates . o tº & . 108
(57) § 4.—Primitive Voiced Explosives . ë g & ... 109
(58) CHAPTER W.—SIBILANT ConsonANTs . g e & § . 111
(59) Section I.-Initial Sibilant . tº e º g tº . 111
(60) Section II.-Medial Sibilants . . . . ſº . . 113
(61) § 1.-Voiceless Sibilant . e e * ſe g . 114
(62) § 2.-Voiced Sibilant . . . . . . . . 116
(63) Section III–Final Sibilant . . & e º º . 117
(64) CHAPTER WI–ACCENT © tº o g . . . . 118
(65) Section I.--Word-Accent . . . . . . . 119
(66) Section II.-Sentence-Accent . ſº gº º o e . 123
(67) SEC ON ID PAR. T.
|WORDS. 127
(70) CHAPTER I-PRIMITIVE DERIVATION . ſº ū e tº . 133
(71) Section I.-Primary Suffiaces . t tº § g tº , 133
(72) § 1.-Nominal Stems . tº o d e e is . 134
(81) § 2. —Verbal Stems . e e e º tº tº . 145
(86) Section II.-Secondary Suffiaces . º wº * tº . 150
(87) § 1 —Nominal Stems . . . . . . . . 150
(92) § 2.—Verbal Stems 156
(94). CHAPTER II.-ENGLISH AND GERMAN DERIVATION . . . . 160
(95) Section I.-Prefia:es. tº tº te o © * e . 160
(96) § 1.-Nominal Prefixes . ſº gº † º * . 161
(97) § 2. —Verbal Prefixes . o tº tº tº e g . 164
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(IoI)
(102)
(Ios)
(106)
(108)
(199)
(IIo)
(III)
(112)
(113)
(II4)
(115)
(116)
(117)
(118)
(IIg)
(I.20)
(121)
(122)
(I23)
(I.24)
(125)
(126)
(127)
(128)
(129)
(134)
(135)
(136)
(137)
(138)
(139)
(I40)
(143)
(144)
(145)
(146)
(147)
Section II.-Suffices properly so-called
§ 1.-Nominal Suffixes º
A.—Nouns
JB.—Adjectives
§ 2. —Verbal Suffixes. o º º -
Section III.-Old Words changed to Suffixes
§ 1.-Nouns º e * e e -
§ 2.-Adjectives.
§ 3.−Adverbs
CHAPTER III.-COMPOSITION g º
Section I.-Classification of Compounds
§ 1.-Grammatical Classification
§ 2.--Functional Classification
Section II.-Formation of Compounds .
§ 1.—Form of the First Term .
§ 2. —Form of the Last Term . º
CHAPTER IV.--THE SYSTEM of NUMERATION .
Section I.--Cardinal Numbers
§ 1.-Units and Sums of Units.
§ 2.-Tens . g e & g e - -
§ 3.−Hundreds and Thousands & º &
Section II.-Derivatives from Cardinal Numbers
T H IIH, D PA. R. T.
DECLENSION.
CHAPTER I.--ARTICLES w tº ſº
Section I.-Definite Article . º e tº
§ 1.-Origin and Primitive Declension .
§ 2. —Modern State
Section II.-Indefinite Article
CHAPTER II.-Nouns. ſº
Section I.-Gender
Section II.-Number
§ 1.-General Remarks
§ 2. — Plurals in -s tº
§ 3.−Plurals in -en . º * º -
§ 4.—Plurals in -e without Metaphony .
§ 5.—Metaphonical plurals with or without an -e.
A.—English metaphony
B.--German metaphony
§ 6.—Metaphonical plurals in -er
xiv.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
(148)
(149)
(150)
(152)
(153)
(154)
(I55)
(156)
(I57)
(158)
(159)
(160)
(161)
(162)
(163)
(164)
(165)
(166)
(167)
(618)
(170)
(171)
(173)
(I75)
(176)
(179)
(18o)
(181)
(182)
(183)
(184)
(185)
(186)
(187)
(188)
(189)
Section III.-Cases
§ 1.-Accusative
§ 2.-Genitive -
§ 3.−Dative . .
CHAPTER III.-ADJECTIVES
Section I.-Declined Adjective
§ 1.-Strong Declension
§ 2. —Weak Declension . ©
Section II.-Invariable Adjective .
§ 1.-In German º
§ 2.-In English
CHAPTER IV.-PRONou Ns .
Section I.--Demonstratives . © q º
§ 1. –Demonstratives properly so called .
§ 2.-Interrogative and Indefinite Pronouns.
§ 3.−Relative Pronouns .
Section II.-Personal Pronouns
§ 1.-First Person
§ 2. —Second Person .
§ 3.−Third Person
§ 4.—Reflexive Pronoun .
§ 5.—Possessives
F O U R T H P A R. T.
CONJUG ATION.
CHAPTER I.-TENSEs . & t g
Section I.—Perfect : General Survey 0.
Section II.—Strong Perfect and Participle .
§ 1.-Perfects with vowel-gradation
A. —Type drive=treiben
B.—Type choose=kiesen º . e º
C. —Type drink=trinken and swell=schwellen
D.—Type steal–stehlen .
JE.—Type see–sehen e
F. —Type slay=schlagen
§ 2. —Reduplicated Perfects . º t
G.—The only Type being fall = fallen .
Section III.--Weak Perfect and Participle .
§ 1–Apparent Anomaliès g a
§ 2.-Principle of Formátion
§ 3.−Applications A
, PAGE
249
252
255
259
260
261
263
263
264
266
266
268
268
270
271
271
273
274
276
278
282
285
3.19
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
XV
(190)
(191)
(192)
(193)
(196)
(198)
(199)
(200)
(204)
(208)
(2II)
(213)
(2I4)
(215)
(216)
(218)
(222)
(223)
(224)
(225)
(226)
(227)
(228)
(229)
(230)
(231)
(232)
(233)
(234)
(235)
(236)
(237)
(238)
(239)
(240)
CHAPTER II.-MooDs
Section I.--Subjunctive .
§ 1.-Present Subjunctive
§ 2. — Perfect Subjunctive
Section II.-Imperative
CHAPTER III.-PERSON-ENDINGs
Section I.-Ordinary Conjugation
§ 1.-Present-Endings .
§ 2.-Present-Metaphony .
§ 3.-Perfect-Endings
§ 4.—Subjunctive-Endings
§ 5.—Imperative-Endings º
§ 6.—The English Verbal Plural
Section II.-Anomalous Conjugations
§ 1–The Verb “to be"
§ 2. —Other Root-Verbs
§ 3.−Preterito-Presents
Type A. .
Type C.
Type D. .
Type E. .
Type F. .
|Unclassed º & ©
CHAPTER IV.-VERBAL PERIPHRASEs
Section I.--Periphrastic Tenses
§ 1.-Present
§ 2. —Past . e
§ 3.−Future . tº º -
Section II.-Periphrastic Moods .
§ 1.-Indicative . e
§ 2.-Subjunctive
§ 3.−Conditional
§ 4.—Imperative & &
Section III.-Periphrastic Aspects
§ 1.-Reflexive Aspect
§ 2. —Passive Aspect
CoNCLUSION º º © ſº
INDEx of Words.-I. English
II. German
INDEx of TERMINATIONS.—I. English
II, German
PAGE
321
321
393
TRANSLITERATION.
IN the transliteration of words and forms quoted either from
the Indo-European or Pregermanic mother-tongue, or in gene-
ral from any language, which, having no literature, naturally
lacks a conventional orthography, -such as rural dialects,
as also whenever it is necessary to emphasize the true pronun-
ciation of any form even of a literary language, the spelling
is strictly phonetic, so that every symbol must be given its
specific and precise value, as defined at the beginning of this
work (no. 10–14): thus, the vowels, a, e, i, o, u, are the so-called
Latin, never the English vowels, and ought to be sounded
everywhere, for instance, a = E. a. in father, 7=E. ee in see, w=
E. oo in soon (German w), and so forth; g, b, Ö and b are the
spirants which respectively represent the German g of ewige, E.
hard and soft th, and E. v. 1; Ś is E. sh, and Ž is French j (2 in
glazier); w and y, semivowels, E. w and y in young, etc. The
latter sound, however, is denoted by a j in Pregermanic and
Gothic, as it was in Old High German and is still in all the
continental Germanic languages.”
In regard to accent and prosody, the reader must always dis-
tinguish very accurately such symbols as: ä or simply a,
unaccented short vowel; 4, accented short vowel; ā, unaccented
long vowel; á, accented long vowel; occasionally, d, short
vowel with a secondary accent ; and the like.”
* Though not quite exactly, the b being a bilabial sound, whereas E. v is
rather denti-labial.
* The reason, here, for infringing the law of uniformity in transliteration,
is merely a practical one, namely, because all Germanists agree in using this
spelling: wherefore also the diphthongs ay and aw will be written ai and aw
in Pregermanic.
* In such languages as no longer exhibit any written evidence of accentu-
XVII
xviii TRANSLITERATION.
The theoretical transliteration adopted for the mother-
tongues, as a rule, holds good for their offspring, apart from
the additions and modifications which are forced upon it by
usage or conventional Orthography, and may be briefly summed
up as follows.
Sanskrit.—The c, in any position, like E. ch (in church);
the j, like E. j. Non-italic t, d, and n, in italic words, are
cacuminal consonants; but, of course, we may be allowed to
blend them with the corresponding dentals. The s is never
Soft and is sounded in every position like initial E. s or
French g.
Greek.-The so-called Erasmian pronunciation * is not quite
correct ; but it may be deemed sufficient for our purpose, pro-
vided the long vowel be always carefully distinguished from
the short one. The F, a merely dialectic sound, is E. w.
Latin.—The rules for correct Latin pronunciation are both
plain and short, viz.:-each vowel has its phonetic value;—
c, in any position, like k, and g, in any position, as in E. give;—
j= German j (E. y), and v=E. w;—s hard (never like z), even
when medial;-the accent, always on the penult, or on the
antepenult if the penult is a short syllable.
Gothic.—The ei is not a diphthong, but a simple i (E. ee).
The aí is a short open e (E. set), and the aſ a short open o (E.
not), whereas ā'i and āu are true diphthongs, sounded as they
would be in Modern German (E. approximately I and how).
If the symbol exceptionally lacks the distinctive accentuation,
then it must be inferred that its real value is as yet unknown.
In the diphthong iu, the stress is on the i, and the glide on the u.
The sound of b, d and g is a double one,—a fact, however,
which it will be sufficient to bear in mind, without troubling
to reproduce it, namely: medial between vowels, they are
changed to spirants and become respectively b, Ö' and z. The
ation (Gothic, Old English, Old High German, etc.), accent should be
neglected, and there remains but the distinction between short and long
vowels. The Latin accent, though well known, is never marked, because it
is of no importance for Indo-European comparison : see my Gramm. of Gr.
and Lat., no. 80–82.
* Each vowel with its phonetic value, and 6 = t +h (not E. th]; cf. my
Gramm, of Gr. and Lat., no. 23, 24 and 54.
TRANSLITERATION. xix
b, of course, is E. hard th: The s is always hard, and the z, as
in English, is the corresponding soft sibilant." The v, which is
written w by many Germanists, is equivalent to the E. w, and
the q is to be pronounced like kw. Lastly, the g, before a k or
a g, represents the guttural nasal ń (briggan like E. bring and
G. bringen).
Old Norse.—The ae, the oe and the y, whether short or long,
respectively, like German à, Ó and iſ (French u). Spelling
keeps the voiced dental spirant (Ö), apart from the voiceless
(b); but the labial spirant, whether voiceless or voiced (f or
v), is always written f. Other symbols present no difficulty.
The quotations, moreover, are very few.
Old English.--The exact pronunciation of the vowels and
diphthongs is lost altogether; but there is little chance of error
in pronouncing the words as they are written, that is, each
letter with its phonetic value.” We should only observe that
the ae is a simple vowel, not a diphthong; for it arises from a
primitive a and has returned to E. a it is the sound of a in
bag, cab, with but this difference, that it may be either short or
long. The y is French w (G. ii), likewise either short or long.
The groups ea, 6a, eo, 60, ie, ie do not form two syllables: they
are mere diphthongs, the stress being laid on the first com-
ponent, and the second uttered very swiftly as a kind of semi-
vowel.
Old English indifferently spells ö (later b) the dental spirant,
whether voiced or voiceless: hence we are unable to distinguish
them from each other with absolute certainty, and the best
course will be, always to pronounce the Ö as a hard E. th: The
f, likewise, is sometimes an f, and sometimes a v. The c is
sounded k before any vowel, though it may have assumed, quite
early, in certain positions, the slightly palatal shade which later
on resulted in the present sound of E. ch. * The g was a spirant
* Beware of pronouncing it as Modern German 2.
* Beware, above all, of Sounding the Old English, and even the Middle
English vowels and diphthongs, with the strange value they have now ac-
quired in contemporary speech (cf. infra no. 17–20): gàs (a goose), not gils,
and gès (geese), not gis, and so forth; of course, Old English w is German w.
* Thus, in ic (I), pr. ich : some E. dialects have the form chill for I will,
where the apparent initial of the verb is really only the final of the pronoun.
XX TRANSLITERATION.
in all the numerous cases in which it has now become E. y :
the symbol for it was g; indeed, it is from the Old English
alphabet itself, that our contemporary phonetics have borrowed
this peculiar letter to denote the voiced palatal spirant.” But
ordinary pronunciation need not dwell upon these minute
details. The semi-vowel w is E. w, and the i, when represent-
ing the Germanic semi-vowel j,-as, for instance, in the ending
of verbs in -ian,—is also confined to the value of a simple glide
or semi-vowel.
Middle English.--Take each letter almost for its phonetic
value, obscuring however such unaccented sounds as later have
become mute. The th, either hard or soft, according as it is
pronounced in the corresponding Modern English words.
High German (Old and Middle).-The vowels and diph-
thongs are to be sounded as they are spelled, that is, very
nearly as in Modern German, but with a clear distinction be-
tween short and long vowels: thus, the student should beware
of lengthening the first syllable in géban (=geben), or shorten-
ing the final in habén (= haben). It is superfluous to make any
difference between ä and e, the former being written for primi-
tive Germanic ē, and the latter for posterior e arising from the
metaphony of a. In the diphthongs ea, ia, eo, io, wo, the stress
is on the first component.
The consonants, in general, are those of Modern German,
except in the case of four: medial h before a consonant, and
final h, like G. ch (naht=nacht); 3 and 33, approximately a hard
s”; s, hard in any position; w, as in English.”
Slavonic.—Immaterial, owing to the rareness of quotations.
Follow the spelling : it is an obscure vowel ; Ś = E. sh; 3 = Sans-
krit c or E. ch.
Modern Languages.—The reader is supposed to be ac-
quainted with their pronunciation, or else must be referred to
1 In this Grammar, however, the O.E. palatal has been written g, simply
to avoid an unfamiliar symbol, and to emphasize the perfect correspondence
of both the English and the German Sound.
? But z or zz, just as at present (ts).
8 In Middle German, w verges on its present Sound, namely, English v.
Old and Middle German v has the sound of f, with only a slight difference
which is now quite lost.
TRANSLITERATION. xxi
pronouncing dictionaries. The traditional orthography of
Modern German has been retained in this work, because it is
still the best known and most current out of Germany, and
differs too little from the new one, to involve here any incon-
venience; though, indeed, the recent reform ought to be
encouraged; for, inconsistent as it may be, England and France
have a great deal to do for themselves, before they can be
allowed to find fault with the modest improvement in spelling
attained in Germany.
Q.C.C.
adv.
advb.
cf.
dat.
defl.
E.
6.9.
F.
fm.
G.
gen.
Go.
Gº".
i.e.
I.-Fl.
impf.
ind.
inf.
L
Lith.
M.E.
metaph.
IM.F.
M.H.G.
Mod.
777&C.
CONVENTIONAL SIGNS.
accusative.
adverb.
adverbial.
compare.
dative.
deflected.
English.
for instance.
French.
feminine.
German."
genitive.
Gothic.
Greek.
that is.
Indo-European.
imperfect.
indicative,
infinitive.
Latin.
Lithuanian.
Middle English.
metaphonical.
Middle French.
Middle High German.
Modern.
masculine.
8q.
subj.
Suff.
vb.
Q}OC.
Zd.
nominative.
neuter.
Old English.
Old French.
Old High German.
Old Norse.”
participle.
perfect.
plural.
. 1st, 2nd, 3rd person of the
plural.
pronounce.
prefix.
Pregermanic.
present.
reduced.
singular.
. 1st, 2nd, 3rd person of the
singular.
Sanskrit.
Old Slavonic.
and following.
subjunctive.
suffix.
verb.
vocative.
Zend (Avestic).
All other abbreviations will be self-explanatory.
The sign of equality (=) between two forms implies their complete iden-
* That is, what is called “German" in English, namely Hochdeutsch.
The word “Germanic ’’ is never abbreviated.
* That is, especially, Old Icelandic.
xxiii
xxiv. CONVENTIONAL SIGNS.
tity, whether the one proceeds from the other, as in E. book =O.E. boc, 1 or
both are to be traced back to a common ancestor, as in E. book =G. buch.
A formula a b = c : d denotes a proportion, to be read as in arithmetic.
An asterisk before a form denotes that it does not rest on any historical
evidence and is merely restored by conjecture.” Of course, this is the case
With all the so-called Indo-European or Pregermanic forms.
A hyphen, placed before or after a form, denotes an element of language
which never appears by itself and cannot be used but by becoming united
with some other element, namely:-the form followed by the hyphen is
either a prefix detached from the compound it belongs to (E. be-, G. ver-), or
a bare stem curtailed of its grammatical endings (G. seh- “to see”);-and
the form preceded by the hyphen, is either a stem which does not occur
without a prefix (G. -kunft *), or (more often) a derivative suffix or a gram-
matical ending (E. -y =G. -ig as in holy = heilig, E. Sg. 2 -st = G. sg. 2 -st,
etc.).
The work has been divided into 240 sections, numbered uninterruptedly
from the beginning to the end, each of which forms as homogeneous a whole
as possible. All the references introduced by the words supra and infra refer
to these divisions.
The Indexes will be found at the end of the volume.*
* The signs > and <, which respectively should mean “resulting in ’’ and
“ derived from,” are not used here : 1. because the exposition could do with-
out them; 2. because they are equivocal, scholars having not yet come to a
full agreement as to their value.
* Quite exceptionally, as on p. 1, it precedes a form which neither is nor
ever was extant. On the contrary, it cannot be too strongly insisted upon,
that the restored forms are not at all fictitious, but based on a strictly scientific
induction and, therefore, as sure in most cases as if they were actually found
in some book. Thus no word *varm-s, which would mean “warm,” is to be
read in any Gothic text; but both E. and G. have warm, to which a Go. *varm-s
is the strictly phonetical correspondent; and, on the other hand, Gothic has a
derivative wb. varm-jan “to warm,” which necessarily presupposes a nominal
basis "varm-: hence, we may affirm with absolute certainty that Gothic
once possessed an adjective *warm-8, and the asterisk here is an almost
superfluous symbol.
* In the compounds aus-kunft, zu-kunft, ein-künft-e, no word *kunft being
now extant; but the adjective to zu-kunft is künft-ig, which irresistibly points
to the nominal basis “kunft.
* The reader will be pleased to remember that a given word may occur
more than once under the same number, and to peruse the notes as well as
the text.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.
BEHAGHEL (O.). Die Deutsche Sprache. Leipzig und Prag,
Freytag, 1886. Engl. Transl. by Emil Teichmann sub tit.
Short History of the German Language. London and New
York, Macmillan, 1891.
Beiträge zur Geschichte der Deutschen Sprache und Litera-
tur, herausgegeben von H. PAUL and W. BRAUNE (E. SIEVERs).
I.–XVIII. Halle, Niemeyer, 1874-94 (in progress).
Beiträge zur Kunde der Indogermanischen Sprachen, heraus-
geben von Dr. Ad. BEZZENBERGER. I-XX. Göttingen, Pepp-
müller, 1877–94 (in progress).
BRAUNE (W.). Gotische Grammatik, mit einigen Lese-
stücken und Wortverzeichniss [1880]. 3“ auflage. Halle, Nie-
meyer, 1887. Eng. transl. by G. H. Balg, sub tit. Gothic
Grammar, with selections and glossary, New York, Westermann
(London, S. Low & Co.) 1883.
BRAUNE (W.). Althochdeutsche Grammatik [1886]. 2“
auflage. Halle, Niemeyer, 1891.
BRAUNE (W.). Abriss der Althochdeutschen Grammatik.
Halle, Niemeyer, 1886.
BRAUNE (W.; ed.). Althochdeutsches Lesebuch, zusammen-
gestellt und mit Glossar versehen [1875]. 3“ auflage. Halle,
Niemeyer, 1888. A.
BRUGMANN (K.). Grundriss der vergleichenden Grammatik
der Indogermanischen Sprachen. Strassburg, Trübner, 1886–
93. Eng. transl. sub tit. Elements of the Comparative Gram-
This list has been purposely confined to the narrowest limits. Readers
who desire to prosecute their studies further, Will find in the books quoted
here new references to guide them.
XXV
xxvi BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.
mar of the Indo-germanic Languages, vol I. [Introduction and
Phonology'], by Dr. Joseph Wright. London, Trübner, 1888;
vols. II.-III. [Morphology] by R. Seymour Conway and W. H.
D. Rouse. London, Paul, 1891–2.
CHAMPNEYs (A. C.). History of English, a sketch of the
origin and development of the English language. London,
Percival, 1893.
DELBRück (B.). Vergleichende Syntax der Indogerman-
ischen Sprachen. I. [= vol. III. of Brugmann's Grundriss, ut
supra]. Strassburg, Trübner, 1893.
EARLE (J.). The Philology of the English Tongue. Otford,
Clarendon Press (New York, Macmillan), 1892.
HENRY (V.). A Short Comparative Grammar of Greek and
Latin. Authorized translation by R. T. ELLIOTT [1890]. 2nd
edition. London, Swan Sonnenschein & Co. (New York, Mac-
millan & Co.) 1892.
Indogermanische Forschungen, Zeitschrift für Indogerman-
ische Sprach- und Alterthumskunde, herausgegeben von K.
BRUGMANN und W. STREITBERG. I.-III. Strassburg, Trübner,
1892–94 (in progress).
KLUGE (Fr.). Nominale Stammbildungslehre der Altger-
manischen Dialecte. Halle, Niemeyer, 1886. -
KLUGE (Fr.). Etymologisches Wörterbuch der Deutschen
Sprache [1882–83]. 5* auflage. Strassburg, Trübner, 1894.
Engl. transl. by J. F. Davis. London, Bell, 1891 [made from
the edition of 1889].
MAYHEw (A. L.). Synopsis of Old English Phonology, being
a systematic account of Old English Vowels and Consonants
and their correspondences in the cognate languages, Oaford,
Clarendon Press (New York, Macmillan), 1891.
NoREEN (A.). Altmordische Grammatik, I. Altisländische
und Altnorwegische Grammatik, unter Berücksichtigung des
Urnordischen [1884]. 2* auflage. Halle, Niemeyer, 1892.
OLIPHANT (T. L. Kington). The Old and Middle English
[1873]. 2nd edition. London and New York, Macmillan, 1891
[Based on his The Sources of Middle English.]
PAssy (P.). Etude sur les changements phonétiques et leurs
caractères généraux. Paris, Didot, 1890.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE. xxvii
PAUL (H.). Principien der Sprachgeschichte. 2* auflage.
Halle, Niemeyer, 1889. English translation by Prof. H. A.
Strong [1888]. 2nd edition. London and New York, Longman,
1891.
PAUL (H.). Mittelhochdeutsche Grammatik [1881]. 3”
auflage. Halle, Niemeyer, 1889.
PAUL (H.). Grundriss der Germanischen Philologie. I.
Strassburg, Trübner, 1891.
SCHERER (W.). Zur Geschichte der Deutschen Sprache
[1868]. 2* ausgabe (Neuer Abdruck). Berlin, Weidmann,
1890.
SchLEIGHER (A.). Die Deutsche Sprache [1860]. 5* auflage,
hrsg. J. Schmidt. Stuttgart, Cotta, 1888.
SIEVERs (E.). Grundzüge der Phonetik [1876]. 4* auflage.
Leipzig, Breitkopf und Härtel, 1893.
SIEVERs (E.). Angelsächsische Grammatik [1882]. 2"
auflage. Halle, Niemeyer, 1886. Engl. tr. by A. S. Cook, sub
tit. Old English Grammar [1886]. 2nd edition. Boston, U.S.,
Ginn (London, Arnold), 1888.
SKEAT (W.). An Etymological Dictionary of the English
Language. Oaford, Clarendon Press (New York, Macmillan),
1884. Abridged Edition [1881] 1891.
SKEAT (W.). Principles of English Etymology. Part I.
Oxford, Clarendon Press (New York, Macmillan [1887], 1892.
Part II. 1891.
SOAMEs (L.) Introduction to Phonetics : English, French,
and German. London, Swan Sonnenschein & Co. (New York,
Macmillan), 1891.
Société de Linguistique de Paris (Bulletin et Mémoires de
la). I-VII. Paris, Vieweg (Bouillon), 1869–92 (in progress).
STREITBERG (W.). Zur Germanischen Sprachgeschichte.
Strassburg, Trübner, 1892.
SwºT (H.). A Primer of Phonetics. Oxford, Clarendon
Press (New York, Macmillan), 1890. [First pubd. sub tit.
Handbook of Phonetics, 1877].
SwºT (H.). A History of English Sounds, from the earliest
period, with full word-lists. Oxford, Clarendon Press (New
York, Macmillan), 1888.
xxviii BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE.
SWEET (H.). An Anglo-Saxon Primer, with Grammar,
Notes and Glossary. 6th edition. Oaford, Clarendon Press
(New York, Macmillan), 1890.
SWEET (H.). An Anglo-Saxon Reader, in Prose and Verse,
with Grammatical Introduction, Notes and Glossary [1876].
6th edition. Oaford, Clarendon Press (New York, Macmillan),
1892.
SWEET (H.). A New English Grammar, logical and histori-
cal. I. Introduction, Phonology and Accidence. Oaford,
Clarendon Press (New York, Macmillan), 1892.
VIEToR (W.). Elemente der Phonetik des Deutschen, Eng-
lischen und Französischen [1884]. 3° auflage. Leipzig, Reis-
land, 1894.
WILMANNs (W.). Deutsche Grammatik (Gotisch, Alt-, Mit-
tel- und Neuhochdeutsch). I. Lautlehre. Strassburg, Trübner,
I893.
WRIGHT (J.). A Primer of the Gothic Language, with
Grammar, Notes and Glossary. Oaford, Clarendon Press (New
York, Macmillan), 1892.1
Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung, herausgege-
ben von (Th. Aufrecht), A. KUHN (E. Kuhn und J. Schmidt).
I.—XXXIV. Berlin, Dümmler (Gütersloh, Bertelsmann),
1852–94 (in progress).”
1 From the same scholar we have a recent and detailed, most interesting,
dialectical monograph, namely: a Grammar of the Dialect of Windhill, in
the West Riding of Yorkshire (London, 1892).
2 Readers who are desirous of an easy and agreeable introduction to the
dialects of Southern Germany, as those of Central Germany differ but
slightly from standard German,—are referred to Hebel's Alemannische Ge-
dichte and to Arnold’s Pfingstmontag.
A SHORT COMPARATIVE GRAMMAR
()R ENGLISH AND GERMAN.
*—- - - -—º-- ------------
INTRODUCTION.
(I) WHEN parents or masters are teaching a child a spoken
or a literary language, they usually frame it on some dogmatic,
arbitrary, and often contradictory rules, the reasons for which
he is unable to make out for himself, the more so as his elders
would be quite at a loss to make them out for him. Why, for
instance, is the plural of oa, oa'em, and not *boaem the plural of
boa, P Why, again, the plural of ship, ships, but not *sheeps the
plural of sheep P Why should it be a vulgar blunder to say he
*knowed, though it is quite correct to say he bowed P Because
we ought to speak so and so. No further answer is ever given.
Learnt in that way, a language must appear a mere chaos.
The pupil may master it perfectly well: that is merely a matter
of practice and memory; but his knowledge of it lacks any
basis of reason, no trace of scientific spirit is ever allowed to
pervade it, and thus it is he obtains a grossly misleading view
of the whole of a large domain of human thought. While the
other works of man are stamped with the seal of his genius,
language, the first and noblest of all, and the chief character-
istic which differentiates him from other living beings, seems
Some strange and monstrous building, swarming with traps and
blind-alleys, planned at random and founded on caprice.
The fact is that a language, taken by itself, is as unable to
account for its own existence as would be any other human
fact. Let us glance at the map of Europe, and inquire why the
countries in it, and even the provinces in these countries, are
cut up into such irregular patterns. Why should they not
have been so many squares carefully drawn across the ground P
l R
2 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
Well, their history answers the question. In the same way we
may trace back the history of a language, and the higher we
trace it back, the better we become aware of the causes of such
discords as offended us at the outset, seeing them gradually, as
it were, blended into some superior harmony. This is the task
of Historical Grammar, which does for languages what
EHistory does for nations.
Yet however far it may be carried back, the investigation
must come to an end before most of the problems have received
a solution. If he lacks witnesses, the historian becomes silent;
so, where written documents are wanting, language escapes the
attempts of the grammarian. Now a language, before it is ever
written down, has already lived for centuries as vulgar speech,
unknown to learned people, or despised by them. Even the
most cultivated tongues are descended from popular dialects.
How easily, too, might the meagre documents of a language
when first written be either disfigured or lost The earliest
French text, short as it is and corrupted by generations of
scribes, goes back to the ninth century. The spoken French
which superseded Latin in Gaul was certainly very much older.
What are we then to do, if the authorities fail? A political
historian is at a loss; not so he who deals with the history of
languages. When he lacks the language he is studying, he
may refer to that from which it has arisen. So, as French
down to the ninth century stands beyond his reach, but is well
known to be descended from Latin, he will require Latin itself
to account for French. This must often answer his purpose,
since with the aid of Latin he can go back to the third century
B.C., whence the field of his researches is more than doubled.
Even supposing that Latin also were lacking, that is to say,
the whole Latin literature, epigraphy and civilization had
perished without leaving any relics but its mere name, he
would nevertheless find a way to it. The Latin parent had
other children besides French : Italian, Spanish, Portuguese,
Roumanian, descend from the same stem. Let the linguist
therefore put together and compare with one another all these
languages, each of which is sure to have preserved more or less
pure some feature of the original type; let him unify what
INTRODUCTION. 3
they have in common, eliminate or conciliate their discords,
and then he may be able to restore the deficient Latin, not of
course in its minutest details, much less in the delicacies of its
style, but sufficiently in the general outlines of its grammatical
structure to bring back into unity its diverging offspring and
thus mend up the tie accidentally loosened. This at any rate
he would be compelled to do, if he wished to go back beyond
Latin, since the unknown Prelatin whence it has come can
never be avouched by any written document. It is irretriev-
ably lost, and yet, through the comparison of Sanskrit and
Greek, the grammarian has succeeded in restoring it.
Hence, as sooner or later evidence is wanting, and literary
or monumental tradition vanishes in the mists of the past,
grammar cannot be truly and consistently historical with-
out being at the same time comparative.”
(2) Such is in particular the case with English and German.
They are well known to be near relations; and yet they are
not descended from one another, nor both from any language
historically known. English is not derived from German, as
might be inferred from the large number of erroneous state-
ments still current, which teachers and learners cannot too
carefully avoid.” The two languages sprang, before the fifth
century A.D., from a common stem, and thereafter flourished
apart, diverging more and more down to the present time. Let
us now inquire what this common stem was. Certainly not
* One point should be carefully insisted upon, namely, that the comparison
of two linguistic types, as of two natural species, does not pretend to restore
an intermediate type, exhibiting the characteristics of both, but a type prior
to both, wherein the divergent characteristics find a common origin. Such
a mistake would not be made by any one conversant with scientific methods.
Thus Darwin teaches us (Origin of Species, London, 1872, p. 265): “I have
found it difficult, when looking at any two species, to avoid picturing to
myself forms directly intermediate between them. But this is a wholly false
view; we should always look for forms intermediate between each species and
a common but winknown progenitor ; and the progenitor will generally have
differed in some respects from all its modified descendants. To give a simple
illustration: the fantail and pouter pigeons are both descended from the
rock-pigeon; if we possessed all the intermediate varieties which have ever
existed, we should have an extremely close Series between both and the rock-
pigeon. ; but we should have no varieties directly intermediate between the
fantail and powter; mome, for instance, combining a tail somewhat expanded
with a crop somewhat enlarged, the characteristic features of these two
breeds.”
* Cf. Skeat, Principles, i. p. 73.
4 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GlèAMMAR.
Gothic," as perhaps is still wrongly believed by some students.
Gothic is not the ancestor, but at most an elder brother. The
documents inherited from it are four centuries earlier than the
most ancient texts written in Old English or Old German, so
that it reflects a more archaic if not altogether purer form of
the primitive Germanic type; for it will be seen that in many
respects English and German stand nearer to the original
standard.”
Now, to proceed to an exact account of their relationship,
Continental German (Deutsch) admits of two main divisions:
High German or High Teutonic (Hochdeutsch), and Low
German (Netherlandish,” Flemish, Plattdeutsch along the Baltic
shore). What we properly call German, whether literary or
Conversational, is genuine High German, with here and there
scanty borrowings from Low German. On the other hand, a
long time before the division of Continental German had taken
place, a dialect called Anglic or Saxonic or, in one word,
Anglo-Saxonic, had emigrated from its native land, and, for
ever insulated by the sea, though subject to many foreign
influences which did not affect Continental German, has now
become Modern English * (Englisch). The common language,
historically unknown, but capable of restoration through lin-
guistic comparison, from which both English and German are
descended, is now known by the conventional term of West
Germanic.
* In the French edition of this work the word is spelt without an h; but
we cannot venture to introduce this spelling into English, as there the th is
not only written, but even pronounced. For the sake of correctness, how-
ever, it would seem advisable to drop this h altogether—allowing Gothic
writing and architecture to preserve it if they choose—as it lacks any support
in Germanic orthography.
* Thus the so-called West Germanic branch has preserved, and English
and German still sometimes preserve, the primitive Indo-Europeam é, which
Gothic almost everywhere changed to i.
* To these alone we now apply the name (Dutch) that properly belongs to
all Teutons. Curiously enough the sense has become restricted. The
French language, on the contrary, has extended to the whole Teutonic race
the name of a southern tribe (L. Alamanni) which was first known to the
Franks after their conquest of Gaul.
4 English has modified its vowels, while its consonants are still even purer
than they are in Low German; High German, on the contrary, has shifted
all its explosives: thus, High German and Low German stand nearer to each
other in their vocalism, whilst in their consonantal system English and Low
German are more closely related.
INTRODUCTION. 5
West Germanic, again, had two sisters through which we
are able to trace back one degree more. Gothic (Gotisch) is
indeed nearly akin to English and German, though far less so
than these are to one another. The same is the case with Old
Norse (Altmordisch), which still survives in the so-called
Scandinavian languages: Icelandic, Norwegian, Danish, and
Swedish.” Now, Gothic and Old Norse show more traces of
relationship with one another than with West Germanic,
though a serious amount of specific differences hold them apart,
forming two groups called respectively East Germanic
(Ostgermanisch) and North Germanic (Nordgermanisch). A
step farther we come back to the great parent, lost of course
though also restorable. Its existence is necessarily presupposed
by the fact of Germanic having spread out in three branches,
Eastern, Northern, and Western. This is the primitive or
common Germanic language, in short the Pregermanic
(Urgermanisch), a language never written, but spoken, at the
time when Hellenic civilization began to flourish, among the
barbarous tribes that were wandering about through the woods
and moors of Central Europe.
The historical and prehistorical series thus described will, if
now traced downwards, assume the form of a pedigree, as given
below, in which the asterisk denotes the dead languages from
which no written document survives.
*Primitive German or Pregermanic.
* Germanic. *North Germanic. *West Germanic.
gº Old sº |
(died out without | Old English. *Common German.
leaving any off-
Spring). Scandinavian languages. English. |
Low High

German. German.
* Modern Icelandic has preserved the original features of Old Norse better
than any other modern language.
* Gothic is the language of the civilized and Christianized Goths (L. Goti)
of Moesia, a Roman province between the Danube and Balkans. It is pre-
served in the text of the Four Gospels, St. Paul’s Epistles, and a few
fragments of other books of the Bible, the remains of a complete translation
of the Old and New Testament, composed for the use of his diocese by
Bishop Ulfilas (Wulfila, that is, “little wolf”) in the fourth century.
* The earliest remains of Old Norse are quite as old as those of Gothic,
6 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
(3) Thus, as surely as the Romance languages carry us
back to Latin, the Germanic languages point to a primitive
German, save that Latin was both spoken and written, whereas
Pregermanic never was more than spoken. But are Latin and
Pregermanic two isolated tongues, without a tie between them P
Have we now come to the limit of our knowledge, and to the
end of prehistorical induction ? No, the way remains still open
A science already mature though scarcely a hundred years old,
has led us by infallible methods to the power of uniting into
one family a considerable number of languages, still represented
at the present day by numerous offspring which cover more
than half the habitable world. In Asia, Sanskrit, Zend,
Persian, and their modern posterity; in Europe, Greek,
Latin, and the Romance languages transplanted in our days
into America; Celtic with its now dying offshoots; Ger-
manic, spread in every direction mainly through the expan-
sion of English ; Lithuanian, spoken eastwards to the Baltic
Sea; and Slavonic," occupying the whole of the East and part
of the Centre of Europe (Old Slavonic, Bulgarian, Croatian-
Serbian, Ruthenian, Russian, Polish, and Czech). Some of the
hymns of the Rig-Veda, the earliest documents of Indian
literature, may be as old as the tenth century B.C., and the
primitive stock of the Homeric poems carries us back almost
to the same date. Hence Sanskrit and Greek are justly deemed
the best witnesses of an original speech,” optionally termed
Aryan, Prearyan, Indo-Germanic (Indogermanische Ursprache),
or still better the common Indo-European language.”
perhaps even earlier (third to fourth century); but they merely consist of
short Scandinavian inscriptions written in so-called Rumic characters. Only
as late as the twelfth century appear the first literary texts of Old Icelandic,
and a little later the rich literature of the Eddas.
1 The last two are akin to one another, and can be referred to an earlier
Letto-Slavonic or Balto-Slavonic. We can also restore Celto-Latin. Less
certain, though still possible, would be the so-called Greco-Italic and Ger-
mano-Letto-Slavonic groups.
2 Sanskrit has better preserved its consonants; Greek has kept the vowels
purer. As far as vowels only are concerned, Greek is the standard Indo-
European speech, except that it has often changed their genuine accent ; in
this respect Sanskrit is far superior.
* To this term I adhere, cumbrous as it is, for the sake of greater accuracy.
Terminology, of course, is of secondary importance. Whatever its name, it
INTRODUCTION. 7
But all these tongues, even the latest, must be brought into
the discussion, as the scattered pieces of a broken mirror
should be framed together to reflect the likeness of yore, and
thus every one, or at least some one, among the Indo-European
languages must be consulted whenever we are attempting to
trace back the history of any given word or form of English
and German.
A further pedigree will show the above stated division of the
Indo-European family into six main groups:
*Parent-speech.

| |
*Indo-Iranian. *Hellenic. *Italic. *Celtic.
—— —— | ——
|, . | | |. | ..
Sanskrit. Iranian Old Greek Latin Gaulish
(Zend and and Mod. and Romance and Mod.
Persian). Greek. Languages. Celt. Lang.
* | º
*Pregermanic. *Letto-Slavonic.
| | |
*East. *North. *West. *Lettic. *Slavonic.
| |
|
Mod. Germ. Mod. Lett.
Languages. and Sl. Lang.
Having thus stated the place occupied by Modern English
and German in the great family to which they belong, we must
return to these, the special objects of our study.
(4) English is the official language of the British Empire;
the current tongue of both islands—excluding the few rural
must be understood from our previous statements that Indo-European is a
prehistoric language, restored but in no way fictitious. It is also clear that
this language is the limit of our present knowledge: beyond it lies an un-
limited past, but this past we are unable to reach. We can go back beyond
English and German by means of Gothic and Old Norse; even beyond
Pregermanic, by means of Greek and Sanskrit; but we cannot pass beyond
Indo-European since there is no other left besides it. The case would be
different if we could find out any relationship between it and another family
of languages, e.g. the Semitic group (ASSyrian, Hebrew, Syro-Arabian).
This, however, can scarcely be expected.
8 IENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
districts in which Celtic dialects still survive (Welsh, Scotch,
and Irish Gaëlic)—of the United States of North America, of
nearly the whole Dominion of Canada, Australia, and several
other colonial centres scattered through the world; lastly, the
common speech of trade and intercourse in all the great havens
and marketplaces of Eastern Asia, inasmuch as they are thriv-
ing either under the actual protection or at least the prevailing
influence of the United Kingdom. To this marvellous growth
of a language that has now become universal, let us oppose its
humble and obscure beginnings.
In the course of the fifth century some tribes, originating
from the north of Germany (the isthmus of Sleswig and the
estuary of the Elbe), severed themselves from the nations then
called Angles, Saxons, and Jutes, whose idioms were nearly
related though not identical, and repaired by successive
emigrations to the great island of Britain, then occupied by a
Celtic population. Here they founded seven kingdoms gener-
ally known by the name of the Heptarchy. The settlements
of the Jutes lay in the south-eastern corner of the land (Kent)
and in the Isle of Wight; those of the Saxons, on the river
Thames and the Channel (Essex, Middlesex, Sussex, and
Wessex); the Angles conquered the eastern protuberance (East
Anglia), viz. Suffolk and Norfolk, the great central square
(Mercia)—the corners of which in the main coincide with the
mouths of the Severn, the Mersey, and the Humber, and the
present seat of the Metropolis, -lastly, Northumberland up to
the boundary of Scotland. It is chiefly from the dialect of the
Angles, or more accurately speaking from Mercian that our
Modern English is derived : hence it is quite appropriately
named. But it must be well understood that a great many
Saxonic elements have intruded into it, the more so because
the Metropolis lies on the boundary of the two domains. Un-
fortunately enough, moreover, no important document has come
down to us from Old Mercian; for it entered rather late into
its literary period and was fairly overrun by the neighbouring
Saxonic,” the Wessex dialect. In this, the very numerous
1 Northumbrian had preceded even Saxonic ; but the brilliant Northum-
INTRODUCTION. 9
literary texts go back to the ninth century, and the little
Latin-Saxon glossaries to the eighth at least. It is therefore
this language, usually termed Anglo-Saxon or Old English,
that represents to us the most ancient form of our present
tongue that we can reach. Yet we must never forget that,
when tracing back the latter to the former, we are contrasting
it not with a real ancestor, but, as it were, with a twin brother
of this ancestor.”
The historical and still surviving dialects of English are
three in number : the Northern (Northumbrian and Lowland
Scotch), and the Central (Midland) dialect (this again divided
into Eastern and Western), are descended from Anglic; the
Southern is Saxonic. The Jutic tongue has left but insignifi-
cant traces.”
Chronologically the language may be divided into three
periods: Old English, conventionally limited to the end of
the twelfth century; Middle English, till about the begin-
ning of the sixteenth century, chiefly represented by Chaucer
(1328–1400), and Modern English, from the year 1500 down
to the present day.
(5) Since Old English is a fortuitous though unequal mixture
of Anglic, Saxonic, and Jutic, English, of course, cannot be ex-
pected to be a language altogether pure. Many other causes,
however, occurred in the course of these fourteen centuries to
alter its character. Firstly, a few words were borrowed from
the Celtic idioms still living beside and beneath it. In the
ninth century, the struggle against the Dames brought into the
island a considerable number of Scandinavian elements,
brian civilization perished under the Danish invaders, who did not reach the
Southern part of Britain.
1 Works of Alfred the Great (died 901), viz. translation of Gregory the
Great's Cura pastoralis, of Orosius' Chronicles, etc.; Saxon Chronicles; a
Northumbrian version of the New Testament, called The Lindisfarne Gospels,
etc. The poetical works (Beowulf=“the bees' wolf,” is the most often
quoted) appear only in the following centuries.
* Thus the vocalic phenomena called “Anglo-Saxonic breakings” (infra
21) do not occur in Mercian, wherefore pure English is free from them.
* Neither Irish nor American-English are true dialects, but mere varieties
of classical and official English, as introduced by relatively recent conquest
or immigration.
10 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
strengthened afterwards by the political supremacy of the
invaders under the reign of Knut the Great (1006). Much
greater still were the results of the battle of Hastings (1066),
when the Norman yoke was laid upon England. French be-
came the official language, the more so because noblemen could
and would speak no other, and even at the time of the Great
War against France, the English court was nearly as French as
the French court itself. When the national tongue prevailed,
there yet remained a considerable stock of French words
pronounced with an English accent.” Lastly, from that time,
and uninterruptedly up to the present, but especially under the
influence of the literary revival in the sixteenth century,
English as well as French adopted a great many learned
terms, borrowed either from French itself, or from Latin, or
more lately from Greek. These new words became every day
more necessary, thanks to the daily increase of new ideas, so
that the present English vocabulary is, to the extent of more
than a half, of Romance origin.”
In spite of this mixture, English remains a truly, purely,
and exclusively Germanic tongue. For the vocabulary of
any language whatever, and, up to a certain point, even its
syntax, are mere accidents, complacently yielding to every
process of admixture. Grammar alone is able to resist external
influence. Now English grammar, excluding a few derivative
types borrowed from Romance,” does not show one feature that
is not Germanic, inasmuch as all the foreign words we now
use as native ones have been forced into all the laws of Ger-
* Hence, in English, so many doublets, hue and colour, kindred and rela-
tions, husband and spouse, etc., sometimes with a slightly varying sense, as
sheep and mutton, shape and form, fulness and plenty (= O.F. plenté = L.
plenitàtem). The whole question must be left here, and the reader referred
to Skeat's Principles (II., pp. 3–248), and Behrens, Französ. Elem. im Engl.
in Paul’s Grundriss, I., p. 799 sq.
* Scientific language, in particular, admits many Romance and Latin
elements; but literature, and even poetry, by no means exclude them, much
less so the common speech. In a recent letter from London I counted 13
Germanic and 12 Latin words, that is, among the nouns, adjectives, and
verbs, since, of course, the prepositions, conjunctions, and pronouns are all
Germanic. Counted without this distinction, the words of the Lord's Prayer
are but four French to forty-four Germanic words.
8 As, for instance, the feminine suffix -ess, wrifra 69 and 87.
INTRODUCTION. 11
manic accidence." Whilst the latter has been kept unchanged
in its general outlines, the former elements are but moving and
fortuitous atoms, which should never be taken into account in a
scientific comparison of English and German.”
(6) German is geographically far less extensive than English.
It comprises hardly more than the greater part of the German
Empire, apart from the French, Danish, and Polish districts,”
three-fourths of Switzerland, the German provinces of Austria,
and in part the Baltic provinces of Russia. In the New World,
however, especially in the United States and Brazil, prosperous
centres of immigration have given rise to conspicuous groups of
German-speaking population.
In regard to dialects, Northern Germany being occupied by
those of Low German, High German proper, with which alone
we are dealing, is divided into two groups: Central or Frank-
ish-Saxonic, and Southern or Alamanno-Bavarian. The
Central group, again, comprises Saxonic, Thuringian, High and
Middle Frankish.* The Southern dialects are Alamanno-
Swabian (Württemberg, Baden, Alsace, Switzerland), and
Bavarian, including Austrian German. Among all these
Saxonic is well known to have exerted a prevalent influence
upon literary German, since the time of Luther and the
diffusion of his Bible. But the earliest documents bequeathed
to us from mediaeval High German belong for the most part to
the Alamannic group.”
1 Thus we say the barber's shop like the father's house, he save-d like he
live-d, declining and conjugating the borrowed term as though it were a
thoroughly English one.
* One instance will suffice. Considering the identity of the two words for
butter (G. butter), who would doubt them to be related through the parent
speech 2 Yet it would be an egregious error ; for, if they were, they would
be less alike : E. butter requires a G. *butzer or *busser (cf. E. water = G.
wasser); to G. butter would correspond E. *bodder (cf. E. fodder = G. futter).
So, as a matter of fact, the two words have been formed and separately bor-
rowed, in each language, from the L. butyrum.
* German, indeed, is the official tongue of all these countries, as it is like-
wise of the Northern provinces of Germany, in which the current speech is
Plattdeutsch.
* Niedenfrănkisch belongs to Low German.
° Of Schwäbisch we have but Scanty remains, but a fair number of Alam-
amnisch, namely, several collections of glossaries (eighth century), the
Dominicans' Rule, the Hymns (ninth century), and the works of Notker, a
12 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
In its historical evolution, German, like English, is successively
assigned to three periods. Old High German (Althochdeutsch)
begins with the most ancient texts, dating from the eighth
century, and ends with the end of the eleventh. These consist,
firstly, of glossaries of Latin words with brief comments, and
little charters, such as the famous oath taken at Strassburg by
the sons of Louis le Débonnaire (842); 1 later, of short frag-
ments, such as the mutilated epic called Hildebrandslied,” and,
lastly, of long formal works, viz. Tatian's Evangelical Harmony,
Otfrid von Weissenburg's Evangelical Poem (High Frankish),
considerable extracts from the Bible, and the Alamannic docu-
ments mentioned above. According as final syllables are
weakened,” and the process of metaphony 4 gradually gains
ground, Middle High German (Mittelhochdeutsch) appears
with features more and more distinct, and then lasts, like our
Middle English, down to the year 1500. In this language were
written the famous poem of the Nibelungen (twelfth century),
and the songs of such Minnesinger or troubadours as assembled
at the poetical and perhaps legendary meeting of Wartburg in
Thuringia (1206 P) The Saxonic translation of the Bible opens
the era of Modern German, which, however, in forms or
constructions, differs very slightly from its immediate prede-
cessor. Of course, the words have become a little shorter;
Some final syllables, already half-mute, have been entirely
dropped ; and the grammar is simplified, while, on the other
hand, the syntax displays new means for the expression of new
ideas; but, on the whole, the language is still one and the
same, so that, at least, in this primer, it will seldom be neces-
monk of St. Gall, who died in the year 1022. This dialect, through an
erroneous extension of Grimm's second law (infra 47), was once taken for
High German proper (Strengalthochdeutsch), and termed by this name. This
view has now been abandoned.
* But the manuscript of the historian Nithard, who has preserved it for
us, is not earlier than the eleventh century, or the tenth at most. The dialect
is the Frankish spoken along the Rhine (Rheinfrănkisch).
* A curious but corrupt text, because High and Low German have been
interwoven in its transliteration. The poem of the Saviour (IIelvand), a short
time later, is written in old Saxonic, that is, in pure Low German.
* O.H.G. dému = M.H.G. déme dém = G. dem is a good illustration of this
gradual change. But see below, the examples in 19.
* For German metaphony (Umlaut) the reader is referred to 22 infra.
INTRODUCTION, 18.
sary to quote the Middle German form as an intermediate link
in the clear and obvious genealogy traced from High to Modern
German.
German, as may be understood from what we have stated, is
also a mixed tongue, but not nearly so much so as English ; for
it has grown on its own soil, and thus it neither borrows words
from a conquered race, nor receives any from the foreign influ-
ence of a conqueror. Its vocabulary, it is true, contains some
Low German terms, always easily distinguishable ; Roman
civilization has poured a great many into it; the Southern
dialects infused into the softness of the Central pronunciation
a shade of their own rudeness and energy, and contributed on
a large scale to enrich the general tongue; * but the main stock
remains, nevertheless, Central German, or rather Saxonic, such
as is spoken, more or less purely, by all educated people, from
Göttingen to Königsberg, from Berlin to Bern or to Vienna.
Further, in regard to literary or scientific words, drawn from
Greek and Latin, it could not help following the fashion of all
civilized nations; and yet it has adopted fewer of them than Eng-
lish and French, preferring—whether rightly or wrongly—such
as its native genius could afford.” More recently, as the French
literature and fashions of the seventeenth and eighteenth cen-
turies gained in Germany an almost overwhelming vogue, the
language of the higher classes was turned into a macaronic cant
of French words supplied with Germanic endings, of which many
have survived to the present time.” But these have been lately
* Thus, the diminutives in -chen (L.G. -ken = E. -kin), belong to Central
German; those in -lein (O.H.G. -lin, Swiss-li), are taken from the Southern
dialects. Literary German now admits of both. Cf. infra 103 (IV).
* A German would say, for instance, eindruck, awsdruck, gleichung, wasser-
stoff, and even fermsprecher, whereas we use the words impression, eacpression,
equation, hydrogen, and telephone. Scientific terms thus manufactured are
clear enough to a German child, but perplex foreigners, and do nothing to
advance that desideratum of the future, an international Scientific language 1
* Hence have come such words as genie, mode, marsch, marschwe, em, par-
lieren, råsonnierem (the latter two somewhat contemptuous), altered some-
times by fanciful and popular etymology. Thus, abenteuer (M.H. G. aventiure,
“a tale,” an old borrowing from F. aventure), Sounds to the illiterate ear like
abend-theuer, “dear to eventide ’’ (because evening companies are fond of
story-telling), and F. trottoir (footway), has become Berlin. tretoir or trittoir,
as though from the verb treten (to tread), er tritt (he treads), etc.
14 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
proscribed, and are disappearing, under a perfectly justifiable
sense of national independence, which, however, is not altogether
free from a certain ridiculous exaggeration.
(7) Our comparative examination of English and German
must comprise four parts; the first devoted to Phonetics or
the Science of Sounds; the other three, to Morphology
or the Comparison of Forms. In other words, after we
have compared the vowels and consonants of the two languages,
we have to contrast in both the Formation of words, then
the accidence of declinable words (nouns and pronouns) or
Declension, and lastly, the accidence of conjugable words
(verbs) or Conjugation. Syntax, as already hinted above, is
only an accessory part of Grammar properly so-called.
FIRST PART.
SOUNDS.
(8) The sounds of every human language are in a
state of perpetual change. The son's speech is never quite
the same as the father's ; but the difference is so slight that
they can scarcely be aware of it, else the father would try to
correct the son. It grows greater between grandfather and
grandson; but these still understand each other pretty well, and
are conscious of uttering the same sounds. This, however, is
not at all the case between more widely-separated generations,
as sooner or later the gap must appear, and, after five or ten
generations, the ancestor and his offspring would no longer
understand one another. But, let the changes be ever so slow
or so fast, it is clear, to any one who has ever considered a
language at two distinct stages of its evolution, that they all
obey or follow some natural and consequently constant laws.
This is as much as to say that, if a given sound or group of
sounds, in a given position, has undergone such or such muta-
tion, it must needs have undergone the same change in every
word (of the same language) wherein it happened to occupy the
same position.
Common sense itself forces this conclusion upon us. Thus,
supposing an English group, e.g. initial fl, and an individual
physically incapable of pronouncing it correctly, and compelled
to replace it by something like fy," he will, of course, not be able
to pronounce it in any one word more than in any other, and,
if he says a fyower, he ought to also say the fyoor. Briefly, this
man's tongue will never admit of an initial fl, at least before
* Compare Italian fiore and F. flewr = L. flörem.
15
16 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
a vowel o. In his children's speech this peculiarity might be
neutralized by some external influence; otherwise, an English
dialect will arise from him, in which every initial fl is replaced
by fy. This necessary consequence we express by saying that,
in a language absolutely pure, the laws of sounds are
constant. In other words, a given sound, in one and the
same position, cannot give rise to two different sounds.
But, as we have been taught by the history of English and
German, no language in the world can claim absolute purity,
and none is free from some foreign admixture. Side by side with
the individual who pronounces fyower and fyoor, lives another
who says correctly flower and floor. If the latter's pronuncia-
tion also spreads, there will appear side by side two parallel
dialects, in one of which initial fl is changed to fy, whereas it
is kept in the other. Supposing them to be for ever severed,
they would in time become distinct dialects; but as soon as
conquest, trade, or mere proximity brings them into contact, it
may easily happen either that the fyower-dialect will borrow
the word floor from the other, or that the floor-dialect will
borrow the word flyower from the former; and thus there may
strangely appear, in one and the same dialect, the two contra-
dictory forms flyower and floor. In either case, the phonetic
law, “fl becomes fy,” or “fl is kept unchanged,” will seem to
be at fault. Now, nothing is more common, in any language
whatever, than a similar process of borrowing. Each one of us
is subject to it daily, inasmuch as we talk with others, and our
language must needs become a kind of compromise with the
others that surround us. Hence we see that the constancy of
phonetic laws, though theoretically necessary, can never be
directly observed in any dead or living language, since a col-
lective language is but a fortuitous aggregate of a great many
individual speeches.
The principle of constancy, therefore, must be deemed,
above all, a methodic one. It tells us to beware of hasty
guessings, specious and arbitrary identifications or fanciful
analogies. Soundly interpreted it amounts to this; we must
collect and classify all the phenomena which agree together,
these, at any rate, will be seen to far outnumber the exceptions,
SOUNDS. 17
—and, when this is done, we must try our best to explain the
apparent irregularities.
But we cannot understand how the sounds are transformed,
unless we have some knowledge of the means through which
they are formed. This is the province of physiological pho-
netics, a difficult and delicate science, though its elementary
and unquestioned principles may be summarized in a very short
chapter.
CHAPTER I.
THE ELEMENTS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL PHONETICS. 1
(9) Like every wind-instrument, the vocal apparatus may
be said to consist of a pair of bellows, emitting a current of
air; a sonorous tube, in which the current of air, more or
less impeded, eauses vibration, and of a sounding-board,
by contact with which the volume of the sound is increased.
The bellows are the lungs. As they can only supply air
during the process of expiration, the moments of inspiration
are intervals of rest, such as are denoted by punctuation.
There are, at any rate in the European languages, scarcely
any inspiratory sounds, with the exception of a few instinctive
exclamations.”
The air expired, escaping through the windpipe, reaches the
1arynx, which forms a gristly protuberance that can be easily
seen at the upper end of the windpipe. The larynx, in its turn,
opens into the pharynx by a round aperture called the glottis.
The upper margins of the glottis, called vocal chords, are
hard and elastic, and, by contracting, are able to oppose an
obstacle to the current of air, and consequently vibrate while
it is passing through.
The sounding-board consists of the double cavity of the
mouth and nostrils. The shape and size of this cavity may
vary, in such a way as to modify the sound emitted through
the glottis, under the influence of three chief factors.
1. The elasticity of the inner and outer walls of the
1 The following pages are taken from my Grammar of Greek and Latin
with, however, such slight alterations as were advisable in a Grammar O.
English and German.
2 The most obvious example would be the sound of a kiss uttered as ar
admiratory exclamation.
18
THE EIEMENTS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL PHONETICS. 19
mouth, which can be made longer by being narrowed and
shorter by being widened.
2. The action of the soft palate (velum palati). In front,
that is, for two-thirds of their extent, the nose and mouth are
completely separated by the bomy arch of the palate; but from
the pharynx to the nasal cavities there is a communicating
passage, which can however be closed by means of a fleshy and
movable prolongation of the palate, called very appropriately
the “veil of the palate.” When, the mouth being at rest, the
veil falls like a loose curtain, the two cavities are in free com-
munication with one another; but when the veil rises and rests
on the back part of the pharynx, it isolates the nasal cavities
and so renders the whole of the upper half of the sounding-
board ineffective. The soft palate has a small continuation, of
the shape of a grape, called the uvula, which can be perceived
in a mirror by opening the mouth wide. The share it has in
modifying sounds will be seen below.
3. The extreme mobility of the tongue, which by resting
successively against the soft palate, the back, middle, or front
part of the palatal arch, the gums, the teeth, etc., is capable
of producing an infinite variety of modifications in the shape
of the mouth and its mode of opening.
Whilst the sounding-board reflects, increases and varies the
musical sounds emitted through the glottis, the movements of
the tongue and lips, at the same time, produce noises, which
may be either momentary and explosive, when the mouth opens
or shuts suddenly, or continuous and fricative, when the mouth
being almost closed allows the air to escape at any point
through a very narrow passage. The musical sounds are
the vowels; the noises, whether accompanied or not by
glottal sound, are the consonants.
SECTION I.
TLIE PRODUCTION OF SOUNDS.
(Io) 1. Before coming into action, the vocal apparatus may
be said to rest in an indifferent position, the mouth being
20 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
very slightly open, the soft palate lowered, the tongue resting
flat on the bottom of the mouth, and the glottis permitting the
air to pass freely through it : in short, the position assumed
during deep thought or tranquil sleep. Neither sound nor
noise is then produced, although during expiration there passes
a gentle current of air, which contains in itself the potential
utterance of a vowel." This is the inaudible sound which in
certain modes of writing is represented by a particular symbol,
e.g. the Greek soft breathing or the French and Spanish h.
If the air is expired with more energy and a certain amount
of effort, we have the English or German h, what is quite
improperly called the aspirated h.
2. The organs being in the first position, the soft palate is
raised and cuts off all communication with the nasal cavities;
at the same time the vocal chords contract and vibrate. In
this way a pure or oral vowel is produced, a, i, u, etc.
3. If the vibration takes place without the soft palate being
raised, the vowel is sounded in both cavities at the same time,”
and so we obtain a nasalized vowel, written in French an,
int, un, etc.
4. If the mouth, when in the third position, is closed by
means of the lips or the tongue at any point, then the air
expired being only able to escape by the nostrils, no oral sound
can be produced. The result is a nasal sound, m, n, etc.
5.” The open mouth lets the current of air pass through ;
but its passage is impeded by an elastic obstacle, which is
displaced, and afterwards returns to its original position with
a rapid alternate quivering or trilling sound, viz. the trilling r
(infra 13, 1 A).
* That is, supposing the position to remain unchanged, a vowel is heard
as soon as the vocal chords vibrate.
* This can easily be proved by experiment. A looking-glass placed in
front of the mouth and nostrils, and protected by a screen from the breath
of the mouth, remains clear after the pronunciation of o, but not after the
pronunciation of the nasalized vowel on.
* In this and all the following positions, the soft palate is raised, and
consequently the nasal cavity plays no part in the production of sound,
except in the case of persons who, from some fault in the structure of the
organs, or from idleness in using them, are unable to raise the soft palate,
whence they “speak through the nose.”
THE EIEMENTS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL PHONETICS. 21
6. The mouth is open, but the tongue completely obstructs
the middle part of it, leaving only the two sides free ; the
current of air, being thus impeded, is obliged to split itself up
into two portions in order to find an outlet, and vibrates with
forcing a passage for itself in the narrow space between the
cheeks and teeth. This is the lateral trill l.
According as the nasal and trilled or liquid sounds are
accompanied or not by a slight vibration of the vocal chords,
they are said, like all other consonants (infra 7), to be sonorous
(voiced) or surd (voiceless). The former case is by far more
frequent; but a nasal or a liquid may become voiceless, when
it is either preceded or followed by a voiceless consonant, to
the character of which it becomes adapted.
It is now time to ask whether the various sounds correspond-
ing to positions 4, 5, and 6, are consonants or vowels. Of course,
a nasal or liquid is a consonant, when preceded or followed by
a vowel that combines with it to form a syllable," as in E. mote,
wndo, mare, rare, lame, elbow, etc., and in G. mein, mein, bawm,
rad, fern, lahºm, Salz, etc. But let us now consider such very
common English and German final syllables as E. even, buzom,
Sister, middle, etc., and G. rasen, gutem, mutter, mittel, etc.;
and, putting the spelling quite out of account, for in
phonetics spelling is but a conventional and deceptive element,
let us allow only our mouth and our ears to bear testimony
of what the end of these words contains. It is not a vowel
followed by a consonant; for we do not pronounce them as
Wvén, būksèm, sistêr, midèl, nor as rāzén, gütém, miſtêr, mitël,
but simply as ºvn, būksm, sistr, midl, and razº, gütm, miſtr,
mit!; that is to say, the nasal or liquid itself fills the whole
syllable and supports the preceding consonant. Hence, in this
position, it is a true vowel, and we are led to the conclusion,
that the nasals and liquids are alternately consonants
and vowels: consonants when they are supported by a vowel;
vowels generally whenever they support a consonant, and par-
ticularly when they occur between two consonants (E. fatherless,
* Apart from the well-known (13, 1A) and peculiar pronunciation of
E. r. f
22 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
G. vergehem); 4 for which reason they are termed here con-
Sonant-vowels.
7. Further, if the mouth, when closed at any point, is opened
suddenly in order to let the current of air escape, or if, when
already opened in order to pronounce a vowel, it then is closed
completely at any point and suddenly arrests the current of
air, the result is not a sound, but a noise, a momentary con-
sonant, called explosive in the former case, and implosive
or occlusive in the latter.” If this noise is not accompanied
by voice in the glottis, the consonant is called surd or voice-
less, k, t, p ; if however, while the current of air is passing
through, there is a slight contraction of the glottis, together
with vibration of the vocal chords, then we have a sonorous or
voiced momentary consonant, g, d, b.”
8. Lastly, if the mouth, instead of being completely closed
and then opened wide, is obstructed at any point, in such a
* It must be again understood, once for all, that the spelling should
always be neglected. Conventional Orthography is one thing, and pronun-
ciation quite another.
* Thus, in the group pa, the p is purely explosive, as the closed lips are
suddenly opened in order to utter it. In such a group as appa, if the two
p's are pronounced, the first is implosive (uttered by closing the mouth after
it has been opened for the emission of the a), and the second is explosive
(uttered by opening the mouth again in order to pronounce the following a).
In the similar group abba, the occlusion and explosion, though less emergetic,
are likewise quite perceptible. Hence we may infer that, in a group apa or
aba, the single p or b is both implosive and explosive. In abna, the b is
implosive; for the lips do not open until the m is sounded. And, lastly,
in amba, the b is explosive ; for the lips have been closed, immediately after
the a, in order to utter the m. All these distinctions ought to be taken into
account by those who wish to obtain a correct view of the reciprocal influ-
ences of contiguous sounds in any vocalic or consonantal group.
* The reader may prove by experiment the existence of this unconscious
vibration of the glottis. First practise the pronunciation of p or b by mere
explosion, without letting any vowel follow. This result obtained, if you
pronounce p, and at the same time tightly close the ears, no sound is heard;
whereas, if you pronounce b, you will be conscious of a deep rumbling
sound. This is the “glottal buzz" or vibration of the vocal chords, which
penetrates into the ear through the internal auditory meatus. It can often
be perceived even more simply by touching with the finger the protuberance
of the throat (Adam’s apple). Certain ethnic groups however pronounce
the voiced consonants almost without voice: this is the case with South
German and Alsatian d and b, which to a French or English ear sound like
t and p; and, as a matter of fact, apart from a certain weakness in the
utterance, there is scarcely any difference between a voiceless and a thus
unvoiced consonant.
THE ELEMENTS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL PHONETICS. 23
way as to allow the expiratory current to escape only through
a narrow opening in the centre, the air passes through this
opening with a noise of friction, which constitutes a con-
tinuous, spirant or fricative consonant. According as it
is or is not accompanied by glottal vibration, this consonant
also is called voiced, e.g. z or v, or voiceless, e.g. s or f.
SECTION II.
CLASSIFICATION OF SOUNDS.
(II) A brief analysis of the action of the vocal apparatus,
reduced to eight main positions, has allowed us to divide all
human sounds into four distinct classes: mere expiration (case
1); vowels (cases 2, 3); consonant-vowels (cases 4–6), and
simple consonants (cases 7, 8). We must now go a little
further into particulars.
§ 1. Vowels, Semi-vowels and Diphthongs.
(I2) 1. Oral vowels.-The two opposite poles of vocalism
are i (E. ee), the high-toned vowel, and u (E. oo), the low-toned
vowel. In pronouncing i, the larynx rises and the corners of
the mouth are widened in such a way as to give to the sonorous
tube the least possible length; whereas, in pronouncing w, the
larynx is lowered 4 and the lips are thrust forward, so that
the length becomes as great as possible. Between these two
lies the vowel of equilibrium, a (E. father), the sound which
is produced when, the organs being in the indifferent position
(supra 10, 1), the soft palate is raised and the glottis begins
to vibrate.
Between these three chief notes of the vocalic scale there
is naturally room for a large number of intermediate sounds.
Thus we ascend from a to through open e (E. met, G. metz)
and close e (E. ere, G. ehre); and again we descend from a to w
* These movements may be verified by placing the finger on the protu-
berance of the throat whilst uttering alternately i and w with some energy.
Everybody moreover has experienced the extreme difficulty of singing an ee
syllable on a low tone, or inversely the word wood on a high one.
24 - I.NGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
through open o (E. hot, G. soll) and close o (E. home, G. lohn).
The o sounds and the e sounds, in their turn, are connected
together through the intermediate sounds of G. 6, E. u in a close
syllable (but), and English, German or French so-called e mute.
Lastly, if the larynx takes the position required for i, while
the lips are placed in the position required for u, we shall hear
the mixed sound represented by G. ii or F. w, which does not
appear in the English pronunciation."
2. Nasalized vowels.--From the description given above (10,
3) it will have been understood that to each oral vowel there
may correspond a nasalized vowel. Such, however, is rarely
the case in practice. French, for instance, has but four nasal-
ized vowels. As they do not occur at all in the correct pro-
nunciation either of English or German, we need not dwell
further upon them.
3. Diphthongs.-Let us consider such a group as G. ai,
and inquire of what it consists. Not of two vowels, certainly;
for it is not sounded a-i in two distinct expirations, but simply
ai in one syllable. In other words, the a in it is a vowel, but
the i is not a vowel, since we miss in its utterance the expira-
tory effort described above (10, 1) as the necessary condition
for the emission of a true vowel. The same is to be observed
of the w in the G. group au. This attenuated i or u, which
forms only one syllable with the preceding or following vowel,
is what we call a semi-vowel. Semi-vowels, in a consistent
phonetic spelling, are written respectively y and w, thus ay, aw,
and ya, wa, The real combination of a vowel and a semi-vowel
into one syllable constitutes a diphthong.” English has a great
many Diphthongs; German, perhaps even more.
4. Long and Short vowels.--Every vowel, whether oral,
1 Here in particular the student must not be deceived by appearances and
spelling: each language uses no more than five or six vocalic symbols, more
or less diversified by accessory signs; but there is not a language in the
world which has not, at the very least, ten vowels; and English, German,
and French have many more, both short and long.
* Real, because it may be only apparent and due to conventional spelling:
thus, E. ai and G. is are not diphthongs, since they are merely sounded as
à and i ; whereas the single i is a true diphthong in our word fine, which is
pronounced fayn.
THE EIEMENTS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL PHONETICS. 25
nasalized, or in a diphthong, may either be uttered very quickly
or prolonged through the whole of a single expiration: hence
an indefinite number of degrees of quantity, which may be
easily observed in language. For the sake of simplicity, gram-
marians have reduced these varieties to two, short and long,
thus à and ā, and have also agreed to regard the duration of a
long vowel as about twice that of a short one.”
§ 2. Consonant-Vowels.
(I3) I. Liquids.-A. We have seen the medial liquid r to
be caused by a vibrating obstacle interposed to the passage of
the expiratory current. This obstacle may be either the mar-
gins of the glottis, or the uvula, or the tip of the tongue.
Glottal r, however, is very rare in European languages.” But
uvular and lingual r occur very often in all of them. The
latter is the English r as it is sounded when correctly trilled at
the beginning of a word or between vowels (raven, caring); but,
when final (fair, sister), or before a consonant (earth, careless),
it is untrilled, and becomes a vague vocalic sound, easier to
reproduce than to describe. Uvular r is produced by the uvula
vibrating against the back of the tongue, as in the Northum-
brian burred r. German r generally appears, with many local
and individual exceptions, lingual in the Northern provinces
and uvular in the Southern. If, when final, it happens to be
untrilled, it may become an uncertain vocalic sound approach-
ing to di.”
B. In order to form the lateral tril1 1, the tongue usually
1 French sometimes denotes the long vowel by a circumflex accent. Eng-
lish has no particular sign, but often doubles a medial consonant in order to
indicate that the preceding vowel is short. German occasionally uses the
doubled vowel (saat = E. seed), or writes an e after an i (viel, vieh), or intro-
duces an h (zahm, sohm). But none of these conventional and irregular spel-
lings have any etymological value. (O.H.G. silt, filu, fihu, zam, sunu).
* But frequent in the Semitic languages, as in Modern Arabian. In some
dialects of German Switzerland the pronunciation of the deeply guttural ch
produces a rasping of the throat which much resembles glottal r.
* Thus I have seen quoted the curious word fyamenna, heard at a railway
station as the train stopped. Though it could be easily mistaken for an
Italian word, it is merely the G. für männer pronounced in that affected
way.
26 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
rests against the sockets (alveoli) of the upper teeth. This is
the dental or, better still, alveolar l. Now, the tongue may
also rest against some inner part of the mouth. This is mainly
the case when the l is followed by another consonant, whence it
is modified to a deeper sound rather akin to that of a w; thus, in
the English words false= L. fölsum, falcon = L. falcónem, etc.,
the l has caused the preceding vowel to change to an o sound.
So also in their French equivalents faua, faucon, whereas in G.
falsch and falke the a and the l are sounded separately and
distinctly heard.
2. Nasals. – The complete closure which determines the
utterance of a nasal may take place at any point whatever of
the cavity of the mouth. If in front, and through the lips
joining together, we have the labial nasal, m ; if through the
tip of the tongue resting against the upper teeth or the upper
sockets, we get the dental or alveolar nasal, n ; if again,
further back, through the root of the tongue resting against
either the hard or soft palate, the nasal becomes either palatal
or velar, both of which are often included under the common
and inaccurate, but convenient name of guttural nasal, f,
which is simply written m in English and German (E. pink, ink,
ringing, tongue ; G. Schlank, henker, schwingung, zunge, etc.).
§ 3. Consonants,
(14) 1. Explosives."—The closing of the mouth, necessary
for the production of a voiceless or voiced explosive, may also
take place at various points. With the lips closed, and then
opened, we get the labial explosive, p, b : with the tongue ex-
ploding against the teeth or sockets, the dental or alveolar, t,
d?; against the hard palate, the palatal, k, g, sounded as in
king, gift; against the soft palate, the velar, q, g, sounded as
1 According to the general custom of English grammarians, this term is
henceforth applied to all momentary consonants whatever, whether ex-
plosive or implosive.
2 The tongue may also be slightly rounded, in such a way as to touch the
dome of the palate : then the consonant becomes Cacuminal. Thus, t and
d are rather cacuminal in the standard English pronunciation, whereas they
are strictly alveolar in German and French.
THE EIEMENTS OF PHYSIOLOGICAL PHONETICS. 27
in the G. words kuh, gunst; the latter two classes being like-
wise included under the less precise appellation of gutturals
with a more or less deep utterance."
2. Spirants.-Imperfect closure of the mouth may naturally
vary in position as much as complete closure. If the lips are
half closed, we hear the labial spirant (either bi-labial, or
denti-labial), voiceless f, voiced v. Between the teeth is uttered
the interdental spirant, voiceless b, voiced 0 (E. th, re-
spectively in thin and this). Against the sockets, the dental
or alveolar, voiceless s, voiced z. Against the upper part of the
palatal arch, the cacuminal spirant, voiceless ś (E. sh = G.
sch), voiced 3 (E. z in glazier). In the back part of the hard
palate we have the palatal spirant, either voiceless (G. ch in
ich, blech), or voiced (G. g in wiegen, liige); and, against the
soft palate, the velar spirant, either voiceless (G. ch in doch =
E. though, nacht, hoch), or voiced (G. g in tage, gelogen).” We
may conveniently unite the two latter under the common term
of gutturals, and denote them by the same symbol, h for the
voiceless,” and g for the voiced, whether palatal or velar.
3. Modifications of the Consonants. –The two chief
possible modifications of the consonants are aspiration and
palatalization (French mowillement).
A. Aspiration affects scarcely any but the explosive con-
sonants. It consists in the explosion being more emergetic,
and accompanied by the forcible expiration * which we have
designed by h. Hence the consonants thus modified are denoted
in phonetic spelling by ph, th, kh, qh (voiceless), and bh, dh, gh,
gh (voiced). These aspirates can hardly be said to occur in
* It has already been observed that the Southern Germans show a general
propensity to confuse, in all these classes, the voiced consonants with the
voiceless.
* This difference of pronunciation in the ch and the g depends, as is well
known, on the nature of the preceding vowel. In standard German, how-
ever, the g is never sounded as a spirant, Save in the final syllable of words
ending in -ig.
* The reader must not confuse the expiratory h, which only occurs as
initial (O.H.G. his = G. haws), with the medial h written for the guttural
spirant (O.H.G. maht = G. macht).
* Thus for these consonants also (see above, 10, 1) the term “aspirate ’’
is very inappropriate ; but this terminology being consecrated by usage will
be retained.
28 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
Modern English. German has no voiced aspirates, but its
voiceless explosives almost always, and chiefly when initial,
receive some more or less energetic aspiration : thus pabst
(pope), nearly as phāpst. Sometimes it appears even in writ-
ing : thun = E. (to) do, that = E. deed, thal = E. dale, etc. Kh,
not a mere k, is heard in kind (child), and the initial of kuh = E.
cow is a real qh.
When the explosion of the consonant gradually coalesces
with the expiratory breath which follows it, the two sounds
end by uniting into one, that is to say, into the corresponding
spirant. Thus the transition is easy from ph to pf and f, from
th, either to th and b (E. th], or to ts (G. 2) or s (G. Sz, ss) *; and
the initial aspirate guttural of G. kind and kuh has become a
decided spirant in the Alamannic dialects of Switzerland.
B. Palatalization consists in a consonant (chiefly l and n)
coalescing into one sound with a following y. This phenomenon
is well known in the Romance languages; but, apart from its
influence in causing metaphony,” it may be said to have very
little importance in the Germanic family, and none at all in
modern English or German.
* This observation is of the utmost importance in the history of Germanic
languages, inasmuch as nearly the whole system of Grimm's laws (infra 47
Sq.) is based upon it.
* Or vowel-mutation, infra 22.
CHAPTER II.
WOWELS AND DIPEITHONGS.
(15) A chapter devoted to the study of English and German
vowels and diphthongs must naturally also include the semi-
vowels so far as they form a diphthong with the preceding
vowel. As for the semi-vowels by themselves, it will be more
convenient to take them with the consonant-vowels, with which
they will be seen * to exhibit some remarkable analogies.
If the object of our inquiry has been made sufficiently clear
in the Introduction, the reader will understand that our pre-
sent task is to examine in detail the vocalic systems of English
and German, to contrast and compare them, in their historical
and prehistorical stages, either with one another or with the
vocalism of other Germanic languages, and so to trace them
back to that Pregermanic system from which they are de-
scended; and then, this Germanic unity being restored, to carry
our inquiry, through it and the other Indo-European groups
(Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Slavonic), up still further to the
original vocalism of the Indo-European family. Thus, we
begin with the latest phenomena.
SECTION I.
WOCALIC LAWS IN ENGLISH AND GERMAN.
(16) Under this name we comprise all the causes which are
known to have altered the vowel systems of the two languages,
either recently and within the historical period, or earlier in
1 In the section of Vowel-Gradation, infra 43–45.
29
30 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
West Germanic, and even up to the Pregermanic stage in
which they are brought to agreement with Gothic and Old
Norse.
*
§ 1. Recent Vowel Change.
(I7) I. All who have any acquaintance with the two
languages must have observed at the first glance that their
near likeness, though obvious when they are written, vanishes
strangely enough as soon as they are spoken. If we put a
page of English, with a German translation, under the eye of a
student ignorant of both languages, he would immediately point
out several pairs of similar words. But, if we were to read a
few English lines to a German hearer, he would not under-
stand a single word. We need only contrast together such
forms as are almost identically spelled : E, fare, G. fahren ; E.
bare, G. baar; E. even, G. eben ; E. slide, G. Schlitten ; E. dumb,
G. dumm ; E. maid, G. maid; E. (he) was, G. (er) war, etc.
Thus, even when the written symbol betrays clearly enough
the original vocalic identity, the pronunciation actually dis-
guises it in such a way as scarcely to let it appear at all.
Continuing the examination we soon perceive that English
is especially responsible for this discord. For the German
vowels are still pronounced with nearly the same sound they
once represented in the Latin alphabet, from which they are
borrowed as in English and French. The a is a Latin a,
whether short or long; the e is a Latin e, either open or
close; and the u, as in many Romance languages, has pre-
served the primitive value which corresponds to our double
symbol oo. Now, to the same letters English assigns quite
different values: our phonetic a is called ě ; our e, 7; our u,
yū; and so forth. The conclusion lies near at hand : English
has shifted its vowels at a time when its spelling was
already fixed.* These alterations are so various, so delicate,
1 This would be plain enough from the contrast with German, even if
the history of both were quite unknown. But history throws a new light
on the results of comparison. We can ascertain from indubitable evidence,
and particularly from the study of rhyme and assonance, that Old English
and even Chaucer's English were very nearly pronounced as they were
spelled. Cf. Skeat, Principles, I., pp. 24 sq., 51 sq.
WOWEI,S AND DIPEITHONGS. 31
and sometimes so capricious, through the infusion of so many
dialects into the literary language," that we are compelled to
refer the reader to special grammars or, better still, to common
use, the only true guide in details. The general outlines, how-
ever, may be here briefly and conveniently sketched.
1. A.—Long a in a close syllable” usually remains à (far,
hard), whereas, in the same position, Ö, whether primitively
short or lately shortened,” verges on the sound of open à (bag,
cab, bath, to have).” But long a in an open syllable is almost
everywhere—excluding father, rather, etc.—changed to a close
long e, so long and so close indeed that it is now followed by a
slight sound, which forms with it a kind of diphthong : thus
cave is pronounced nearly as kéyv *; so also E. knave = G. knabe ;
E. to lade = G. laden, etc.; occasionally even in some close
syllables, as in E. haste = G. hast (both borrowed from M.F.).
Before or after w, or before a consonantal group which begins
with l,” a, whether short or long, is influenced of the conso-
nant, and, being shifted one degree lower in the vocalic scale,
assumes a duller sound almost identical with open o ; while the
following w or l becomes more or less blended with the vowel:
E. draw = G. tragen, E. (he) saw = G. (er) sah, E. wash = G.
waschen, E. water (long open o)= G. wasser (short and pure a),
E. all = G. all, E. fall = G. fallen, E. false = G. falsch (cf. L. fal-
sus), E. balk (the l is quite mute)= G. balken, etc. In a few
* Cf. Supra 4, 5, 8, and infra 21.
* A syllable is said to be open when it ends in a vowel, and close when
ending in a consonant. In other words, a syllable is close when final and
ending in a consonant (far), or when medial, if its vowel is followed by two
consonants (farther). The only exception is when the two consonants are
an explosive followed by a liquid, as in table, the l being then really a vowel.
* Cf. infra 20. The reader is advised to note such references and even-
tually to multiply them himself. Phonetics suppose the knowledge of a
great many laws, which complete or contradict each other : they cannot be
well understood if learned by fragments. Here, for instance, the a of hard
(cf. G. hit, t) is long only because it is followed by ra; and, on the contrary,
the a of bath (cf. G. bad, and E. to bathe) has been kept short-only because
it stood in a close syllable.
* The final e is quite mute; hence the syllable is actually a close one.
* Here the e is also mute. But it was sounded in Middle English, at
least in the plural cates (pr. kävés, now kéyv2): thus the syllable ca was
open.
* Cf. Supra, 13, 1 B, and add F. chevaua (horses) = O.F. chevals = L. cabál.
los.
32 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
cases before l, the vowel was even shifted further to a pure o,
and so spelled : E. old = O.E. dild eald = G. alt; E. cold = O.E.
cald ceald = G. kalt ; E. (to) hold = O.E. haldan = G. halten."
2. E.-Accented e in an open syllable becomes i, which, when
long, is diphthongized almost to iy : E. mere = G. meer (sea);
compare the unshifted pronunciation of the same e in the close
syllable of the compound word mer-maid. Still more so, of
course, with ē, whether long or lengthened, usually spelled ee
or ea : E. see = G. sehen *; E. to breed = G. briitem (cf. the corre-
sponding nouns brood and brut); E. to speak = O.E. specan = G.
sprechen; E. Queer = G. quer (oblique, transverse, awry). Short
e, even when unaccented, assumes the i sound in monosyllables
(he, me, we), and a sound akin to i in the prefixes in an open
syllable (be-fore, be-cause, cf. G. be-).” In a close syllable short
E. and G. e (open) have been kept quite alike (net = netz, to set
=setzen), apart from the peculiar sound imparted to an e or ea,
as likewise to an i in English, by a following consonantal group
beginning with r (her, serve, person, heard, earth = G. erde, etc.).
3. I.-E. and G. i correspond pretty well to one another; for
short i in a close syllable remains i in both languages (he will =er
will, bit = bisz, to swim =schwimmen, wind = G. wind); and long
* in an open syllable, which is now sounded ay in English, is
likewise pronounced as ay, though spelled ei, in German : wine
= weim (borrowed from L. vinum), by = bei, while = weile (a space
of time), mile = meile (borrowed from L. mille “thousand”).”
Yet not seldom the quantity of the vowel differs in a close
syllable before l and n : E. wild (pr. wayld) = G. wild (pr. wild);
E. to wind = G. winden ; E. blind = G. blind, etc., because English
has lengthened the i. The gap is also large between the two cor-
1. Cf. Dutch oud (old), howden (to hold), stadhouder =G. statt halter; and
for the Old English vocalic variations, see below, 21.
2 The two apparent e's in the English form are not to be mistaken as
representing the two real e's in the German one ; for, in reality, the word
see contains but one e, namely the long e of the stem Seh-, here transliter-
ated by ee; whereas the final -en has been dropped in English, like all
other infinitive endings, infra 19, 2.
8 But here the i is primitive, infra 19, 1 and 4, and 66, II., 2.
4 The pronunciation vim, bi (pi), & vil (a while), etc., still persists in South
Germany (Alamannic), but it is proscribed in classical and official (Central)
German.
WOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS. 33
responding 's when followed by a consonantal group beginning
with r. Under the influence of this consonant, E. has be-
come a duller sound, which cannot better be compared than
with the sound of E. iſ in a close syllable, or of G. open 6: E.
birch=G. birke; E. birth = O.E. (ge-)byrð, cf. G. (ge-)burt; E.
first = O.E. fyrst = G. first (prince), the E. vowel being the
same that is heard in burst = O.E. berstan = G. bersten (to burst);
circle=L. circulum ; virgin = L. virginem, etc. Lastly, final
unaccented i, usually spelled y, as in lusty, manly, is well known
to stand at an equal distance between ä and é (cf. G. lustig,
männlich)."
4. O.-Open 0 is the same in both languages: oa = ochse, horse
= rosz, bishop =bischof-L. episcopum. But, as ancient E. d,
now pr. 3, becomes a diphthong with semi-vowel y, so also long
Ö is now followed by a sound of the semi-vowel nearer akin to
it, thał, is, w the semi-vowel of u, and thus such a word as bone
is sounded with a diphthong that could almost be spelled
böwn. This accessory sound sometimes prevailed in such a
way as to change the original o to a decided u : who, move, and
even E. gold (= G. gold) is vulgarly pronounced guld. The
same is almost always the case with 0, long by nature, its
length being now denoted by the spelling oo : E. loose (bor-
rowed from Scandian), cf. G. los = O.H.G. läs; E. hoof = O.E.
höf=G. huf; * though the original sound is retained in E. floor
= G. flur, and E. door = G. thor. The contrast between 5
(sounded il) and Ö (spelled w, but sounded Ö) can be nowhere
better seen than in room and the derived verb to rummage.
5. U.-O.E. w was undoubtedly pronounced like G. at, and
even E. u has still this value in several words, especially after
a labial consonant, after an r, and before an l; E. put, bull = G.
bulle ; bush = G. busch, butcher = F. boucher; rule = O.F. reule = L.
régulam ; full=G. voll, etc. Everywhere else, in an open
syllable, it is diphthongized to yu, ; but this law concerns
* In German also, the i in every position has a mixed sound, more akin
to close e than the Sound of pure i ; we need but compare the pronunciation
of spielen and spinmen.
*As for the latter type, both tongues agree in the sound, and vary in the
spelling ; cf. infra 18, 2. In bolt =bolz, E. has close o.
D
34 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
scarcely any other but borrowed words 1 (tune, music, suit); ?
and, in a close syllable, iſ becomes that indistinct sound (tub)
which resembles open 6: E. dung = G. dung ; E. funk = G.
funke; E. hut, borrowed from F. hutte, the latter itself bor-
rowed from G. hitte; negative prefix E. wrº- a G. wºn-, thus un-
even = un-eben, etc.
Besides the u, O.E. had an ii, short or long, then written y,
and now entirely lost in English,” where it is changed to i and
always pronounced i, even where it happens to be still written
w: thus, busy = O.E. bysig, and dizzy = O.E. dysig, have the same
vowel in their first syllable, though differently spelled; further,
E. to fill = O.E. fyllan = G. fillen; E. sin = O.E. synn = G. sinde ;
E. pillow = O.E. pyle (pylwe), borrowed from L. pulvinum,” etc.
Of course this i comes to be sounded either ay or ö, under the
conditions which thus modify an original i : E, a lie = O.E.
lygen = G. liige; E. first, see above 3.
6. Many observations of this kind might be suggested here
about English diphthongs, whether true or false, now more or
less sounded as long and even short vowels, but still spelled as
diphthongs. Thus, the development of ea is quite parallel to
that of e, becoming 7 in an open syllable, and open & in a close
one: E. to read = O.E. raedan, cf. G. reden (to speak), but he
'read=O.E. raedde, cf. G. beredt (eloquent); E. clean = O.E.
1 Because primitive E. iſ had already become ow, infra 18, 1.
* Hence the pronunciation of w has been confused with that of the group
ew (dew = G. thaw, sounded like due =F. dii, and screw = G. Schraube, like ac-
crue=F. accru), and consequently some few words have been written with a
w, whereas the spelling ew would have been etymologically correct: E. hue =
O.E. hiw ; E. Tuesday = O.E. Tiwesdaeg (the day of the god Tiu, which is the
the same as Gr. Zeiſs and L. Jü-piter; G. Dienstag is corrupted by popular
etymology, as if it were dinges-tag, “the day for law business,” instead of
the regular M.H.G. ziestac, which survives in the Southern dialects, e.g. in
High Alsatian tSiștik). On the contrary, the ew has occasionally prevailed
in some cases when we should rather expect a w or 00: E. view = F. vue; E
he slew = G. er Schlug.
8 Englishmen are well aware of the difficulty in pronouncing correctly a
F. u, especially when followed by i, as in pluie (rain).
4 G. ii also is much nearer to i than F. u, and in certain dialects it does
not differ at all from a pure i. Thus, Sometimes even an etymological i is
spelled it : G. fünf = O.H.G. finfa Go. fimf-O.E. fif-E, five; here, how-
ever, the word is corrupted, cf. infra 121, 5. But compare M.H.G. wiste,
now become wiiszte, infra 223, 3, 4,
WOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS. 35
clane = G. klein (little),” but E. weather = O.E. weder *= G.
wetter, etc. Further, oa is a false diphthong, since its sound
does not differ from close 5, and it therefore alternates with
simple o in the transliteration of the long vowel derived from
O.E. d: E. bone = O.E. bān, but E. loaf = O.E. hlāf- Go. hláif-sº
= G. laib ; E. road = O.E. rād, and, with the same vowel, O.E.
råd, now spelled (he) rode, pf, to the verb ride = O.E. ridan = G.
reiten, etc. But it will be better to let the student multiply
these instances for himself,” and to conclude with the almost
superfluous statement that in the whole world there is no
language, including French, and excepting only Tibetan,
wherein symbol and sound have so much diverged from one
another as they have done in English.
(18) II. With the numerous cases in which English and
German show the same spelling and varying pronunciation, we
ought to contrast the equally important cases in which they
are spelled differently and sounded alike. In such a case, and
provided that the two words compared may be traced back to
an earlier common form, both languages, separately undergoing
an evolution either parallel or divergent, have come to a similar
result, whereupon either or each of them has altered its spell-
ing according to its own conventional use of written symbols.
1. The evolution has run parallel in the two languages.
We have seen that every primitive 7 has been shifted to ay in
German as in English: German spells it ei,” whereas English
retains the symbol i. Primitive iſ has undergone a quite simi-
lar process, with this difference only, that the spelling has been
altered in both languages; it is now a diphthong with semi-
* The original meaning is “pretty” (cf. G. klein-od, “jewel”), and then
the transition is, in English, “pretty—meat—clean,” and in German,
“pretty—fine—little.” In the preceding example, the G. reden is only
quoted for the sake of the analogy in pronunciation; for it does not corre-
spond to E. read, which is equivalent to rathem (to guess).
* Here, of course, there is no reason for Spelling the word with ea.
* Go. final s is the ending of the nominative singular, which has been lost
in English and German.
* The reader may be here referred to the very complete and suggestive
statistics in Mayhew’s Synopsis of Old English Phonology, and especially to
the Appendices, pp. 257–259.
* Because, at a certain time, it was actually pronounced ey.
36 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
Vowel w and vowel intermediate between o and a, the whole
spelled E. Ow or ou, G. aw:1 E. brown = O.E. brûn, and G. brawn
=O.H.G. brûn ; E. house, borrowed from Scandinavian his,
and G. haus = O.H.G. his, cf. the same u shortened in E. hus-
band = Scand. his-bāndi “he who dwells (G. bauend) in a house”;
E. town = O.E. tin,” and G. zaum (an enclosure)=M.H.G. zùn,
etc. As, however, vowel lengthening and vowel shortening
did not obey precisely the same laws in the two languages,” it
is but natural that we should occasionally find a ſi answered by
a mere iſ, as in E. found=*fünd, instead of G. (ge-)funden, and
E. pound= G. pfund=L. pondô; but inversely E. thumb = G.
dawmen = O.H.G. diimo, etc.
2. The evolution, though it has been divergent, has led
to a similar result.—The vowel is nearly the same in foot
and fusz, brood and brut, and many others. But the two lan-
guages have not reached the same point by the same road.
The 6 in O.E. ft (Go. fot-w-s, O.N. fot-r 4), now written oo, has
been merely shifted to il, as we have seen above. But in Ger-
man it was at first diphthongized to wo, M.H.G. vuog, O.H.G.
fuog,” whereupon the semi-vowel o, gradually uniting with the
w, finally lengthened it. If, on the other hand, this 5 has since
been shortened in English, we then get the new correspond-
ence : E. 5– G. ii (the latter itself eventually shortened to it);
E. brother == O.E. bråöor, for G. bruder = O.H.G. bruodar ; E.
mother = O.E. mºdor, for G. mutter (ii)= O.H.G. muotar; E.
goose, but shortened gosling. Inversely, the Ó has been kept
long, and consequently become ii, in E. moon = O.E. māna, and
* The same dialects which do not diphthongize the 7 (supra 17, 3) have
also kept the primitive à : Swiss pruun = braum, huus = haus; High Alsatian
ty tiimé (with a long ii) = der dawmen.
* English exhibits in its own dialects exactly the same phenomena of
preservation as have just been stated for Southern Germany, namely: in
Western dialects (Cornwall) the verb shine = G. scheinen is Śān; whereas, in
Northern dialects (thus John Browdie in Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby), town
is sounded as tin (spelled toon); and so also, respectively, tºld for child,
din for down, even kit for cow.
* Cf. Supra 17, 3, and infra 20.
* O.N. final -r is the ending corresponding to Go. -s, supra 17, 6.
* The process of diphthongization is still quite perceptible in Southern
Germany, the pronunciation being fuč8, prućt, pubp = bube, mučty = mutter,
etc.
WOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS. 37
the consonantal group has not made it short in G. mond =
M.H.G. mande = O.H.G. mano; but compare the identical vowel
of Monday and Montag. -
(Ig) III. All the above statements, with the one exception
of final E. y, concern only the vowels of more or less accented
syllables. The laws of unaccented vowels, though they some-
times may seem arbitrary owing to the numerous irregularities
in spelling, show a remarkable conformity in both languages,
and may be reduced to five main principles.
1. The unaccented vowel, whether in prefixes or in finals,
assumes a dull and vague sound, usually represented by an e :
pref. bi-, in Go. bi-gitan (to find), bi-satjan (to beset), bi-saſhvan
(to look at), bi-hlahjan (to laugh at); E. beget, beset; G. besehem,
belachen, etc.; pref. ga- in Go. ga-baúrb-S (birth), ga-juk (pair);
G. geburt, gejoch, etc.; Go. haban (to have), haba (I have), E.
have, G. haben, habe; Go. fiskön (to fish), fiskö (I fish), fisköda (I
fished); E. fish, fished; G. fischen, fische, fisch(e)te, etc.
2. In the unaccented final -en, chiefly of infinitives and par-
ticiples, the m was dropped early in M.E. (have, cf. O.E. habban
and G. habem); the é then became absolutely mute, and was
either written or omitted, according to the conventional pecu-
liarities of English orthography (fish = G. fischen). Thus, com-
pare E. to find = O.E. findan with G. finden, and E. found = O.E.
(ge-)funden with G. gefunden."
3. In German as well as in English, if this é has come in
contact with a consonant-vowel, m, n, r, l, it has simply disap-
peared, and the consonant has become a vowel, m, , r, l,” so as
to support the syllable: E. Oa:en, G. Ochsen, pr. 6ks? ; pref.
fra-, in Go. fra-liusan-s (lost), E. for-lorn, G. ver-loren (pr. fr.-);
1 Final m, however, is often kept, as in E. heathem = G. heide, E. maiden
(but also maid) = G. magd, in the plural forms children, oven = G. ochsen,
and in a great number of strong participles (bidden and bid, hidden and hid,
fallen, known, as opposed to the infinitives fall, know, etc., infra 179–185).
Without going into particulars, we may here observe : (1) that final m
was sounded when the following word began with a vowel (cf. in Mod. E. an
and a); (2) that certain dialects (Saxonic) lost the final m sooner than some
others (Anglic); (3) that, in consequence, the common tongue formed from
all these dialects kept, or even restored, the m, wherever it appeared to have
a decided grammatical value.
* Cf. Supra 10, 6.
38 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
E. mother (pr. moër)=O.E. modor, like G. mutter (pr. mtºtr)=
O.H.G. muotar, etc.
4. Before any other consonant, & has likewise been dropped
in most cases, so that the word has lost one of its syllables :
G. bleiben = O.H.G. biliban = Go. bi-leiban (to remain); G. glaub-
en = O.H.G. gilouben = Go, ga-láubjan (to believe); G. begleiten
(to accompany)=be-ge-leiten, cf. G. geleiten and leiten = E. to
lead; E. gen, son's, G. Sohns=sohnes; E. slept = O.E. *(ge)slāped;
G. gehabt 4 = O.H.G. gihabét, etc. And even when it is marked
in writing, it is well known to be almost always eliminated in
pronunciation, as in E. walked (pr. wOkt, just like slept), chiefly
in rapid and vulgar speech, thus b'lieve = believe. In fact, it
cannot be said to persist necessarily, except when it stands
between two consonants of the same order, which could not be
Sounded at all without some intermediate vowel : E. pl. sons,
Tats, but kisses, houses; E. slept, walked, but blotted, mended; G.
geliebt, angeregt, but geleuchtet, geredet. Even in this position it
is liable to disappear: E. pl. oaths, paths, months, etc.; G. gere-
det (spoken), but beredt (eloquent).” When, the é being dropped,
two incompatible consonants become contiguous, an assimila-
tion takes place, as already seen, or the first consonant is
entirely dropped; E. hast=*havest, and G. hast= *habest, etc.;
E. had = *havde and *haved, like E. head = O.E. heafod = Go.
há'ubih = O.H.G. houbit = G. haupt, instead of *haubét.
5. Lastly, even where writing does not denote the neutral
character of the unaccented vowel by the use of the symbol &,
its dulness and vagueness are quite perceptible in actual pro-
nunciation. Thus, though we spell with an o the second
syllable of the word bua om = O.E. biſhsum (flexible, cf. G. bieg-
sam), we really pronounce it böksm, with a consonant-vowel, as
in G. allem actually sounded âlm; and, in spite of orthography,
the same vowels are heard in E. thousand and G. tausend.
1 Actually pr. géhapt, the b being assimilated to the t.
2 Thus also geredet becomes kret, for instance, in Alsatian. Here the syn-
cope is very early ; cf. infra 187.
WOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS. 39
§ 2. Shortening and Lengthening.
(20) We have just seen English and German vowels to suffer
various changes of value, according as they were short or long.
But which of them were short, and which long P. Were these
the same in both languages P. In other words, is the quantity
of each vowel in both now exactly such as it was in their Pre-
germanic unity ? No, indeed, since we have seen the same
vowel treated as long in English and short in German, and
vice versä. Thus, before the period of sound-shifting,” there
must have been a previous period, during which the Preger-
manic vowels were either shortened or lengthened, in English
and in German, apart from one another, and according to the
different laws which prevailed in each. To this period we are
now going back.
At the outset a great principle pervades the whole evolution
of vowel-quantity: whether in English or in German, an
accented vowel has a decided tendency to lengthen
in an open syllable, and shorten in a close one. Thus,
the reader may compare : E. to keep = O.E. cepan, and E. he
kept =O.E. cépte; sleep and slept, leave and left, read and read
(respectively O.E. raedan and raedde), lose and lost, etc.; G. ich
sage, er sagt ; ich lege, ich legte (I lay, I laid); tragen (to bear),
tracht (dress); mége (may) and macht (the might), etc.; G. Stube
(a room; F. 6twve, “a warmed room '')= O.H.G. stiába = O.E.
stofa = E. Stove, etc., etc. *
But, if the law be the same in the two languages, we should
1 The chronological succession of phonetic facts is always to be taken
into account, as being, at least, as important as the facts by themselves.
This is a consideration of which the student cannot be too earnestly re-
minded. In the study of language, as of geology, every fact bears its own
date, if properly observed. Supposing a geological stratum, and a sinking
of the ground in the same place, has the former taken place before the
latter, or the latter before the former ? We know that if the stratum
is older than the sinking, it will be broken up like the strata below; if
not, it will have remained level. So also, has the E. w of *fund (cf. G.
gefunden) been lengthened to iſ before or after the iſ of his had been shifted
to ou? The answer is : before, since this w also has become ow, inasmuch
as we pronounce found like house. If the w of "fund had become long after
the shifting of iſ to ou, we should now have the dissimilar forms house and
*find.
40 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
expect to find in both the same long and the same short vowels.
Such, however, is far from the case, as may be inferred from
the last example quoted. Whence arises the difference P The
principle, of course, is identical; but its effects have been car-
ried on separately, in various dialects and various periods of
English and of German, and consequently have resulted in the
most violent and striking contrasts.
1. The fact is, that our principle, as given above, does not
indicate any precise and positive phenomenon, but a mere
general tendency, which was not equally observed by all dialects.
In German, for instance, the law of shortening in a close
syllable does not belong as such to the common language, but
mainly to the dialects of Low German, the peculiarities of their
pronunciation having sometimes intruded into the literary lan-
guage. Hence many words hesitate between the two quantities:
G. genig and geniºg, compared with E. enough (the final always
short). German shortening appears nowhere earlier, and there-
fore more consistent, than before the medial group ht: G. (er)
brächte =M.H.G. brähte – O.E. bråhte – E. (he) brought ; and yet
even here it is seen not to have taken place before the modern
period. English shortening began far earlier."
2. Such later changes in the pronunciation as took place in
the two languages may have caused a given vowel to stand in
a close syllable in the one, and in an open syllable in the
other. Thus, the 3 in an unaccented syllable being only
slightly sounded or entirely dropped, the preceding syllable
varies accordingly. We have the short vowel in he read, he led ;
whereas German has the long one in the corresponding forms
er redete, er leitete, in which the é mute has been retained or
rather restored in contrast to O.E. raedde, etc.” So also, in the
genitive, E. son's, but G. Sohnes, hence Sohns, etc.
3. In the course of declension or conjugation, the radical
vowel might occur alternately in a close or open syllable, and
1 Though in this case the corresponding vowel seems to have remained
long, it is only long because the sound of the h (gh) has coalesced with the
preceding vowel and lengthened it.
2 The dialects in which geredet is pronounced kret Sound the e short (as in
E. met).
WOWELS AND DIPHTFIONG.S. 41
consequently it was, according to rule, in turn short and long.
Now grammatical analogy naturally levelled most of these
differences," and thus either the long vowel or the short one
was carried throughout the whole flexion. German, for in-
stance, has everywhere the short one in gemacht, er macht, ich
machte, ich mache, machen, whereas English shows everywhere
the long one in made (O.E. macode), he maketh, I made, I make,
to make, etc. G. glas has the gen, glases, pr. gläses, whence the
long vowel also pervades the nomin., pr. glas =E. gläss. Simi-
larly the gen. Sohºnes caused the nomin. to become sohn ” instead
of O.H.G. sunu = Go. Sunu-sa O.E. sunu = E. s.6m. Thus, in
German, the long vowel of the pl. form waren = M.H.G. waren
has been transported to the sg. war =M.H.G. was, whereas, in
English, the long vowel in the pl. were = O.E. wieron had no in-
fluence upon the short one in the sg. was, because the sound of
the latter was different.” More instances of the kind the reader
may easily discover by himself.
4. Lastly, some subsidiary laws, especially in English, have
modified the original quantity of the vowels,
A. Before a group nã, ns, nf, in Old English, any vowel is
lengthened while the nasal disappears : * E. us, shortened in a
close and unaccented syllable,” from O.E. iis = Go. wrºs = G. uns;
E. five (shortened in the close syllable of fifth and fifty)=O.E.
fif= Go. fimf = G. fünf,
B. From the earliest period an accented English vowel is
lengthened before a group consisting of a nasal or liquid and a
voiced explosive. Thus disappear the differences in quantity
which have been partly stated above, between E. find, mild,
gold, old (O.E. dild), word, sound (in health), hownd, and G.
finden, mild, gold, alt, wort, (ge) sund, hund, etc. Moreover, in
* On the effects of analogy and the part it plays in language, see Henry,
Grammar of Gr. and Lat., 83 and 183, and below 22, 55, 177, etc.
* Pr. zön. The h only denotes that the vowel is long, supra 12, 4.
* Thus is explained the double discord in sound and quantity mentioned
on the second page of this chapter, For r=s, see infra 61, I. 2.
* This is the Old English compensatory lengthening; cf. infra 24. The
phenomenon is the same in Greek (roys (trirovs=Tövs Titovs) and in Latin
(equês = *equë-ms). See Henry, Gramm. of Gr. and Lat., 189, 2, and 206, 3.
* Cf. supra 19, and infra, 65, 5, and 66, II. 4.
42 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
Mod. English, an r before any consonant whatever lengthens
the preceding vowel by coalescing with it: | thus, for instance,
compare hard with hart, heart with herz, learn with lernen, hark
with imper. horche, sharp with scharf, etc. Even in German,
however, we find bárt (beard), zárt (tender), árde = earth, and a
few others.
§ 3. Old English Vowel-Breaking.
(21) The English process of lengthening lastly mentioned is
but one effect of a more ancient and more general cause, which
also produced the curious process of the diphthongization of the
vowels, called Vowel-breaking (G. brechung, F. fracture).
Though this phenomenon does not properly belong to English,
since it seems not to have taken place in Mercian, yet, as it
was immensely developed in the Southern dialects (Wessex), it
could not fail to find its way somehow into the common lan-
guage.” Omitting many details, we may briefly summarize the
effects of this law as follows: before a consonantal group
beginning with r, l or h (including the a = hs), the two vowels a
and e became respectively “broken º’ to ea and eo. Thus, Old
English opposes wearm, feallan (Merc. fallan), heard, seolfor
(Merc. sylfur), Seoa, cneoht, neaht, healf (Merc. half), etc., to E.
warm = G. warm, E. to fall= G. fallen, E. herd= G. herde, E.
silver = G. Silber, E. sia: = G. sechs, E. knight = G. knecht, E. night”
= G. macht, E. half– G. halb, etc., etc.
In all these cases English appears quite free of any breaking.
The process is exclusively Saxonic,” and the only counterpart
of it in classical English is a mere lengthening. A lengthen-
ing it is also, most likely, when the a is shifted to Ö in the
words quoted above, old, cold, hold, sold, etc., in which Saxonic
has the broken vowel (eald, ceald, healdan, seald) instead of
* Cf. Supra 13, 1 A.
* A point already alluded to, supra 4.
* In these three words, the vowel i is due to a kind of metaphony (infra
22), which is regularly produced by the following palatal consonant.
* Hence it follows, as a matter of course, that the Southern dialects must
contain a very large number of broken forms. It is mainly for this reason
that they so widely differ from classical English.
WOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS. 43
the pure Mercian vowel (äld, cald, sald).” But the change
appears already much greater in worth = O.E. wearð– G. werth
= Go. vaírh-s, E. Sword= G. Schwert, E. work = G, werk, E.
world?= O.E. weorold, cf. G. welt = M.H.G. w8ralt *; hence,
in these words and some other, we may perhaps recognise a
process akin to breaking, if not the breaking itself. The more
so with the E. a corresponding to Germanic e in such words as:
E. far = O.E. feor, as opposed to Go. fairra and G. fer-n = O.H.G.
vérr-ana; E. star = O.E. steorre, compared with M.H.G. sterre, now
replaced by stern = M.H.G. sterne = O.H.G. sterno= Go. stairnſ,
etc. Lastly, the breaking is still clearly visible in the spelling,
and partly preserved in the pronunciation of such words as E.
beard, earth, learn (O.E. leornian), heart (O.E. hearte), hearth,
as opposed to G. bart, erde, lermen, herz, herd, and some others.
§ 4. Metaphony (Vowel Mutation or Modification).”
(22) Our search has now brought us back very near to the
Pregermanic period; but we have not yet reached it. The
remarkable process we call Metaphony (G. wºmlaut) took place
in English and in German separately; yet it is in both so early
and general, that it seems impossible not to attribute it to a
tendency inherited from West Germanic. Gothic alone is free
from it. It is found everywhere else, though at various dates:
in English metaphony appears fixed before the earliest written
documents of Old English; in German, we can still trace its slow
* G. alt, kalt, halten, and M.H.G. sal (delivery)=E. sale, still surviving in
sal-buch (a register of lands); for the vb. sell(em), now used in English in the
Sense of L. “vendere,” has reached it through the sense of “assigning ” [a
piece of land]. -
* Here the effect of a preceding w, as described, supra 17, 1, may perhaps
have combined with a kind of breaking.
* The word would be Go. *vair-ald-w-, and mean “a man's age.” For the
first part, compare L. vir, and G. wer-geld (compensation for a mam, that is
to Say, for a man’s slaughter), G. and E. wer-wolf, etc. The original mean-
ing of the word was L. “sa-culum,” whence it became “world,” just as saecu-
lum has done in Ecclesiastical Latin, and F. seule in Eulalia's Song (line 24).
* Since the usual term “Mutation ” is altogether vague, designating any
kind of vowel-shifting whatever, I have ventured to introduce into the
English terminology the word “Metaphony ” for German “Umlaut,” as
already in my French edition. It seems indeed convenient to adopt a separate
term for such “mutations” as are described under this head.
44 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
progress, step by step, from the Old High German, wherein it
begins, down to the year 1150, when it is entirely accomplished;
and it may, therefore, be deemed a very convenient distinction
between Old and Middle High German. Under this name are
comprised the mutations undergone by a vowel, a, e, o, u, when
immediately followed by a syllable which contains an i
(or its semi-vowel, written j in Germanic), under the influence of
which it acquired a slight i- sound, and altered accordingly.”
Let us, for an instant, consider only German metaphony, as
it is more recent, and, in consequence, clearer; and, further, let
us consider it only in such pairs of words as mann männlich,
erde irdisch, gott göttlich, (zu)kunft kiinftig, etc., where its cause
is quite obvious. Here we may very well understand how the
palatal vowel of the second syllable at first palatalized the pre-
ceding consonant (supra 14, 3 B), which in its turn modified the
sound of the preceding vowel, so as to shift it one degree nearer
to i (supra 12, 1). The effect, indeed, is wholly adequate to the
cause.”
But, at the very outset, an objection must be faced : in con-
trast with the numerous cases which actually exhibit metaphony,
a great many words might be quoted, wherein a following i has
no such effect; thus gelb (yellow) gelblich, gold goldºg, ruhe (rest)
Tuhig, etc. How can this be P. We must never forget that a
language constantly and daily creates new words, whereas a
particular phonetic law cannot outlast in any language a given
* More accurately speaking, the mutation of ē is certainly Teutonic (West
Germanic), and perhaps even partly Pregermanic (infra 26, I. 3); the muta-
tion of a begins in O.H.G. about 750; that of u is scarcely at all visible in
it ; that of 0, as will be seen, is late and due to analogy. Germanists, how-
ever, generally agree in thinking that the mutation took place in the usual
pronunciation long before it was marked in writing: Wilmanns, Deutsche
Grammatik, I. p. 192.
* We have also in English a metaphony caused by a following palatal
consonant (supra 20), and in German, another caused by a following w (infra
26, I. in fine); but they need only be mentioned here for the sake of com-
pleteness. On the other hand, there are some groups of consonants which
impede or seem to impede metaphony. For these particulars, the reader
must here be referred to more detailed works.
* In some cases, the spelling itself may illustrate the process of meta-
phony: thus, metaphonized u is spelled wi or iu in O.H.G., and G. ii is well
known to be called wi.
WOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS. 45
period. If, for instance, ruhig has been derived from ruhe at a
late date, when the law of metaphony had long exhausted its
effect, and if, as is the case, a regularly metaphonical form
gülden, still mentioned in every German vocabulary as archaic
and poetical, has been currently replaced by a word golden on
the analogy of the primitive gold, it is clear that the cause and
effect of the phenomenon remain invariable and unquestionable,
in spite of exceptions due, in particular cases, to some accessory
and accidental causes which have nothing to do with the prin-
ciple. Nay, the contrary would appear far more wonderful;
for supposing, for instance, that the language had ever created
such a regularly metaphonical compound as *häls-binde (a neck-
cloth); since both terms of it, namely, hals and binde, must
always remain present to the linguistic consciousness of any
speaking subject, he cannot fail, sooner or later, to alter the
compound accordingly, and restore the non-metaphonical form
instead of the seemingly corrupt one.
On the other hand, we meet with a great number of similar
cases of metaphony, although no appears in the second
syllable: G. lamm (lamb), pl. limmer; G. geben (to give), pres.
sg. 2 du gibst; G. hoch (high), hóher (higher); G. buch (book),
pl. bicher, etc.; and compare E. man men, brother brethren, goose
geese, foot feet. But if, instead of confining our attention to
the modern form of these metaphonical words, we proceed to
examine them in O.H.G., or, even beyond O.E., in that Gothic
speech, through which we are able to trace them back to Pre-
germanic, then we shall, almost invariably, find the second
syllable to have contained a primitive i or j, more lately dropped
or changed to è in consequence of the laws of final and unac-
cented syllables." Thus we shall find, for instance, O.H.G.
lamb lembir, géban gibis, hāh höhir, etc. The vowel which has
vanished still betrays itself through the mutation it has
effected, and the mutation, which seems arbitrary at first sight,
is quite satisfactorily explained by the vowel as preserved in an
earlier state of the same language.
Lastly, if we find metaphony taking place in cases where we
* See supra 19, and infra 34.
46 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
should not expect it, namely before a syllable that does not and
never did contain either an i or a j, even then we need not fear
for our theory. For, as non-metaphonical forms may have
influenced metaphonical forms and abolished some regular
mutations,—thus, ruhig and goldig modelled on ruhe and gold,—
so also, of course, the latter may have altered the former, that
is to say, Germans might as well have come to say *gild for
gold, from gilden, as they have come to say goldig and golden,
from gold. Hence arise some false analogies in metaphony, as,
for instance : G. thráne (a tear)= M.H.G. trêne (but O.H.G.
trahan tràn), altered under the influence of its pl. *tróni-Old
Saxonic trahmi ; E. friend for O.E. frēond (G. freund), and E.
fiend for O.E. feona (G. feind), both altered on account of the
datives O.E. friend=*fréond-i, and fiend=*féond-i.” The con-
clusion is thus forced upon us, that a metaphonical vowel in
either language may very well correspond to a non-meta-
phonical vowel in the other, and the case will be seen to occur
frequently.
All that has been said above about German applies, of
course, as well, and even better, to English. English also has
created new words since the end of its metaphonical period,
and in much greater number than German could do, because
in English this period ended far earlier; English also has lost,
after metaphony had wrought its effects, the 's and j's that
caused it, and, still for the same reason, on a much larger
scale than German *; lastly, English has also levelled, during
a longer period, the metaphonical and the non-metaphonical
forms, in such a way as to cause either the former or the latter
to extend throughout a whole system of derivation, declension,
or conjugation ; thus gold golden, man manly, god godly, con-
trasted with G. gilden, männlich, göttlich. Besides these con-
siderations, English metaphony, less visible in spelling of older
date, and partly disguised by the effects of Old English break-
ing, cannot be reduced to the exact parallelism exhibited by
the almost algebraic formula of present German metaphony,
WIZ :
* See declension, infra 139, 1, 5, and 152, 3.
* Most of them are already dropped in Old English.
WOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS. 47
Pure vowels: 1 Q, € O QM,
Metaphonical vowels: e, à 2 (ii) 53 ſit
Whereas English has the following correspondences:
(broken or ea eo
Pure : a
€ otherwise) ie y
Metaph. :
| | | | | | |
* | y á $/
d
CE
(23) Some instances of metaphony have been quoted above ;
a great many others will occur in the study of forms, so
that here it will prove sufficient to mention a few mutations
selected among the most interesting derivations of words con-
taining either an i or a j- suffix.
A.—G. ameise = O.H.G. amei;3a = O.E. amette (E. ant); but
O.H.G. emig3ig (busy), M.H.G. em3ic, G. em.sig.—G. rettich and
O.E. rātic,” borrowed from L. rādīcem.—G. pfanne and E. pan,
borrowed from L. patina ; but, with a derivative suffix, G.
pfenning pfennig, E. penny (on account of its being round like
a pan P).-E. Angle (ethnic name), but English ; so also, E.
France, but French =*Frankish (cf. G. Fränkisch), E. Wales, but
Welsh (cf. G. Wölsch, opposed to Deutsch), etc.—E. a tale, but
to tell=O.E. tellan for Germanic *tal-jan ; quite as G. zahl
(number) and zühlen (to count)= O.H.G. zellen = *zal-jan. 6
* With barely any distinction between short and long vowels, that is to
say, Čí is mutated to short à, and ā to long ti, and so forth.
* The variation is merely one of writing. O.H.G. has been seen to write
e. Mod. German has been influenced by an etymological scruple : the vowel
is spelled å when another form survives wherein the pure vowel a is pre-
served ; but the spelling e is retained if such is not the case, or if the
language has forgotten the metaphonical origin of the vowel ; thus, mann
mämmer, kalb kälber = O.H.G. chalbir, etc.; but ende = O.H.G. enti = Go.
andei-8 showing the i whence the metaphony arose (cf. E. emd=O.E. ende,
from a Preg. *andja- which is akin to Sk, ſinta-, “a limit”); thus also, hand
hände, but in composition behende = O.H.G. *bi henti, literally “by the
hand ’’ (hent-i is a dative case), whence the sense “convenient, easy, swift.”
* When o is mutated to ii, as in gilden, the o stands for a primitive u, and
the mutation has taken place in the early period when the vowel was still
sounded as w. Cf. infra 28, I.
* Long or short, that is to say, iſ becomes y, and it becomes j ; and simi-
larly, Ča and 30 are mutated, the one to ie, and the other to j. What these
again may become in the shifting from Old to Modern English, has been
stated above.
5 E. radish is borrowed from F. radis.
* For the sense, compare G. er-záhlem (to relate).
48 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
E.—G. germ (willingly)= O.H.G. gèrno (Go. gairn-s, “cove-
tous ”), wb. begehren (to wish for)= O.H.G. gérôn; but gier
(avidity)= O.H.G. girī, gierig (covetous), begierig, begierde, etc.—
G. feder–E. feather, but fittich (wing).—G. pilgrim and E.
pilgrim, borrowed from L. peregränwm, cf. F. pélerin and Ital.
pellegrino. —E. silly = O.E. syllic =*seollic (broken vowel)= Go.
silda-leik-s (strange, queer); cf. E. seld-om = G. Selt-en, G. selt-
sam (strange), etc.
O.—G. gold, but gilden ; O.E. gold, but gylden, the latter now
altered to golden, though the metaphony survives in the vb. to
gild = O.E. gyldan = *guld-jan.-E. fore = G. vor; but E. first =
O.E. fyrst=*fur-ist; cf. G. first (prince).-E. foa, but via en ';
cf. G. fuchs and füchsin.—O.E. dām (judgment) and E. doom ;
but E. to deem = O.E. déman = *dóm-jan. So also, food and to
feed, brood = G. brut, and to breed = G. briitem = O.H.G. bruoten,
which latter would be Go. *bröd-jan, etc.
U.—O.E. and E. full, O.H.G. fol and G. voll = Go. full-s; but
O.E. fyllan and E. to fill, G. fillen = O.H.G. fullen = Go. full-jan.
—E. dizzy = O.E. dysig, contrasted with O.H.G. tusig, M.H.G.
dusel (disorder), G. dusel (dizziness); cf. also E. bustle and the
actual pronunciation of busy % = O.E. bysig.-O.E. fill and E.
foul, O.H.G. fill and G. faul (Go. fill-s, O.N. füll); but M.E.
file (to defile), E. to defile and filth; cf. G. füule füulnisz.-E.
mouse = O.E. mils, pl. mice = O.E. mys; cf. G. maus, pl. máuse.
It seems superfluous to dwell upon the English broken
vowels, whereof silly has afforded an instance. But we may
recall here, by way of general recapitulation, the chief gram-
matical classes in which German, remaining truer to its origins
than English from the main reason that the origins are more
recent, has preserved the regular process of metaphony, though
occasionally it may be obscured by false analogies.
1. Feminine nouns in -in : gott göttin, etc.
2. Neuter collectives, with prefix ge- : berg (mountain) and
gebirg - O.H.G. gi-birg-i; so also stern (star) and gestirn (con-
stellation), tosen (noise) and getöse, etc.
* The word belongs to a Southern dialect, which changes initial f to v.
Cf. E. vat = G. fasz (tub).
2 Supra 17, 5, though often spelled O.E. bisig.
WOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS. 49
3. Abstract feminine nouns in -e (formerly -ì) : hoch (high)
and höhe (height)= O.H.G. h5h-7.
4. Diminutive nouns in -el, -chen, -lein, and -ling (O.H.G.
-ila, -kin or -chin, -lin and -linc): these types are common and
well known (infra 103).
5. Adjectives, denoting material, in -en (formerly -īn): gilden
(golden), irden (made of earth), etc.
6. Adjectival derivatives in -icht, -ig, -lich, etc.
7. Comparatives, hoch = Go, hauh-s, but höh-er-héuh-iza ;
and Superlatives, häch-(e)st = Go. h4wh-ist-s, etc.
8. So-called metaphonical plurals, as fisze (feet), kålber
(calves), väter, etc.
9. Causative and denominative verbs, because there is a
primitive suffix -jan hidden in their ending : to the previous
instances, add to set = G. setzen = Go. satjan (to cause to sit
down, to settle).
10. Formation of the imperfect subjunctive in the so-called
strong verbs: er nahm (he took), er nåhme (O.H.G. mam and
nāmī); trug, trige; zog, zöge, etc.
ll. Conjugation of strong verbs in the 2nd and 3rd person
Sg. of present indicative, sometimes also in the 2nd person sg.
imperative, thus: sprechen (to speak), er spricht (he speaks),
sprich (speak); schlagen (to strike), er schlägt ; ich fahre (I am
travelling), du fihrst, er führt, wir fahren = O.H.G. faru, ferist,
ferit, farën."
§ 5. Pregermanic Compensatory Lengthening.
(24) We are passing at length the boundary of the primitive
Germanic language; and, on this very line there appears to
* Let us end with a well-known but curious derivation with a twofold
metaphony, the G. compound elemd= O.H.G. eli-lemti, “from another land ”
(eli- = Go. alii- = L. alio- appears likewise with metaphony in E. el-se), hence
“foreign, outcast, wretched,” and “exile, wretchedness.”—It must be borne
in mind that metaphony has been considered here only as a general phonetic
phenomenon, abstracted from the enormous differences, either in chrono-
logy or in application, which may characterize it in the historical life of
English and German. It will be met with in every province of both
languages, and seen to exhibit itself in very various conditions. Cf., for
instance, infra 26 (i., 1, 2, 3), 28 (i.), 80 (xvi.), 144–146, 147, 194, 197,
204–206, etc., etc.
F.
50 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
us a phenomenon, which, though it is common to all Germanic
dialects and must therefore be attributed to the parent-speech,
can nevertheless be verified without any intervention of other
Indo-European idioms. In a single word, as exhibited by the
generality of Germanic vocabularies, we observe a regular
vocalic and consonantal variation, namely: here, a short vowel,
followed by a nasal and a guttural explosive; and there, the
same vowel lengthened, while the nasal has disappeared and
the guttural has become a spirant. Hence the law may be
easily inferred : every Pregermanic short vowel, à, i, ii,"
followed by a group of nasal and surd guttural spirant (Āh), is
lengthened, whilst the nasal is dropped.
1. Group à + f\h.—Go. bagkjan (to think), O.E. Ödencean and
E. to think, O.H.G. denchen and G. denken,” everywhere with
short vowel and nasal, from a Preg. *bañkjanam. But, if the
k becomes an h,” as in Preg. *bańhta (he thought), the a be-
comes à, and the fi is dropped: hence Preg. *bähta, and its
offspring, Go. hahta, O.E. Ööhte and E. he thought, O.H.G.
dāhta and G. er dachte.* So also: Go. briggan = Preg. *breñºza-
nam, and pf, brähta = Preg. *brañhta; E. to bring, brought,
brought; G. bringen, brachte, gebracht, etc.
2. Group i + f\h.—O.N. bing (lawsuit, business), O.E. Öing
and E. thing, with a more general sense, as in O.H.G. dinc and
G. ding, everywhere with nasal and short vowel, from a Preg.
*hiſſix-. But, from a secondary verb “bińhan, changed to
*bihan, the Go. gadeihan, G. gedeihen (to thrive, to succeed),
and O.E. geşāon, which still shows the nasal and the short
vowel in its participle geóungen.”
3. Group iſ + f\h.—Go. bugkjan (to seem), the root being that
of bagkjan, only with reduced vocalism.” O.E. Yyncan and E.
* The case cannot take place with ē nor 6, because in this position they.
respectively become or remain i or ú : infra 26, i., 5, and 28, i.
* The vowel is metaphonical owing to the suffix jam.
* On this change, see below 53 C, and note.
* Shortened in Modern German, supra 20, 1.
* G. gediehem is formed by analogy with gedeihen, and such verbs as con-
tain a primitive i (schreiben geschrieben, leihen geliehem). But gedungen and
bedungen still exist as participles of the verbs dingen and bedingen.
* See the Section on Vowel-Gradation, infra 45, 4.
WOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS. 61
think, the latter being confounded with earlier Öaencean, and
having thus assumed its meaning. O.H.G. dunchan, M.H.G.
dunken, G. diinken (to seem). Thus, everywhere the nasal and
the short vowel suggesting a Preg. *buńkjanam, pf. *buńhta,
whence *biihta : Go. Bühta (it seemed); O.H.G. diihta and G.
(mich) deuchte" or dāuchte, with metaphony (borrowed from the
subjunctive) instead of *dauchte ; and, an infinitive being formed
on this new pattern, the analogous wb. diiuchten.
SECTION II.
PRIMITIVE WOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS, AND THEIR EVOLUTION.
(25) We have examined the series of transformations under-
gone by the vowels of English and German during the his-
torical and prehistorical life of both languages. Now, if
Pregermanic were known to us through any direct tradition,
it would only remain to show how its sounds are reproduced
in each of them. But, since Pregermanic is lost, and can only
be restored by the comparison of its offspring, and, subsidiarily,
of the other Indo-European languages, we must now apply to
them in order to discover that necessary link of the chain
which we have so far followed upwards, but which we are now
attempting to trace downwards. We shall thus, as it were,
prove the operation, provided that Sanskrit, Greek and Latin
agree with English and German in confirming what we have
already learnt about Pregermanic vocalism ; and then our
Germanic phonetics will rest on a true scientific basis.
According to the evidence afforded by the Indo-European
languages, the primitive vocalism of their parent consisted of:
ay, ey, oy, and aw, ew, ow; the five corresponding long vowels,
à, 6, 7, Ö, Ü, ; * and, lastly, an indeterminate vowel à, which, at
least in the European languages, has been entirely confounded
* This is the archaic and proper form. The usual one mich diinkte is due
to the analogy of diinken.
* Occasionally also in a diphthong, thus āy, £w, etc. But in this short
grammar we are compelled to omit these rare sounds.
52 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
with ā, and therefore need not be distinguished at all from it
in this work (I.-E. *pśtér-, Gr. Totép-, L. pater, Go. fadar, E.
father, G. vater)."
The Indo-European a and o, whether short or long, have
become blended together in the Germanic branch, &
and 5 being Preg. ā, and ā and 5 being Preg. 5. Apart from
some partial mutations, the other vowels are quite dis-
tinctly kept. Thus, it will seem advisable to begin our study
with e, , and w.
§ 1. Short and long e.
(26) The vowel e may be said to be the touchstone of the
European languages; for the Asiatic (Indo-Iranian) group of
our family” has changed it to a in every position. The Ger-
manic group shows it still almost as clearly as any other
European Language.
I. I.-E. & = Gr. 3–L. & = Preg. ē : I.-E. *bhérô (I carry, cf.
Sk, bhārā-mi), Gr. ºbépo, L. feró, Preg. *bérô, whence Go.
bair-an * (to carry), O.E. beran and E. to bear, O.H.G. bāran,
M.H.G. bārn and G. (ge)bären (to bring forth a child), cf. the
Original meaning preserved in bahre (a hand-barrow); I.-E.
*pśll-a (skin), Gr. TréAA-a, L. pell-i-8, Preg. *fèll-a, whence E.
and G. fell; I.-E. *éd-ö (I eat; cf. Sk. 6d-mi), Gr. 80, L. Šdó,
Preg. *étó, whence Go. it-an (to eat), O.E. etan and E. eat,
O.H.G. 833an and G. essen, etc.
Preg. ē has been generally kept. In five main cases, how-
ever, it became i at the very earliest period.
1. In the primitive diphthong éy, first changed to #y owing
to the law stated under 3 below, and this again then contracted
to 7 : I.-E. *stéyghô (I go up), Gr. o'reixo, but Preg. *sūzā,
whence Go. infinitive Steigan, O.H.G. stigan and G. Steigen.”
* The Asiatic languages here have an i, thus, Sk. pitár-.
* Cf. Supra 3.
* As a matter of fact, Gothic, less pure in this respect than any other
Germanic tongue, changes every Preg. ē to i ; the é, however, is restored,
though Spelled ai, before an r or an h : hence arises the contrast between
bairam = E. bear, and itan = E. eat.
* O.E. Stigan and E. Sty; the latter being obsolete and replaced by F.
mount. On the later evolution of this i in both languages, cf. Supra 17, 3,
and infra 27, II.
WOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS. 53
2. In the same group before a vowel: the group first be-
comes y, which then is reduced to a simple y. Such is the
case with all causative verbs. These verbs will be seen to
require in I.-E. the deflected root," accompanied by a suffix
-êyö-, which suffix takes the person-endings: thus, Sk. bhár-à-mi
(I carry) and bhār-āyā-mi (I cause to carry), Gr. (bopéo ; root
nén (to think), L. moneó (I cause to think, I warn)=*mon-eyö;
root nek (to die, cf. L. new nec-is), L. noc-ed, etc. Consequently,
a root sed (to sit down, Sk. Sád-as, “ seat,” Gr. 380s, L. sed-ed
séd-és, etc.), when assuming the causative meaning “I make
to sit,” will become I.-E. *sod-öyö. Now, the Go. sat-jan (to
place) refers us to a Preg. *satja-, which is quite identical with
*sod-Éyö, the only difference being that the ey is changed to y;
hence, with the necessary metaphony, O.E. settan and E. to set,
O.H.G. seazen and G. setzen, as opposed to sit, sitz and sitzen.
3. When the following syllable contains either a prehistorical
i or y”: I.-E. *médh-yo-s (placed in the middle, cf. Sk, mādhyas),
Gr, pºoros = p&roros = *pé0-yo-s, L. medius, but Preg. *mió-ja-2,
whence Go. midjis, O.E. midd and E. mid, O.H.G. mitti and
G. mitte; I.-E. *és-ti (he is, cf. Sk. Östi), Gr. eart, L. est, but E.
(he) is, G. (er) ist, etc.
4. As final, always, and sometimes in certain other unaccented
positions less easy to define: I.-E. final *-ā in the 2nd person
sg, imperative, as *ném-è (take), Gr. véu-e (divide), L. &m-è
(buy), but Preg. *nim-i, whence O.H.G. mim 8 and G. nimm ;
I.-E. final *-ās in the nomin, pl., as *pód-ès (feet), Sk, pád-as,
Gr. Töö-es, but Preg. *föt-iz, whence the metaphony in O.E. fet
(sg. fot) and E. feet. Here the change of § to i seems attribut-
able to the following z.
5. Before any group beginning with a nasal : I.-E. root
* See the Section on Vowel-Gradation, infra 44.
* This is the first appearance of Germanic metaphony, already alluded to,
supra 22, note. The same influence which, in Pregermanic, had altered
the é before an i, more and more extended to other vowels in E. and G.
This is the reason why we find such scanty instances of the mutation of č
(supra 23 E) separately in the two languages, and especially in English :
è was mutated before their separation.
* Final i has vanished, but shows its existence through the metaphony it
has caused.—Observe that L. emere preserves the meaning “to take” in the
compounds Sümere, eacinnere, etc.
54 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
bhändh (to bind), Sk, bandh (to bind), bándh-w-s (a relation),
Gr, Tevffepôs=*qev6-epó-s (father-in-law), Tretoºthp="bev6-tºp (a
cable), but Go. bind-an, O.E. bindan and E. to bind, O.H.G.
bindan and G. binden ; I.-E. root w8 (to blow), cf. G. wehem, and
L. ve-ntu-s, but E. and G. wind; I.-E. *péñge (five), whence a
probable derivation *peºg(e)-ró-s (fivefold), Go. figgr-s (finger),
O.N. fingr, G. and E. finger.
The & persists everywhere else. Only in O.H.G. it becomes i,
if the following syllable has a u : I.-E. *septm (seven), Sk. Saptă,
Gr. Trá, L. Septem, Preg. *sebum, whence Go. sibwn, O.E. seofon
and E. seven, but O.H.G. sibwn, M.H.G. siben, G. Sieben.”
II. I.-E. & has become, in Pregermanic as in Greek (m), a
very open 6: from this have arisen, in Gothic and Old English,
a very close à, and, on the other hand, in Old High German,
the still more open sound of d. Examples are : I.-E. root *d
(to eat), pf. *ěd-, Sk. did-imó (we ate), Gr. (é6-);8-a-pev, L.
éd-imus, Preg. *ēt-wmé, whence Go. Étum, O.E. ſeton and E. (we)
eat (pf), O.H.G. d5um and G. (wir) aszen; I.-E. root dhë (to
place, to do), Gr. 6%-oro from Ti-6m-pºt, L. fe-c-7, Preg. *ēē-Öi-s
(action), whence Go. déb-s, O.E. daed and E. deed, O.H.G. tat
and G. that ; I.-E. root sé (to sow, to throw), Gr. input =*ort-orm-pºt
(I throw), 7-po (a throw), L. sé-men (seed), Preg. *sé-Öi-S (seed),
whence Go. (mana-)séb-s (mankind), E. seed, G. saat ; I.-E. root
né (to spin, to sew), Gr. vº-po (tissue), L. né-re (to spin), thus
I.-E. *né-tro- or *né-tlo- (an engine for sp. or s.), Gr. virpov
(distaff), Go, nébla (needle), E. needle, G. madel. -
§ 2. Short and long i.
(27) I. The * is a very consistent vowel, as it remains un-
changed in all the Indo-European languages, Pregermanic
included: I.-E. root bhād (to split), Sk. bhid (id.) L. fidimus (pf.),
Preg. *bit-wmé (we bit), Go. bitum, O.H.G. biggum and G. (wir)
bissen, E. (we) bit ; L. pisci-s, Go. fisk-s, O.N. fisk-r, E. fish,
G. fisch ; Sk, vidhavá (a widow), L. vidua, Go. viduvö, O.E.
widewe and E. widow, O.H.G. wituwa and G. wittwe.
Before an r or an h, Preg. ą, in Gothic only, becomes à (spelled
* The vowel lengthened in an open syllable, supra 20.
WOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS. 55
ai): I.-E. root migh (to be moist, to make water), Sk, mih
(id.), Gr. 3-pix-Éo (id.), 6-pix-Am (a cloud), L. ming-ere, but Go.
"maſh-stu-s (moisture, fog, mist)=E. mist = G. mist (dung)," the
latter both preserving their 7.
In the five cases wherein & becomes à, of course remains
unaltered. But, excluding these, Preg. š is changed to è, when-
ever the following syllable contains an a or an o : I.-E. *wēr-0-8
(man), L. vir, Preg. *wēr-a-2, whence *wēr-a-2, Go. vaír-s (man),
O.E. and O.H.G. wer, surviving in E. and G. wer-wolf, in E.
world and G. welt”; I.-E. root sed (to sit), whence a compound
*ni-zd-ó-s (home, nest), Sk. mid&-s, L. nidus, but Preg. *nistás
becomes *nestás, G. and E. nest. This law, however, is not yet
well defined and remains subject to some alternations, so that
we are able to point to many such contrasts as: E. to lick
and G. lecken (I.-E. root ligh, in Sk, rih, “to lick,” Gr. Aetx-0,
L. ling-6); E. to live and G. leben; E. liver and G. leber; E. gwick
(cf. L. vivus =*gvägv-0-s) and G. gueck (cf. the vb. er-quick-en,
“to vivify") in the compound queck-silber=E. Quick-silver.
II. The 7 is even more consistent than the #: Pregermanic
keeps it unchanged; Gothic pronounces it 7, though spelled ei";
in English and German, unless it has undergone later shorten-
ing, it is sounded ay, though written respectively i and ei.”
I.-E. *sū-S (a hog), Sk. Sü-, Gr. -s ori-s, L. sil-s, O.E. sil and
E. sow, O.H.G. Sü and G. saw ; hence, a secondary I.-E. adjective
*su-ino-s *sw-ino-s, used as a substantive in Germanic, Preg.
*swina-2, Go. Svein-s, O.E. swin and E. swine, O.H.G. swim and
G. Schwein.
§ 3. Short and long w.
(28) I. I.-E. it =Sk, it = Gr. v = L. it = Preg. it : I.-E. kin-
(dog), Sk, ºwn-, Gr. Kiſov kvv-ós, Preg. *humö-a-z,” whence Go.
* Because it steams. Thus, F. fumier (dung), which comes from L. fimus,
is modified by analogy with the wb. fumer (to Smoke).
* Supra 21, and the note on wéralt.
* Ulfilas borrowed this symbol from Byzantine Greek, where the old
diphthong et had contracted to 7.
* This spelling is due to the M.H.G. having first passed through the
sound of čy, still preserved in some dialects, before it came to be pro-
nounced āy.
5 The Öſ added in Germanic is of doubtful origin.
56 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
hund-s, O.N. hund-r, O.E. hund and E. hound," O.H.G. hunt and
G. hund; I.-E. root dhibh, with a vague meaning of infirmity
or bodily defect, Gr, tvq Xós (blind)=*övd-A6-s, Preg. *ēumb-a-2,
whence Go. dumb-s (dumb), O.N. dumb-r, O.E. and E. dumb,
O.H.G. tump tum and G. dumm (stupid); I.-E. *yúwen- (young),
Sk, yúvan-, L. juven-i-s, whence a derivative I.-E. *yuwº-kó-s,
Sk, yuvagás, L. juvencus, Preg. *ywwwāzás contracted to *yuñzás,
Go. jugg-s, O.E. geong and E. young, O.H.G. and Mod. G. jung,
etc.
Under the same conditions under which Go. # becomes à
(written ai),” Go. ii becomes à (written aiſ): I.-E. *dhur-6-m
(door, cf. Sk. diºr- and Gr. 6 ºp-á), whence Preg. *ěřír-á-m, but
Go. daćr.
We have seen that a following a or o changes 7 to 3. Under
the same restriction,-that is to say, everywhere but before a
group of nasal and consonant,” and moreover with a serious
number of exceptions,—Preg. ii becomes à, if the following
syllable has a or o: Preg. *ěčír-á-m,4 Go., dair," E. door, G.
thor; I.-E. root yug (to join), *yug-ó-m (yoke), Sk. yugém, Gr.
Čvyóv, L. jugum, Preg. *yukám (Go. yuk), whence *yökám, O.E.
geoc and E. yoke, O.H.G. joh and G. joch; I.-E. root ghu (“to
pour out,” cf. Gr. Xé-0 xv-tó-s, and “to offer a libation,” cf. Sk.
hu-tá-s, “offered in libation ”), whence a participial form I.-E.
*ghw-tó-s, “he who is worshipped through libation, a god,” Preg.
*gü-čá-s, then *zö-Ö4-s, Go, gub-s (God), E. God, G. Gott, etc."
II. I.-E. i = Sk. i = Gr. 5–L. iſ = Preg. i. 7: I.-E. root på
* With regular lengthening before ma, supra 20, 4 B.
* Supra 27, I.-These phenomena are of no direct interest for E. or G.,
since they occur only in East Germanic ; but they must nevertheless be
briefly mentioned, or else the student would be unable to follow the phonetic
correspondences.
* For the preservative effect of a nasal, compare the participles swollen
and geschwollen, from swell and schwellen, with the participles bound and
gebunden, found and gefunden, from bind and bindem, find and finden.
* The quality of the vowel is proved by Preg. *öſör-i-, whence O.H.G. turi
and G. thir with metaphonical ii : Supra 22.
* Thus, in Gothic, there are two reasons for the iſ appearing as 5.
° It is obvious that, in spite of appearances, the regular metaphony of o
must be ii (cf. Supra 22 in fine): if göttin were an early word, it would be
*giittin ; the 3 shows it to have been a later derivation from gott.
7 Whence, in English and German, a process of diphthongizing which
runs parallel to that of 7: Supra 18, 1.
WOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS. 57
(to be foul), Sk, pily (id.), Gr. ºrj-60 (id.), L. pil-s, in a Preg.
derivation *fü-lá-s, whence Go. fill-s, O.E. fül and E. foul,
O.H.G. fill and G. faul; I.-E. root riſ (“free space,” cf. L. rā-s,
“country”), in a Preg. derivation *rīī-má-s, whence Go. rām-s
(space), O.E. rām and E. (exceptionally not diphthongized)
room, O.H.G. rām and G. raum. Further compare : E. house
and G. haus = O.E. and O.H.G. his = O.N. his = Go. *hºs (only
in gud-hās, “God’s house, temple”); E. thousand and G. tau-
send = O.E. Öilsend and O.H.G. diisunt = Go. bisundi. We have
already found eu for au in G. deuchte. It is less easy to explain
in G. euter = O.H.G. iitar (E. udder with shortening), cf. L.
fiber= Gr. offlap = Sk. idhar (udder).
§ 4. Diphthongs of short e.
(29) To & correspond the diphthongs ày and Św. Now, Śy
has been seen to become 7 before a consonant and y before a
vowel." The treatment of Św is far more intricate. It might
be said, in theory, to continue in the form eu, with the excep-
2 .
*
tion that Gothic, changing & to , naturally changes eu to iw
I.-E. root gås and gèws (to examine, taste, choose, cf. L. gus-tu-s,
G. kos-t-en), Gr, yeſo =*yeča-o, theoretically Preg. *keus-anam
(to appreciate, choose), then Go. kius-an. But, in fact, each of
the elements which form the diphthong obeys exactly the same
law that it would obey when isolated; in other words, as é
becomes à, so also eu becomes iw, if the following syllable con-
tains i or j; and, as it is changed to Ö, so eu is changed to eo,
if the following syllable contains a or o: which is as much as
to say that eu will hardly ever appear in its original form.
Afterwards, in English, eu and eo are sounded 30, whereas iu
becomes ie and y “; in German, eo becomes io, and lastly ie,
which ends by contracting to 7,4 whereas iw contracts to long
1. Cf. supra 26, I. 1, 2. * -
* It is seen here, and will still better be seen below, with what mathe-
matical regularity the application of a phonetic law takes place throughout
a language.
* Metaphonical vocalisms already mentioned, supra 22 in fine.
* Afterwards eventually shortened. The old diphthong is still very per-
ceptible in South Germany : Alsatian tiéf, liép, liécht, etc.; cf. G. tief (deep),
lieb (dear), licht (light), pr. tif, lip, licht, etc.
58 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
it, which in Central Germany is diphthongized to eu. Thus,
an I.-E. root dhub (hollow, deep, cf. Lith. dub-à-s “hollow”)
gives the I.-E. derivate *dhëwbos, Preg. *Yeupaz, which becomes
*öeopaz; hence, Go, diup-s, O.N. djöp-r, O.E. déop and E. deep
O.H.G. iiof and G. tief. The same root before an i or a j, in
Preg. *ēeup-janam (to dive), becomes *Čiup-jan, O.E. diſfan and
E. dive, cf. also E. to dip.” These complex correspondences are
still more complicated by the influence of analogy; for the
two diphthongs eo and iu, were too much alike not to be easily
confused, so that the metaphonical form and the pure one
largely usurped each other's legitimate place, though the pure
one as a rule proved the stronger. The vb. *keusanam quoted
above, for instance, ought to be in the infinitive *keosanam
(O.E. céosan, and O.H.G. chiosan), and in sg. 3 pres. indicative
*kiusit (O.E. ciest and O.H.G. chiusit); but Mod. E. actually
lºnows no other stem but choose (the substantive choice being
re-borrowed from French), and Mod. German, no other but
kies-en. So again, a noun *leod-w- had a pl. *liud-i; but O.E.
extends to the plural the non-metaphonical form, thus léode
(people); whilst O.H.G. carried into the sg. livi (a people)
the metaphonical form which is regular only in the pl. liwti,
G. leute; and there are many similar cases.
With this remarkable treatment of the Preg. diphthong ew
may be classed numerous alternations; as, for instance, G.
licht = O.H.G. lioht = O.E. leoht,” and G. leuchten (to enlight);
G. ziehen (to draw)= Go. tºuhan (cf. L. diſcó=*dewcô), and G.
zeugen (to produce); G. biegen (to bend)= Go. biwgan, and G.
beugen (to inflect).” Lastly, the reader may compare : O.H.G.
* Just as ū is diphthongized to aw; for long it and eu are the metaphonical
vowels corresponding to the pure ones à and au. The old vowel is kept
by the Southern dialects, which also preserve the 7 and iſ free from diph-
thongizing : Swiss tºliit (long ii) and Alsatian t’lit=G. die leute (the people).
* G. tuafen-Go. déup-jam, which has acquired the technical sense of
“christening ” (thus Gr. 8attlew, “to dip, to christen ''), shows, as a
causative verb, the deflected grade of the same root. If G. had retained
a neutral wb. “to dive ’’ in this series of words, this would be Alamannic
*tifen with long it, and classical *teufen. Cf. also O.E. fjr=E. fire, and
O.H.G. fivur-M.H.G. viur-G. feuer, with Gr. Túp.
* On the E. i in light, see above 21, note.
* These verbs are causatives: thus, they had in I.-E. a diphthong Św,
which has become Preg. au (infra 32); but the result is the same, since this
WOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS. 59
diota (people) and O.E. Öéod = Go. Biuda = I.-E. *tewtá, further
O.H.G. diutisk (translated into L. theotiscus), now Teutsch and
Deutsch (Alamannic tiltsch and titsch), with the non-metaphonical
forms still surviving in M.H.G. diet (people) and proper nouns
as Dietrich (L. Theodoricus, F. Thierry). And above all should
be mentioned the archaic conjugation of the vb. fliegen (to fly),
viz. ich fliege, du fleugst, er fleugt, wir fliegen, which will be
recalled at its proper place.”
§ 5. Short a and o, and their Diphthongs.
(30) I.—1. I.-E. & = Sk, & = Gr. 3 = L. (i = Preg. ſt: I.-E.
*sáld (salt), Gr. 3A-s=*oróA-s, L. sål = *sūld, Preg. *sūlt, whence
Go. salt, E. salt, G. salz; I.-E. *dókru (a tear), Gr. 66 kpw, L.
dacru-ma (lacrima), Preg. *téhru “tazrit, whence Go. tagr, O.E.
*teahr and tâar (broken vowel), E. tear, O.H.G. Zahar and G.
zähre with metaphony ; I.-E. *agró-s (field), Sk. 6.jra-s, Gr.
âypó-s, L. ager, Preg. *akrá-s, whence Go. akr-s, O.E. aecer and
E. acre, O.H.G. acchar and G. acker; L. scăb-ere (to scratch),
Go. skab-an (id.), E. to shave, G. Schabem, etc.
2. I.-E. 5 = Sk. & d = Gr. oe L. 5, but Preg. ā; I.-E. *ghortó-s
(turf, enclosure), Gr. Xópros, L. hortus, Preg. *garða-s, whence
Go. gard-s (enclosure), and cf. E. gard-en and G. gart-en, E. yard;
I.-E. *ghösti-s “a foreigner,” whence either “an enemy’’ or
“a guest,” L. hosti-s (enemy), Go. gast-s (guest), E. guest,” and
G. gast; I.-E. *öktów (eight), Sk. aštáu, Gr. 6kté, L. oct), Go.
ahtáu, O.E. eahta broken, and E. eight, G. acht; I.-E. *özdó-s
(twig), Gr. Ščos, Go. ast-s, G. ast, etc.
(31) II. Hence it must follow that the two primitive diph-
thongs ày and Öy unite in the Preg. ai. This is well kept in
Gothic.” But in O.E. it has become à, which in English is
aw has again become eu through metaphony before the causative suffix -jan.
Cf. Supra 26, I. 2.
* Infra 206 B.—Of this development the reader may, if he choose, for
the present, retain only the general conclusion in the following formulas
which at first sight seem contradictory:
Preg. ew changed to eo appears in Mod. G. as ie, i ;
$ ) €ll, } } iw 5 § ! ? €lt.
* With the metaphony we also meet with in the G. pl. gåste.
* Here, as already observed, we always write it dii, in order to distinguish
it from the false diphthong Go. ai, which is simply an open &
60 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
changed to 6. In Old German ai has only undergone the
metaphony to ei, while M.H.G. ei has gradually returned to
the sound of ay, so that it in no way differs, excluding, of
course, the Southern dialects, from the ay, likewise spelled ei,
which proceeds from O.H.G. i. As early however as O.H.G.,
the diphthong ai contracted to a, when followed by r, h or w;
see below lehren and ewig, and add here : Go. Séïvala (soul),
O.E. sawul and E. soul, but O.H.G. sé(w)la and G. seele; Go.
sáir-s (pain), O.E. sir and E. sore, but O.H.G., M.H.G. sér (pain),
the etymological sense of which is preserved in G. ver-sehr-en
(to damage), and much weakened in G. Sehr (very).”
1. I.-E. (iy=Sk, & = Gr. ai = L. ai a = Preg. ai : I.-E. *slaywó-s
(left, left-handed, awkward), Gr. Aatos = *o AotFó-s, L. laevo-s,
O.E. slāw and E. slow, cf. O.H.G. slāo; I.-E. *ayw- (time, age,
century), Gr. aidºv = *aif-6v, L. aev-o-'m, Go. 6iv-s (time, eternity),
whence the secondary G. ewig (eternal)= O.H.G. Gw-ig; O.N.
heit-r (warm), O.E. hdt and E. hot, O.H.G. heig and G. heisz ;
M.E. bāthe and E. both = G. beide; L. caed-ere (to cut), Go.
skáid-am and G. scheiden (to divide), etc.
2. I.-E. §y = Sk. & = Gr. ov– L. oi (ii or 7), but Preg. ai : I.-E.
root wid (to see), whence a pf, *wēyd-à (“he has seen,” so “he
knows”), Gr. oièe=Folò-e, L. vid-it, Sk. véd-a, Preg. *wait-e, Go.
váit, O.E. wit and E. (he) wot, O.H.G. weig and G. (er) weisz ;
I.-E. *öy-nó-s (one), Gr. oivá-s, L. Ünus =oino-s, Preg. *ainá-8,
whence Go. 4 in-s, O.E. dn and E. one, O.H. G. ein and G. ein ;
compare the same à mutated and shortened in O.E. denig and
E. any, cf. G. einige; Preg, root lis (Go. *leis-an” “to learn"),
forming a causative wb. which would be I.-E. *löys-éyò, “I
teach,” “whence Go, láis-jan, O.H.G. lºren and G. lehren, natur-
ally the root we also find in O.E. leornian and E. to learn,
* In other words, classical G. pronounces ein like scheinen, whereas
Alamanmic says aym for the one and Šiné for the other, etc. Dutch (Low
German) in the same way distinguishes een from schijmen, Cf. Supra 17, 3,
and 18, 1.
* The successive meanings would be : “with pain—with struggle—with
intensity—very.”
* Cf. the Go. pf. lais (he knows), which would be I.-E. *löys-e, formed
like *wēyd-e.
* Cf. Supra 26, I. 2.
WOWELS AND DIPHTEIONG.S. 61
O.H.G. lérnen and G. lernen, which would be Go. *liz-n-jan
(to learn).
(32) III. A further consequence is, that the two I.-E.
diphthongs àw and Öw unite in Preg. au. This is still retained
in Gothic." In Old English, strangely enough, it has become
ëa, still mostly written ea in Modern English, but sounded
either 7 or open ä, as we have seen above, according as it stands
in an open or in a close syllable. In German, au remains un-
changed, apart from a slight ow- Sound, and usually so spelled
in O.H.G. writing; before a dental, however, as before r, l, h,
and occasionally in other positions, O.H.G. au contracts to Ö.
These processes may be illustrated by the following instances.
1. I.-E. iiw = Sk. Ó = Gr. ov– L. au = Preg. aw: I.-E. root awg
(to increase), Gr. aščávo, L. aug-eô, etc., Preg. advb. *auk
(besides, also), whence Go. 4 whº, O.E. eac and E. eke, O.H.G. auh
and G. auch; * I.-E. *kå(w)p-et- (head, cf. L. cap-wt), Preg.
*haub-ib, whence Go. h4wbib, O.N. haufuſb, O.E. heafod and E.
head, O.H.G. howbit and G. haupt, etc.
2. I.-E. §w = Sk. Ó = Gr. ov = L. ou ä, but Preg. au : I.-E. root
rüdh (red, cf. Sk. rudh-irá-S = Gr. -puff-pó-s- L. rub-er), whence
a deflected derivative *röwdh-ó-s, L. rif-u-s, Preg. *rauð-á-s,
Go. rāwb-s, O.E. réad and E. red, O.H.G. rāt and G. roth ;
I.-E. root dhibh (bodily defect),” whence a similar derivation
*dhöwbh-ó-s, Preg. *čawb-á-s, Go. déuf-s (stupid), O.E. déaf and
E. deaf, O.H.G. toup and G. taub,” with contracted vowel 5 in
toben (to deafen).
We need not go back farther than Germanic itself in men-
tioning : O.E. déač and E. death, G. tod- Go. déub-u-s, and
* Written äu, as āi above, in order to distinguish it from the open Ö which
is spelled atí, supra 28, I.
* Thus, primitive aw and primitive it are no longer distinguishable from
one another in classical German; but, like primitive ai and primitive i, they
are distinguished in the Southern dialects. Alamanmic aw (High Alsatian
ây)=G. auch, but Al. fül = G. faul (foul); and so also, paue påye = bauen (to
build), fraw frºy = frau, lauch löych = lauch (leek), etc.; but silr= G. sawer =
E. sour, his = O.H.G. his (haus, house), sufé = G. saufen (to drink, from
animals). The correspondence is constant, though High Alsatian has såy =
G. saw (a sow).
* Already seen in tvq}\ós and dumb = dumm, supra 28, I.
* Compare the vocalism in High Alsatian tºyp (deaf), and tip (long ii) = -
G. taube = E. dove.
-
62 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
likewise dead=todt, great =grosz; O.E. hléapan and E. to leap,
O.H.G. loufen and G. laufen (to run)= Go. hláupan; O.E. leaf
and E. leaf, O.H.G. loub and G. laub (foliage); O.E. leak and E.
leek, G. lauch, the former shortened in the second term of the
compound gar-lic, the latter shortened likewise in the dialectal
knobloch = knoblauch (garlic); Go. ga-láub-jan (to believe), O.E.
(metaph.) gel/fan and E. belief, to believe, O.H.G. gilouben and
G. glauben ; * Go. 6 w86 (ear, cf. Gr. obs, L. auris), O.E. 3are and
E. ear, O.H.G. Gra and G. ohr; Go. tſuh (he drew), pf. of
tiuh-an, that is to say, I.-E. *dówk-à deflected from a root dêwk,
which is reproduced in L. diſc-ere, G. pf. (er) zog from the same
vb. zieh-en, etc.
§ 6. Long a and 0.
(33) The long 6 which comes in Pregermanic from both
I.-E. d and Ö, remains 6 in O.E. and O.H.G., and then under-
goes in Modern English and German a similar modification.”
1. I.-E. d = Sk, d = Gr. 5 (Ionian-Attic m)=L. d, but Preg. 5:
I.-E. *bhāgā-s (a certain tree), Gr. ºbāyös pmyós (oak), L. figus
(beech), Preg. *bjká-s (beech), whence Go. bāk-s, O.E. bāc-tréow,
which would have become E. *book-tree,” and E. book,4 O.H.G.
buohha and G. buche (beech), buch (book); I.-E. root sthā (to
stand), derivative I.-E. *sthā-ló-s (firm, anything that stands),
Sk, sthā-lá-m (porringer), Gr. ortſ-Am (pillar), Preg. *stó-lá-s,
whence Go. Stöl-s (throne), O.E. Stöl and E. stool, O.H.G. stuol
and G. Stuhl ; I.-E. *mátér- (mother), Sk, mātū, Gr. patmp pºſtmp,
L. mater, O.E. modor and E. mother, O.H.G. muotar and G.
mutter; so also, L. fråter = E. brother = G. bruder; Gr. ºffy-Éo-pat
(to lead), L. Ság-ire (to be acute), Preg. *sūk-jana-m (to search),
whence Go. Sãkjan, pf, såkida, O.E. pf. Sãhte and E. sought,”
O.H.G. Suohhan, pf, suohte, G. Suchen suchte gesucht, etc.
* Contrast High Alsatian kläyvč (to believe) with klüve (long ii) = G.
klauben (to scratch) = O.H.G. chlübün.
2 Cf. Supra 18, 2.
* The extant form beech is metaphonical, O.E. Sg. bāc, pl. béc, cf. feet from
foot, etc. But the pure form, shortened, appears in the compound buck-mast
(actually “the food from a beech”). -
4 Cf. the meaning of G. buch-stabe (“a letter,” actually “a beech-stick”),
because the first Runic writings were made of sticks.
* The infinitive seek = O.E. sécan is metaphonical like beech. Cf. also the
inf. beseech, with pf. besought.
WOWELS AND DIPHTHONGS. 63
2. I.-E. 6=Sk. d = Gr. o – L. 6= Preg. 5: I.-E. *pśd-s (foot),
Sk, pád, Gr. Troßs tºs=*tróð-s, Preg. *fat-s (Go. fot-u-s, O.N.
föt-r), whence O.E. fit and E. foot, O.H.G. fuo; and G. fusz;
I.-E. root bhló (to bloom, cf. L. flö-s), in derivation Preg.
*bló-man-, whence Go. blóma (flower), O.E. blóma and E. bloom,”
O.H.G. bluomo bluoma and G. blume; cf. the metaphony, in G.
blühen (to bloom) = Preg. *blöjanam, and the shortening in E.
blossom = O.E. blóstma; I.-E. root plo (fluid), Gr. TA0-tó-s
(swimming), Preg. *flö-öſ-s (flood), O.E. flöd, and E. flood
shortened, O.H.G. flöt float fluat fluot, and G. flut, etc.
Without going beyond Germanic, we may quote: O.E. bljd
and E. blood,” O.H.G. bluot and G. blut; E. stud and stud-book,3
G. stute (mare); E. boy =*bóf-ig.(?) diminutive to O.E. *bóf=
M.H.G. bºwobe and G. bube.
SECTION III.
WOWELS IN FINAL SYLLABLES.
(34). By accurately observing the preceding laws, the student
will find himself easily able to account for almost any vowel or
diphthong of either language, and to identify it with the cor-
responding sound of the other language, or even of Greek and
Latin. But the sounds which in primitive Indo-European stood
in a final syllable underwent a peculiar treatment, which took
place after Germanic had thrown back the word-accent to the
first syllable.* The result is comparable to the process we may
historically trace in the transition from Latin to French, as in
pórtum (haven) becoming port, pörta or pārtam (door), or pārtat
(he carries) becoming porte, and pértās (doors, or thou carriest)
becoming portes. We must distinguish the primitive vowels
according as they were either themselves final or followed by
a final consonant.
* Flower, of course, is borrowed from French.
* Also shortened. The metaphonical vowel appears in the wb. bleed ==
Preg. *blöö-janam ; but the G. v.b. bluten is taken from blut without
metaphony.
* The metaphony in steed = O.E. stada.
* On this recessive accent, see below 65, II.
64 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
§ 1. Final vowels.
I. Short.—Every short final vowel is kept in Preger-
manic, and then disappears in all the dialects descended from
it, without leaving any trace of its existence but the metaphony
it may have caused.* Final iſ survives only in Gothic and Old
High German, but is dropped everywhere else: L. pectſ (cattle)
= Preg. *féhii, whence Go. faihu, O.E. feoh, O.H.G. fšhu fihu
and G. vieh; Gr. ToMö (much), Go. filu, G. viel, etc.
II. Long.—Every long final vowel remains unchanged in
Pregermanic, and then becomes shortened in Gothic and
West Germanic; * whereupon, in the further evolution of the
latter, it either gives place to a weaker sound, or is quite
dropped; * lastly, the vowel, if preserved, has become even
weaker or vanished altogether in Modern English and German.*
Thus, the final ā in feminine nouns of the so-called 1st Greek
declension (āuépá Xºpa) will be seen to have become Preg. ô,
Go. a = 5, O.H.G. a, O.E. u e (a sound duller than a), Mod. G. e,
and even completely dropped in Mod. English.
III. Diphthongs.-Primitive ey (as has been said) becomes 7.
On the other hand, primitive ay and aw, if final, are sometimes
retained in Gothic and spelled ái and éu, but elsewhere they
contract to é and Ö. The consequence is, that in West Germanic
every final diphthong is changed to a long vowel, and treated
accordingly. The applications of this law will be met with on
a large scale in the study of declension and conjugation.”
* Examples have been given above: 22, 26, I., 4, etc.—In point of fact,
the law is more intricate than as here given, at least in West Germanic, and
it depends on the position of the accent; but, as it was afterwards affected
by many analogical influences, it will be better not to follow it in its arbitrary
applications.
2 This shows that the vowel was the same in Pregermanic ; for, if it had
been shortened there, the subsequent languages would have lost it altogether.
8 A dull vowel, in a dissyllable with short first syllable; no vowel at all
anywhere else: this is the rule, apart from analogical influences. Cf. infra
143, II., and 157, § 2.
4 Cf. supra 19, 1.
* As, for instance, in the dat. Sg. (152), in the nomin. pl. (143, II.), in the
pres. Subj. (192), in the pſ. Subj. (193, sq.), etc., etc.
WOWELS AND DIPEITHONGS. 65
§ 2. Non-final vowels.
I. Short.—Every short vowel in a Pregermanic final syllable
is treated as if itself final, without distinction, whether the
following consonant is itself dropped, or is preserved : * I.-E.
*agró-s (field), acc. *agró-m, Sk. &jra-s ājra-m, Gr. 3 ypó-s āypó-v,
L. ager agru-m, Preg. *akrá-s *akrá, whence Go. akr-s akr, O.E.
aecer and E. acre, O.H.G. acchar and G. acker; I.-E. *sūnū-s
(son), acc. *sūnū-m, Sk. Sünit-s silniț-m (ef. Gr. v-ió-), Preg.
*sunº-s *sunº,” whence Go. Swnw-s sunu, O.E. sunu and E. son,
O.H.G. sunu and G. sohn, etc.
II. Long.—A non-final long vowel in a final syllable survives
in Gothic and West Germanic and further undergoes in English
and German the usual process of weakening : I.-E. *wlqos
(wolf), pl. wigós, Sk. vſkas vſkás, Preg. *wulfaz ºwulföz, Go.
vulfs vulfös, E. wolf wolves, etc.”
III. Diphthongs.—The law for a long vowel holds good for
any diphthong.”
* On the treatment of final consonants, cf. infra 39, 1–2, 46 and 63.
* The short vowel, instead of the long one in Sk., is probably due to a
different grade of root sić (to bring forth).
* In monosyllables, the long vowel or diphthong, whether final or non-
final, always remains long; cf. the declension of the definite article, infra
129 sq.
* The investigation of Preg. finals is leading to new results. The reader
to whom it is of interest may be referred to Hanssen's and Hirt's essays, in
I(whn’s Zeitschrift, xxvii. p. 612, and Indogermanische Forschwngen, i. pp. 1
and 195. But, as their leading principle, namely, the distinction between
the acute and the circumflex accent on the final long syllable, cannot be.
said to find as yet any sure application except in Gothic, it need not be more
than briefly mentioned here.
CEHABTER III.
SEMI-VOWELS AND CONSONANT-WOWELS.
(35) The correspondences of the semi-vowels and consonant-
vowels being all of the utmost simplicity, it seems expedient to
trace them at once from the Indo-European period down to our
days. Having thus established the continuous descent of these
mixed sounds, we shall further enquire into the conditions
under which they alternately played, in the Indo-European
speech, the part of consonants or vowels. This point will be
discussed in the section on Vowel-Gradation.
SECTION I.
S E M I - WO W E L S.
I.-E. had the two semi-vowels of i and u, viz. y and w, which,
in certain positions, were able to form a syllable by themselves,
inasmuch as they became changed to their respective vowels.
Pregermanic, we have seen, represents the two vowels by i and
w; we have also seen how it represents y and w, when following
a vowel and forming a diphthong; the consonants y and w, so
far as they survived, Pregermanic represented by j=y (spelled
Go. and G. j, E. y) and w (sounded v in Mod. German).
§ 1. Semi-vowel y.
(36) I. I.-E. initial y=Sk, y=Gr. 3 or rough breathing =
Lat, j-Preg. j: we have already quoted yoke and joch, young
and jung, etc.; you and euch will appear among the pronouns;
here we may add I.-E. root yºr yor (a space of time), Zd, yāre
66
SEMI-VOWELS AND CONSON ANT-WOWELS. 67
(year), Gr. Öpos épā (time, season, year), Preg. *jér-a-, whence
Go. jër, O.E. géar 1 and E. year, O.H.G. jär and G. jahr.
II. Media1. –1. Between vowels, I.-E. y is kept in
Gothic and O.H.G. (as also in Sk.), but dropped in O.E. and
M.H.G. (as also in Greek and Latin), and thus vanishes, be-
traying itself only by the occasional metaphony : O.H.G.
bluo-jan, G. blühen (to bloom); Go. *kiu-jan (to chew), O.E.
céow-an and E. chew, O.H.G. chiww-an and G. kauen, with the
metaphony preserved in the compound wieder-kāuen.
2. After a consonant, whether primitive, or arising from
the primitive diphthong éy,” the y is preserved in Gothic ; but,
in the later dialects, it causes the preceding consonant to be
doubled, and then unites with it and disappears.” I.-E. *ten-yö
(I spread out), Gr. teiva) = *rév-yo, O.E. Öen-iam (to spread out)
and Öennan, O.H.G. denºmen and G. dehmen (to extend).4 Go.
hlah-jan (to laugh), O.H.G. hlahhan and G. lachem, O.E.
(metaph.) hliehhan and E. laugh. I.-E. root stheq teg (to cover),
Gr, otéyo otéyos Téyos (covering, thatch), L. teg-à tog-a, etc.;
hence, a derived noum, Preg. *bak-á-s=I.-E. *tog-6-s, reproduced
by Go. *bak = E. thatch = G. dach ; from this again is derived a
denominative vb., Preg. *bak-jam-am, Go. bakjan (to cover),
O.E. Öeccan, O.H.G. decchan 5 and G. decken (the latter three, of
course, are metaphonical). The causative wb. of the E. to wake
and G. wachen points to a Preg. *wak-jan-am, whence Go.
vakjan (to rouse from sleep), O.E. wecceam, O.H.G. weccham and
G. weeken. To these may be added : O.E. settan (E. to set, G.
setzen) = Go. Sat-jan (to cause to sit); and Go, mid-ji-s (=L.
med-iw-s), O.E. midd and E. mid, O.H.G. mitti and G. mitte.8
* For this g, see infra 50, II.
* See above, 26, I., 2.
* As in Greek the X in dyyáXXa) = *āy-ye)-y-w.
* The group mn shortened to m, whereupon the preceding vowel became
long. Group ll in Go. vil-ja, E. will, G. wille.
* More exactly decchen ; for it is a law in O.H.G. that j changes a follow-
ing a to e, but analogy has often made the law ineffective, that is to say,
deccham was restored on the model of such infinitives as shham (to see, now
sehen) = Go. Saihvan, where the a had no j before it. See Braune, Ahd. Gr.,
§ 58.
* It is not only before a j, but in several other positions, especially before
a nasal or a liquid, that a preceding consonant is liable to be doubled in
German words; further, as in the course of declension or conjugation
68 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
§ 2. Semi-vowel w.
(37) I. Initial.-1. Before a vowel, I.-E. was Sk.v = Gr. F
(dropped in Ionic and Attic)=L. v = Preg, w; we have already
cited wine and wein (borrowed from Latin), he wot and er weisz,
wind and wind, etc.; we may add water and wasser (Slav. voda),
I.-E. *wlqo-s=Sk. vſka-s- Go. vulf-s-E. wolf– G. wolf.
2. Before a consonant, the w, still sounded in Preg. and
Gothic, is lost in German; in English it is nothing more than
a written survival: Go. writ-s (a scratch, an engraving), G. ritz
(a scratch), O.H.G. rižan and G. reiszen (to tear), risz (a rent),
O.E. writ-an (to scratch), whence E. to write.
II. Media1.-1. Between vowels, w is retained, but unites
afterwards with the preceding vowel, which thus assumes a
slightly labialized sound. In such cases it may well happen
that the w is no longer visible, even in spelling, as in hue
instead of *hew, Tuesday," etc. Further instances are: E. true
=O.E. treowe, and G. treu (faithful)=O.H.G. (gi)triuwi, con-
trasted with the deflected form of the same root in E. to trow =
G. traven ; E. Snow = O.E. Snåw, and G. Schnee = O.H.G. Snéo, cf.
Go. Snáiv-s, pointing to a Preg. *snaiw-ó-s (L. nia niv-em); E.
tree = Go. triu, related to Gr. 8pts (gen. Öpwós=*öpuF-ós) and to
Russian derevo (tree).
2. After a consonant, primitive w is rather uncommon,”
but generally survives: I.-E. *dwó- (two)=Preg. *twä-, whence
Go, twdi, E. two,” G. Zwei ; I.-E. root kwit (to shine), derived
I.-E. *kweyt-o-s, Sk. Qvät-á-s (shining, white), Preg. *hwāt-a-2,
whence Go. hweit-s, O.E. hwit and E. white, O.H.G. hwig and G.
weisz. The group nºw, however, is assimilated to nºn: I.-E.
*mánu- (man), whence the secondary *man.w-ó-s (human, man),"
Preg. *mann-á-s (cf. Go. manna), E. man = *mann, G. mann.”
adjacent sounds may vary (thus, nomin, knabe, gen, knaben with a nasal,
etc.), the consonant is liable to appear alternately simple and double ;
whence arise such doublets as knabe (boy) and knappe, rabe (raven) and
rappe (black horse), etc.
1. Cf. supra 17, 5.
* The common initial group sw will be referred to below, 59, II.
8 Of course the w melts into the sound of the following iſ.
* The u, before a vowel, must become a consonant (w). The prototype
manu- is from Sk., where the progenitor of all men is called Manu.
* The treatment of w may sometimes appear very inconsistent; but it
SEMI-WOWELS AND CONSON ANT-WOWELS. 69
SECTION II.
CONSONANT-WOWELS.
(38) The consonant-vowels, i.e. the nasals and liquids, as
Sounded in the Indo-European speech, were either consonants
or vowels. In either case, their correspondences are very
simple.
§ 1. Nasals.
(39) The regular tendency of the nasals, throughout
the Indo-European family, is to become partly assimilated
to the following consonant, that is to say: the nasal is
labial if followed by a labial, dental if followed by a dental,
etc. A language, therefore, must possess as many nasals as it
has classes of explosives; for instance, four in I.-E., three in
Preg., Gothic, English and German." Moreover, if in the
course of its evolution the articulation of any explosive happens
to be changed, the preceding nasal is strictly compelled to vary
in accordance with this change. Thus, the nasal was velar in
I.-E. *péñqe (five), and has remained guttural in L. guinque;
but it has become labial in Gr. (AEolic) trépire and Go. fimſ, and
dental in common Gr. Tévre and G. fünf.” This main point
being settled, the nasals exhibit an exact correspondence in all
languages.
I. Consonants.-1. Labial: I.-E. m = Preg. m everywhere
retained, save in primitive finals. Such instances as mid=
mitte, room = raum, etc., have already occurred. The reader
may add: comb and kamm = Sk, jámbha-s (jaw)=Gr. )ópºbo-s
should be borne in mind, that its position was not constantly the same in
the same Word, because in declension or conjugation it was alternately
medial and final. Thus, the w is final in the O.E. nomin. geolo = *geolw,
but medial in the gen, geolw-es, so that E. yellow appears as a compromise
between the two forms. O.H.G. shows likewise a nomin. gélo and a gen.
gélw-es, whence the doublet gehl (Alamann.) and gelb ; cf. L. helv-o-s
(yellow). And a similar change of w to b will be observed in such double
words as fahl and falb (fallow), in wittib (widow), in hieb (a blow) and pf.
er hieb, as opposed to witve (L. vidua) and wb. hauen (to strike), etc.
1. Cf. infra 52.
* The difference between Gothic and German arises from the f, as this
letter is bi-labial in Gothic, but denti-labial in German.
70 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
(a peg), etc.; E. mead=O.E. meodo, and G. meth = O.H.G. métu.
= Gr. ºffv (wine)=Sk, mādhu (a sweet and intoxicating drink);
Go, qiman, E. to come, G. kommen; E. to swim, G. Schwimmen;
E. lamb, G. lamm, etc.
Primitive final m became Preg. n (Gr. v). The fact is seen
only in the uncommon cases where this n has been preserved
by the support of an affix: G. acc. dem = Go. ban-a = Gr. Tóv=
Sk, tám = L. (is-)tum, and twin advb. accusative.
Apart from these exceptions, every final nasal is dropped in
Pregermanic, and then the preceding vowel is treated as final: *
Go, acc. akr (field)= Gr, dypóv=L, agrum.
Again, medial m, when made final by the disappearance of
the final vowel, becomes n in the O.H.G. period, whenever it
existed as a grammatical ending : * dat. pl. O.H.G. tag-um, later
tag-un, G. tag-en, from tag (day). A like change took place in
the passage from O.E. to M.E.
2. Dental : I.-E. n = Preg, n, always preserved, except when
originally final. We have already instanced night and nacht,
needle and madel, Snow and schnee, one and ein, son and Sohn, man
and mann. To these we may add E. can, ken, land, sand, etc.,
and G. kann, kennen, land, sand, etc.
3. Guttural: I.-E. f = Preg, f, written g in Go,” elsewhere
n: I.-E. root sińq (cf. Sk, sific-att “he pours out ’’), Go. sigq-an
(to dive), E. to sink, G. Simken ; L. long-u-s, Go. lagg-s, E. long,”
G. lang. Add E. to drink (Go, drigk-an), to hang, finger, tongue,
and G. trimken, hangen, finger, Zunge.”
1. Cf. supra 34, § 2, I.
* In the other cases, the m is generally preserved for the sake of analogy,
since it was not final everywhere : thus, arm (arm) has not become *arm,
because there existed a gen. arm-es, and mim (take) could not be changed to
*min, because it belonged to the same series as the infinitive mêm-am. We
have, nevertheless, the contrasted forms : G. bodem = E. bottom ; G. faden
(thread) = E. fathom ; and the like.
* A spelling borrowed from Greek by Ulfilas.
* A nasal group changes a preceding O.E. a to 0: thus, we have man and
mon (now dialectal), hand and homd, land and lond. This pronunciation,
however, was not Mercian, and therefore it has disappeared from classical
English, leaving only such scanty Survivals as long, tong = G. Zange, song =
G. sang, etc. *
* The correspondences are very numerous. But E. angel and G. engel
should not be included among them : the latter is Go. aggilus, borrowed
SEMI-VOWELS AND CONSONANT-VOWELS. 71
(40) II. Vowels.--An Indo-European nasal vowel becomes
simply & in Sk, and Gr. (a); Latin vocalizes the m to em (im)
and the ºn to en (in); the Preg. vocalization results respectively
in wºn and un," whereupon the group thus obtained naturally
follows all the laws which have been already stated as to w, m
and n.
1. I.-E. m.—The I.-E. language had a root sém, signifying
unity, which we recognize, for instance, in L. sem-el and Gr.
eis =*orép-s; now, when this root happened to lose the é, there
remained sm, as in the derived pronoun *smm-ó-s (a certain,
whoever), which has become Sk. Sam-a-s, Gr. Öp-ó-s, Go. sum-s,
O.E. sum and E. some. The same is the case with an I.-E. root
gèm (to go), Gr. 8aivo =*gm-yô, and L. venió-*gvem-yô: losing
its é, it gave rise to *gm-ti-s (marching), Sk, ga-ti-s, Gr. 86-at-s,
etc.; and this form again occurs in Go. (ga-)gum-p-s (arrival,
meeting), and G. (aus-) (ein-) (zu-)kunft, in contrast with G.
kommen = Go, qiman = L. venió. Gr. 3pwſhi (around) shows that
the related Sk, abhí (towards) must have contained a latent
nasal, thus I.-E. *mbhí faithfully reflected by O.H.G. umbi
(around, towards), M.H.G. winb, G. wºm. Final um naturally
becomes un: I.-E. *dékm (ten), Sk. dáça, Gr. 6éka, L. decem,
Preg. *téhum, whence *téhun, Go. taihun, E. ten, G. zehn ; and
the same with Go. sibwn = E. seven = G. Sieben.”
2. I.-E. A.—The negative I.-E. particle was ºvé, Sk, ná: the
ë being dropped, according to a general rule, when the word
entered into a compound, the syllable was reduced to *m-, Sk.
a-, Gr. 3- (both privative), L. in- (negative), lastly the well
known negative Germanic prefix un-, as in E. un-fair, G, un-
rein, etc., exact parallels to Gr. 3-0.6evijs (unforcible), L. in-firmus,
etc. An I.-E. word *sºtér (apart, without), mainly illustrated
by Gr. &rep (without), assumes in Germanic the form Go, sundrö
itself from Gr. &yºyexos (observe the metaphony produced in the a by the
following i); whilst angel is O.F. ingele=L. dingelum, this also borrowed
from Gr. If angel were a Germanic word, it would not be pronounced ānāl,
but aſſigl ; cf. E. angle = G. angel.
* And, as a matter of course, ii, if vowel, becomes wit: cf. E. to drink and
drunk, G. trimken and getrunken, infra 181.
* The n, which should have been dropped as Preg. final, was preserved by
the analogical influence of the ordinal numbers: Go. sibun-da (seventh).
72 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
(apart, but), O.E. sundor and E. (a-)sunder, O.H.G. suntar, G.
Somder with its many derivates. Further instances are : I.-E.
**dhero-s (inferior), Sk. £dhara-s, L. inferu-s, Go, whdar (under),
E. under, G. unter; I.-E. *m?-tó-, L. men-fu-m (chin), Go.
ºnwn-b-s (mouth), O.E. miſè =*mun-Ö," and E. mouth, G. mund,
etc.
§ 2. Liquids.
(4I) The liquids, r, l, whether consonants or vowels, are re-
produced with considerable exactness, both in Germanic and in
the other members of the I.-E. family.
I. Consonants.-1. I.-E. ra Sk, r = Gr. p = L. r = Preg. r,
preserved in the later languages.” We need but remind the
reader of red and roth, read and rathen, ride and reiten, brother
and bruder, etc. Let him further add : I.-E. *dér-ó, Gr. 8ép-0
(I flay), Preg. *tér-ö, whence Go. (ga-)tair-an (to tear), E. to
tear, G. (ver-)2ehr-en (to devour); L. hester-nu-s adjective, Go.
gistra-(dagis) “yesterday,” E. yester-(day), G. gester-n ; I.-E.
*priy-6-8 (dear, cf. Sk, priy-á-s, id.), whence a derived Germanic
wb. *frijön (to love), Go. frijón, of which the pres, participle is
frijónd-s (friend), O.E. fréond and E. friend, O.H.G. friunt and
G. freund *; Gr. KapT-ó-s (fruit), L. carp-ere (to gather fruit), E.
harv-est, G. herb-st (vintage). -
2. I.-E. l =Sk, r = Gr. A = L. l = Preg, l, preserved in the
Pater languages. I.-E. root liik lewk (to shine), Sk, root ruc
(id.), cf. Gr. Nevk-ó-s (white), L. lila lúc-em, etc.: hence a derived
noun, Go. livh-ap, O.E. léoht and E. light, O.H.G. lioht and G.
licht. I.-E. root klä klēw (to hear), whence Sk, ºrw-tá-s (heard,
famous) and gráv-as (glory), Gr. KAv-tó-s (famous) and KAéos=
*k\éſ-os (glory), L. (in-)clu-tu-s, etc.; the same word in the
Germanic compound Hlut-hari (Merovingian proper name).”
From the same root klit, after assuming the lengthened form
klü, is derived a Preg. participle *hlü-čá-s (heard), whence:
* O.E. compensatory lengthening, Supra 20, 4 A.
* Observe, however, that the r's now extant are not all descended from a
º f ; for a great many of them are to be traced to a rhotacized 8 (2),
* O.E. pure; the other forms show metaphony.
4 Actually “he who has a famous army’’ (G. heer “army’’).
SEMI-VOWELS AND CONSONANT-WOWELS. 73
O.E. hlād and E. loud, O.H.G. liſt and G. laut (loud), laut
(sound); cf. the Swiss wb. losen (to listen). Gr. ÖAoos (forest)
=*FáATFos (?), G. wald, O.E. weald and E. wold, which latter
became blended with wood = O.E. wudu =O H.G. witu." This
example, however, lacks certainty. But Go. fugl-s (bird), O.E.
fugol and E. fowl, O.H.G. fogal and G. vogel, admits of no doubt.
(42) II. Vowels.—The I.-E. liquid vowels, r, l, only remain
as such in Sanskrit (r). In the other languages they are ac-
companied by a slight indefinite vocalic sound, whence arise
the various groups: Gr, ap, pa, and ax, Aa ; L. §r, iir, and Öl, ºil;
Preg. ār, riſ, and il, lii, respectively, according as the vocalic
epenthesis is inserted before or after the liquid.” The iſ after-
wards undergoes the modifications required by the phonetic
laws of each later language : thus, we have regularly Go. atºr
and ul, E. and G. either or and ol, or ur and ul, as determined by
the nature of the following syllable *; and eventually further
lengthening.
1. I.-E. T.-I.-E. has a root mér (to die), Sk. mar, which is
reduced to mp in such derivations as Sk. mr-tá-s (dead)=L.
mor-tww-s, and Sk. mp-tá-s (death)=L. mors (gen. mor-ti-s);
another and no less correct formation would be *m'r-tró-m,
with the meaning of “death-instrument,” “ and this is repro-
duced by Go. maār-br, O.E. moróor and E. murther murder; cf.
G. mord=*mp-tó-s. Again, I.-E. has a root kêr, with the sense
of “head '' and “horn,” cf. Gr. kép-as: the root is reduced to
kr in Gr. Káp-à (head) and kpó-vo-s (helmet), L. cir-nu (horn),
which latter (*krnu) is nearly related to Go, hałrm, E. and G.
horn. I.-E. root ters trs (to be thirsty), Sk. trā-ti-S (thirst), Go.
* Lost in Mod. German, though still visible in wiedehopf “whoop" (bird)
= O.H.G. witu-hopfo, as we should say a “wood-hopper.”
* The latter case is by far the rarer, and belongs to analogy rather than
to phonetics. Let us consider an I.-E. root bhrāg (to break), cf. the L. pf.
frég-?: its reduced form bhºg has become Preg. brik, not burk (Go. bruk-an-s
=E. brok-en = G. (ge-)broch-en); but the main cause of this difference is that
the consonant and the vowel naturally tended to shift themselves to the same
place they respectively occupied in the present and in the perfect (Go. brik-a
brak, E. break brake, G. brech-en brach).
8 Cf. Supra 28, I.
* See Derivation, especially 79 (xiii). All these words have taken the
sense of “violent death,” while another stem assumed the more general
meaning of “death.”
74 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
Baúrs-tei, O.E. (metaph.) Syrst and E. thirst, G. durst, without
metaphony; but compare the metaphony in G. diirr (dry)=
O.H.G. durr-i-I.-E. *tra-i-. L. porca (the ridge between the
furrows)=I.-E. *prkö, O.E. furh and E. furrow, G. furche, etc.
2. I.-E. l.-I.-E. *wlq-0-s (wolf), Sk, vºk-a-s, L. lup-u-s, Preg.
*wilf-a-2, Go. vulf-s, E. wolf, G. wolf. I.-E. root pāl (to fill),
reduced to p!-Gr. TAa in Tip-TAo-pev (we fill), and likewise in
the derivate *p/-nó-s (full), Sk. pār-nā-s, L. ple-nu-s 1: hence
we must infer a Preg. *fil-nó-s, assimilated to *fullás, Go. full-s,
E. full, G. voll. I.-E. root mêl (to grind), Sk. mar (to grind), re-
duced to mir: Gr. pº-m (millstone), L. mola, O.E. mylm (metaph.
instead of *mul-in) and E. mill, O.H.G. mulin muli and G.
amºille.”
SECTION III.
INDO-EUROPEAN WOWEL-GRADATION (APOPHONY).
(43) Whilst stating and exemplifying the forms of the I.-E.
semi-vowels and consonant-vowels, we have been constantly led
to suppose that they could appear, in the same word, either as
consonants or as vowels, which is as much as to say that an
Indo-European root could alternately assume several
aspects. We have now to determine the laws of these varia-
tions. This will be the final effort of our inductive method, and
the highest point we are able to reach in the prehistoric evolution
of I.-E. vocalism : earlier, indeed, the terms of comparison are
wanting; and later, the vocalic correspondences are obscured
by the phonetic laws of each particular language. Hence it is
only Indo-European which can give us the key to the vocalic
change which is usually called Vowel-Gradation (F. apo-
phonie, G. ablaut); a change which, simple as it is in principle,
has produced many intricate consequences throughout all the
languages of our family, inasmuch as almost every particular
of their grammar is influenced by it, and especially the con-
* The long vowels in Sk, and in L. may be attributed to an I.-E. alternation
between short and long l.
* These words, however, may as well have been directly borrowed from
Late Latin molinum (F, moulin).
SEMI-VOWELS AND CONSON ANT-WOWELS. 75
jugation of the so-called strong verbs in the Germanic branch
remains quite unintelligible unless we trace it back to this
Origin.
§ 1. The Principle of Vowel-Gradation.
(44) I. We must begin by examining the principle in the
easier cases, which are likewise the more frequent, namely,
when the primitive syllable contains an ä. Every such syllable,
whether a root or a suffix, may successively exhibit three
main grades of vocalism, which we denote by the terms
“normal,” “reduced ” (weak), and “deflected grade.”
In the first grade, the syllable keeps the é; in the second, the
é vanishes entirely "; in the third, the é is replaced by an ä.
Supposing, for instance, a root pèl (Sk, pót-ati, L. pèt-ere) with
the sense of “falling ” and “flying ”: if normal, it is pèt, Gr.
Tét-eorðat (to fly), in the present ; if reduced, it becomes pt, Gr.
TT-éorðat (to fly), in the aorist of the same verb, and Ti-TT-0 (I
fall); lastly, if deflected, it becomes pêt, as in Gr. Tot-áopal (I
flutter). So also, root bhér (to carry, Sk. bhár-ati, Gr. ºbép-0,
L. fer-6), viz.: normal in ºpép-o ºpép-euv; reduced in (8t-)ghp-0-s
(seat for two persons); deflected in pop-6-s ºbóp-0-s pop-4 pop-éo.
It is the province of morphology, whether derivative or
grammatical, to determine the formations in which each of
these three grades should regularly appear. Some few in-
stances, however, of their occurrence will be stated below. As
for the cause of the process, nothing could be more obvious; at
any rate, as far as the normal and the reduced grade are con-
cerned: a syllable is normal if accented, whereas it becomes
reduced when the accent is shifted to another syllable, as may
be inferred at once from the contrast in Tétéo-6aw and Tréorffat.”
* If the syllable forms a consonantal group which would be unpronounce-
able without an intermediate vowel, the é is retained ; in which case, of
course, the reduced grade no longer differs from the normal.
* The Sk. language is by far the most instructive in this respect, because
it has kept the original word-accent almost unchanged : for instance, the
conjugation of 6-mi (I go), i-mſis (we go), gives the reason for root &, being re-
duced to i, whereas Greek, having thrown back its accent throughout (el-put
t-prev) merely preserves the mutation, the principle of which has disappeared.
Some of these alterations, in accent and vocalism, occurred as far back as
Indo-European, so that we find in it, here and there, reduced and accented
76 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
The change of 3 to 5 in the deflected syllable may perhaps also
depend on accent, but this point has not yet been decided.
The instances quoted as yet assume that the variable syllable
contained a single à between consonants: if the é is dropped, no
other sound remaining that is able to support the syllable, the
latter disappears as a syllable, and its consonants become sup-
ported by the adjacent vowels. But, if the é was followed by
any semi-vocalic sound, then, of course, as soon as it disappears,
the following semi-vowel or consonant-vowel becomes changed
to a pure vowel, in order to support the syllable which other-
wise would be altogether unpronounceable ; in other words,
to a normal grade éy, Św, there corresponds a reduced grade ä, ö,
25 37 ent, er, 72 22 772, º,
2 3 55 ër, ël, 22 25 $', l,
the corresponding deflected grades still remaining, naturally,
êy, Öw, Öm, Ön, Ör, Öl, with & changed to 6.
Thus, the I.-E. semi-vowels and consonant-vowels are conso-
nants when they follow or precede a vowel, and vowels when
they support a group of consonants. -
It is in Greek and, though not so clearly, in Latin that these
gradations can be best observed.* Let us then quote a single
Greek example of each of the six types described above : pres.
Aetºr-elv (to leave), aorist Aut-éiv, pf. Aé-Aout-a; fut. Aetſ(6)-o-o-plat
(I will go), aorist #Xv6-0-v, pf, eix-j}\ov6-a; eis (one)=*o-ép-s, š- =
*sm- in 3-Tač (once), and 6p-ó- (same)=*som-6-; révô-os (pain),
aorist traff-elv (to suffer)=*Tn3-éïv, pf. Tré-trov6-a ; pres, 8épk-o-pal
(I see), aorist -ēpak-o-v (Sk, 6-drº-a-m), pf. 86-8opk-a; pres, otéA-
Ao (I send), passive aorist é-o-ra\-m (he was sent), otóA-0-s (ex-
pedition). Similar instances occur in Latin: thus, tég-ö and
tög-a; dic-à (I say)= deic-5, and (causi-)dic-u-s (barrister); fug-ió
and pf. füg-i-t (he fled)=*foug-i-t; pèndô (I weigh) and pānd-us
(weight). Further, a few Latin roots appear even in all three
syllables, or unaccented and normal syllables, just as Germanic has shown
us metaphonical syllables which ought to be free from metaphony, and the
reverse (supra 22).
1 Sanskrit clearly illustrates the normal and the reduced grades; but, since
it changes both the é and the 5 to it, it has almost everywhere obscured the
passage of the normal into the deflected grade.
SEMI-VOWELS AND CONSONANT—WOWELS. 77
grades, as they would in Greek: normal fid-ö=feid-ö (“I trust,”
cf. Gr. Tetê-o-pat “I believe"); reduced fid-ás (faith), as in the
Gr. aorist é-Tuff-6-pany (I believed); deflected foed-us (treaty)=
*foid-os, as in the Gr. pf. Tré-Touff-a.
II. The second case where the normal syllable has no é, but
a long vowel, à, é, Ö, is perhaps nothing more than a variation
of the preceding." However this may be, the vowel-gradation
has assumed in it a different aspect. The three grades are as
follows, the reduced and the deflected grade being respectively
the same for the three classes, whilst in the third class the
deflected cannot be distinguished at all from the normal grade :
normal d, reduced ā,” deflected 6;
* m*
O
25 €, 92 02 35 3.
Ö
&
52 0, 35 Q, 22
§ 2. Germanic Vowel-gradation.
(45) I. The syllable has an é.—1. The é is isolated, the
type being pèt—pt—pôt : the Pregermanic correspondences
would be fêh—fb—fāb,” whereupon each of these syllables fol-
lows, in each later language, its own laws of evolution. Now
Greek has shown us that the radical vowel in the sg. of the pf.
regularly assumes the deflected state, in contrast with the pre-
sent, which has usually the normal root ; on the other hand,
the past participle of strong verbs, when regularly derived,
reduces the root : thus, these three forms, viz. present infini-
tive, past participle, and perfect in the singular, appear respec-
tively the most convenient to exemplify the normal, reduced
and deflected grade of any root.
Here, however, at the first step, we have to state an irregu-
larity: roots of this kind are not capable of reduction in Ger-
manic. In imitation of the few cases in which the reduced
grade elsewhere kept the é, Germanic has preserved it every-
* Inasmuch as the long vowel may proceed from some older contraction
of the radical é with another vowel.
* The sound which has become i in Sk., and d anywhere else, supra 25.
* Since I.-E. § results in Preg. ā, and so forth. The reader will kindly
refer to the vocalic correspondences stated above. Still more accurately the
three grades would be fép—ft—fad or fap. But the text illustration is sim-
pler for our present purpose.
78 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
where, so that its vowel-gradation, as far as regards isolated ö,
only admits of two grades. Examples:
Normal : Go. saſhv-an (to see), E. (to) see, G. seh-en;
Reduced: , Saïhv-an-s (seen), , seen, , (ge-)seh-en;
TJeflected : , Sahv (he saw), , (he) saw, , (er) Sah.
Normal : , gib-an (to give), , (to) give, 22 geb-en ;
Reduced: , gib-an-s (given), , giv-en, , (ge-)geb-en;
Deflected : ,, gaf (he gave), , (he) gave, , (er) gab.
2. Now to a root where the é forms a diphthong with a y,
I.-E. type stèygh—stigh—stöygh (to go up), the Preg. corre-
spondences are stig–stig–staig, as may be easily verified :
Normal : Go. dreib-an (to drive), E. (to) drive, G. treib-en;
Reduced: , drib-an-s (driven), , driv-en, , (ge-)trieb-en;
Deflected: , dráif (he drove), , (he) drove."
The German deflected form would have become *treib, and
would not have differed from the normal grade. The question
how German came to lose this form must be reserved for
further examination. But it still persists in some grammatical
survivals, which were secured by their isolation from any ana-
logical influence: G. er weisz=E. he wot = O.E. wit= Go. váit=
= Gr. Folò-e (otöe). In this perfect the plural quite regularly
passes to the reduced grade * : G. wir wissen = Go. vit-um = Gr.
Fíð-pev (tôpºev). -
3. If the é forms a diphthong with a w, it gives us the I.-E.
series év–à–öw, to which corresponds a Pregermanic series
eo or iu-ji or ö–aw, as follows:
Normal: Go. *lius-an (to lose), E. (to) lose, G. *lier-en; 8
Beduced : ,, *lus-an-8 (lost), , (for-)lor-n, (ver-)lor-en;
I)eflected: ,, *lóws (he lost) 2 3 , (er)(ver-)lor.
1 O.E. dräf. Observe the difference in quantity between driven, and (to)
drive = O.E. drifan. In the G. getrieben the is lengthemed in an open
syllable.
2 It will be seen that, in the plural of the perfect, the primitive accent
was thrown forward to the ending, and the root consequently reduced; but
in German and English, as in Greek, the vocalism of the plural became
almost everywhere assimilated to that of the singular, or the reverse: infra
176, 3, and 177, 3.
* As conjugated in the well-known compound verb, Go. fra-liusan, O.E.
for-léosan, G. ver-lieren.
SEMI-WOWELS AND CONSONANT-WOWELS. 79
English has lost the deflected grade in conjugation, but
shows it in the O.E. derivation léas' (loose)= G. los. In Ger-
man, owing to the later lengthening, the reduced has been
blended with the deflected form; but they are still distinguish-
able in many other words, as in ver-lus-t (loss), and in gieszen
(to melt, Go. giut-an, normal grade), reduced gusz (melting),
deflected er gosz (he melted), etc.
4. The é is followed by a nasal : I.-E. &n—m—ön ; Preg. ēn
or in—in or ön—in ; and these again further modified in West
Germanic. As examples may be chosen the two I.-E. roots
bhèndh (to bind) and ném (to take, Gr. vép-0).
Normal: Go. bind-an (to bind), E. (to) bind, G. bind-en;
Reduced : ,, bund-an-s (bound), , , bound, , (ge-)bund-en;
Deflected : ,, band (he bound), O.E. bond,”, (er) band.
Normal : , nim-an (to take), 35 mehm-em. ;
Reduced : ,, num-an-s (taken), , (ge-)momm-en;”
Deflected : , mam (he took), , (er) nahm.
O.E. preserves the corresponding tenses mim-an—mum-en—
nam, whereas E. has lost the verb altogether. But let the
student again compare, form with form, the three verbs:
Go. qīm-an (to come), qum-an-s (come), qam (he came),
E. (to) come, COmve, (he) came,
G. komm-em, (ge-)komm-en, (er) kam,
wherein both G. and E., though they have obscured the nor-
mal grade by introducing into the infinitive the labial vowel
of the participle, a process favoured moreover by the labial
nature of the preceding consonant, exhibit the deflected form
as clearly as Gothic itself.
5. Lastly, the é is, followed by a liquid : I.-E. §r—r—or ;
1 Whence the E. suffix -less, infra 110, VIII.
* With 0 instead of a before a nasal, supra 39, 3, note. English bas
bound, through confusion with the past participle ; but it has kept in the
derivation the old word bond (a chain) = G. band, and the corresponding
*band at least in the metaphonical form bend; E. band is borrowed from F.
bande, which is itself taken from G. band.
* The double m, of course, as well as the h in mehmen nahm, is but a
device to denote that the vowel in the one case is short, and in the other
long.
80 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
whence Preg, &r—ür or ör—ār, and the same series for l. Let
us consider the two roots, I.-E. wert (“to turn,” Sk. várt-at;
“he turns,” L. vert-ere, the Germanic meaning being “to be-
come "), and Preg. help “to help.”
Normal : Go. vaírb-an (to become), G. werd-en;
Beduced : , vačrb-an-s (become), , (ge-)word-en;
Deflected: , varh (he became), , (er) ward.
Normal : , hilp-an (to help), E. (to) help, , helf-en;
Reduced: ,, hulp-an-s (helped), , (ge-)holf-en;
Deflected: ,, halp (he helped), , (er) half.
English has lost the former and the gradation in the latter;
but O.E. has the corresponding forms: wearðan—worden—
wearö, helpan—holpen—healp. In the plural perfect (reduced
grade) Gothic has, also quite regularly, vaſºrb-wm = O.E. wurd-
on = G. (wir) wurd-en, which form, transported by analogy to
the sg., Occasions a German type ich wurde, existing side by
side with the primitive ich ward.
II. If the syllable, instead of 8, has a long vowel á, é, Ö,
then the correspondences in vowel-gradation will theoretically
be : f
I.-E. d, & 5 é à 5 ô & Ö
Preg. 6 & 5 é à 6 Ö & Ö
Here, the second class is kept apart from the first and third
classes, which latter become blended together, and further, do
not distinguish the deflected from the normal grade. Thus
the three are reduced to two, namely the sixth and seventh
classes in our Germanic terminology.
6. The vowel is an I.-E. and Preg. ē, as in the I.-E. root dhé
(to set, to do): normal Gr. 6;-go (I will set) and L. fe-c-it (he
did); reduced 6e-tó-s (placed); deflected 60-pô-s (heap). Preg.
ë—ć–6.
Normal: Go. lèt-an (to let), E. (to) let, G. lass-en;
Reduced : , lat-s (loose, idle), O.E. laet, , lasz ; *
Deflected : , (laï-)lát (he let).
1 The vowel-gradation is here much obscured by later processes in each
language. We need only observe that the short a in laet corresponds to a
SEMI-VOWELS AND CONSONANT-WOWELS. 81
Here G. and E. have no longer any trace of the deflected
grade. But it may be seen in the offspring of the I.-E. root
dhé quoted above, viz. E. (to) do = O.E. d5-n, and G. thun =
O.H.G. two-n, in contrast with the normal grade we had already
occasion to point out in the E. deed = G. that.
7. The normal vowel is an I.-E. & or ò, Preg. ô in either
case: normal Gr. otă-oro atº-go (I shall set), reduced atá-tó-s
(placed); normal Gr. 86-oro (I shall give), reduced 60-tá-s
(given). The Germanic correspondences are here irregular, in-
asmuch as the vowel in the normal grade has become the same
as in the reduced forms, in order to maintain, as it were, with
the utmost clearness the peculiar characteristic of the perfect
tense, which otherwise would exhibit no difference in vocalism
from the present. Thus, instead of Ö—d-5, we have Preg.
&—ć—ö.
Normal: Go. slah-an (to smite), E. (to) slay, G. schlag-em;
Reduced: , slah-an-s (smitten), , slai-n, , (ſe-)schlag-en;
Deflected: , slöh (he smote), , (he) slew, , (er) Schlug.
German schlug=O.H.G. Schluog, is quite regular, and English
slew (pr. slā) is nothing but a conventional spelling for 00 = 0
(O.E. slög)."
Germanic ä, whereas the long a in lactam is a Preg. ē (supra 26, II.), now
shortened in let, just as the Ö in O.H.G. lag;an appears now shortened in G.
lassem. Thus the regular correspondences are quite obvious.
1 This section, it must be remarked, belongs to the study of conjugation
almost as much as to phonetics; wherefore, important as it is, it cannot be
thoroughly understood, unless we subjoin to it the theory of strong perfects
and past participles, as explaimed below 175–184.
CHAPTER IV.
EXPLOSIVE CONSONANTS AND THEIR SUBSTITUTES.
(46) The first view of the consonantal system in both
English and German shows us the impossibility of studying
the explosives and the spirants apart from one another; for we
often find an English spirant corresponding to a German explo-
sive, or the reverse. It is, therefore, convenient to compare
together, in the same chapter, the explosives of both
languages, and the spirants of either where these are
merely substitutes for explosives of the other. Of
course, such sounds as exhibit the character of spirants in both
form a class by themselves.
Here, at the beginning, a general restriction is necessary :
none of the laws that will be stated below can apply either to
a final explosive or to its substitute, because every Indo-
European final consonant (properly so-called), with the
single exception of s, is dropped in Pregermanic, and
leaves no trace of its former existence in the later languages";
whereupon the vowel preceding the lost consonant is treated
in its turn as a final vowel.” As for such consonants as be-
came final after the loss (in Germanic) of a final vowel, we
scarce need observe that they were primitively medial, and
consequently are comprised as such in the following exposition.
1 The same is known to happen in Greek; cf. Henry, Comp. Gr. of Gr.
and Lat., no. 65. Occasionally the consonant is kept, in the very rare case
when it was covered by an affixed vocalic particle: cf. G. dasz = E. that = Go.
bat-a = Sk, tdd, in the declension of the article, infra 130.
2 Cf. Supra 34, § 2.
82
ExPLOSIVE CONSONANTS AND THEIR SUBSTITUTEs. 83
SECTION I.
TII E SECOND CONSONANTAL SHIFTING.
(47) In considering, in English and German, such instances
as to think and dink-en, thumb and dawm-en, thin and dinn, thorn
and dorm, which might be indefinitely multiplied, we see at
once that German uniformly represents the English voiceless
spirant by a voiced explosive of the same order.
Now, if we glance at the other languages of the Germanic
family, we find in them, with equal consistency, the same
spirant as in English: Go. hagk-jan (to think); O.N. Bum-all
(thumb), which would be Go. *bum-al-s; O.N. bunn-r (thin),
which would be Go. *bunnu-s; Go. baúrnu-s and O.N. Born
(thorn), etc. Thus, at the outset, we are led to the supposition
that English has preserved an old and Pregermanic consonantal
state which became in some way modified in High German.
Looking for further contrasts, still in the same order of con-
sonants (dentals), and at the beginning of a word, we find, for
instance, death and tod, deed and that, day and tag, etc., that is
to say, a German voiceless explosive corresponding to an English
voiced explosive; and here, again, the related languages are at
one with English, Go. déubw-s (death), deb-s (deed) and O.N.
dād, Go, dag-s and O.N. dag-r (day).” Further, we find tongue
and zunge, timber and zümmer (room),” ten and zehn, namely a
voiceless simple consonant in English corresponding to a voice-
less double one in German; and again it is the English sound
we find in Go. tuggó (tongue), ga-timr-jan (to build, to timber),
taihun (ten), O.N. tunga, timbr, Swede tio (ten), etc.
If we pass from the dentals to the two other orders of conso-
nants, gutturals and labials, a series of similar phenomena
occur, though with less exactness and regularity, so that the
whole process here described may be summed up in a brief and
* Occasionally voiced (the = die, that =das, thou = du), in consequence of
an English process of softening which will be explained, infra 49, I. 2.
* In this and the following case, Low German agrees with English.
* The etymological meaning is still seen in zimmer-mann (carpenter) and
similar words.
84 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
provisional phonetic law, which our further analysis will define
with greater precision, as follows:
The Pregermanic consonantal state seems to have
been preserved almost unaltered in East and North Ger-
manic, and likewise in the English and Low German branches
of West Germanic, whereas High German shows a
general tendency to substitute, in each order, a voiced
explosive for a voiceless spirant (d for b), a voiceless
explosive for a voiced explosive (t for d), and a voice-
less spirant for a voiceless explosive (z=ts for t).
This principle was discovered by Grimm, though he assigned
to it some effects which are now known to stand beyond its
reach. It is the second Grimm's law or Second Conso-
nantal Shifting (zweite Lautverschiebung), so called in opposi-
tion to the first consonantal shifting, which is common to all
the Germanic dialects, and must, therefore, be deemed much
earlier. We cannot go back to the latter, until we have traced,
throughout each order of English and German consonants, al
the consequences of the former.
§ 1. Labials.
(48) I. Since our formula has been said to be of a provi-
sional and approximate character, we cannot illustrate it better
than by particularizing a case in which it proves ineffective,
German having kept without alteration the Germanic conso-
mantal type. This is the case of the voiceless labial spirant f,
which appears common to all the Germanic dialects, though it
will be seen further on to proceed from an Indo-European ex-
plosive.
1. Preg. f.e E. fe G. f (often written v).”
Examples are: Go. fadar, E. father, G. vater; Go. fisk-s, O.N.
fisk-r, E. fish, G. fisch ; O.N. flesk, E. flesh, G. fleisch ; Go. fugl-s,
E. fowl, G. vogel; Go. fimf-taíhun and fimf tigjus, E. fif-teen and
1 This is merely conventional spelling, the actual pronunciation being
always f. As to the origin, however, of the double orthography, the reader
may consult Wilmanns' D. Gr., § 93, 94: Preg. f primitively differed from
German f = Preg. p, infra III.
I. XIPLOSIVE CONSONANTS AND THEIR SUBSTITUTES. 85
fif-ty, G. fünfzehn and fünfzig; O.N. staf-r, E. stiff (= O.E. stif),
G. Steif; Go. vulf-s, E. wolf, G. wolf; O.E. advb. sºfte - E. soft'
= G. sanft, etc.
2. E. f between two vowels becomes voiced and softened to
v : cf. the plural wolv-es = O.E. wulf-as, and G. wolf-e ; E. oven
=O.E. ofan = O.N. ofa = G. ofan ; E. shovel= O.E. sceofl = G.
schaufel.” This process of softening extends to all spirants.
II. From the voiceless spirant we now pass to the voiced
spirant (b), written v in English. Here the German sound no
longer appears the same : it is an explosive, the voiced b as in
G. geben = E. give, G. Schaben (to scrape) = E. shave. German,
however, exhibits some remains of an earlier b, inasmuch as the
spirant has been kept, though unvoiced, before a voiceless con-
sonant, in such derivatives as G. gif-t (poison) = E. gif-t,” G.
schaf-t = E. shaf-t,” etc. Thus, here as elsewhere, and accord-
ing to the testimony of German itself, the English spirant is the
original consonant, viz.:
1. Preg. b = E. v = G. b.
Examples: Go. gib-an, O.N. gef-a, O.E. gif-an” and E. (to)
give, O.H.G. gèb-am and G. geb-em : Go. skab-an (to scratch, to
scrape), O.N. skaf-a, O.E. seeaf-an and E. (to) shave, O.H.G.
* The word *sūnfte has become O.E. *sūnfte under the influence of the
nasal, and then Söfte through compensatory lengthening, lastly soft as short-
ened before a group of consonants. Here the Ö could not return to di (as
it did in O E. mom which is now E. man), because it had been lengthened in
the meantime.
* Even in other positions, the student will find, in English as elsewhere,
Some irregular processes of softening or strengthening, which are very easy
to explain. Such a word as O.E. fif, if occurring before a voiced consonant,
as for instance in the collocation fif dagas (five days), could not but be
sounded as fiv, which form extending throughout became E. five. These
assimilating shiftings of a voiceless to a voiced consonant, or of a voiced to
a voiceless consonant, are occasionally to be met with in any spoken lam-
guage, especially in familiar speech, so that this observation will not need
repetition.
* Strange as it is, the German euphemism becomes quite intelligible when
compared with F. and E. poison, which means really nothing more than
“drink” Lat. pâtiſmem.
* Literally “[a thing] scraped or planed.”
* Go. b between vowels is a 5, as noted above. O.N. and O.E. f, in the
somewhat clumsy Orthography of these languages, is an ambiguous symbol
which may correspond either to the voiceless or the voiced spirant. Here
no doubt it stands for a v.
SG IENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
scab-an and G. Schab-en; Go. ibn-s (plane), O.E. efn and E. even,
O.H.G. &ban and G. eben; Go, livif-s (gen. liwb-is), O.N. ljúf-r,
O.E. leof and E. lief, O.H.G. liob and G. lieb (dear); Go. kalb-5
(a female calf), whereof the msc. would be *kalf-s, O.N. kalf-r,
O.E. cealf and E. calf, O.H.G. chalb and G. kalb. From the last
two instances we may infer that, in contrast with the change of
intervocalic f to v =b, original b becomes shifted to f when final
in English; compare the voiced consonant kept in E. love = G.
liebe, E. pl. wives' of sg. wife = O.E. wife G. weib, E. to live = G.
leben, but substantive life, etc.
2. If under the influence of an adjacent voiceless consonant,
primitive b has been unvoiced (f), it then naturally obeys the
same law as f, that is to say, it is preserved in German as
well as English: compare the instances quoted above, and add
G. half-te derived from *halb = E. half– G. halb.
3. Preg. b, when initial or medial after a masal, was
changed to b in the Pregermanic period, wherefore it appears
as such in all the later languages.” Hence in this respect
again English and German are in full agreement. We have
already given : book = buch, beech =buche, bull = bulle, to bind =
binden etc. Here we may add : E. to bite = G. beiszen (Go.
beitan), and E. bit = G. bisz; E. buck = G. bock (he-goat); E.
brother=G. bruder (Alam. prwader); E, bride (with metaphony)
= G. braut ; E. bone (O.E. bān) = G. bein= Preg. *baïn-; E. to
blow = G. metaph. blåhen (cf. O.E. blåwan); E. beard= G. bart;
and a great many others. After a nasal : E. comb = G. kamm ;
E. womb = G. warmine; because the group mb, though kept in
English spelling, here becomes nearly assimilated to mºm, and
completely assimilated to it in German writing and pronuncia-
tion. -
1 German also has a general tendency to unvoice every voiced final con-
sonant, a process which even influenced the Orthography of M.H.G., such
words being there preferably spelled liep, kalp, etc. (but lieb-em, kelb-er). The
spelling has now been made uniform, and literary German spells lieb, hand,
tod, though the actual sound is rather lip, hant, tiſt, etc.
2 But Alamannic, as we have often remarked, changes it to p. This is the
reason why Grimm, considering that Alamannic here underwent a “shifting ”
(verschiebung) which he missed in High German, wrongly deemed that dialect
to be the only true representative of the Hochdeutsch, and favoured it with
the title of Strengalthuchdeutsch. Supra 47 in fine.
EXPLOSIVE CONSONANTS AND THEIR SUBSTITUTES. 87
III. We have now traversed the whole system of Preger-
manic labials, with the exception of the voiceless explosive,
English p.
1. E. p never corresponds to G. p, unless it stands in the
group Sp. Compare : E. to spew and G. Spei-en; E. to spin and
G. spinn-en; E. spear and G. Speer.
2. Everywhere else we find the correspondence already men-
tioned in our general formula, namely, the G. voiceless spirant
instead of the E. voiceless explosive, thus:
Preg. p = E. p = G. pf or if or f.
The High German change is as follows: the p, first, devel-
oped after itself an aspirate, ph; then, the aspirate ph became
pf," which remained when initial. But, when medial, the ex-
plosive combined with the following spirant, the group thus
resulting in f : * Go. vaírp-an (to throw), E. to warp, O.H.G.
wórpf-an wérfan, G. werfen ; Go. (ga-)skapjan, O.E. scytian and
E. to shape, O.H.G. scepfen and scaffan, G. Schöpfen and schaffen ;
E. sleep, G. Schlaf, schlafen, and schlaff (lazy). Initial p is very
rare in Pregermanic,” and can scarcely be found anywhere but
in the early borrowings from Latin adopted by the West Ger-
manic speech, but here at least it is quite common : L. patina,
E. pan, G. pfanne; L. pålus, E. pale, G. pfahl; L. pondó, E.
pownd, G. pfund ; L. påvö, E. pea(-cock), G. pfau; L. planta, E.
plant, G. pflanze; L. Pentecosta “fiftieth [day],” G. Pfingst-en
(Whitsunday); Late L. paraveredws (cf. F. palefroi and E. pal-
frey), O.H.G. pfarifrid, G. pferd (horse), etc.
IV. Putting together the results of the last paragraph and
those we had already obtained 4 in regard to the Pregermanic
* Cf. supra 14, 3 A.
* Reduced to simple f after a long syllable. In certain dialects initial pſ
likewise became f, whereas on the contrary, in certain others, medial pſ sur-
vived ; lastly, the Low German dialects, which keep the p unaltered, intro-
duced a few words into High German: hence the existence of such double
forms as flawm and pflaum (Lat. plina), schaffen (to work) and schöpfen (to
create, a false spelling for the regular metaphonical schepfen), pabst (pope)
and pfaffe (priest)=Late Lat. papa. Further, for these insignificant varia-
tions, we must always take into account the process of spontaneous redupli-
cation in Germanic explosives, as stated above, no. 36 note.
* The reason will be seen below (57, I.).
* Cf. supra 37.
88 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
labials, we may summarise the correspondences between these
consonants as follows:—
explosives }. : E. b = G. b.; t G. b = E. v, f, b.
voiceless: , p = , pf, ſ, f, p; , p = , p (rare).
spirants {. : 5; t) = ); b, f, 10 ; 5, 70 * = , , 10.
voiceless: ,, f= 5 2 f, b ; 55 f, j, pf- 25 f, p.
§ 2. Dentals.
(49) I. We have already stated the general correspond-
€ll CG :
1. Preg, h = E. / (written O.E. 8, E. th] = G. d.
In other words, the voiceless dental spirant, kept everywhere
else, first became in German a voiced spirant (Ö) in all posi-
tions, and then this spirant was changed to the corresponding
explosive," just as b was shifted to b. Further instances are:
O.E. Öurh and E. through, O.H.G. durath and G. durch ; Go.
pilsundi, O.E. Öilsend and E. thousand, O.H.G. diisunt tiſsunt
and G. tausend *; E. path = G. pfad; Go. anhar (other, second)
= Sk. &ntara-s, whence O.E. *ander, *onder, lastly jöer = E, other,
O.H.G. andar and G. ander; Go. bröbar = L. fråter, O.E. brööor
and E. brother, O.H.G. bruoder pruoder and G. bruder; O.N.
fjohr, O.E. feder and E. feather, O.H.G. fedara, M.H.G. vödere
and G. feder, etc.
2. From the last three examples it follows that, in English
and between two vowels, just as f becomes v, so p is voiced and
softened to Ö, leaving, however, the spelling unchanged. Now,
initial th also may occasionally become voiced, either owing to
the weak accent of the little words in which this softening is
seen,” or because,_since these words became one with the pre-
ceding word, in such collocations as by thee, to them, do that,
etc., the th actually stood between two vowels. Analogy after-
1 A similar shifting is to be observed in some dialectal or bad pronuncia-
tions of Modern English, de = the, dey = they, dat= that, etc., and in Low
German throughout.
2 An apparent irregularity in Modern German, owing to a later alternation
between d and t, as shown by the hesitation in O.H.G. Spelling. The irregu-
larity E. father = G. vater, E. mother=G. mutter, etc., is more puzzling ; but
here English is answerable for the discord, infra II. 2.
8 On the effect of atomy, see below 66, II. 4.
ExPLOSIVE consonANTS AND THEIR SUBSTITUTES. 89
wards extended the voiced pronunciation to other cases, such as
thou, they, their, and so forth.
3. The Germanic group lb had become lul in O.E., as later in
German: whence the complete identity in E. gold = G. gold =
Go, gulh ; E. wild = G. wild = Go. villbei-s, etc. …”
II. Preg. ô has undergone the same changes as Preg. b,
with the only difference that the former passed through a
phonetic grade more. Initial, or medial after a nasal, it became
Preg. d, but was kept as ordinary medial (), and is still seen as
such in the Gothic survivals; in West Germanic, this 5 again
was changed to d in all positions, a grade in which it continues
throughout in English ; lastly, High German shifts the d to t,
in any position except when following a nasal.” Hence the
following simple correspondences:
1. Preg. ô = E. d = G. t when initial. Examples as above,
and also: Go. daćhtar, O.E. dohtor and E. daughter, O.H.G.
tohter and G. tochter; Go. dius (wild beast), O.E. déor and E.
deer, O.H.G. tior and G. thier 8; Go. dreiban, O.E. drifam and E.
to drive, O.H.G. triban and G. treiben ; O.N. draw.m-r., E. dream,
O.H.G. troum, and G. traum, etc.
2. Preg. ô = E. de G. t when medial : Go. fadar,4 O.N.
fačer, O.E. fader, O.H.G. fater and G. vater; O.N. mióer, O.E.
mödor,” O.H.G. muotar and G. mutter; Go. madr-s, O.N. maor,
* It must of course be understood that the whole process had taken place
before—and perhaps a very long time before—the existence of the new voiced
spirant Öſ, which has been seen to arise in German from a Preg. p, and then
not to have advanced beyond the grade of d ; else, the latter would have
become blended with the former, and both would have advanced to the grade
of t. The consonantal shifting is unintelligible, if supposed to have taken
place “at once,” as it was described in Grimm's times: on the contrary, it
should always be borne in mind that this shifting is only the main result of
many little causes, which, though similar in their principle, wrought their
effects successively and at long intervals. The importance of chronology in
phonetics (supra 20, note) can be nowhere more deeply felt.
* As a matter of fact, the d became O.H.G. t even after a nasal (bimtam,
blintër); but the group mt was generally softened to M.H.G. mal (bindem,
blinder): so that the result is the same. Cf. however E. under = G. winter.
* The original meaning still seen in thier-gartem. And so too, E. deer
with the general sense of “game,” down to the time of Shakespeare (once,
I(ing Lear, III. 4, 144).
* The reader must not forget that Go. intervocalic d is a 3.
* Here, Mod. E. has the Go. and O.N. consonant, father, mother ; this,
however, is not a survival, but a restoration, and a very late one, being hardly
90 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
O.E. naeddre and E. adder, O.H.G. matara and G. matter, cf. also
"middle = mittel, saddle=sattel, etc.; Go. mod-S (anger, gen, mād-
is), O.E. mod and E. mood, O.H.G. muot and G. muth (courage);
cf. also E. tide = G. zeit (time), E. seed = G. saat, etc.
3. Preg. ē, then d =E. d- G. d, after a nasal : compare hand
and hand (O.H.G. hant, M.H.G. hant owing to the unvoiced
final), land and land, bind and binden, blind and blind (O.H.G.
blint), etc.
III. The shifting of the voiceless dental explosive is iden-
tical with that of the voiceless labial: initial, in German, we
have is instead of t (as pf instead of p); medial it becomes ss
(like f in the former case).
1. Preg. t = E. t = G, t, only after s, ch (E. gh) and f, which
consonants preserve the t in German: E. stand (position), G.
stand ; E. first, G. first; E. metaph. fist, G. faust; E. daughter,
G. tochter; E. flight, G. flucht : E. oft oft-en, G. oft, etc.
2. In any other position, Preg. t, retained in E., first
became aspirated to G. th, which further became a t accom-
panied by the corresponding spirant s : the group ts, spelled 2,
survived when initial and, occasionally, when medial in
dialectal forms, but generally when medial it became a mere
sibilant, written O.H.G. 33,” and now sounded like a voiceless
S (spelled ss or Sz, according to a well known distinction).--
Examples:—When initial: no. 47 above, and Go. ga-tam-jan (to
tame), O.N. tam-r (tame), E. tame, G. Zahm and zähmen; E.
found before the year 1500. Mr. Skeat (Principles, I. p. 147) seems to ex-
plain it solely by the analogy of the regular brother ; but, since we find it
also in E. weather = O.E. weder = G. wetter, which is not a word of relation-
ship, it is more likely to be attributable to some obscure influence of the
following, r, though both causes may have combined, and though no such
has taken place in adder = matter, fodder = futter, udder = euter; for, in the
latter words, the explosive had been doubled, as following a short vowel.
On two other and very momentous irregularities, fifth = fünfte and similar
cases, and he hath (now has) = er hat and similar cases, cf. infra 124 and 202,
3. In forth = G. fort = Go. *failrb (the comparative being fatirp-is = E.
furth-er), the G. consonant is really a d (O.H.G. would be ford), but unvoiced
as final, supra 48, II. 1.
* The word-group a *nadder was separated as an adder (as in F. ma mie =
m’ amie), whence the irregular dropping of an initial m. Cf. also E. apron
borrowed from M.F. raperon (napkin).
* The precise value is unknown, but it was no doubt a voiceless sibilant.
After a long vowel, or final, it is spelled 3.
EXPLOSIVE CONSONANTS AND THEIR, SUBSTITUTES. 91
tin, two, tale, to tell, and G. Zinn, Zwei, Zahl, zählen ;-When
medial: Go. batiza (better), O.E. metaph. betera and E. better,
O.H.G. beg;iro, M.H.G. begger and G. besser; Go. vat-ö, O.N.
vat-n, O.E. wast-er and E. water, O.H.G. waggar and G. wasser,
cf. to bite =beiszen, and bit = bisz ; Go. Süt-s, O.N. soet-r, O.E.
swéte and E. Sweet, O.H.G. suoji and G. Süsz; E. Sweat = G.
Schweisz, and E. to sweat = G. Schwitzen, showing the alternation
between ts and ss. But, after a nasal or a liquid, the substitute
for Preg. t regularly remains ts: Go. hałrt-ö, E. heart, G. herz;
E. salt, G. Salz; L. moneta, borrowed in E. mint, and in G.
miinze.
IV. Recapitulation of dental correspondences:
explo- {. : E. d = G. t, d; G. d = E. th; d.
sives ( voiceless: , t = , z, sz, ss, t; ,, t = , d (th), t.
Spi- {. : ,, the , d (t); ,, . = , ,
rants voiceless: ,, th = , d; ,, 2, s2, ss= , i.
§ 3. Gutturals.
(50) I. The Preg. voiceless spirant (h) is in some cases a
mere aspirate (written h); in other cases, it is a true spirant
(written G. ch.); while, in several positions, it has been dropped
altogether. -
1. Preg. h = E. h = G. h. when initial.-If, however, it
precedes l, r or n, both languages agree in ceasing to sound or
even to write it. The same is the case in German before w,
whilst English still spells the group (inverted) wh, but can
hardly be said to preserve it always in pronunciation.”—Ex-
amples:—Go. h4wh-s, O.E. heah and E. high, O.H.G. h5h and
G. hoch ; O.N. hair, O.E. haer and E. hair, O.H.G. hair and G.
haar; O.N. hagl, O.E. hagel and E. hail, O.H.G. hagal and G.
hagel; cf. further to hate = hassen, hand = hand, to hold = halten,
hard =hart, hundred = hundert, etc.;-Go. hlaban, O.E. hladan
and E. to lade, O.H.G. hladan ladan and G. laden; cf. to leap =
laufen, to laugh=lachen, loud =laut, etc.;-O.N. hºring-r (circle),
O.E. hring and E. ring, O.H.G. hiring and G. ring; O.N. hrafn,
* Neither the G. voiced spirant (s pronounced E. z), nor the E. spirants s
and z belong to this chapter.
* In fact E. whis an unvoiced w.
92 ENGIISH AND GERMAN GTRAMMAIR.
O.E. hraefn and E. raven, O.H.G. hraban and G. rabe, etc.;-
O.N. hnot, O.E. hnutu and E. nut, O.H.G. mu; and G. musz, etc.;
–Go. hwáitei-s, O.N. hweite, O.E. hwæte and G. wheat, O.H.G.
weigi and G. weizen, cf. likewise white =weisz; O.N. hwetja, O.E.
hwettan and E. to whet, O.H.G. wezzen and G. wetzen; initial of
relative pronouns, what = was, etc.
2. Medial Preg. h = E. gh = G. ch or simply h.
The spirant h was retained in O.E. (h) and in E. (spelled
gh), whereupon, at least when final, it was changed to the
labial spirant (f), while in other positions it was dropped by
the same process that affected the voiced spirant g; but all
these changes usually left the spelling unaltered. The gh,
moreover, happened occasionally to be sounded in certain
positions where it ought to have become mute. This was due
to the analogy of words in which it was regularly sounded, as
in laughter pronounced like to laugh." Or it became mute
where it should have been sounded, as in through, owing to the
numerous cases where this word was followed by an initial
consonant.” We need but compare, on the one side, to laugh
and lachen, rough and *rauch ; * and, on the other, might and
macht (power), night and nacht, neighbour and machbar, light
and licht, light and leicht, etc.
G. h is here seen to remain a spirant (spelled Mod. G. ch.)
before a consonant or when final; but, between two vowels, it
was reduced to the simple aspirate (h), which moreover has
now become a mere graphic symbol: compare, for instance, the
varying sound in hoch and höhe höher (O.H.G. h5h “high,” hôhi
“height,” hôhir “higher ”), in nach (E. nigh) and nöhe nåher
(E. near, where the spirant has vanished as in toe=G. Zehe), in
* Cf. Slaughter, which was not subject to a similar analogy, so that the
gh in it has become mute, in contrast with the G. v.b. schlachten. The
dialects still distinguish sg. enough = M.E. imóh, and pl. enow = M.E. imów-e ;
cf. imfra II. 5.
* gh is always mute after a palatal vowel (cf. infra II. 4) : high, migh,
thigh, to neigh, etc. In some words, as in E. fee = O.E. feoh = G. vieh, the
mute gh even ceased to be spelled.
* This is the true and original form, still preserved in Alamannic rich
(rough), and in class. G. rauch-werk (rough skins, peltry), of the word
which, when isolated, has become rawh through a confusion that will be
explained below.
EXPLOSIVE CONSONANTS AND THEIR SUBSTITUTES. 93
sicht and sehem (Go. Saíhvan) = E. sight and (to) see, etc. Of
course one of the two forms will occasionally be found to have
exerted an analogical influence upon the other; thus some
dialects have hôcher as comparative of hoch, and classical
German has an adjective rawh (rough) formed from the com-
parative rauher, etc."
II. The voiced guttural spirant (x) may be treated on the
same lines as the other voiced spirants, though they differ in
some particulars. Preg. 3 was a true spirant in any position,
even when initial, and had never become g, unless it followed a
nasal; in the latter case this Preg. z was changed to G. g and,
usually, to E. y.
G. g is kept in the spelling, but dialectally assumed, between
two vowels or after a liquid, a spirant sound which partly
invaded even the classical speech.”
English has no g, except as initial, in which case it is some-
times spelled gu (guest = G. gast) or gh (ghost = G. geist), so as
to insist upon its explosive value. Even when initial, if
followed by e or i, the g had usually become a mere y as early
as the Anglo-Saxon period.” When medial, it was gradually
adapted to the character of the preceding vowel. It was
written y if the vowel was i, e or a, and w if the preceding
vowel was u or 0, and combined with the vocalic sound in such
a way as to disappear throughout, sometimes even in spelling
(chiefly after an i). On the contrary, when it had become
final, it underwent occasionally, and chiefly when preceded by
w or 0, a strengthening to gh, as illustrated by the typical
instances: borough = G. burg +; dough = G. teig, and enough = G.
genug.”
1. Preg. z changed to g after a nasal = E. g = G. g : Go. v.b.
* So also schuh = E. shoe, for *schuch, from the pl. schuhe, and er sah
(he saw), for er *sach, from the pl. sie salem, etc.
* It is known to hesitate, for instance, between légn and lösm = legen,
often with a preference for the latter. Some dialects go as far as the grade
º: & : Germans are well known to make fum of the Berlinese pronunciation
OI Gr. g.
* The fact is proved by the O.E. spelling g (5) the initial of some words
which in I.-E. began with a y, and in consequence certainly never had a true
initial g. Cf. Supra 36, I.
* Cf. O.E. burg and burh, dative lyrig = *burg-i.
* Cf. however infra 55.
94 IENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
huggr-jan, O.N. hungr, O.E. hungor and E. hunger, O.H.G.
hungar and G. hunger; Go. figgr-s, E. finger, G. finger; E. tongue,
G. Zunge; E. long, G. lang. Observe moreover that the group
fig, when swiftly uttered in ordinary speech, is barely dis-
tinguishable from a simple fi. &
2. Initial Preg. g=E. g = G. g : Go. gast-s (= *gasti-s, L.
hosti-s), E. guest, G. gast; Go, göd-s, O.N. göd-r, O.E. gåd and
E. good, O.H.G. guot and G. gut; cf. likewise God and Gott.
Even sometimes before e or i : * to give=geben; gift = gift
(poison); to gild = O.E. gyldan, cf. G. gold.
3. Initial Preg. z = E. y = G. g : Go. gairn-jan (to wish
for), O.N. garn and O.E. georn (covetous), E. to yearn, O.H.G.
gèrno and G. germ (willingly); O.E. geolo and E. yellow, O.H.G.
gélo (gen. gélw-es) and G. gelb; E, yester(-day) = G. gester-n; E.
to yield=G. gelten, etc. The Go. prefix ga- (O.E. ze-– G. ge-)
is still spelled y- in M.E.; then it disappears, without leaving
any trace but, occasionally, an ill-defined vowel, which appears
as a in asunder = G. gesonder(t) (severed), and e in enough = G.
genºug.
4. Medial Preg. z = E. y = G. g.—Following a or e : Go.
dag-s, O.N. dag-r, O.E. dag and E. day, O.H.G. tac and G. tag;
Go. vig-s, O.E. weg and E. way,” O.H.G. w8c and G. weg ; Go.
àugö, O.N. auga, O.E. Gage and E. eye, O.H.G. ouga and G. auge;
Go. fagr-s (convenient, able), O.E. foeger and E. fair, cf. G.
fegen (to sweep) *; Go. magap-s, O.E. maega and E. maid, O.H.G.
magad and G. magd (dialectal maid). Compare also: E. to
lay = G. legen ; E, lain = G. (ge-)legen ; E. rain, nail, hail, sail,
to say, and G. regen, nagel, hagel, Segel, sagen, etc.—Following i,
the g seems to have been exceptionally retained in E. twig = G.
zweig. But, everywhere else, it becomes y, which combines with
1 It is easy to verify the fact that g appears only before a, o, u : guest is
the metaphony of gast; to gild has by analogy the consonant of guld gold;
to get, that of got ; to give, that of gave, and so forth. The word guilt
guilty comes from the root of the O.E. v.b. geldan (to compensate, G. gelten,
to be worth, and vergelten, to compensate), which formed a pf. gald, whereas
the regular E. form is the vb. to yield.
2 For *wey, the sound being the same.
8 Originally “to put in order,” then “to cleanse, to purify"; cf. the
latter meaning preserved in fegefewer = M.H.G. vège-viur (purgatory).
4 E. egg = G. ei is borrowed from O.N.
EXPLOSIVE CONSONANTS AND THEIR, SUBSTITUTES. 95
the i and disappears altogether : Go. ligan, O.E. liegan and E.
to lie, O.H.G. licken ligen and G. liegen; Go. livgan (to tell a
lie), O.E. leogan and E. metaph. to lie, O.H.G. lugin (a lie) and
G. liige ligen; L. tegula, whence the early borrowed word, O.E.
tigel and E. tile, O.H.G. Ziagal and G. Ziegel; further compare
to fly to fliegen, a fly to fliege, and add G. higel (hill)"; in
unaccented finals, E. fifty = O.E. fiftig = G. funfaig, E. holy = O.E.
hālīg = G. heilig, etc., etc.
5. Medial Preg. z= E. w = G. g.—Following o or u : Go.
biugan, O.E. bāgan and E. to bow, O.H.G. biogan and G. biegen,
cf. also a bow and bogen; E. fowl = G. vogel; E. low, from the
same root as the vb. to lie = G. liegen; E. how (hill), from the
same root as G. hig-el, etc.—Sometimes even after a 2: Go.
dragan, O.N. draga, O.E. dragan and E. to draw,” O.H.G. tragan
and G. tragen (to carry); O.N. eigin, O.E. digen and E. own,
O.H.G. eigan and G. eigen.
6. Preg. z, when followed by w, is subject to a peculiar
treatment. When initial, it was reduced to simple w in the
Pregermanic period : * Go. warm-jam (to warm), O.E. wearm and
E. warm, G. warm. Medial zw survived, and is occasionally
still visible in Gothic ; but, according to the nature of the
preceding vowel, it became afterwards a single sound, either z,
or w, whereupon analogy arbitrarily confounded the one with
the other series of forms.” Here we need but mention : Preg.
*snaizwā-s (“snow,” chiefly attested by L. mingw-it, “it snows,”
and Slav. Snég-ii, “snow ’’), Go, snáiv-s, O.N. snce-r, O.E. Småw
and E. Snow, O.H.G. Smeo and G. schnee ; cf. Schmeien = O.H.G.
* The same root as in high and hoch, by Verner’s law, infra 54, III. 1–2.
But not E. hill, which is akin to L. collis.
* This may be due either to a dialectal mixture, or to a peculiar deepen-
ing of the a-sound, or else to the analogy of cases in which the g actually
followed o or u : thus, O.E. dragan had a regular pf. dróg (G. er trug),
whence E. drew, and analogically to draw in the present.
* The doublet to drag is reborrowed from the Scandinavian.
v. Hence it is only the Indo-European speech that can betray it, infra 56,
IV. B.
* The sw is very difficult to distinguish, the more so because under cer-
tain conditions, as noted above, simple 5 may become E. w : Go. mavirgin-s
(morning), G. morgen (morning, to-morrow), O.E. morgem, E. morm and
derivative morn-ing, but O.E. dat. to morwe and E. to-morrow ; cf. like-
wise to follow = G. folgen, tallow = G. talg, and supra 37 in fine.
96 ENG LISH AND GERMAN GRAMMIA.R.
smiwan. Further compare the treatment of the Preg. group hºw
in : Go. saſhvan, G. Sehen and E. to see, and Go. Sahv, G. (er)
sah, E. (he) saw; O.E. miwan, E. to mow and G. méhen.
7. The group gg, which proceeds from assimilated gj, is
changed to E. d: (spelled dg), but hardened to G. k.k : O.N.
egg, from a Preg. *azjö (cf. L. ac-iès), O.E. ecſ, and E. edge,
but O.H.G. ekka, G. ecke eck (corner); E. hedge = G. hecke.
E. g. never assumes the sound of dā but in this one position,
or else in the many words borrowed from Norman French,
classical French or Latin.
III. The correspondences of the voiceless explosive (k) are
quite clear : English keeps the k (written k or c), except when
it is changed to t3 (written ch) in certain well-defined positions;
German likewise keeps the k (ck) when initial or following a
consonant, but shifts it to the voiceless spirant (written ch)
after a vowel.” The group sk and the group kw should be
considered apart from the general cases.
1. Initial Preg. k = E. k (c) = G. k : Go. kald-s, O.N. kald-r,
O.E. ceald cald and E. cold, G. kalt; Go. Icahºrn, O.N. korn, O.E.
E. corn, O.H.G. chorn and G. korn; O.N. kj-r, O.E. cil and E.
cow, O.H.G. chuo kuo and G. kwh ; O.N. konung-r, O.E. cyning
with metaphony, syncopated to cyng, and E. king, O.H.G. chum-
ing and G. metaph. könig ; Go, kniu, E. knee, G. knie. The
latter example shows that initial E. k before an n has become
merely a graphic symbol.
2. Preg. k = E. k = G. k after a consonant: Go. bagk-jam,
E. to think, O.H.G. denchen, and G. denken, cf. the O.E. noun
banc (gratitude) and the E. thank-s, O.H.G. danc and G. dank :
Go. vaſºrk-jan, with the reduced grade of the root which appears
normal in G. werk, cf. E. work = O.E. wearc, and E. to work.
3. Preg. k = E. k = G. ch. after a vowel ; Go. wakan (to
sit up), O.E. wacian wascean, E. to wake, a-wake, O.H.G. wahhén
and G. wachen ; cf. to make = machen, book = buch, strike = Streich,
etc. The group chs has reverted to the sound of ks: G. wachs
= E. waac. The law moreover admits a number of apparent
exceptions, owing to some Low German words, which had
1 In O.H.G. also oftem when initial or after a consonant. As to the actual
sound, cf. 8wpra 14, 3 A.
EXPLOSIVE CONSON ANTS AND THEIR, SUBSTITUTES. 97
kept the k unchanged, having been introduced very early into
High German.” Thus we find side by side : class. G. backen,
but Alamannic regularly bachen = O.H.G. bahhan = E. to bake;
O.H.G. acchar and G. acker=E. acre; G. dach (thatch), but
decken (to cover) = O.H.G. decchan ; O.H.G. lácchön and G.
lecken (cf. the G. derivate lechzen) = E. to lick, etc
4. Preg. k (G. either k or ch) = E. ch, owing to a palatal
assimilation, when preceding or following a palatal vowel
(e, i.), even before the e which proceeds from O.E. breaking,
and before the e of verbal endings in -an when changed to the
duller sound -en.” Initial: Go. kiusan, O.E. c60sam and E. to
choose, G. kiesen ; Go. kinnu-s (cheek), E. chin, G. kinn (chin);
O.E. ciele and E. chill,” the root being the same as in cold,
cf. G. kühl (cool); L. calcem, whence O.E. cealc and E. chalk,
G. kalk (lime). Medial: Go. Svaleik-s, O.E. swilc and E. such,
O.H.G. Sulih and G. solch, ; E. rich. = G. reich ; O.E. Stearc
(strong) = G. stark, but E. noun starch, together with the adjec-
tive stark ; and the doublets to wake and watch, book and beech,
to bake and batch, to seek and to beseech,” etc.
Probably on the analogy of such endings as -age in words
borrowed from French (courage), this té has become voiced (dž)
in the suffix -ledge, as in knowledge = M.E. know-leche, borrowed
from the Scandian -leiki. -
The k, like the g, is mute in unaccented finals, as in earth-ly –
O.E. eoró-lic, cf. the G. suffix -lich.
5. The group sk was kept free from any shifting either in
English or German,” and underwent in both a separate though
parallel treatment, whereby it gave place to the simple cacu-
minal spirant # (written E. sh, G. sch) : Go, and O.N. skip, E.
ship, G. Schiff; Go. (af-)skiuban (to remove), O.E. scăfan and
E. to shove, O.H.G. scioban and G. schieben, cf. shovel=schaufel,
* Frankish, though a dialect of High German, keeps it unshifted when
doubled (ck = kk = kj, supra 36, II. 2).
* It is thus that L. k has become F. ch = 3 in cheval = cabállum, chien =
cánem.—It seems scarcely necessary to observe that E. ch survived even
after the vowel from which it proceeded had been regularly dropped.
* In king explained above, kin = Go. kun-i, kiss metaph. = O.E. coss = G.
kusz, the k, in fact, did not stand before an i.
* Cf. the identity of the participles sought and besought.
* Just like sp and st, supra 48, III. 1, and 49, III, 1.
98 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
to shape=schaffen, sheep =schaf; Go. fisk-s, O.N. fisk-r, E. fish,
G. fisch: L. discus, borrowed in O.E. disc and E. dish, in G.
tisch (table), cf. rash = rasch, flesh (O.N. flesk)=fleisch, fresh =
frisch (O.H.G. frisc). In the rare cases which show the group
sk preserved in English (O.E. discian and E. to ask=O.H.G.
eiscón and G. heischen), the word is probably borrowed from
Old Norse.
6. The group kw is retained in English, but it may lose its
w in German: Go, giva-1 (alive, cf. L. vivu-s), E. quick, G. queck
(in quecksilber and erquicken), but also keck (bold). When
preceding the vowels u or o-w, w is dropped even in English:
E. come=G. (ge-)Kommen = Go. quman-s, and, analogically, also
in the other tenses, to come=kommen, instead of Go, giman,
and (he) came = (er) kam = Go. qam.
IV. Recapitulatory scheme for guttural correspondences:
explo- | voiced : E. g = G. g., k; G. g = E. g., y.
sives voiceless: , k (c) = , k (ck), ch ; , k = , k, ch, g.
Spirants | voiced : , , $/ F 2, 9 ; 55 g = 3; 3/.
voiceless: , gh = , ch, h, g , ch = , gh, k, ch.
palatal (voiceless): ,, ch = , k, ch ; 2 3 37
cacuminal (voice- | sh = ... sch: sch = ... sh
less): *. tº e 22 — 23 5 32 - - 53 *
aspirate : ,, h = , h; ,, h = , h, gh.
SECTION II.
THE FIRST CONSONANTAL SHIFTING.
(51) Having thus stated the correspondences of the English
and German consonants with the Pregermanic system from
which they have arisen, we now proceed to trace back the
latter to the consonantal system of the Indo-European language,
as exhibited to us by the comparison of the classical languages.
* Remember that Go. q is a symbol for kv.
* The voiced palatal does not exist in English, apart from the type edge.
German has neither the voiceless nor the voiced palatal. German also lacks
the voiced cacuminal Z (F. j), which occurs in English only as a peculiar
modification (palatalization) of the z in such words as glazier, pleasure,
OCCQ.8%0%.
EXPLOSIVE CONSON ANTS AND THEIR SUBSTITUTES. 99
Let us, for an instant, confine our attention to Latin: Con-
sidering, for example, the initial consonants in brother=bruder,
father =vater, guest =gast, and comparing them respectively
with the initials in L. fråter, pater, hostis, we become immedi-
ately aware of some symmetrical contrasts which resemble
more or less closely those we have met with in the direct
comparison of English and German; in other words, we are
irresistibly led to think that we shall find in the passage from
Indo-European to Pregermanic, a coherent system of con-
sonantal mutations, a system prior indeed, but obviously
similar to the shifting which characterizes the passage from
Pregermanic to West Germanic, or from West Germanic to
English and to German. This Pregermanic series of phenomena
was discovered by Grimm, and was called by him erste Lauf-
verschiebung. Its principle may be very shortly explained and
easily understood.
In point of fact the First Consonant Shifting differs
essentially from the second, in that it extends in the same
manner over the whole series cf Indo-European explosives, and
is therefore capable of being comprised in a single formula or
law. It does not follow that all the changes occurred at the
same time, or were due to the same cause, as it were, to a
single turn of the wheel." Far from this: many circumstances
agree to prove that these changes were made at different dates
and at long intervals, occasioned perhaps by various and quite
dissimilar causes. But the law for p holds good for t and k,
the law for b holds good also for d and g, so that, as far as the
mere final result is concerned, it is as if the whole series of
Indo-European explosives had changed places under a common
and simultaneous impulse. .
With one exception, however; for, if we no longer confine
Our comparison to initials, but take into account the contrast
between L. fråter and pater, in which the medial is the same,
and G. bruder and water, in which the medial differs, we again
become aware of a gap in the parallelism, the cause of which is
to be sought for in some secondary law crossing, as it were, and
* It is almost Superfluous to observe how obsolete and unnatural such a
view of phonetic phenomena would be.
:
:
©
e
te
:
:
.
º
:
:
*
e
º
100 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
modifying the normal effects of Grimm's law. This was dis-
covered and formulated only fifteen years ago by Dr. K.
Verner.]
§ 1. Grimm's and Verner's Laws.
(52) In order to understand these two laws it is necessary
to be familiar with the whole Indo-European consonantal
system, consisting of sixteen explosives, which the comparison
of Sanskrit, Greek, and Latin has enabled us to restore,
namely: the four orders of explosives, labials, dentals, palatals,
and velars; and, in each order, the voiceless and the voiced
explosive, either simple or aspirated.”
Labials. Dentals.
I.-E. Sk. Gr. L. I.-E. Sk. Gr. L.
Voiceless . . p p | T | p i. # T t
Voiceless asp. ph ph q f th. th. | 6 f
Voiced . . . . b b | 8 || b d d | 8 d
Voiced asp. . . bh bh q |f|, b | dh dh | 6 |f, d, b
Palatals. Velars.
I.-E. Sk. Gr. L. ||I.-E. Sk. Gr. L.
Voiceless . . k | 6 || k k, c | g k, c | T, t, k qu, c
Voicel. asp. kh kh x , h, c || qh kh, ch X g?!
Voiced . . g | | Y g g g, j | 8, 8, y | gu, v, g
Voiced asp. gh h X h || gh gh, h ‘p, 6, X | f, v
Sanskrit alone, it is seen, has preserved the whole system.
Generally speaking, the voiced and the voiceless aspirates in
each order have been confused : Greek, especially, represents
both by voiceless aspirates. Latin is even more corrupted:
here, most aspirates have become spirants. No consonant,
however, has passed from one order to another, apart from the
velars, which in Greek are often represented by labials or
dentals.
This is also just what happened in Pregermanic: the first
1 See his admirable article, in Kuhn's Zeitschrift, XXIII. p. 97.
* Cf. Supra 14, 1 and 3 A, and, as to the particulars in Graeco-Latin cor-
respondences, my Gramm. of Gr, and Lat., no. 57–60.
º e
s: : to e O e°
tº º
• * * * • e
& º • * * gº º
ExPLoSIVE consonANTS AND THEIR SUBSTITUTEs. 101
three orders in our present scheme strictly correspond to the
three orders we have distinguished in primitive Germanic, so
that we may write the formulas:
I.-E. labial = Preg. labial;
y 2 dental = 33 dental ;
22 palatal = , , guttural.
In regard to the velars, it must be first observed that, as
early as the I.-E. period, they were liable to a peculiar in-
fluence (which, however, did not modify them in every case
any more than it followed them throughout every branch of
the I.-E. family). They often became accompanied by a labial
semi-vowel, so that q, qh, g, and gh were respectively sounded
almost like kw, khw, gw, and ghw. This phenomenon is com-
monly termed labialization, and consequently we give the
term labializing languages to those which have kept some
traces of it, viz. Greek, Latin and Germanic, as opposed to
Slavonic and Sanskrit.1 -
In Germanic, the non-labialized velar cannot be distinguished
from the ordinary guttural, and therefore it is included in the
last of the three orders given above. The labialized velar, on
the contrary, falls under a double law : in some cases the I.-E.
group is simply transferred into Pregermanic, which in conse-
quence exhibits the ordinary guttural followed by a w, respec-
tively hºw, kw, and zw; or else, similarly to the Greek process,
the sound of the parasitic consonant partly absorbs the sound
of the original one, and the whole group then results in an
ordinary labial consonant, respectively f, p, and b.”
Thus it is that in every way the four orders of Indo-
European explosives resulted in the three orders of
Germanic consonants preserved in English and German.
(53) The unerring and strictly parallel course of this pro-
* These labialized velars are changed to Gr. ºr or r, 8 or ö, p or 6, whereas
pure velars remain k, y, x. The same is the case in Latin with the contrast
between qu and c, gu (v) and g.
* The latter case is by far the rarer, but this is all that may be stated
about it, its determining circumstances remaining as yet obscure. See
however Brugmann, Grundriss, I., § 444.
102 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
cess will be illustrated by the following four main formulas,
wherein the whole of it is contained :
A. The voiceless aspirates became completely con-
founded with the voiceless explosives, whereupon both
were naturally shifted in the same way. Since, moreover,
voiceless aspirates are very rare in I.-E., and sometimes doubt-
ful, this single mention will suffice for them. We need but
compare : I.-E. *wēyd-e (he knows), Sk. véd-a, Gr. otöe =Folò-e,
Go. väit, and G. (er) weisz; with I.-E. *wóyt-tha (thou knowst),
Sk, vét-tha, Gr. olorffa = Folo-6a, Go. váis-t," and G. (du) weisz-t.
B. The voiceless explosive, when immediately preceded
by s, escapes the effect of Grimm's Law, that is to say, it
remains in Germanic just what it was in Indo-
European : L. Spu-ere (to spew), Go. Speiv-an, E. to spew, G.
spei-en; Sk. Spag pag (to look out), L. *spec-iö, G. Spāh-en (to
spy); Sk, sthā (to stand), Gr. to Tmput =*o-i-o-Tä-pºt (to place),
O'Ta-tá-s (set), L. sta-re si-st-ere stā-tw-s, E. to stand and he stood,
G. steh-en and er stand, etc.; Gr. o Teix-0, Go. Steig-an, E. to sty,
G. steig-en; Gr. o.k-6 (shadow, reflect), Go. skei-nan, E. to
shine, G. scheinen. The same is the case with t following any
other I.-E. voiceless explosive : Sk, napti (daughter, grand-
daughter), L. meptis (granddaughter, niece), O.E. nift, O.H.G.
nift”; Gr. Öktó, L. octo, Go, ahtáu, O.E. eahta and E. eight,
O.H.G. ahto and G. achi ; L. réctu-s, Go. raſht-s, O.E. reoht and
E. right, O.H.G. réht and G. recht; Gr. Téutto-s, L. Quinctu-s,
* Go. fimfta, M.E. fift, G. fünfte, etc.
C. Grimm's Law.—In each order of I.-E. explosives, the
voiceless explosive becomes shifted to the Preg. voice-
less spirant, and the voiced aspirate becomes shifted
to the voiced spirant, whereas the voiced non-aspirate
remains an explosive, but becomes shifted to the voiceless
&plosive, thus: tº
1 From this example the reader might infer that the primitive group tr,
assimilated from dr, has become st in Pregermanic as well as in Greek.
This however would be a false view : assimilation changed tt to ss ; but,
here as in many other cases, analogy restored the group st (cf. the impf.
O.H.G. wissa, M.H.G. wisse and wiste, G. wuszte, on the pattern of kommte
mochte), so that the law, inexact as it is, may suffice for practical purposes.
° E. miece is borrowed from F., and G. nichte is taken from Low German,
where fi is changed to cht. -
ExPLOSIVE CONSONANTS AND THEIR SUBSTITUTES. 103
I.-E. p (ph) = Preg. f; I.-E. bh = Preg. b : I.-E. b = Preg. p ;
2 3 # (th) r 32 Jh ; 32 dh = 25 Ö ; 2 3 d - 2 3 t ;
, k (kh) = , h; , gh = , , 3 } }; 9 F , , |c. 1
D. Verner’s Law.—The above shifting having taken place
in a medial syllable, and further supposing the immediately
preceding syllable not to be marked with the I.-E. accent,”
then the voiceless spirant which followed the unac-
cented syllable (f, b, h) is softened to a Pregermanic
voiced spirant (b, Ö, z), and therefore, in the whole course
of its further evolution, it is no longer distinguishable from
such voiced spirants as have regularly sprung from I.-E. voiced
aspirates.”
This may be illustrated from the example already mentioned :
I.-E. *bhráter- (L. fråter) quite regularly became Preg. *bróber-,
whereupon no further change could take place, since the first
syllable of the word was accented; but I.-E. *pśîtér- (L. pater),
after it had become Preg. *fabér-, according to Grimm's law,
could not help becoming Preg. *faëér-, through further soften-
ing, according to Werner's law, because the preceding syllable
was unaccented in Pregermanic ; and thus it is that the word
assumes in the Germanic speeches (Gothic, English, German,
etc.) the same aspect it would exhibit if it had arisen from a
non-existing I.-E. form *pādher-.
It follows from Verner's law, that each I.-E. voiceless explo-
sive—but, of course, these only—has in Germanic two repre-
sentatives, according as it was or was not immediately preceded
by the I.-E. and Preg. accent.
gº
* It must, of course, be understood, that, if in the I.-E. period a primitive
voiced explosive had already become voiceless by being adapted to a follow-
ing voiceless consonant, then its Pregermanic treatment would not differ at
all from that of a printifive voiceless explosive: thus, the I.-E. groups gt gly
and bt b.ht become respectively Preg. ht and ft, and cannot become anythºg
else, since in I.-E. they were already changed respectively to kt and pt. Gr.
Pépy-o-y = E. work ; but the E. pf. of the wb. to work is wrought = O.E.
worh-te=I.-E. *wē-wºrk-tay, wherein the radical g is assimilated to the
following t. See Some other Germanic instances, supra 24.
* On this primitive accent, which is altogether lost in later languages,
but survived in Pregermanic, cf. infra 65, I.
* The groups sp., st, sk, ft, ht, and subsidiarily ss, fg, hs, which are not
subject to Grimm's law, also escape the effects of Werner's law.
104 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
A further consequence is, that, if the movable accent hap-
pened to be displaced in a given word, in the ordinary course
of accidence, whether in derivation, declension, or conjugation,
the medial consonant of this word changed accordingly and
gave rise to such alternations as are illustrated by the three
German types: hof (court) = Preg. *hºfa-2, but hibsch (“beauti-
ful, select,” now, as it were, häftsch “courtlike ’) = O.H.G.
hibesch = Preg. *hubiská-s; ich siede (I seethe) = Preg. *séub-5,
but gesotten (sodden) = Preg. *suðaná-s; ich ziehe (I draw) =
Preg. *téuh-6, but gezogen (drawn) = Preg. *tuganá-s," etc.
It remains to point out the application of Grimm's and
Verner's laws in detail throughout the Germanic consonantal
system.
§ 2. Primitive Voiceless Eaplosives.
(54) I. Labial.—l. Initial, or following an accented syllable
(Grimm's law): L. pisci-s, Go. fisk-s, etc. *; Sk. pitá, Gr. Tatóp,
L. pater, Go. fadar; Sk, pri (to love), priyā-s (dear), Go.
frij-ànd-s, E. friend, G. freund; Sk, pīy (to blaspheme, to hate),
Go. fij-and-s (enemy), E. fiend, G. feind; Sk. nápāt- (son,
grandson), Gr. véroëes (offsprings),” L. nepós (grandson,
nephew), O.E. nefa and E. nephew,” O.H.G. nefo and G. neife;
Gr. Kór-m (handle), L. cap-ere (to seize), G. haf-t msc. (a tie),
haf-t fm. (capture), hef-t (handle), O.E. haef-t (prisoner) = L.
cap-tu-s, E. haft (handle), etc.
2. Medial and following an unaccented syllable (Grimm's law,
and then Verner's law, p shifted to f, and f softened to b): the
same root kāp in Go. haf-jan (to lift), O.N. hef-ia, O.H.G.
heffen, but E. to heave and G. heben, where the b extended
* This is what Germanists call grammatische wechsel. Compare the E.
contrast in seethe and sodden. Of course the alternation was afterwards
liable to disappear under the influence of analogy: cf. infra 55, 179, 184, etc.
* As for the English and German evolution of words already mentioned,
the reader must trust to his memory, or refer to the preceding section. The
English and German words have been repeated in the Indexes even when
they are not quoted as such under the following numbers (54–57).
* Always observe the Sk, and Gr, accent. *
* Pr. mébyū (medial f softened to v), but the ending is borrowed from F.
7 le?) (271.
EXPLOSIVE CONSONANTS AND THEIR subsTITUTES. 105
throughout the conjugation, after the analogy of such cases as
would require it regularly, e.g., Preg. *hab-and-s (taken) *; Gr.
diró, L. ab =*ap, Preg. *aba (but Go. af with the final un-
voiced), E. of (pr. ov, but off when actually final), G. ab ; Sk.
wpári (over), Gr. Štěp, hence a Preg. *ubéri, cf. E. over and
a-b-ove, G. iiber and oben; L. aper="ap-ró-s, G. eber (boar),” etc.
II. Dental.-1. Initial, or following an accented syllable :
Sk-tº-na-m (a blade of grass), Go. baár-nu-s (thorn), etc.; Sk.
root tan (to extend), Gr. tav-ſo, L. ten-wi-s (expanded, thin),
O.N. bumn-r (thin), etc.; Sk, twm-rá- (thick, strong), Zd. tilm-a-
(strong), L. tum-ère (to swell), O.N. hum-al-(fingr) “the thick
finger, thumb,” etc.; Sk, bhrátar- (brother) and Preg. *bróber-,
etc.; I.-E. root pét (to fly), Gr. Tét-o-pat, Sk. pétram (wing) =
*pét-tra-m, Preg. *fébram, etc.
2. Medial, when following an unaccented syllable (t shifted
to b, and then b softened to Ö): Sk. pitár- (father), and Preg.
*fabér-, afterwards ºf ačér-, etc.; Sk, mātār- (mother), and
Preg. *móbér-, afterwards “močér-, etc.; Sk. damitá-s (tamed),”
Preg. *tamibás, whence *tamičás, Go. (ga-)tamida, E. tamed,
O.H.G. (gi-)2emit and G. gezähmt, and so also with every
ending of the past participle in so-called weak verbs.
III. Palatal.—1. Initial, or following an accented syllable :
Gr, káxA-mé (little stone) and Preg. *hazl-a-2 (hail), etc.; Lith.
kaiſk-a-s (knob) and Preg. *hauh-a-2 (high), etc.; Gr. Kápt-a
(vehemently), Kaprépé-s and kpát-v-s (strong), Preg. *harð-tº-s
(hard), etc.”; Gr. kóp-ač, L. cor-vu-s (raven), Preg. *hra-bná-s,
etc.; Sk. Qvété-s (white) and Preg. *hwitá-s, etc.; Sk, páçw
nt. (cattle), L. pecu, Preg. *féhu nt., etc.; Lith. raiſka-s (rough)
and Preg. *ráuha-z, etc.
2. Medial, when following an unaccented syllable (k shifted
to h, and then h softened to z): the same root I.-E. kewk (high)
in Preg. *huzilá-s (hill), etc.; I.-E. *dékm (ten), Gr. 86Ra, L.
decem, Go. taihun ; but, the accent being moved, as in Gr.
ðskás (tithing), Preg. *tegſºn-, whence Go. *tigu- in fimf tigjus
* Go. haf-an-s is due to the same though inverted analogy.
2 E. York = O.E. Eofor-wic “borough of the boar.”
8 Remember the constant accent of Greek verbal nouns in -tó-s.
4 Hence we see that E. to call has nothing to do with Gr. KaNeiv.
106 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
(five tithings, fifty), etc.; Sk, akšī- (eye) and Lith. akī-s (cf.
Sl. ok-0, Gr. 30 ore “both eyes” = 3k-ye, L. oc-ulu-s), Preg. *auhá-,
whence *auzà-, etc.; I.-E. root ik (to be master), Sk. 70-dná-s
(sovereign, master), Preg. *aihaná-s, whence *aizaná-s (own),
etc.
IV. Velar.—A. Non-labialized (confounded with the pala-
tal).-1. Initial, or following an accented syllable : I.-E. root
gèl (to act, to deal with, to manage), Sk. car (to move, to act),
Gr. TéA-0-pat (to exist), likewise labialized in al-TóA0-s (goat-
herd), but without labialization in Bov-kóAo-s (cow-herd), again
labialized in L. (in-)guil-ºnu-s (inhabitant, planter) and cól-ó-
*quël-6 (to cultivate), but without labialization in Go. hal-dan
(to keep), E. to hold, G. halten; I.-E. *nóg-t-s (night), Sk.
nák-tº-s, Gr. viſé vök-t-a, L. moa noc-t-em, Go. mah-t-s, etc.—2.
Medial, when following an unaccented syllable : L. vinc-6–
*vingu-5 (to vanquish) and Go. veih-an (to fight) = I.-E. *wēyq-ö,
but O.H.G. wigant (warrior) and G. weigand, G. weigern (to
resist), O.E. wigend (warrior) lost in Mod. English.
B. Labialized, Preg. either hºw or zw.—1. Initial, or following
an accented syllable : Sk, cud (to whet), from an I.-E. root gèd
göd=kwéd kwäd, Preg. *hwat-ja-, E. to whet, G. wetzen ; I.-E.
pronoun *q6-, Gr. Tó-, L. quo-, Preg. *hwá-, etc.; I.-E. root ség
(to follow), Gr. T-0-pav, L. sequ-o-r, Preg. *séhw-5, whence Go.
saſhv-an (to see), etc.—2. Medial, when following an unaccented
syllable : perhaps I.-E. root merg mºrg (dull), Sl. mrak-ii (dark),
'mrük-na-tä (it is dark), whence a Preg. derivate *murzwena-,
O.N. morgunn (morning), etc., though Go. maiºrgin-S shows no
apparent labialization.
C. Labialized, Preg. either for b.-1. Initial, or following
an accented syllable : I.-E. *pénqā (five), Sk, páñca, Gr. Tévre
Téputé, L. quinque, Preg. *fémfé, etc.; I.-E. w!q0-s (wolf), Sk.
vſka-s, Gr. Aćko-s, L. lupu-s, Preg. *wælfa-2, etc.—2. Medial,
when following an unaccented syllable: I.-E. *wlqī (she-wolf),
Sk, vºki, Preg. *wulf, whence *wulbi, preserved exclusively in
O.H.G. wulpa and M.H.G. willpe."
! We should expect “willbe; but the b has been doubled (supra 36, II. 2),
and the group bb becomes G. pp, just as gg becomes cle (supra 50, II. 7).
Mod. G. wºlfin has analogically restored the medial consonant of wolf.
EXPLOSIVE CONSONANTS AND THEIR SUBSTITUTEs. 107
(55) V. We have already stated the grammatical alter-
nations which proceed from the application of Werner's law :
they are easily seen in the earlier Germanic languages, and,
though analogy has levelled them in the later languages, they
again become obvious through the comparison of one tongue
with another. Thus, the contrast of enough with G. genug may
be due to an alternation of this kind: a G. *genuch, the only
form which would regularly answer E. enough, is to be restored
from Go. ganóh-s (sufficient), ganaſh-a (sufficiency), in O.H.G.
ginah (it was sufficient), ginuht (sufficiency), in M.H.G. genuht-
Sam (sufficient), etc., so that we may suppose the form with h
and the form with 3 to have been normally interchangeable
according to the accent, whereas analogy preserved the latter
in German and the former in English; hence the divergence
in the two related languages.
It will be seen, in fact, that the I.-E. accent often changed
its place, especially in conjugation. For instance, an I.-E. v.b.
*déwk-à (I lead, I draw, L. diic-à), in the present indicative,
had the root in the normal grade, with accented radical syllable,
thus: Preg. *téwh-ö, Go. tiuh-a, G. ich ziehe. In the pf, sg. the
root was deflected, but it kept the accent: I.-E. *de-dòwk-à, Go.
tówh, O.H.G. 25h, M.H.G. ich zöch (I drew). But in the pf. pl.
the accent was transferred to the ending and the root was
reduced : I.-E. *de-diſk-mmé, whence a Preg. *tug-umé and G.
wir zogen ; and so also in the past participle, Preg. *tuganá-s
(drawn) and G. gezogen. The analogical change in Mod. G.
is quite plain: owing to wir zogen and gezogen, the sg. has
become ich zog, instead of *zoch. German, however, has pre-
served the curious alternation seen in ziehen and gezogen, which
cannot be understood unless it is traced back to Pregermanic.
Gothic, though older, is much more corrupt : here the h ex-
tended throughout. On the pattern of such regular forms as
tiuhan and táuh, Gothic irregularly has taithwm (we drew),
instead of *tugum, and taſthan-s” (drawn), instead of *tugan-s,
which forms, if reproduced in a Mod. German conjugation,
would give us the paradigm ziehem, ich *zoch, wir *zohen,
* Naturally, with aiſ, instead of u, before h, supra 28, I.
108 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
*gezohen. Observe, moreover, the contrast of G. zucht with G.
zug, all these words being derived from the very same root.
Such analogical processes could not but take place sooner or
later, and in time give the regular variability of the Germanic
Consonantal system a fictitious and seemingly satisfactory unity.
No Germanic tongue is free from them, Gothic least of all,
old as it is. We have just seen Mod. German to be purer
even than Gothic, and the same is the case with Old English,
as the conjugation of this very verb shows, téon (to draw),
togen (drawn), etc. Gothic also shows the medial consonant
unchanged throughout the whole conjugation of the vb. hajja
(I take) = L. capió, and pf, hāfum (we took), whereas O.H.G.
keeps the alternation in heifu and huobum, which latter gave
rise in M.H.G. to the vb heben (to heave, to lift). Sometimes,
however, Gothic has preserved an alternation which has been
lost everywhere else: thus, the Go. conjugation of the pf, barf
(I need) is in the pl. baſſºrbum = Preg. *burb-umé, a remarkably
pure survival, whilst O.E. Yurfan, pf. sg. 1 Yearf, pl. 1 Yurfon,
and G. (metaph.) dirfen,” pf, sg. I darf, pl. 1 dirfen, both
placed the voiceless consonant where only the voiced would
be regular. -
§ 3. Primitive voiced aspirates.”
(56) I. Labial.-I.-E. root bheyd, Sk. bhinád-mi (I split)
and bhid-yé-té (it is split), L. find-ö, Preg. *bit-6 (I bite), Go.
beit-a, etc.; Gr. ºbnyós, L. figus, G. buche, etc.; I.-E. root bhlă
(to blow), L. flä-re, E. to blow, G. blåhen ; I.-E. root bhéndh
(to bind), Go. bind-an, etc.; I.-E. root låwbh (to delight in),
Sk, lùbh-ya-ti, L. lub-et lib-et, Preg. *leub-a-2 (dear), whence
Go. livſ-s, etc.; L. scab-6 (I scrape), E. to shave, G. Schaben;
Sk, garbhá-S (an embryo, a young one), and Preg. *kalb-á-S
(calf), etc.
II. Dental.-I.-E. *dhughâter- (daughter), Gr. 6vyármp, Sk.
duhitér-, Go. daºſhtar = Preg. *Čuhter-, etc.; I.-E. root dhé (to
! I.-E. *te-torp-a and *te-tºp-mmé respectively.
* For the meaning, compare bedürfen. *
* From this point to the end of the chapter, we have of course no longer
to deal with Werner’s law.
ExPLOSIVE CONSONANTS AND THEIR SUBSTITUTES. 109
set, to do), Sk. dhā, Gr. 6m (tiômpu), E. do, G. thun ; I.-E. root
bhéndh and Preg. *bind, above; I.-E. *médh-yo-s (placed in the
middle), Sk. madh-ya-s, Gr, pºéoros = p&roros = *p,é0-yo-s, L. med-iu-s,
Go. mid-ji-s, etc.; I.-E. root dhegh (to burn, to shine), Sk.
dáh-a-ti (it burns), whence a nominal derivation *dhogh-6-s,
Preg. *čazá-s, Go. dag-s (day), etc.
III. Palatal.-I.-E. *ghósti-S (foreigner, enemy, guest), L.
hosti-s, Preg. *zásti-z, Go, gast-s, etc.; I.-E. ghans- (swan, goose),
Sk, hans-á-s (swan), Gr. Xīv (goose), L. anser=*hans-er, Preg.
*gans-, whence G. gans, O.E. *gons gös, and E. goose; I.-E. root
dhigh (to mould), Sk. dih (to besmear), Gr. 64)-eiv (to touch),
Teix-os (wall), L. fing-ere, Preg. root 'Yiz, whence Go. deig-an
(to mould), E. dough and G. teig, etc.; I.-E. *ghyes- (yesterday),
Sk. hyās, Gr. X6és, L. her-7 hes-ternu-s, Go. gis-tra-(dag-is), etc.
IV. Velar.—A. Non-labialized, confounded with the palatal :
I.-E. *dhoghā-s (day), as above II. ; L. helvu-s (yellow), E. yellow,
G. gelb.
B. Labialized, Preg. zw: I.-E. root snigh sněygh (to be
moist), Sk. Snih, Gr. acc. viº-o. (Snow), vetºp-et (it snows), L. acc.
miven = *nihv-em, Go. Snáiv-s, etc.; Sk. gharmá-s (warm), Gr.
6eppé-s, L. formu-s, Preg. *gwarmá-s, afterwards "warmá-s, etc.
C. Labialized, Preg. b : no certain examples.
§ 4. Primitive voiced eaſplosives.
(57) I. Labial.—No certain examples, apart from I.-E.
root dhub dhëwb, Lith. dub-i-S (deep), perhaps Preg. *ēéup-a-2,
Go. diup-s, E. deep, G. tief."
II. Dental.--Sk. jihvá (tongue) = *dihvá, L. lingua = dingua
=I.-E. *dºghwá, whence a Preg. *tuñzó-, etc.; I. E. *dékm
(ten) and Preg. *téhun ; I.-E. *dém-6 (I build), Sk. dám-a-s
* I.-E. b is an extremely rare sound, and the very few Greek or Latin words
which might bear testimony of it happen not to have any corresponding
forms in Germanic, and reciprocally we do not find elsewhere but in Germanic
such Preg. roots as slåp (E. to sleep, G. schlafen, cf. however Sl. slab-ii = G.
schlaff, “lazy”), skåp (E. to shape, G. Schaffen), etc., which would presuppose
an I.-E. b. The latter, perhaps, might be identified with L. scab-à (to scrape);
but, according to the resemblance in meaning to E. shave and G. Schaben,
the primitive form skabh seems more probable for the L. wb. In Preg. werp
(to throw) the p has arisen from a velar, infra IV., C.
110 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
(house), Gr. 6éu-o, ööp-o-s, L. dom-u-s, Go. (ga-)tim-r-jan (to
build), cf. E. timber and G. Zimmer; I.-E. root bhāyd, as above,
56, I. ; I.-E. *swādū-s (sweet), Sk. Svādá-s, Gr, jöös =*o-Fāść-s,
L. swävis–"suád-wi-s (cf. the vb. Suád-ère)," E. sweet, G. Süsz; Sk,
svid (to sweat), Gr. ióío =*o-Fuč-to, L. sildor (sweat) = *svoid-08,
E. Sweat and to Sweat, G. Schwitzen and Schweisz, etc.
III. Palatal.--Sk, jánu (knee), Gr, yāvv, L. genu, Go, kniu,
etc.; L. grânum = *gr-nó-m, Go. kaiºrn, etc.; Gr. ºbtóy-o (to roast),
E. to bake, G. back-en bach-en; Gr. 3 ypé-s, L. ager, Go. akr-8, etc.;
Sk, jus (to choose, to accept), Gr, yetſopal = *yečo-o-pat (to taste),
L. gus-tu-s (taste), Go, kius-an (to prove, to choose), etc.
IV. Velar.—A. Non-labialized, confounded with the palatal:
I.-E. root gèl (cold, frost), L. gel-u, Go. kal-d-s (cold); I.-E.
sthèg tåg (to cover), Sk. Sthag-a-ti (he covers), Gr. otéy-o (I
cover), otéy-m (shelter), Téy-os (thatch), L. teg-ö tog-a, Lith.
stóg-a-s (thatch), O.E. Öaec and E. thatch, G. dach and decken, etc.
B. Labialized, Preg, kw: I.-E. *gów-s (cow), Sk, gåu-s, Gr.
Bo0-s, L. bā-s, E. cow and G. kuh ; I.-E. root gem (to go), Sk, gam
(to go), Gr. 8atvo, L. ven-iö, Go, gim-an, etc.
C. Labialized, Preg. p : I.-E. root w8rg (to throw), cf. Sl.
writg (id.), whence a Preg. root w8rp, Go. vairp-an, O.E. weCrp-an
and E. to warp, O.H.G. werf-an and G. werf-en.
1 “To make [something] sweet [to somebody],” is as much as “to per-
suade him of it.”
CHAPTER, W.
SIBILANT CONSONANTS.
(58) The Indo-European speech had two sibilants, voiceless
s, voiced 2; but, the voiced sibilant having only arisen from the
process of adapting the voiceless sibilant to a following voiced
consonant, as, for instance, in a group sal changed to I.-E. 2d,
the two were originally but one, and it will be better to keep
them together.
The I.-E. sibilant may be either initial, or medial, or
final. In all these positions it has been remarkably well pre-
served in Pregermanic, and the slight modifications it has
undergone are to be assigned to the later languages, so that
its evolution may be traced at once from the beginning down
to the present time. t
SECTION I.
INITIAL SIBILANT."
(59) I. Before a vowel.—All the I.-E. languages, including
Germanic, have faithfully preserved the primitive initial s,
with the single exception of Greek,” where it is changed to h
(rough breathing) : I.-E. root sii (to bring forth), whence Sk.
sū-nº-s (son), Gr. viós=*o-v-tó-s, Lith. Süni-s, Sl. syně, Go. sunu-s,
O.N. sun-r, O.E. Sunu and E. son, O.H.G. sunw and G. sohn ; 3
L. sat sat-is (enough) sat-wr (fed), Go. Sab-s (fed), O.N. sač-r,
* The z seldom occurs as initial, and is never final.
* More exactly, the same remark applies to Avestic (Zend), and in part
to Celtic.
* We need scarcely remark that this s, as well as the medial intervocalic s,
has become voiced in the correct pronunciation of classical German (sohn,
pr. 20m).
111
112 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
O.E. saed (fed) and E. sad (“made to loath’’), O.H.G. sat and
G. satt; I.-E. root sé (to throw, to sow), Gr. )-po (a throw),
L. sè-men (seed)," Go, sai-an (to sow), O.E. saw-an and E. to sow,
O.H.G. sil-en and G. Sáen, further E. seed = G. saat; Gr. 3A-s,
L. stil– “stild, E. salt, G. Salz; Sk, sad-as (seat), Gr. 38-0s, L.
séd-és and séd-öre (to sit), E. to sit, G. sitz-en; Gr. 9os =*é6-0s,
Go, sîd-w-s, O.E. sidw, lost in E., O.H.G. situ and G. Sitte
(custom, behaviour); Sl. sirebro (silver), E. silver, G. Silber, etc.
II. Before a semi-vowel.—The initial group sy is rare and of
no importance, since the y is dropped: E. to sew and G. Sáu-le
(awl), cf. Go. Siu-jan = Gr. (ka-)orot-o = L. Su-6. The initial
group sw, on the contrary, is extremely common and generally
survives, though High German now changes the s to Š, as it
does before any other consonant. Thus, E. Swine = G. Schwein,
E. swim = G. schwimmen, E. Sword = G. Schwert, E. Sweat = G.
schweisz, etc., have been already mentioned. Here we may add :
L. swāsum (a dark colour), Go. Svart-s (black), O.N. Svart-r,
O.E. Sweart and E. Swart, O.H.G. swarz and G. Schwarz; Gr.
oriyń (silence) = *ofiy-ā, O.E. swig-ian and G. Schweig-en (to be
silent); Sk. Svásar- (sister), L. soror=*svēsor, Go. Svistar (O.N.
syster), O.E. sweostor, O.H.G. swäster and G. Schwester, etc. The
exceptions to this law are only apparent: E. sister is borrowed
from the Scandinavian ; the two words E. Swamp and G. sumpf
probably contain two different grades of the same root; as for
G. Süsz = E. sweet, we need but go back to the O.H.G. form
suo;i swuogºi, where the w and the u are seen to have combined,
owing to an absolute identity in sound.
III. Before a nasal or a liquid, Greek and Latin usually drop
the s, but Germanic keeps it intact.
1. Before m, n, l (E. s, G. s changed to Ś): Sk, root Smi (to
laugh, to wonder), L. mi-ru-s (wonderful), mi-ro-r (I admire),
E. Smi-le, cf. G. Schmei-cheln (to caress); E. Small= G. Schmal
(thin); Sk, root snih, Gr, vib-a, L. niv-em, E. snow, G. schnee;
L. lub-ricu-s, E. to slip, G. Schlüpſ-en; L. lac-er (rent, put to
pieces), E. to slay, G. schlag-en, etc.
2. Before r, Germanic and Slavonic insert a t : I.-E. root
sri sröw (to flow), Sk. Sráv-a-ti (it flows), Gr. 5éet–ºopéf-et;
1. Cf. Gr. impºt = *at-arm-ut, and L. 86, 3 = 8i-Sö.
SIBILANT CONSONANTS. 113
from this root, a derived noun with deflected root would be
*srow-mó.s (current), which has become Preg. *straw-mâ-8, O.E.
stréam and E. stream, O.H.G. stroum and G. strom." Cf. Russian
o-strov-à (island), similar in meaning to a G. word um-ge-ström-t
(surrounded by a current).”
TV. Before an explosive, we have seen that the s is remaining,
and the explosive is not affected by Grimm's law.” The group
sk becomes 5; for instances, see above (50, III. 5), and add:
G. schreiben (to write), O.E. scrifan, borrowed from L. scrib-ere;
E. shrine = G. Schrein,” etc. In the case of sp and st, Mod.
German is well known to admit of both pronunciations, sp st,
and Šp Št.
The greater part of such roots as began with the group
in question exhibited already in the I.-E. period a peculiar
alternation: in some conditions, which are not yet precisely
defined,” they were liable to lose their initial s, a process fully
illustrated by the Sk, doublet spaç and paç (to see).” The
same alternations are to be observed between the Germanic
and the related languages: thus we have already mentioned
Gr. otéyo and G. dach decken; reciprocally, we have Gr. Kočo
(to remark) = *kof-éo, and L. cav-ére (to take care), without
initial s, whereas the s reappears in the whole Germanic branch,
especially in O.E. scèaw-ian (to consider) and E. to show, O.H.G.
scouw-Ön (to spy) and G. Schaw-en (to look at).
SECTION II.
MEDIAL SIBILANTS.
(60) Verner's Law governs the voiceless dental Preg.
spirant (s), since it is a general law for all Germanic voiceless
&
* We should expect *straum, but cf. supra 32.
* This insertion is constant. In stride and schreiten, either we have two
different roots, or, in any case, G. has kept unaltered an initial group skr,
whilst E. has accidentally changed the k to a t, the more so since O.E. has
a wb, scridan (to stride).
* Cf. Supra 53 B.
* Both borrowed from L. scrinium (a box).
* Cf. my Gramm. of Gr. and Lat., 68, 4.
* Then, of course, in Germanic, the explosive being thus uncovered again
falls under Grimm's law.
I
114 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
spirants. The voiced spirant (z), on the other hand, falls
indirectly under the application of Grimm's Law.
§ 1. Voiceless Sibilant.
(61) I. Between vowels.-General formulas of Werner's law.
A. Medial s, if preceded by the I.-E. and Preg. accent, is
kept unchanged throughout the whole Germanic branch,
with this difference only that Mod. E. and G. now sound it
mostly as z, though the spelling s is usually retained (always
spelled s in German, occasionally z in English)."
B. But medial s, when following an unaccented syl-
lable, is changed to a voiced spirant, Preg. 2, which is kept
in Gothic ; West Germanic again changes this 2 to the
liquid r, thus displaying a process of rhotacism which is
similar to the Latin mutation in arbós (tree), acc. arbór-em,
and gen-us (birth), gen. gem-er-is =*gen-es-is = Sk, ján-as-as = Gr.
*yév-eq-os, then yéveos and yévous.”
This new and constant application of Verner's law cannot
be better illustrated than by certain alternations between s
and z, which are distinctly preserved in some archaic conjuga-
tions, though more or less obliterated by analogy in the later
languages.” Thus, for instance, the Preg, wb. *kéus-à (Go
kius-a, Gr. Yet (q)-0) shows the s in the O.E. infinitive cé0s-an
(E. to choose), where the accent is known to have rested on the
first syllable or normal root, while its participle is O.E. cor-en
(chosen) = Preg. *käsaná-S, regularly changed to *kūzaná-s,
because here the accent is thrown on to the suffix; and, in
the same way, archaic and literary German has an infinitive
er-kies-en, the past participle being er-kor-en; but Mod. English
created chosen after the analogy of the infinitive choose. The
E. v.b. to lose = Go. lºws-an had likewise an O.E. participle lor-en,
still preserved in Mod. E. for-lor-n, an old word which became
1. Cf. G. glas, pl. gläs-er, but E. glass, derivative glaz-ier, wherein the
group 2 + y takes the Sound of Ż.
* The position of the vocal apparatus is the same for lingual r as it is
for 2. If we arrange it to utter a z, a very slight quivering of the tongue will
give us a trilled r. Cf. the F. doublet chaise (chair) and chaire (cathedra),
though here, contrariwise, the r has been changed to 8 (2).
* Cf. Supra 55. The parallelism is absolute.
SIBILANT CONSONANTS, 115
severed from its original stock, and therefore escaped the
analogical influence of the other conjugated forms, whereas a
new participle los-t was created on the pattern of lose. Now,
in German, we have exactly the reverse of the English pro-
cess : ver-lor-en was kept, and the infinitive, which should be
*ver-lies-en-O.H.G. vir-lios-an, adopted the participial r and
became ver-lier-en, so that the regular s is only seen in the
derivative ver-lus-t (loss). The same is the ease with E. frost =
G. frost, contrasted with E. to freeze = G. frieren, etc.
1. After an accented syllable: I.-E. S=Preg. S = E. and G. s. –
Sk, māś- (mouse), Gr. pºs, L. mils and acc. milr-em, O.N. mils,
O.E. mils and E. mouse, O.H.G. mils and G. maus; Sk, māsā
(nose), L. násus nãrès, O.E. nasu nosu and E. vose, O.H.G. nasa
and G. mase; Preg. *lés-ö (I gather), Go. lis-am, O.N. les-a,
O.E. les-an and E. to lease, O.H.G. lés-an and G. les-en, etc.
The I.-E. word *kaso-s (hare) probably varied in accentuation,
inasmuch as O.H.G. haso = G. hase supposes a derivation from
a Preg. *hasa-2, whereas O.N. here, O.E. hara and E. hare do
not admit of any other primitive but a Preg. *hazá-s, which
is moreover confirmed by the Sk. Cagá-s.
2. After an unaccented syllable: I.-E. s = Preg. z = Go. z = E.
and G. r.—E. hare has just been mentioned. To Sk, māhiyas-
(greater), L. majus mājor májör-em, must correspond a Preg.
*máxis-, changed in consequence to *máziz-, whence: Go, méiza”
(more), O.E. mara and E. more, O.H.G. méro and G. mehr; and
so also with every comparative, Go. bat-iza, E. better, G. besser.
The I.-E. root wes (to dwell, Sk, vas) has a pres. Sg. 1 Preg.
*wēs-ó, which is regularly reproduced, with the s unaltered,
in Go. vis-an (to remain, to be), O.E. wes-am, G. wes-en (an
infinitive used as a substantive); but, in the pl. of the pf., the
accent is known to have passed from the root to the ending,
whence a Preg. *wēs-mmé and *wēz-mmé, E. we were, G. wir
waren.” The I.-E. word *6ws- (ear) shifted the accent in
* The I.-E. s is medial everywhere but in the nominative sg.
* Putting out of question the puzzling loss of the medial z. The com-
parison, of course, is confined to the sibilant.
* Cf. the E. Sg. I was. In German the r has intruded into the sg., ich
war. In Gothic, on the contrary, which theoretically should have sg. vas,
116 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
declension to some of its endings, as shown by the Gr, alter-
nation oi's dºtós : hence, as opposed to L. aur-i-S =*aus-î-8 (cf.
aws-cultö, “I listen”), we may conceive a Preg. doublet *áus-a-
and *auz-á-, the former of which is reproduced only by Go.
àw8-6, all the remaining members of the stock showing the
rhotacized z, viz. O.N. eyr-a, O.E. Gar-e and E. ear, O.H.G. Ör-a
and G. ohr.
II. Before or after a semi-vowel. This case seldom occurs,
and is of no importance.
III. Before or after a nasal or liquid.—Werner's law holds
good, unless the s has been assimilated to the neighbouring
sound: thus, sm is changed to zn, and, subsequently, to rº, cf.
G. lern-en (to learn) and lehr-en (to teach); but rs and rz give
Tr; le, lz, sl and zl become ll; and lastly, sm and zºm give mºm.
In the group Sr., we have the same inserted t as when initial,
whence str, in E. sister = G. Schwester, cf. the Sk, dat. SváSr-à
(to the sister).
IV. Before or after an explosive: the treatment is the same
as when initial.”
§ 2. Voiced Sibilant.
(62) In the I.-E. groups 2b, 2d, 2g, 2g, the explosive becomes
respectively Preg. p, t, k, according to Grimm's law; where-
upon assimilation unvoices the 2, and the final result is sp, st,
sk. We need but quote one typical instance: the I.-E. root séd
(to sit, to dwell), losing its accent and being reduced in a
derivative, formed an I.-E. word *ni-zd-ó-s” (dwelling, nest),
Sk, midſt-s, L. midw-s; this word in Pregermanic became *nistá-s
*mestá-s, E. and G. nest, cf. G. Twist-en (to nestle). The same is
the case with Sk, hēd-as (anger), compared with E. ghost and
G. geist (mind).
pl. *wēzum, the 8 has been carried on throughout the whole tense, and we
have was vésum.
1 Nothing indeed can be clearer than that Werner's law is unable to
govern such groups as sp., 8t, sk, or even such as ps, ks, changed re-
spectively to fs, hs; for, the s being here accompanied by a voiceless con-
sonant, even supposing that it could have become 2, this 2 would again have
reverted to the sound 8 by assimilation, infra 62.
2 For the meaning, compare G. ein-sitz-em.
SIBILANT CONSON ANTS. 117
In the I.-E. groups zbh, 2dh, zgh, 2gh, the Preg. explosive
became respectively b, \, g, and therefore the z was kept un-
changed; then West Germanic regularly altered it to r : I.-E.
*mizdhó-s (salary), Sk, midhá-s, Gr. puo-06-s, Go. mizdó, O.E.
meord, cf. E. meed and G. miethe (rent). So also zn has become
rn. Everywhere else, the z is assimilated (supra 61, III.).
SECTION III.
F IN A L S I BIL. A. N. T.
(63) I.-E. has no final sibilant but s. It is obvious that in
Pregermanic this s must either remain s, or become 2, accord-
ing as it is or is not preceded by the Preg. accent, so that
*kasós becomes *hazás, while *kásos gives *hásaz, supra, 61, I. 1.
Unfortunately, clear as it is, the fact cannot be verified in
Gothic, where the final sibilant is always spelled s. In O.N.
we find exactly the reverse : final 2, though regular only at the
end of an unaccented syllable, was extended throughout, and
analogically replaced the final s; it was then rhotacized, and
thus we find the -r to be the regular ending of the nomin.
sg. in a great many words quoted from this language. West
Germanic is no less corrupted, but, as it were, without a
decided preference for either sound; for, in some cases, the s,
and, in Some other cases, the 2 was kept and extended throughout.
Further, final s remained (G. gen, water-s, sohn-es), occasion-
ally however becoming voiced to 2 (E. gen, father's, som's, E. pl.
fathers, sons); whilst final 2 was dropped altogether, though
kept and, of course, changed to r in those little words which
became united in pronunciation with the following word, so
as to form a single group of Sounds. Thus, we have G. wir
(we) = Go. veis, because, in such a locution as Go. veis bindam =
G, wir binden (we bind), the two words were blended into one,
and the final 2 was treated as medial."
* E. we has lost the z even in this case. Further applications of these
laws will occur frequently in the accidence, infra 137, 139, 143, 150, 212, etc.
CEHAPTER VI.
ACCENT.
(64) Rhythm is as natural and essential an element of
human speech as the words themselves. It is only by an artifi-
cial method of abstraction that we can sever these two essential
factors of any spoken language. Even in the most common-
place sentence the tune, as it were, accompanies the words.
Though, of course, these tunes are less marked, less modulated,
and, therefore, less artificial, in language, than they are in
music, the ear, nevertheless, easily recognises them in respect of
both measure and melody. The principal time in each measure
is what we call a stress-accent (expiratory accent, emphasis,
intensity), whereas the high note in the spoken melopoea is
said to bear a pitch-accent (musical, chromatic, tonic accent).
Stress and pitch are combined, though in very unequal pro-
portions, in every human language, and the character of the
speech varies according as the one or the other prevails. Thus,
for instance, our European tongues admit very little of a sing-
ing tune, at least, in the accurate and conventional pronuncia-
tion of educated people *; Swedish, however, has developed a
pitch-accent, which is the more noticeable because it is often
separated from the stress-accent, some syllables being sung on
a high note without stress, and others being emphatically
uttered though in a lower tone. The languages of Oriental
Asia are well known to have developed this musical power of
spoken language, so that in Chinese and, above all, in Annamite,
* For rural dialects and even provincial languages are not at all free from
musical intonations, which often sound strange and unpleasant to an unac-
customed hearer.
118
ACCENT. - 119
a given monosyllable may assume the most various meanings,
according to the note to which it is sung. But, even in the
tongues of Europe, the sentence-accent, if not the word-accent,
allows an attentive ear to perceive some musical intervals.
In this province, however, and especially in English and
German, the stress-accent decidedly prevails. Thus, an Eng-
lishman can scarcely conceive the extreme difficulties under
which young people in France long labour before they have
mastered the energetic stress of the German accent, which
usually rests on the first syllable of the word : scharf, schäfe,
scharfsinnig, scharfsinnigkeit. The English, in fact, differs from
the German accent only in degree : though the syllables are
uttered less emphatically, their respective value is very nearly
the same in both languages, whereas in French the stress-accent,
as resting regularly on the ending of each word, is much duller
to the ear, and, moreover, seems to have been of late in process
of transformation.
From this word-accent, which lays stress on one syllable,
and—in the languages we are studying—always on the same
syllable of a given word, we must carefully distinguish the
sentence-accent, which, in a given phrase, according to its
meaning and to the respective place of the word-accents con-
tained in it, lends a cadence to the whole speech, as the speaker
lays stress upon one syllable, slowly drawls out another, and
swiftly gets rid of the remainder, thus indefinitely varying his
tones according to his special purpose.
SECTION I.
WORD-ACCENT.
(65) I. In contrast with the fixed and expiratory accent
in our modern languages, the Indo-European accent was essen-
tially musical and moveable: a pitch-accent, for it consisted of
an alternation of grave and acute tones, which had been pre-
served even in Greek, as we learn from the testimony of ancient
grammarians; a moveable accent, for it was shifted from place
to place, throughout the whole system of derivation, declension,
120 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
and conjugation, resting at one time on the root, and at another
passing to the suffix or to the ending; and these alternations
of the accent have already been seen to provoke such strength-
enings and weakenings of syllables as are comprised under the
general name of I.-E. vowel-gradation, a process still surviving
after the death of the living accent which gave rise to it."
It remained musical in Sanskrit and Greek; musical also in
Latin, but here it became fixed. Then, at the outset of the
Middle Ages, it changed its character and became a stress-
accent both in Modern Greek and the Romance languages.
The same change had been accomplished, even in the prehis-
torical period, throughout the Germanic family: here, the
primitive accent survived in the place it had occupied in the
Indo-European words; it was still moveable, as shown by the
numerous and delicate effects of Verner's law “; but it had
become a stress-accent. For these effects are inexplicable,
unless we suppose the accented syllable to have been pro-
nounced with a greater intensity and a strengthened expiratory
breath, so that the following spirant was maintained with its
full value, whereas the same spirant, when following an unac-
cented syllable uttered with less energy, became weakened, and
assumed a voiced sound.
II. This Pregermanic accent, however, is no longer to be
recognised except in its effects; for it has disappeared in the
historical languages. As early as the Pregermanic period
another accent had been developed, namely, a stress-accent,
invariably resting on the first syllable of each word; the same,
perhaps, as the stress which may be observed in Latin, where
it produces such well-known processes of vocalic degradation as
are best illustrated by the L, types fictus conféctus, lègo èligă,
cºdo occidd, and clawdd séclüdó. This new initial accent gradu-
ally prevailed over the old one, and finally destroyed it. It has
now long been the governing accent. Let us briefly state the
general principles of this Germanic stress.
1. As a rule, every word, unless it is either enclitic or pro-
clitic,” has one, and only one accented syllable.
1. Cf. Supra 44. * Cf. Supra 53 D, 55 and 61.
3 Cf. infra 66, II.
ACCENT. 121
2. From this we are not to infer that all unaccented syllables
should be uttered in the same way: what they have in common
is, that all are less marked than the accented syllable; but
some are more marked than others. This may be easily veri-
fied by experiment with such words as E. opportúnify and G.
wnstérblichkeit.
3. Especially in compound nouns, the chief accent always
rests on the first syllable of the first term, but the first syllable
of the second term also retains its accent, though there it has
only a secondary stress: E. blåck-bird, contrasted with the
sentence, the ràven is a blåck bird; E. yellow-hămmer, corrupted
from *ammer = O.E. amore = O.H.G. amero and G. ammer, cf. G.
góld-àmmer; G. Sónmen-finsternisz (eclipse of the sun); E. bride-
groom = O.E. bryd-guma, and G. bräuti-gam = O.H.G. brûti-gomo,
etc.
4. The same is the case with compounds formed of prefix and
verb, so far at least as prefix and verb remain present to the
speaker's mind as two distinct words, each keeping its own
and original meaning, nay, even still separable from one
another in German : E. to Óver-look, G. ein-setzen, etc. If, how-
ever, the prefix has become blended with the verb into one
compound inseparable in meaning, then, of course, the prefix
loses its accent, and the accent of the verb is alone retained:
we need but compare G. iiber-setzen (to get over) and itbersetzen
(to translate). Under these conditions the prefix is reduced to
a dull syllable (Go, fra-lusan-s, E. for-lorn, G. ver-loren; Go.
bi-gitan, E. to be-get, G. be-kommen, “to receive,” be-quem,
“handy "; Go. ga-vaſºrpan-s, G. ge-worden, “become,” etc.);
occasionally in current speech, and even in the written lan-
guage, to a mere consonant (G. b-leiben, g-lauben ; G. zwar =
O. H.G. zi-wdre, “forsooth,” which in Mod. G. would be *zw
wahr, cf. G. für-wahr and E. for-sooth).
5. The peculiar energy of this initial stress, which causes
every syllable but one to be more or less slurred over, explains
quite satisfactorily, in the Germanic as well as in the Romance
languages, the well-known and forcible syncopes, which often
* Literally “the bride's man,” cf. Go, guma = L. homó. The r inserted in
English proceeds from the false analogy of groom (a youngster).
122 IFNGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
shortened, so as to scarcely allow of their recognition, both
original Germanic words, and those which were early introduced
into English and German from Latin or other tongues. Some
examples have already occurred : E. world and G. welt; G.
pferd, Pfingsten, etc.; G. pfalz = L. palativm ; E. minster and G.
minster = L. monasterium. Here may be added a few more,
selected from the oldest compounds: E. neighbour and G. mach-
bar, whereof the second term is būr (planter, peasant), still
visible in the G. doublet Nachbaur (proper name) *; G. arm-
brust, corrupted by a popular etymology from arm (arm) and
brust (chest), really the L. word arcu-balista, cf. E. arbalist=F.
arbalète, Italian balestra ; E. marshal and G. marschall= O.H.G.
marah-scalc (horse-groom),” also latinized to mariscalcus, F.
maréchal; G. Samstag (Saturday) = O.H.G. samba;-tac-‘sam-
bata-, cf. Go. sabbató dags; E. hussy = house-wife; E. lady =O E.
hläf-dige, literally “she who kneads the bread,” “ and E. lord
= O.E. hlāford = *hläf-weard “loaf-ward ”; E. sheriff=O.E.
scăr-geräfa. “officer of the shire,” cf. E. reeve, etc. Lastly, in
English, compare the word borough with the final in Canter-bury
= G. burg, and the word home with the final in Notting-ham =
G. heim (abode),4
6. The tendency to regressive accent is so strong and so
universal in the Germanic languages, that it has survived down
to the present day. Not only such French words as were
brought into English through the Norman conquest, mºtton,
cóward, dónger, réason, etc., underwent this general influence ;
but, even in Mod. English and German, it often modifies the
* Alamannic machpr, with the second term completely reduced.
* Cf. the modern words E. mare, G. mihre (mare), Low Breton marc'h
(horse).
* This being deemed the essential function of a landlady. For the terms
of the compound, see the words loaf and dough.
* Still more exactly, -bury = O.E. by rig is the dative of borough = burg.
The most extreme reduction is no doubt to be observed in G. messer (knife)=
M.H.G. megger, corrupted from meggeres, which was mistaken for a genitive,
and this again representing an O.H.G. meggiras = meggirahs, with regular
rhotacism, for “meggi-sahs, literally “a blade for eating.” For the first term,
compare Go. mat-s, O.H.G. ma5, O.E. mete (meal), the latter surviving with
a restricted sense in E. meat (cf. Fr. viande “meat” = L. vivenda “victuals”);
for the second term, L. Saa-u-m (stone), O.H.G. sahs and O.E. seaa (blade,
Sword, knife), which trace back the birth of this curious expression to the
Stone-age.
SECOND PART.
WORDS.
(67) It is a trite and common-place remark, that, however
rich a language may be, the whole bulk of its words, if sub-
mitted to analysis, amounts to very few. Let us, for example,
take such a series as to respect, respectable, respectful, respectful-
ness, all depending on the same word, respect. It will only
require a slight power of reflexion, even without any knowledge
of Latin, to add aspect, to suspect, and many others, including
their derivatives. Further, any one who is but slightly ac-
quainted with the history of language, may find, as it were,
from every part of the dictionary, such distant words as species,
spice, bishop, respite, etc., all coming to rank under the same
head. Shortly, designating by the conventional term “root ”
the irreducible syllable which either appears or is concealed
in each one of these words and yields it its general meaning, we
might enumerate more than a hundred English words which
more or less directly have arisen from the Latin root spec (to
look).
Yet, at the outset, there is a fundamental difference to be
noted between these offsprings of a common ancestor. Some of
them are formed according to a process of which every speaking
person still remains vaguely conscious, and which may at any
time be used anew to enrich the tongue with new words at
command. In this century, indeed, in this very decade, steamer
and boycotter have sprung from steam and to boycott, just in the
same way as spice and to respect had formerly produced spicer
and respecter. Others, on the contrary, are old and fixed forms,
which are no longer capable of reproduction, inasmuch as his-
127
128 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
torical or prehistorical research would be required in order to
discern their primitive elements: thus, the word respect, through
L. re-spec-tu-s, goes back to L. re-spic-ere, and claims a place in the
numerous family of such Latin nouns as were created by adding
to the root a syllable -tu-; but it can no longer serve as a
pattern for new English formations, since, as a matter of course,
people who now-a-days are speaking English know nothing of
the word respectus, or of the way in which it once arose from
respicere. If, then, we designate by “suffix '’ the formative
element subjoined in each of these words, we may say that
the suffix -er in boycott-er, etc., is a living suffix, still re-
cognised and used as such by all English speakers, whereas the
final t in respect, though representing a Latin suffix -tw-, is a
dead suffix, a fossil, as it were, dug out of the ground by
linguistic exploration.
This distinction likewise holds good for the prefix, or ele-
ment added before a root. It is true that re-in re-spect is no
longer recognised as a prefix to root spec; but it is still recog-
nised as such in re-turn, re-place, re-flow, and many others, so as
to render possible the creation of such verbs as re-bellow, re-
borrow, re-photograph, the meaning of which would be plain to
any hearer. On the other hand, though the collective prefix
co- may be recognised in a great many English words, and
though it is still living in the learned derivation of some
technical terms, viz. to co-habit, co-heir, co-partmer, etc., to be
sure no member of a group would think of saying: “We were
*co-photographed.” And, if he did, he would scarcely be under-
stood.
All spoken languages, perhaps English and German more
than any others, suggest these and similar observations.
First, they exhibit, quite visible and still endowed with a
great amount of vitality, the process of composition, which
is well nigh lost in French. Naturally the two terms in a
compound, unless it is very old and has undergone in the course
of time considerable phonetic reduction," remain almost always
clear to the mind's eye, so that new compounds may be formed
1 See the instances, supra 65, 5, and infra 114 sq.
WORDS, 129
just as they are needed, the old ones serving as models for
further imitation.
Next, some relatively recent derivations are really
compositions, with but this difference, that their second
term is no longer used as a single word: thus we have E.
child-hood and G. kind-heit, whereas E. *hood and G. *heit have
now no meaning by themselves. They are dead words, but
living suffixes, so intensely living indeed, that the speaker is
fully sensible of the specific function he attaches to them, inas-
much as no other derivative from E. child and G. kind would
represent exactly the same shade of meaning."
The case is somewhat different, if we consider, for instance,
E. child-ish and G. kind-isch. Although the suffix -ish and -isch
is a living one and used in forming new words, its meaning is
no longer so distinct as in the former case: in other words, a
little reflection will show that some other word, let us say
*child-ly, had usage sanctioned it, or kind-lich (cf. minn-lich),
had it not assumed a different shade of signification,-would
suit as well. Here we have a suffix properly so-called : per-
haps, long ago, this suffix also was a word in itself, like *hood
and *heit, or like *ly and *lich, which it resembles in force.”
But it no longer bears any trace of the fact, and the meaning
which is now attached to it, though still accessible to the
speaker's mind, and, therefore, still capable of reproduction in
some new formation,-is so vague and yielding as to allow half
a dozen periphrases to be equally fit for replacing it.
Further, the same suffix -ish or -isch is to be found in E.
Wel-sh, from Wales, or in G. men-sch, from mann. Here we
may say, if we choose, that it is still perceived, though less
* And therefore the creation of such new terms as fenian-ship (cf. gypsy-
dom, G. Eliot, Mill on the Floss, XI.) or brahmanen-thwm is always possible,
though they are now becoming uncommon. It is because the illiterate
have rarely occasion to exert their skill in this way, whereas cultured people
are accustomed all their lives to the use of Greek and Latin suffixes
(femian-ism, brahman-ismus, etc.).
* Common sense indeed would suggest that there was a time, however
far back,--when every suffix had a real and distinct meaning; thus every
suffix was once a word, and every derivation, strictly speaking, is a compo-
sition. However, such deductions are of little practical value to the philo-
logist.
FC
130 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
clearly. But it is dead and buried, no reproduction of it being
at all conceivable. A German would never forge such a word
as *gött-sch “a being of a divine nature,” nor an Englishman,
such a word as *Burm-sh “an inhabitant of Burma.” And, if
this is the case with an element still visible though phonetically
weakened, how much more with a great many prehistorical
suffixes, which are often reduced to a single consonant, or have
even disappeared altogether, leaving but an accidental change,
a metaphony to bear witness of their presence, or even vanish-
ing without a vestige to betray them
(68) The distinction of dead and living suffixes is important
not only in respect of their actual use in a given language : it
ought also to be considered in the light of such accidental
alterations as current speech might impose upon these unstable
elements. A word is an organism; while living, it is struggling
for life; when dead, it becomes inert and is readily corrupted.
Supposing, for instance, that, after the Norman conquest, our
word tree had been replaced by arbre, though the old compounds
apple-tree, plum (e)-tree, nut-tree, etc., had been preserved, what
would fain have become of these survivals P Since the word
tree was dead, it would no longer be recognised in such com-
pounds, except as an arbitrary element added to the name of
the fruit. Thus, the two t's in nut-tree being easily blended in
rapid utterance, the word would be likely to become *nutree.
Now, as the speaker would be aware that the difference between
nut and *nutree consisted only in an affixed syllable -ree, he
might well be induced to affix the same syllable to apple, cherry,
etc., and thus to form such tree-names as *appleree, *cherry'ree,
etc. Further, as the final would be unaccented and no longer
defended by any outer protection, the dictionary might now ex-
hibit something like *nutry, *applery, etc., wherein the primitive
tree would be completely lost.* Now, such blunders as these,
1 This is just what historically happened to O.N. priðjung-r (a third, a
division by three), which was pronounced riding in North-thriding, whence
the names of the two other thirds, East- and West-Riding, so that now the
territorial divisions of Yorkshire appear to have something to do with eques-
trian exercise. A reversed accretion to a primitive element is likewise pos-
sible and even more frequent : thus, from the same cause, Go. -assu- became
E. -mess and G. -nisz, G. -heit produced -keit, etc., as stated below.
WORDS. 131
more or less extended or restricted as to their effects, are quite
common throughout the history of every language, so that even
the most complete etymological repertories cannot pretend to
register them all in every particular.
Since derivation is liable to such irregularities, it follows
that we cannot study it methodically except by tracing it back
to its origins; for there, and there only, must it appear as free
as possible from perturbing influences. But there is a further
reason: living suffixes, however recent they may be, however
degraded by successive sound-reductions, however increased by
Subsequent accretion, differ from the earliest derivative syllables
only in form, and not in substance; the processes in language
may become more and more intricate, but their nature remains
unaltered. A creation out of nothing would be as inconceiv-
able for a suffix as for a word: there is not a derivative element
in English or German which may not claim descent from the
whole Indo-European past, and the structure of such a modern
verb as veröffentlichen is based on the same principle as that of
a radical verb like heb-en = Go. haf-jan = L. cap-iö. It is a slow
and uninterrupted process of analogical breeding, that en-
riches a tongue whether in the case of primitive monosyllables
or modern polysyllables; and thus we are compelled to begin
with the root, as being the foundation of the building, in order
to distinguish and classify such materials as have been brought
together and added to it in successive accretions.
(69) We must, therefore, study briefly Primitive Deri-
vation, which gave West Germanic, as well as Gothic or any
other Indo-European language, its first stock of pattern-words.
From this first stock, English and German formerly drew, and
are still drawing new words, by applying to them the same
processes which served to form the old ones: this is what we
call English and German Derivation. To these deriva-
tive resources, which had become inadequate owing to the
phonetic reduction undergone by many suffixes, English and
German subjoined some others, such as accumulation of
several suffixes, or borrowing from a foreign derivation," or

* As a matter of course, the following pages deal only with Germanic
132 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
wide extension of a so-called false suffix. This last-named
had been first a word in itself, had then become the second
term in a compound, and finally losing its meaning, had but
the value of a nought at the end of a number. And the last of
these processes establishes an easy transition from derivation
by suffixes to Composition properly so-called, a process trans-
mitted likewise, without noticeable change, from the early Indo-
European to the contemporary English and German languages.
suffixes, while those which were borrowed from French, Latin, and Greek
require at most very brief mention. Here we may quote: (1) E. -ess (F.
-esse = L. -issa), which serves to form the feminine (mistr-ess), even for nouns
of Germanic origin (quak-er-ess); (2) E. -able, with the same meaning as F.
-able, borrowed from L. -abilis, and similarly extended (eat-able, read-able),
as well as its derivative -ability; (3) E. -y, G. -ei, which is simply the O.F.
-ie, widely extended, E. butcher-y, grocer-y, then amplified, as in yeoman-ry,
G. arzen-ei, reiter-ei, then further amplified, as in sklave-rei, etc.; (4) Gr.
Suffix -voltás, L. -ista, F. -iste, E. and G. -ist, in common use, in spite of its
learned origin, E. novel-ist, G. artiller-ist, hobo-ist, horn-ist, etc. Further
add, in English, the Latin or Romance suffixes, all of them more or less
naturalized, of such words as fulfil-ment, slumber-ows (F. -ewa), hindr-ance,
starv-ation, Siam-ese (F. -ois), etc. As far as derivation is concerned, Eng-
lish might be deemed almost as much a Romance as a Germanic tongue.
ENGLISH AND GERMAN DERIVATION. 171
A. Nouns.
(Io2) I. E. -er, G. -er : nouns of agent.—The interesting
history of this extremely common and still wonderfully active
suffix, may be given in a few characteristic processes, by start-
ing from an original form, -ar-ja-, or -ār-ja-, that is to say,
I.-E. suff, -yo-, added to a stem of secondary derivation with
Suff. -ro-, e.g. : Sk. rātha-S (chariot), whence a wb. ratha-r-yá-ti
(he drives a chariot).
1. Latin is rich in adjectives in -àriu-s, all of which are
derived from nouns: ferr-āriu-s (of iron), pisc-àriu-s (of fish),
etc. Now, these adjectives, when qualifying a person, acquire
a substantival meaning, viz.: (faber) ferrárius, literally “iron-
Smith ”; piscărius (fisher), etc. The same is the case with the
Go. : vull-arei-s (woollen-draper), bāk-arei-s (transcriber); and
the Go. Suff. -arei- is to be recognised, though with an initial
long vowel, in the metaphonical forms, O.E. -ère, M.H.G. -are
(= O.H.G. -ārī), then -er, E. and G. -er, the function of which
is identical in the types fish-er (O.E. fisc-Ére) and fisch-er, and
many similar, all derived from nouns, which will at once occur
to the reader's mind.
2. This element, of course, could be added to a nominal stem
in -en- as well as to any other : E. gard-en-er, and G. gårtm-era
M.H.G. gart-en-Cere = O.H. G. gart-in-āri, cf. the E. name Gar-
diner; O.H.G. ohs-an-āri (cowherd), G. Öchs-n-er, etc. Further,
the peculiar property of these stems in -en-, as stated above, is
to drop the n in the nomin. Sg., so that, when compared with
a nomin. O.H.G. gart-o and M.H.G. gart-e, O.H.G. ohs-o and G.
ochs, etc., the n inserted in the derivative seems a part of the
second suffix: whence a fictitious suffix -mer, which appears in
G. bild-ner (statuary)," pfort-ner (porter), harf-mer (harper),
and several others.
3. It will be understood from these considerations that suff.
-er, like L. -ārius, cannot, in theory, be added to a verbal
stem, and that its function, as clearly verified by the earliest
* In the fourteenth century, bild-en-aere, but before that the regular
bild-acre.—The E. forms in -ar (li-ar) and -or (sail-or=sail-er, warr-ior, cf.
law-yer) are mere varieties of spelling.
172 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
known formations, is merely the derivation of nouns from
nouns, e.g.: O.E. bāc (book), whence O.E. bāc-ère (scribe), cf.
L. libr-àrius; O.H.G. *fano (flag), whence fan-eri (ensign-
bearer), M.H.G. vemre, Mod. G. corrupt föhnrich, cf. L. vealill-
drºus, etc. But it often happened that, side by side with such
a noun, there existed a verb, either identical in form, or at
least closely akin, and it was easier for the speaker to refer,
e.g., the words fisher and fischer, to the verbs to fish and fischen,
than to the substantives fish and fisch, whence they really pro-
ceeded.” The analogical and necessary consequence of this
confusion led to the derivation of a noun of agent from any
Verb by the mere addition of suffix -er, a process still widely
used in both tongues: E. shave-r, hate-r, make-r; G. kāuf-er
(purchaser), sāuf-er (drunkard), schneid-er (tailor), etc. This
occasioned moreover, in German, a number of doublets, which
were afterwards partly eliminated, either by one of them be-
coming obsolete, or else by each assuming a slightly different
meaning : O.H.G. sang-ari, a normal derivative from sang = E.
80mg, now Sång-er, and G. Sing-er, an abnormal derivative from
sing-en; G. Schmitt-er and schneid-er; G. ritt-er (knight), cf.
Titt (ride), and reit-er (rider), from reit-en (to ride), etc.
4. The further use of the same element in the derivation of
nouns denoting inhabitants (E. London-er, G. Berlin-er) is con-
sistent with its adjectival origin, though, of course, L. -ārius
never assumed such a function.
5. This suff. -er ought not to be confounded with another,
identical in form, but quite different in meaning, and of very
rare use, which characterizes the names of some male animals:
E. cat and G. kaize as generic name, but E. *cat-er preserved in
cater-wawl, and G. kater = O.H.G. chat-aro; E. goose = *gons =
*gans, and G. gans, but O.E. gand-ra and E. gand-er, M.H.G.
gang-er and G. gånserich.”
* In the compound gund-fano (battle-ensign), borrowed in F. and thence
in E. gomfamom.
* Cf. Supra 99, the reversed process as to bestreitem, which was referred to
streit, while it really came from streiten, and infra IX. (105). “Blunders”
of this kind are very common in all languages, and greatly increase their
derivative power.—All these words form their feminine in E. -ess (if at all
needful), and G. -in, supra 69, note, and 87, I.
* Corrupt like fühnrich above ; cf. enterich, tàuberich.
ENGLISH AND GERMAN DERIVATION. 173
(Io:3) II. E. -ing, G. -ung : nouns of action.—These two
suffix-forms are not identical, but the difference between them
is almost immaterial, as they are Germanic substitutes re-
spectively for I.-E. -eń-ko- and -º-ko-," especially as German
will be seen to show the form -ing in some cognate derivations,
whereas O.E., even in this very class, has the form -ung, now
lost in English: O.E. leorn-ung = G. lern-ung, but E. learn-ing
(as noun), etc. In both languages, in fact, it is the specific
function of this suffix to form either a noun denoting an action
or an abstract noun constructed on a verbal basis.
1. This is the only function it assumes in German, where it
has been developed on a considerable scale, but has remained
strictly derivative: O.H.G. hantal-ān (to deal with), fm. hantal-
wnga ; man-Ön (to warn), frn. man-unga; G. handel-n handl-ung,
mahn-en mahn-wng; further führ-wng, riist-wng, fest-ung, brech-
wng, etc.
2. In English, although it remains derivative (a yearn-ing, a
liv-ing, a hunt-ing party, a danc-ing master,” etc.), it has also
become an important grammatical element. Final -end in the
present participle, at least in some parts of England, had come
to be sounded nearly like -ing,” so that a confusion of the two
was possible. On the other hand, O.E. had many such sen-
tences as ic was on huntunge, where huntunge is the dative of
a noun denoting an action, and this sentence, becoming E. I
was a-hunting, could very easily be understood as I was hunting
(pres, part.), especially as a-waiting (and the like), in the sen-
tence I am a-waiting, might be mistaken for the pres. part. of
the vb. await, whereas it is really a noun of action preceded by
a preposition. From this arose in English a curious confusion
between the forms of the noun denoting an action, of the
gerund and of the present participle, so that, in a great
* Cf. supra 91, 2.
* Thus, and not by the present participle,_as in F. wine matinée dansante,
etc., are to be explained similar E. locutions, which are really compound
words in which the first term is no less clearly a moun than in the G. type
erlermungs-mittel, etc. The same is the case with the form in -ing when
governed by a preposition : on asking, i.e. “upon interrogation,” of doing,
for playing, etc., etc.
* Cf. supra 90, WI. The pronunciation -ing is attested by Spelling as early
as 1200.
174 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
many cases the ending -ing has completely lost its nominal
character, the word thus formed being mistaken for a verb and
treated as such in syntax: for having done; nature's chief master-
piece is writing well (Pope), etc. -
III. E. -ing, -ling, G. -ing, -ling : diminutives.—l. The
suff. -ing has no diminutive value in itself (cf. E. king = cyn-ing,
and G. könig=kon-ing, the primary stem being a word which
means “race, people’’), though it is not to be denied that it
often occurs in the designation of little objects: E. shill-ing,
farth-ing (“one-fourth *), G. schill-ing, etc. It was uncommon
and is now dead. # --
2. Secondly, by combining with -ing the diminutive suffix
-ila, Germanic secured a diminutive suffix -iling, -ling, which,
though still tolerably well represented, hardly enters into any
new formations: O.E. g6S-ling and E. gos-ling; E. darling =
*dear-ling, caressing diminutive; E. young-ling and G. jing-ling
= O.E. geong-ling and O.H.G. junga-ling; E. lord-ling, and even
lord-ing, contemptuous diminutive; O.E. aedeling and G. edeling
(nobleman), without any precise diminutive value, etc."
IV. G. -lein and -chem (E. -kin): diminutives.—l. The
suff, -īn, added likewise to the diminutive suff, -īla, formed a
complex -ilān, -lin, which no longer appears either in English
or Low German, but is in very common use in High German :
O.H.G. fugil-in (little bird), chezz-ilān, chind-ilīn; G. vöglein,
kätzlein, kindlein, männlein, etc.
2. The same -īn, adapted to a stem with final guttural,
formed a complex -kin, unknown in pure High German, though
current in Low German: Dutch skipe-kin (little ship). English
borrowed this ending (manni-kin), without however further
developing it.” In Central German it became -chen and spread
widely : männ-chen, schäf-chen (little sheep), häus-chen. As far
as popular speech is concerned, suff. -chen is exclusively used
in the Northern, and suff. -lein exclusively in the Southern
countries of Germany; but the literary language is well known
* Quite common as such in E. : weakling, fondling, changeling, hireling,
º Cf. also G. zög-ling (pupil), häupt-ling (chieftain), flücht-ling (runa-
way).
* Though we have lamb-kin, nap-kin (literally “little table-cloth,” F.
mappe), and a few proper names (Jenkin).
ENGLISH AND GERMAN DERIVATION. 175
to admit of both concurrently, and no Germanic formation is in
more constant use.
(IO4) W. E. *-sel, *-sle; G. -sal, -sel: abstract nouns.—
The origin of this element is doubtful, owing to the many
phonetic alterations which it underwent from I.-E. down to Pre-
germanic. It may be explained in several ways, all fairly
plausible, though none can be deemed beyond doubt. The
simplest, however, would be to start from the I.-E. suff. -tio-,4
and to suppose it to be added to a root ending with a dental
consonant, so that the primitive group became I.-E. -t-tlo-, Preg.
-8sla-, which was afterwards used as a whole in other deriva-
tions.”
1. The suffix is still clearly visible in German, having partly
escaped the effects of the law which causes unaccented finals
to become obscured. Thus, it often keeps the vowel a trüb-sal
(affliction) = O.H.G. truob-i-sal, lab-sal, schick-sal,” etc. But its
power of extension is nearly extinct. Still more so, of course,
with its duller form -sel ; wech-sel (exchange) = O.H.G. w8h-sal,
from an I.-E. root wik meaning alternation, cf. L. vic-às, vic-
*ssim ; rāth-sel (riddle) = O.H.G. rāt-isal, from G. rath-en =
O.H.G. rāt-an (to guess); iiber-bleib-sel (remainder), etc. Most
of these nouns are true to their instrumental origin in keeping
the neuter gender.
2. In English, the suffix is hidden under a double veil.
Firstly, the word which is G. rāthsel is O.E. rºedels, the two
consonants having changed places.* So we should expect to
find E, a *riddles; but the final s was mistaken for the sign of
the plural number, and dropped in consequence to form the
seemingly correct singular riddle. In the same way we have
E. burial=M.E. burials = O.E. byrg-els, derived from byrg-en (to
1 Of nouns denoting instrument, supra 79 (XIII.).
* The s was not changed to z, because it was double. Besides, a euphonic
vowel was inserted between the s and the l (O.H.G. -isal), which prevented
the former from becoming Š.
* In some words the syllable was probably mistaken for the second term
of a compound, such as -sam or -bar, and was therefore sounded with a
secondary accent, which preserved the vowel. -
* No process is more common, in any language, than the metathesis of
liquid sounds; cf. P. Passy, Changements phonétiques, no. 542 sq.
176 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
bury), cf. G. berg-en (to bury, to hide). We need scarcely ob-
serve that this method of formation has long been dead.
VI. E. -ness, G. -nisz: abstract nouns, also mostly neuter.
—This suffix, though far more important than the preceding,
and still living in both languages, has no less doubtful and
intricate an origin. The earliest form known to us is a msc.
Go. Suff. -assu-s, wherein the final element is probably the I.-E.
msc. suff. -tu-. If so, the E. and G. initial n cannot belong to
the suffix: it must have arisen from cases in which -assu- was
added to a stem in -en-, e.g. Go. biwd-a (people, gen. biwd-in-s,
cf. L. Teut-ö pl. Teut-ön-ès), whence a derivative biwd-in-assu-s
(kingdom, in the Lord's Prayer), and several others. So also
with derivatives from participles ending in n, as O.H.G. for-
loran-issa, which should be E. *forlorn-ess (altered to forlorn-ness)
and G. *verlorn-isz. These words gave rise to a false suffix, E.
-ness, G. -nisz, which took the place of the true form : " E. holy-
ness = O.E. hdlig-ness, high-ness, sour-ness, forgive-ness; O.H.G.
hart-nissa (hardness), got-nissa (divinity); G. zeug-nisz (testi-
mony), bild-misz (image), bind-nisz (alliance, league), etc.”
B. Adjectives.
(IoS) VII. E. -en, G. -en, further -ern : adjectives of
material.--From a Preg. suff. -ina- + I.-E.-ino-, supra 89, 3.
VIII. E. -ish, G. -isch: adjectives of extraction and
attribution.—This element is alive in English, though it has
generally given place to the suff. -ly * or the borrowed French
formation (Americ-an, Pruss-ian). It is largely used in German
(Französ-isch), where it forms even learned terms (psycholog-
isch) or is added to words of Romance origin (Latein-isch,
Amerik-an-isch, Chin-es-isch, Annam-it-isch). For its earlier
form, Preg. *-iska- = I.-E. *-isko-, see above, 91, 3.
IX. E. -y (= O.E. -īg), G. -īg : adjectives of qualifica-
1 It is more active in English than in German; for it is used not only
with native words, but indifferently, with words borrowed from French (coy-
mess, F. coi “quiet”) and learned adjectives imported from Latin (acid-ness).
* In gefängnisz (gaol), if analysed ge-fing-m-isz (cf. the part. ge-fang-en
“prisoner”), we might perhaps find the original form of the suffix.
* Contrast, for instance, heaven-ly with himml-isch, earthly with ird-isch,
etc.
ENGLISH AND GERMAN DERIVATION. 177
tion.—Still living and quite common : E. heart-y, mood-y, heal-
th-y, fil-th-y, silver-y; added to borrowed words, greas-y, juic-y,
etc.; G. herz-ig, mºuth-ig, zorn-ig, zott-ig, woll-ig, gold-ig, etc.; in
compounds, vier-fisz-ig, weit-schweif-ig." Its origin is discussed
above, 91, 1.
X. O.E. -iht (lost in E.), G. -icht: with the same meaning,
though not at all common.—It looks like a compound formed
by an exclusively Germanic combination of the I.-E. suffixes
-ko- (-iko-) and -to-: O.E. stagn-iht (stony), G. Stein-icht, woll-
dicht, thor-icht (foolish), etc. The adjective has become a sub-
stantive in kehr-icht (dirt), derived from O.H.G. *chara, which
is the nominal basis of the vb. cher-ian, G. kehr-en (to sweep).
§ 2. Verbal Suffiaces.
(Iob) We have already stated that the whole E. and G.
verbal derivation now rests on the ancient Germanic suffix -jan,
which moreover has been blended with the whole verbal end-
ings -én and -ón : that is to say, it rests on the ending -en for
the German infinitive, and on no ending at all for the English
infinitive. But this general derivation will appear clearer, if
we first get rid of some less productive formations, which de-
pend on the addition of the same final -jan to a prior nominal
suffix, or on some similar combination.
I. E. -n, -en (rather common), G. -n-en (much rarer) = Ger-
manic -n-jan and -n-an: mostly causative verbs.-In prin-
ciple, in English as well as in German, the simple addition of
suff. *-jan to a stem is sufficient to give the derivative com-
pound the meaning of causality which is originally involved in
this verbal suffix * : thus, from warm, we have the vb. to warm,
as in G. wirm-en = Go. warm-jan ; from better, the wb. to better=
G. besser-n, etc., etc. But in consequence of English having
* Such adjectives as gläub-ig, streit-ig, irr-ig, etc., which really proceed
from nouns, glaube, Streit, irre, etc., being afterwards referred to the verbs
glaub-en, streit-en, irr-em, etc., analogy subsequently produced er-biet-ig (the
normal form is er-bêt-ig from the moun er-bot), aws-find-ig, zu-läss-ig, ab-
hāng-ig, etc., from er-biet-en, aus-find-em, zu-lass-em, ab-hang-em, and many
more. Cf. Supra 99, 102 (3), and infra 110 (I. 2, II., III.), etc. All these
processes fall under the same head.
* See the so-called causative and denominative verbs in Sk., Gr. and L.,
supra 83 (IV.) and 92.
N
178 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
dropped the final n, the causative verb was occasionally no
longer clearly distinguishable, either from the word whence it
proceeded, or, in particular, from an intransitive verb derived
from the latter, so that the speaker naturally preferred a more
characteristic derivative process. Now, Germanic had formed
from its past participles in -an-, as well as from other adjectives,
either causative or intransitive verbs, the former with an infini-
tive in -m-jam, the latter with an infinitive in -m-am. These
afterwards, by the loss of the j, became more or less blended
together, assuming however as a rule the causative meaning.
Let us consider therefore a root wak, Go. v.b. wak-an (to
be awake): from this root came a part. Preg. *wak-and-s
(awake), and, from this again, an intransitive wb. *za-wak-an-an
(to become awake) and a causative wb. *za-wak-an-jan (to make
awake); the O.E. correspondent a-wapc-m-am still means “to
become awake ’’; but the E. offspring to a-wak-en hardly means
anything else but “to make awake,” in opposition to the purely
intransitive to a wake, which would be Germanic *za-wak-an (to
become awake).” -
After this final -en had been thus obtained, it was deemed
the specific exponent for causative verbs, and was used to
modify any adjective (deep-en, sharp-en, soft-en, rough-en,
straight-en), and even some substantives (height-em, length-en,
strength-en), always with the same causative value, which how-
ever concurrently admits of the intransitive use (to ripen is “to
become” and “to make ripe,” to sick-en, “to fall” and “to render
sick,” etc.). In German, since the formative element *-jan
still remained perceptible enough, it was felt to be sufficiently
clear, so that the verbal derivation by -n-en seemed useless, and
was not developed, though we find here, as in English, such old
and legitimate types as ler-n-en (E. to learn), leug-n-en (to deny,
O.E. līg-n-an “to call [a thing] a lie ’’), war-n-en (E. to war-m),
as opposed to lehr-en, liig-en, wahr-en.
1 The argument seems somewhat far-fetched, owing to the fact that the E.
final syllable is dropped. The reader need only be reminded, that an E.
infinitive ending without an m ought to have one, and that therefore an E. in-
finitive ending with an m ought to have two m's: hence, for instance, E. sharp-
en and G. Schärf-em, though outwardly alike, are etymologically different ;
the G. verb corresponding to E. to sharp-em would be *schaf-m-em.
ENGLISH AND GERMAN DERIVATION. 179
II. E. -se=-is-an and -s-ian (supra 93): causative verbs,-
From an adjective hreinn (pure) O.N. has a verb hrein-sa (to
wash), whence E. (borrowed) to rinse. From clane (clean)
O.E. likewise derives clan-s-ian, cf. E. clean and to cleanse. The
types to clasp=M.E. clap-s-en, and to grasp =*grap-s-en (cf. to
grapp-le) fall under the same head, having undergone a meta-
thesis.
III. E. -le, -l, -er ; G. -elm, -erm : frequentative verbs.-
This simple suffix consists of a nominal stem in -ila or -īra, to
which is added the ordinary verbal element. The diminutive,
meaning of the nominal suffix -ila satisfactorily explains the
frequentative forge of theverbal ending thus obtained." In-
stances are extremely numerous : E. to hurt-le, to snuff-le, to
draw-l, etc., compare to hurt, snuff, to draw “; G. lich-elm (to
smile), schiitt-elm (to shake), klüg-elm (to affect wisdom), más-eln
(to speak through the nose), as opposed to lach-en, Schütt-en,”
klug, nase; E. to glimm-er, to glitter=G. glitz-erm, to flutter,
contrasted with gleam, *glit (Go. glit-mun-jan “to shine”), to
float, etc.; G. er-schütt-ern (to shake), folg-erm (to draw a con-
sequence), zög-ern (to balance, to protract, cf. ziehen “to draw,”
pf, 20g), and so forth.*
IV. G. -zen = -t-jan (supra 93): frequentative verbs.-A well
known and common formation : Schluch-zen (to Sob, cf. Schluck-en
“to swallow ’’), krūch-zen, grun-zen, jauch-zen, (ich-zen, etc. In
seuf-zen (to sigh) = O.H.G. sift-ön (cf. E. to sob), the z has in-
truded (M.H.G. siuft-en and sinf-zen) after the analogy of other
verbs with a similar regular ending. In du-tzen (to thou) the
exponent was also originally frequentative, but has become
reduced to the ordinary verbal value.”
* Thus, “to drink small draughts” may be “to drink often,” and so
*ºn spark, a frequentative to spark-le, the only derivation. The mean-
ing is merely intransitive in to kneel.
* Still in the sixteenth century, er-schütt-en, “to throw down, to stagger.”
* The type ver-stein-erm must not be confused with the frequentative for-
mation ; it contains simply the suffix of adjectives denoting material, supra
105. So also, E. to girdle is the verb formed on girdle, not the frequentative
of the simple to gird. The G. ending -elm occasionally claims a descent
from some other suffix: handelm (to deal with) is O.H.G. hant-alān.
* By combination of suffixes III. and IV., we have G. bren-z-elm “to have
a burnt smell.”
180 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
(IO7) W. No exponent at all in E. ; in G. the simple
ending -en : ordinary verbal derivation.—This important
formation is the modern form of the Germanic suffix -jan and
its equivalents, and may therefore form indifferently intran-
sitive, transitive and causative verbs. It is impossible here to
go into details, but the general features of the formation may
be shortly summarised. .
1. Firstly, in form, it admits naturally of the regular meta-
phony (G. Scharf schärf-em, *queck (keck) er-quicken “to
vivify,” los lis-en “to unbind,” voll fill-en, brut briit-en), but
this again may be defaced by analogy 1: from gold, we have E.
to gild, whereas G. ver-gild-en is replaced by ver-gold-en; and
vice versa, G. wirm-en, but E. to warm. In fact, the O.E.
metaphony has become quite extinct: English now derives all
its verbs without any metaphony, whilst in German the pro-
cess, being later, still survives.
2. The G. derivation, as a matter of course, admits of every
verbal prefix which has been described above : be-fremd-en
er-hôh-en, ent-blosz-en, ver-dunkel-n, etc. On the contrary, in
E., where the use of prefixes has been lost? and the verbal
final dropped, the derivative verb became identical with its
derivative base, whatever the latter might be. After the
analogy of such cases was developed an extremely simple
derivation of verbs, which is peculiar to English, namely, the
power of forming a verb from any word by merely conjugating
it as it stood: to ink a pen, to pen a word, to word a thing, to
boycott a man ; and so forth. English may be said to have
thus regained the simplicity of structure of the so-called
* No mutation being possible from still to still-en (to quiet), from siisz
(sweet) to ver-siisz-em, etc., the language was led to create, also without
mutation, trockm-en (to dry), er-starr-en (to stiffen), er-blass-en (to turn pale),
ver-dumpf-em, ver-faul-en, etc. Even German dialects are at variance in this
respect: thus mitz-en (to use) is Alamannic mutz-en. It has been stated
besides that the derivation by jam was confounded with the derivation by
-án and -ón, and the latter naturally do not require any mutation (supra
92–93). For English metaphony, compare full and to fill, doom and to
deem, brood and to breed, food and to feed, etc. ---
2 Apart from the inversive un- (supra 98, III.), and a number of Romance
prefixes, to en-able, to dis-own, etc.
ENGLISH AND GERMAN DERIVATION. 181
primitive languages, where nearly every word may play the
part either of a noun or a verb.
3. The function, as we have said, varies widely. Passive
intransitives: E. to ache, G. fieber-n (to be in a fever). Active
intransitives: E. to ship = G. Schiff-en. Simple transitives: E.
to love = G. lieb-en. Causative transitives: G. Schwäch-en,
Schwärz-en, kränk-en. Sometimes the meanings are cumulated :
E. to ripe = G. reif-en (to become ripe and to cause to ripen).
If more precision is wanted in marking the causative sense,
German uses its prefixes be-, ver-, and ent- (inversive), whilst
English uses its suffix -en. It is chiefly a matter of usage.
4. G. -īg-en.—A most important development of the causative
derivation remains peculiar to German. Such verbs as M.H.G.
eineg-en, n5teg-en, schedeg-en, Schuldeg-en, G. einig-en, nothig-en,
schºidig-en, Schuldig-en, kräftig-en, be-mâchtig-en, – which are
quite regularly derived from the adjectives einec, mùtec, schadec,
Schuldec, respectively kräftig, miichtig, etc., -having been erro-
neously traced back to the simple words ein, moth, Schade, schuld,
kraft, macht, etc., the speaker formed, in the same way, from
ende and theil, for instance, the verbs end-ig-en and be-theil-ig-en,
though no adjectives *end-ig and *theil-ig actually exist. From
this false analogy has sprung the causative suffix -igen, which
is widely diffused: be-fehl-igen, be-schäft-igen, ver-ein-igen, ge-
Tehm-igen, be-Schön-igen, etc.
VI. G. -ieren, -iren.—It is only on account of the wide use of
this element, that it may be held to deserve a place in our list;
for it is of Romance origin, though modified by the general G.
infinitive ending: G. spazier-en-L. spatidri (to walk). It
characterizes chiefly borrowed verbs (risown-iren), or such as
are derived from borrowed words (stud-irem). But, at the time
when it became general under the influence of the French
language (XVIIth-XVIIIth century), it was even attached to
some Germanic stems, as in stolz-iren (to strut), schatt-iren (to
shadow), buchstab-iren (to spell).
182 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GIRAMMAR.
SECTION III.
OLD WORDS CHANGED TO SUFFIXES.
(IOS) This subject has been seen above to belong properly
to the study of composition, inasmuch as, for instance, child-
hood and kind-heit, if referred to their origin, are no less truly
compound nouns than child-birth and kind-bett. The only
difference lies in the fact that birth and bett are still extant in
their respective languages, while *hood and *heit have long
been obsolete. Now, this difference, though theoretically quite
insignificant, is important in practice; for, since these final
syllables have no longer any meaning by themselves and are
merely used as a vague derivative exponent, they have gradu-
ally acquired various significations, and have moreover under-
gone slight alterations which would have been prevented if the
isolated word had survived." Therefore this peculiar Anglo-
German derivation, which might be termed derivative
composition, is well fitted to mark a transition from the
matters previously dealt with to the following subject.
The old words changed to derivative suffixes were either
nouns or adjectives, so that the result of derivative composition
is either a noun or an adjective. Some adjectives, more-
over, here and there became adverbial locutions.
§ 1. Nouns.
(Io9) I. E. -hood and (if unaccented) -head=O.E. -hād; G.
-heit = *hait = Go. hai-du-s (manner): abstract nouns.—From
an I.-E. root qi (to see, to remark, to discern, Sk. ci) proceeded
an I.-E. stem *qoy-tá-, Sk. kè-tá-s (sign), Preg. *hai-Öſt-s (sign,
quality, manner): thus O.H.G., chint-heit means simply “the
quality, the state of a child,” and so with any similar words,
English or German.
1. The E. form -hood is common, whereas the form -head is
rare : maiden-hood and maiden-head = O.E. maegden-hăd. It is
added to borrowed as well as native words: O.E. biscop-hād, E.
1. Cf. Supra 68.
ENGLISH AND GERMAN DERIWATION. 183
priest-hood. But it forms scarcely any derivatives except from
substantives : brother-hood, neighbour-hood, man-hood, etc.,
though we have false-hood. In German, on the contrary, -heit
may be added to adjectives as well as to substantives, forming
abstract nouns from both classes, indeed, the derivation from
adjectives is now far commoner: O.H.G. magat-heit, man-heit,
etc.; Mod. G. Schön-heit, frei-heit, bos-heit (wickedness) = *bósi-
hait,” etc. -
2. Whenever the syllable -heit was attached to an adjective
ending in -ec (Mod. G. -īg), which was a very common case in
M.H.G., the whole became a complex -cheit; thus, from milt-ec
(piteous), the abstract noun milt-ec-heit. Now, beside the
derivative milt-ec, there existed a simpler adjective milte (Mod.
G. mild = E. mild), and this, contrasted with miltecheit, natur-
ally created the false suffix -cheit, which was them used in
other cases: eitel-keit, lust-ig-keit, dank-bar-keit, freund-lich-keit,
etc. Both suffixes -heit and -keit have the same meaning as
well as the same origin, and their employment is merely a
matter of usage.”
II. E. -dom = O.E. -dûm ; G. -thum (-tum) = O.H.G. -tuom :
abstract nouns (occasionally concrete nouns, as E. king-dom,
G. herzog-thum).-The word is the same as E. doom, which has
been seen to come from a root meaning “to do,” cf. E. do, G.
thu-n. It forms in both languages several derivatives either
from nouns or adjectives: O.E. biscop-dām, hālīg-dòm ; E. earl-
dom, free-dom, wis-dom; O.H.G. meistar-twom, fri-tuom ; G.
bis-thum (syncopated), heilig-thwm, etc. It is a living suffix,
especially in German, where such formations as junkertum,
brahmanentum are still current.
* The vowel was Syncopated early enough not to have occasioned meta-
phony, cf. bāse = O.H.G. bāsī.—In derivation from nouns, G. gave the
preference to suff. -schaft (compare bruder-schaft with brother-hood), while,
in derivation from adjectives, E. usually used suff. -dom (compare freedom
with freiheit, wisdom with weisheit).-Observe the variety of resources dis-
played : for the abstract moun from “high,” E. and G. together have four
different derivatives (E. height and highness, G. h5he and hoheit), of course
with various shades of meaning.
* Again, from a further combination of -ig and -keit, arose a suff. -igkeit
(new-igkeit, kleim-igkeit, gemaw-igkeit), which spread in the same way as
verbal -igen, supra 107 (V.4).
184 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
III. E. -ship = O.E. -scipe; G. -schaft = O.H.G. -skaft :
abstract nouns.—The two words, though not identical, both
mean “shape, form,” inasmuch as they have sprung, by
different suffixes, from the root which produced to shape and
schaffen. Besides, O.H.G. still possesses a simpler suff, -skafa
Preg. *skap-i-, which is even nearer to the E. form : O.H.G.
lant-skaf-E, land-scape, the latter borrowed from Dutch, but
M.E. land-skip. The formation is common in both languages:
E. friend-ship, town-ship, worship =*worth-ship, court-ship; G.
freund-schaft, diener-schaft," gesell-schaft, herr-schaft, birger-
schaft, etc. Exceptionally a few derivatives from adjectives:
gemein-Schaft, eigen-schaft (“peculiar quality,” contrast the
meaning with that of eigen-tum, “property, estate’’).
IV. E. -red in kind-red (cf. kin) and hat-red (cf. to hate)
comes from the same root as E. read-y and G. be-reit. It
occurs rather often in O.E., but is nearly extinct in later times,
and seems never to have existed in German. As to E. hund-red
= G. hund-ert, see the chapter on Numeration.
W. E. -lock, in wed-lock, and -ledge, in know-ledge, are two
forms (the latter being Scandinavian) of the same suffix of
obscure origin (O.E. -lác, M.E. -lóc), which was once more
widely used and has now become obsolete.
VI. E. -ric, in bishop-ric, is O.E. ric-e = Go. reik-i, still exist-
ing as a separate word in G. reich (kingdom), cf. the compound
kaiser-reich (empire).
§ 2. Adjectives.
(IIo) I. E. -ly - O.E. -lic, shortened (as unaccented) from
lic =E. like *; G. -lich, shortened (as unaccented) from O.H.G.
-lih = Go. -leik-s; cf. the derivative g-leich (alike) = Go. ga-leik-s:
adjectives denoting resemblance, manner or attribute.
—This class is extremely important.
1. It is easy to see, at once, the formation of such adjectival
compounds as E. man-ly – G. minn-lich, namely “man-like ’’;
* Acquired a concrete sense, and so also the following words; cf. E. her
ladyship, F. la domesticité (the servants), etc.
* The full form is to be seen in modern compounds such as court-like.
The original sense is “body, substance,” cf. G. leiche (corpse).
ENGLISH AND GERMAN DERIVATION. 185
so also, woman-ly and weib-lich, father-ly and väter-lich, king-ly
and könig-lich; again, when added to names of things or to
abstract nouns, world-ly-weltlich, night-ly = mächt-lich, hāf-lich,
hâss-lich, lieb-lich, anjing-lich, the latter type greatly developed
in German.
2. Secondly, these adjectives happening in German to be
referred to verbs instead of nouns (thus, to hass-en, lieb-en,
anfang-en, etc.), it was only natural that new ones should be
formed directly by derivation from other verbs, whence be-
greifen, empfind-en, beschreib-en, according to a process which
must now have become familiar to the student, produced such
adjectives as begreif-lich, empfind-lich, un-beschreib-lich.
3. It is clear, from its original meaning, that suff. -lich might
as well modify an adjective as a noun, either by lessening in
some degree the adjectival sense (röth-lich, “red-like, reddish ’’),
or even without any definite value (reich-lich, “rich, plentiful”).
This is the case with E. silly = O.E. syl-lic, supra 23 E.
4. In order to understand the further evolution of the suffix,
it must be borne in mind that the West Germanic adverb is
merely a certain case—probably the instrumental case—of the
adjective, its ending being an -e, which had a tendency to
disappear: e.g. Go. hlüt-r-s (pure, cf. L. law-tu-s “washed ”)
and O.E. hlütor, whence O.E. hlütr-e, O.H.G. littar and G.
lauter (purely, merely)," etc. To the M.H.G. adjectives fro-lich
(gay), grö3-lich (great), etc., naturally corresponded the adverbs
fró-līch-e (gaily), grO3-lich-e (greatly), etc. Now, these forms,
if directly opposed to the simple adjectives froh, grosz, etc.,
contained an ending -liche -lich, which was mistaken for the
characteristic of the adverbial function and transferred else-
where with this value by an obvious analogy. This process
was carried on with great energy in M.H.G., and, though now
extinct, has left some traces in the contemporary speech, several
formations with suffix -lich being even now exclusively used
with an adverbial meaning: frei-lich (to be sure), kürz-lich (in
short), Schwer-lich, hoffent-lich.
* Final -e kept in G. lang-e (a long time), contrasted with the adjective
lang.
186 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
5. English has gone the same way, but farther, and quite
consistently: E. -ly is no longer an adjectival suffix, except
When added to a noun; if added to an adjective, it forms an
adverb. Thus, the type reich-lich is essentially an adjective
in G., while its E. representative rich-ly can be nothing but
an adverb. This transformation gave English a specific
adverbial exponent, whereas German usually employs as such
the old instrumental case, now represented by the undeclined
adjective, as final -e has dropped long ago. The E. suff, -ly
modifies indifferently any adjective, whether primitive or
derivative (wise-ly, idly =*id-le-ly = G. *eit-el-lich, form-er-ly,
Sorrow-ful-ly), native or borrowed (veri-ly," vacant-ly, glorious-ly),
and even some nouns (night-ly, name-ly, purpose-ly).”
II. E. -som -some = O.E. -sum, the unaccented form of E.
same ; G. -sam ; adjectives denoting qualification or
aptitude.—The word is lost in German, but may be found in
O.N. stem-r (able) and traced back to Sk. Sam-á-S = Gr. Öp-ó-s
(alike, Same, cf. L. Sim-ili-s). Its meaning being very nearly
that of the preceding word, both were equally used in deriving
an adjective from a noun or an adjective: Go. lustu-sam-s
(lustful); O.E. hyr-sum (obedient), long-sum (tiresome);
O.H.G. gihòr-sam (from a noun gihòr, “hearing, obedience”),
ein-Sam (united), heil-sam (wholesome); E. hand-some (actually
“clever”), win-some, trouble-some, weari-some ; G. mih-sam,
arbeit-sam, duld-sam, etc. Further, analogically, some adjec-
tives were immediately derived from verbs: folg-sam, erfind-
sam, bieg-sam,” etc.
III. G. -bar = *-bār-i, from the same root as the vb. bār-am.
(to carry), and with the same meaning as Sk. bhār-á-s, Gr. pop-
6-s, L. fer at the end of a compound: adjectives denoting
* E. very = O.F. verai, now vrai (true). The native adverb is sooth-ly =
O.E. 80èſ-lice, wherein “sóð = *sømö is the present participle of the wb. I am
(cf. Gr, Öv Švt-os, L. sons sont-is “culprit”).-Moreover, E. still exhibits
some adjectives used adverbially: he works hard, he speaks loud, pretty migh,
and very itself.
? So, to conclude, like-ly contains the same word twice over.
* In bua om = O.E. bilaywm = *biſh-sum, the vocalism shows a derivation
from a noun (cf. bough = O.E. bāg), whereas bieg-sam is formed from bieg-em
(to bend).
ENGLISH AND GERMAN DERIVATION. 187
production and consequently aptitude.—The etymological
sense is still clear in such types as O.E. leoht-batre (L. līci-fer
“carrying light") and G. frucht-bar “bearing fruit,” and it is
but slightly distorted in furcht-bar, wunder-bar, gang-bar, dank-
bar, etc. The suffix is lost in English, but has reached in
German a high degree of development, thanks to the analogical
process by which it was directly added to many verbal stems :
thus, streit-bar, really a derivative from streit, but erroneously
referred to streit-en, led to the creation of esz-bar, les-bar, menn-
bar, annehm-bar, erreich-bar, and many others, the power of
creation being as yet by no means exhausted.
IV. G. -haft = Preg. *haf-tá-s=L. cap-tw-s (taken), literally
“seized by,” whence “endowed with,” the exact force of the
Mod. G. derivative be-haft-et (no trace of it either in E. or
O.E.): adjectives of qualification.—As required by its
etymology, this class is rich in derivatives from nouns (herz-
haft, tugend-haft, fehler-haft), but poor in derivatives from
adjectives (wahr-haft “sincere,” 4 bos-haft), and much poorer
still in derivatives from verbs (schwatz-haft “prattler’”).
W. E. -fast = O.E. foest (the same as G. fest = O.H.G. fest-i,
“fast, firm ‘’), a suffix resembling the preceding in function, in
O.E. his-fcest, “having a house,” kept only in stead-fast, literally
“having a stead, a foundation.” ”
VI. E. -fold = O.E. feald ; G. ºfalt = Go. falb-s: adjectives
of multiplication.—For the etymology, compare E. fold and
G. falte with L, sim-plec-s “having but one fold,” duplea (two-
fold), etc. E. two-fold, twenti-fold, etc.; Go. 6 in-falb-s (simple,
good, stupid), M.H.G. ein-falt (id.), whence the derivatives,
Go. frn. &in-falb-ei, O.H.G. ein-falt-7 and G. ein-falt (stupidity),
O.H.G. ein-falt-īg, M.H.G. ein-velt-ec and G. ein-filt-ig, etc.
VII. E. ful: adjectives of qualification.—Well-known
to be the E. full= G. voll. But whilst, in such a G. compound
as bewunderungs-voll (full of astonishment), the meaning of the
word voll still remains present to the speaker's mind, the case
1 Might be translated etymologically “endowed with truth,” the adjective
wahr (true) being used as a substantive.
* O.E. sceam-fast, M.E. sham-fast is thus derived, but has been changed
by popular etymology to shame-faced.
188 ICNGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
is quite different with the element ful in thank-ful, aw-ful,
wonderful, sorrow-ful, merci-ful, fanciful, etc. Even the spell-
ing emphasizes the difference: the syllable is unaccented, and,
being now added to any noun whatever, simply plays the part
of a convenient but vague and commonplace formative ending.
VIII. E. -less, unaccented form of O.E. leas (loose, void,
false); G. -los = O.H.G. los= Go. ltus (void): negative of the
preceding suffix,−G. los still exists as a single word." Its
value as a suffix is quite clear: father-less =vater-los, life-less=
leb-los, god-less =gott-los, forming a negative adjective from
almost any noun.
§ 3. Adverbs.
(III) Adverbs, which fall under this head of derivation,
are simply ancient cases of the original declension of nouns
or adjectives. The case, if it happened to be accusative or
instrumental, is no longer to be discerned at first sight, since
its ending has been dropped “; but, if a genitive, it shows the
characteristic -s. Now West Germanic was very rich in
adverbial locutions in which the genitive was used, and the
later languages, especially German, still preserve a considerable
number of such expressions. We need but mention: O.E.
daug-es “by day,” niht-es “by night,” lost in E.; E. el-se (cf.
L. al-iu-s “other”), need-s, after-ward-s, al-way-s,” sin-ce=M.E.
sith-en-s (cf. O.H.G. Sid, G. Seit), on-ce, twi-ce,” etc.; G. tag-s,
macht-s, fall-s and jeden-fall-s, ring-s, recht-s, unter-weg-s (by the
way), augen-blick-s (suddenly), and more complex constructions
like gerad-es weg-es, recht-er hand, all-es ernst-es, mein-es eracht-
en-S, rein-es herz-ens, hunger-s sterben (to starve), etc., etc. Thus
the adverbial use of nouns or adjectives in this way is easily
explained.
I. E. -ly (= G. -lich): the ordinary adverbial suffix, supra
110, still adjectival in German.
| And so also E. loose, but that is borrowed from Scandinavian.
* See Declension, infra 149.
3 For this word, as historically traced, does not mean “by all ways,” but
“the whole way.”
4 Cf. Numeration, infra 124, II.
ENGLISH AND GERMAN DERIVATION. 189
II. E. -wise: a few adverbs, like-wise, no-wise.—It is the
noun wise = O.E. wise = G. weise (manner), afterwards in French
written guise. German has the genitival locution, e.g. merk-
wiirdig-er-weise (remarkably), and a few modern compounds, as
theil-weise (partly), kreuz-weise, paar-weise.
III. E. -ling, G. -ling-s (gen.): a few adverbs.-This suffix
seems to come from the gen, pl. of nouns in -ing * used adver-
bially: M.E. hed-l-‘ing, corrupted to head-long ; E. dark-ling,
side-ling and side-long, etc.; G. blind-ling-s, seit-lings, rick-ling-s
(backwards), schriti-ling-s (step by step), etc.
IV. E. -ward (also adjectival) and -ward-s (advb. gen.);
G. -wirt-s (id.): adverbs of direction.—The O.H.G. form is
-wärt-es, the genitive of an adjective which is Go. nomin. Sg.
vaſºrb-s, from the same root that may be seen in the Go. v.b.
vačrb-an (G. werden “to become *) = L. vert-ere (to turn): E.
to-ward and to-ward-s, back-ward, after-ward-S, sea-ward, lee-ward,
wind-ward, awk-ward (literally “turned awry’), etc.; G. vor-
wärt-s, rick-wirt-s, auf-wärt-s; and, in further derivation, E. in-
ward-ly, G. wider-wirt-ig (contrary), etc.
The remaining E. and G. derivations are exceptional and
may be neglected here, especially as the reader will find an
easy explanation for each of them in some one of the processes
described above.
* Cf. the formation of nouns in -ung, -ing, -ling, supra 103. Of course in
G. the gen. is in the Sg.
CHAPTER III,
COMPOSITION.
(II2) The process of compounding words with one
another is Indo-European : remarkably well preserved, and
even developed, in Sk. and Gr., less familiar in Latin, and
almost lost in the Romance languages, it was bequeathed to
Pregermanic, where it remained in full vigour, and is still
extremely active in English and German. This may be said
to be one of the most important points in which the Germanic
languages differ from the neighbouring Romance tongues, and
especially from French : such relations as the latter expresses
by a periphrasis (nuit d'été) or a derivation (pomm-ier) are as
a rule, and clearly enough, given in English and German by
the mere juxtaposition of two stems, the first usually limiting
or qualifying the second : Summer-night, sommer-macht; apple-
tree, apfel-baum.
The details of English and German composition belong to
ordinary grammar, or else must be sought in an etymological
dictionary. Here we have only to sketch the general outlines
of the classification and formation of those compound words,
which are found in the two languages as well as in the other
members of the I.-E. family."
SECTION I.
CLASSIFICATION OF COMPOUNDS.
(113) Compound words must be regarded in a double light,
according as we consider their form, or their meaning, the
1. Cf. Henry, Grammar of Gr. and Lat., 175–181.
190
COMPOSITION. 191
former being usually quite independent of the latter, and vice
versa: thus, G. hund-fliege and hund-8-fliege (horse-fly) are
exactly synonymous, though their principle of formation is
quite different ; whereas E. red-lead and red-breast, though
identical in formation, widely differ in sense, the former merely
meaning “a red lead,” and the latter, “having a red breast,” a
distinction explained below.
§ 1. Grammatical Classification.
(II4) As to their grammatical formation, compounds,
whether I.-E., or English, or German, must be divided into
two classes, namely: syntactical and non-syntactical com-
pounds.
I. Syntactical composition occurs when two words assume
in respect to each other the form required by the ordinary
rules of grammar and syntax, e.g. the type, E. king's wife, G.
könig-s-sohn, where the first term appears in the genitive as
governed by the second. Such a locution, indeed, cannot be
termed a true composition, and strict logic would even banish
from this chapter the study of all syntactical compounds. They
only claim our notice from the fact that they influenced, chiefly
in German, non-syntactical composition, in such a way as to
render the study of the latter impossible to one who had not
considered the essential types of syntactical construction from
which these analogies arose.
1. The first term stands in the genitive and is governed by
the second term."
A. Genitive singular.—(a) Of so-called strong nouns (gen.
in -s). E. Tue-s-day and G. Diens-tag=zio-s-tac have already
occurred. Further instances are : E. Thur-s-day = O. N. bor-s-
dag-r (cf. the name of the god Thór), and G. Donner-s-tag, cf.
donner = thunder; E. kin, and kin-S-man: E. daisy = *day's eye,
*.e. “[little] sun,” the ending shortened because unaccented ;
O.H.G. gotes-his and G. Gottes-haws, but Go, gud-hiis (temple)
non-syntactical ; O.H.G. hundes-fliuga and G. hunds-fliege
1 We need scarcely observe that a compound may contain more than two
terms; theoretically, however, the number of terms is wholly indifferent, the
rules being always the same for the relation of one to another.
192 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
(horse-fly), but also hunt-fliuga and hund-fliege non-syntactical;
G. land-8-mann (compatriot), but non-syntactical land-mann
(peasant)," etc. English possesses and still may create many
juxtapositions of this kind, though they are usually spelled in
two separate words, as (mid-summer) might's dream, new year's
day, love's labour, etc.,” having, in fact, kept here, and almost
nowhere else, the use of the genitival s for nouns which do not
denote living beings.
(b) Of so-called weak nouns (gen. in -en, -n).—This is the
type : O.H.G. ohs-in-zunga (the name of a plant), G. ochs-en-
zunge ; O.E. el-n-boga, literally “arm's bow,” also el-boga, E.
el-bow, which might represent either form, but G. elle-n-bogen
syntactical. English, having dropped its finals, has generally
lost this formation : thus, it answers ochs-en-zunge with the
seemingly non-syntactical Oa-ford; cf. however the compound
maid-en speech. But in German, the process has been favoured
by the analogy of the composition with the genitive plural and
partly confounded with it.”
B. Genitive plural.— (a) Of so-called strong neuter nouns
and strong adjectives (in -er) : G. all-er-erst, all-er-hăchst, and
the like ; G. rind-er-Schaa’r (a flock of oxen), rind-er-hirte, etc.;
no further development.
(b) Of so-called weak nouns (in -en, -n): O.H.G. Franch-Öno-
lant and G. Frank-en-land, etc.; M.H.G. vrouw-en-Zimmer and
G. fraw-en-zimmer, literally “women's hall,” whence “female
attendance,” and lastly, with concrete meaning (the only one
surviving), “waiting gentlewoman, young lady.”
2. The first term governs the second term, usually in the
accusative, very seldom in any other case, occasionally with a
preposition between the two : an exceptional type.—G. Störe-n-
fried (trouble-feast), wherein the n is the syncopated form of
1 Compare likewise wasser-moth (Scarcity of water) with wassers-moth (over-
flowing).
2 Spelled in one word, coaccomb = cock's comb.
8 Infra B b.-Confounded in form, not in meaning; for it would be a gross
mistake, in most cases, to explain it by a plural instead of a singular in the
first term. The supposition is true for Frank-en-land, and may be true for
mensch-en-freund, biene-n-korb, etc.; but it is obviously false for the type
todt-en-kopf, lind-en-baum, tinte-n-fasz, which has been indefinitely multi-
plied.
COMPOSITION. 193
the accusative den, literally “trouble the peace,” the noun,
however, showing no case ending; G. vergisz-mein-nicht “forget
me not ” (mouse-ear), which is a sentence rather than a word *;
G. spring-ins-feld (light-headed youngster), etc. In English,
the general loss of unaccented endings does not allow us to de-
termine whether the similar type Shake-speare” ever possessed
an accusative ending.
II. The composition is said to be non-syntactical, when the
relation of meaning which unites the terms, whatever this
relation may be, namely, appositional (E. to fulfil, G. still-
schweigen), possessive (E. hus-band, G. haus-herr), adnominal
(E. church-yard, G. hof-thor), locative or temporal (E. nightingale
= O.E. nihte-gale, G. machti-gall, “sounding by night"), instru-
mental (E. steam-boat and god-father, G. dampf-schiff and hand-
habem), etc., etc., -lacks any peculiar exponent, and is denoted
by mere juxtaposition of the two terms, without the help
of a grammatical ending between them. This is true primitive
composition and would still be, as noted above, the only true
English and German composition, had it not undergone a
number of alterations caused by the intrusion of syntactical
types. Sometimes, however, though rarely, a composition is
only apparently non-syntactical, having sprung from some old
syntactical construction which has been misunderstood and
consequently transferred to places where it had no business to
be : thus, an O.H.G. sentence Sie sind ein anderen ungelih,”
which taken by itself is grammatically clear and correct, gave
rise to a false compound ein-ander, which was afterwards invari-
ably used, in any sentence or position, with a meaning of re-
ciprocal action.*
§ 2. Functional Classification.
(II5) When the function is considered, compounds may be
divided into three great classes, namely: copulative, deter-
minative and possessive compounds.
* The vb. vergessen formerly governed the gemitive. Cf. infra 164, I. 3.
* “He who shakes his spear,” cf. the proper name Make-peace, etc., infra
117, III. 2.
* Literally “they are, one to other, unlike.”
* Cf. the simple juxtaposition in E. one another.
194 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
I. The copulative is a compound, the meaning of which
would require between its two terms, if separated and gram-
matically construed, an inserted particle “and.” The type is
rather rare : it appears in numerals (E. four-teen, G. fünf zehn),
in Some proper names (E. Griqua-namaqua-land, G. Oestreich-
Ungarn) and in a few double adjectives (G. taub-stumºm, but E.
deaf and dumb). In Sk, of course, it has multiplied, but may
be neglected elsewhere."
II. The determinative compound is equivalent to a locution
wherein either of the terms, and usually the second, would
govern the other and require it to take some case-ending. Ac-
cording as the governed term would be put in the same case as
the governing one, or in a different case, we have to distinguish
respectively attributive or appositive, and dependent com-
pounds. -
1. Appositive compounds: Gr, type peya)\6-troA-s (great
city).-E. wo-man = M.E. win-man (compare the pronunciation
of the pl. women) = O.E. wif-man, as it were “human being
of female sex.” E. gospel = O.E. god-spel (god- shortened
instead of göd), originally “good spell, good news,” a literal
translation of Gr, ei-oyyéAvo-v. E. wer-wolf, wal-nut “nut from
Welsh (non-German) land,” New-haven, pea-cock, she-wolf, hen-
canary-bird, etc.—G. grosz-vater, and, curiously enough, an
analogical formation grosz-Sohn ; so also, E. grand-son from
grand-father. G. all-od, a word borrowed from Low L. allodium,
but this again borrowed from O.H.G. al-ād, “whole or full
property.” G. siisz-holz (liquorice), wer-wolf, first-bischof, Herr-
gott, Christ-kind, New-stadt, etc.
2. Dependent compounds: Gr. type àvöp-áēeAbo-s (husband's
brother, brother-in-law), L. līci-fer, E. bride-groom, G. pelz-
waaren-hāmdler, etc.—Instances will occur to the reader in such
considerable number, that it would be superfluous to quote any
more; indeed, the student may even form any new compounds
1 Compounds made of two adjectives are almost always determinative
compounds: so roth-gelb does not mean “red and yellow,” but “yellow with
a tinge of red,” and so forth. In bitter-siisz and a few more, we may hesitate
between the two shades of meaning.—A true O.H.G. copulative compound
may be found in the fourth line of the Hildebrandslied: sunufatarungo “the
son and the father.”
COMPOSITION. 195
he chooses, for the process is still alive in both languages, and
the bulk of their compound words are of very recent forma-
tion.”
III. The possessive compound is only a form of the deter-
minative, inasmuch as here too one of the terms determines the
other; but the whole adds an additional idea to the meaning
of the two words separately: thus, Gr. 6080-84Krv\o-s and E.
red-breast do not mean simply, “rose-finger’’ or “red breast,”
but “endowed with rose-fingers,” “ (a bird) showing a red
breast,” and so forth. In short, the possessive compound is
always an epithet, which involves the existence of a subject
possessing the character or realizing the idea expressed by the
union of the two terms: E. light-foot, heart's ease, wag-tail, etc.;
G. Roth-kāppehen, drei-fusz, liigen-zunge, plage-geist, etc. This
composition is of essentially popular origin and goes hand in
hand with the preceding.
SECTION II.
FORMATION OF COMPOUNDS.
(II6) The power of composition in either language is
theoretically unlimited.” But since, however numerous they
may be, the successive terms qualify one another in turn, any
compound may theoretically be reduced to two terms, as it
were, the first and the second, each again being either the
qualifying or the qualified term.
1 Further, the reader may be referred to supra 65, 5, and infra 117, I., II.
and III. 1.
* Three terms: E. pine-apple-juice ; G. haupt-zoll-amt, dudel-sack-pfeifer.
Four terms: E. midsummer might's dream ; G. eisen-bahn-hof-strasse, kupfer-
schmied-werk-zeug (here, instead of determining one another, the four terms
are divided into two groups, and the first group determines the second, as, in
each group, the first term determines the other; that is to say, kupferschmied
and werkzeug bear exactly the same relation as if each of them were a simple
word; the case is very common). Five terms: alt-milch-ferkel-markt-platz
(where milchferkel is one word in relation to markt, and milchferkelmarkt one
word in relation to alt), etc. Humorous accumulations: the United Metro-
politan Improved Hot Muffin and Crumpet Baking and Punctual Delivery
Company (Dickens, Nickleby).
196 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
§ 1. Form of the First Term.
(II.7) The first term of a compound may be a nominal
stem (noun, adjective or pronoun), or a particle (invariable
word), or a verbal stem. Each of these cases will be separ-
ately examined. *
I. The first term is a nominal stem.—The general
principle of I.-E. composition is, that any nominal stem, occur-
ring as the first term of a compound, must appear in the
shape of a bare stem, without any ending whatever. Let
us consider, for instance, the I.-E. stems in -o- : the term taken
from words like Sk. &va-s, Gr. 6eó-s, L. auru-m, is neither the
nominative, nor any other case in compounds like Sk, & wa-
yoga-s (whereto a horse is put), Gr. 6eo-ºbt)\ffs (dear to the gods),
L. auru-fea (goldsmith), etc.; it is neither the dual nor the
plural, though there may be two horses to the chariot, and the
gods actually are many in number; it is simply the bare stem,
ſºva-, 6eó-, auru-, which, owing to the place it occupies, becomes
able to express either the instrumental, dative, or accusative
case, or indeed the singular, dual or plural number, together
with many other grammatical relations. Such is also the
general rule for English and German composition, the applica-
tions of, or exceptions to, which we shall now pursue throughout
the various classes of primitive stems.
1. If the first term ends with a vowel, the formation usually
conforms to the rule given above, save that the characteristic
vowel, being unaccented and consequently more or less altered,
is no longer seen as it is in Gr. or L. : E. and G. wer-wolf, re-
presenting an I.-E. word *wiro-wlqo-s, which would be L. *viri-
lupu-s=*viro-lupo-s (man-wolf); O.H.G. tago-stèrno and taga-
stérn (morning-star); O.H.G. w8go-wiso and wéga-wiso, cf. G.
weg-weiser, E. way-mark ; O.H.G. junc-frouwa (damsel)” and G.
jung-frau ; O.H.G. twri-sāl and G. thir-såule (door-post), cf. Gr.
kaat-yvnto-s (brother); G. viel-blatt, cf. Go. filw- (in composi-
1 Adj. junc- = *yuñgo-, not *yuñgó, that is to say, the epithet does not
agree with the noun; cf. Gr. 'Akpó-Toxts instead of dºpa TóAts. When the
noun is declined, the adjective undergoes no change.—With the second
(unaccented) term reduced, we have jungfer.
COMPOSITION. 197
tion) = Gr. Toxv- (much); Go. faihu-gairn-S (covetous), cf. L.
pecu- (cattle) and the G. type vieh-zucht, etc. After such pat-
terns were created the invariable and common compounds by
mere juxtaposition (G. tag-lohm, friih-stück, hand-habe, E. day-
break, way-farer, hand-mill), from which English hardly ever
deviates, apart however from the occasional insertion of the
genitival s if justified by the meaning." In German, the same
insertion is often possible, or even necessary (tages-stern), and
is now always found in certain classes of words, especially those
in -heit (freiheits-liebe), whence it has even extended to those
in -ung (rettungs-ufer, wiisserungs-graben), though the latter
never really had or could have any genitive ending in -s.
German further admits of the insertion of the n which belongs
to the weak declension, especially for such words as end in
-e in the nominative singular, when involving in their com-
pounded state an idea of plurality”: gaben-reich, bienen-korb,
enten-teich, stumden-glas (but sohl-leder, rede-kunst, since the first
term may be referred to the verbs sohlen and reden),” etc.
2. Stems originally ending with any other consonant but m
and s follow the general rule without exception : E. foot-step,
mother-less, might-mare; G. fusz-boden, water-land, macht-mahl.
Very often in English, and rather arbitrarily in German, the
s is inserted, when required by usage or euphony.*
3. Stems in 17 have been seen to assume a double form. The
simple form, without final n, is here the regular one, and con-
stantly appears in the earliest examples of Germanic composi-
tion: Go, guma-kund-s “ of male sex,” cf. the same shortened
stem in L. homi-cida (from homim-); O.H.G. hano-crát (cock's
comb), namo-haft (having a name) and G. mam-haft (famous);
Go. &uga-datºró “eye-door ’’ (window), O.H.G. oug-bråwa (eye-
brow), M.H.G. ouge-lit (eye-lid), etc. But, besides this ancient
type, Germanic also formed the compound with the first term
in the genitive Sg. or pl., viz. ochsen-zunge and Franken-land;
* Supra 114, I. 1 A.
* Supra 114, I. 1, and cf. the note.
* Cf. the verbal compounds, infra III. 1.
* Examples: sommermachts-traum, waters-bruder and vaters-bruders-sohn,
but waters-bruder-fraw ; and so also with other compounds, jahr-gang and
jahres-bericht, monat-schrift and monats-heft.
198 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
and this, in German, quite overwhelmed the type nam-haft and
fried-los, which is now exceptional. The usual form is as fol-
lows: hahnen-kamm,' ochsen-hirte, sonnen-schein, namen-buch,
augen-brauen, augen-lid, hasen-pfote, etc.; secondly, analogi-
cally, christen-thum, studenten-blume, etc.; lastly, even with a
double genitival exponent, namens-tag, friedens-richter, herzens-
wunsch.” Nothing similar occurs in English : eye-brow, eye-lid,
sunshine (cf. Sun-day = Sonn-tag), 02-lip = O.E. Oa'an-slyppe, etc.
4. Stems ending in s show a similar peculiarity. West Ger-
manic is known to drop the final s of the nomin. Sg. : G. sieg =
Go. Sigis = Sk. Sáhas (strength, victory) = I.-E. *séghos 3; so also,
ei (egg), kalb (calf), since the plurals eier and kålber reveal the
presence of a hidden s in the sg. stem. Now, this s naturally
also belonged to the compounded stem, cf. Gr. orakéo-traMos
(shaking his shield, nt. nomin, orákos, gen. ord Keos =*ordkeo-os),
ăv6eo-ºbôpos (carrying flowers, āv6os évêeos); and, no less natur-
ally, being here medial, it was fain to survive. It was kept
therefore, according to a well-known distinction, either as s or
r: G. sieges-lohn =Go. Sigis-láun, and compare the proper names
which begin with Sigis-; M.H.G. eier-vél (the thin skin in an
egg) and G. eier-gelb (yolk), etc. Of course, these forms
Sieges-, eier- are the bare stems, and nothing more ; but, if con-
trasted with the nomin. Sg. sieg, ei, they now look as if they
were declensional forms, namely either a gen. Sg. or pl. ; and
thus it is they have contributed to the expansion of the syn-
tactical composition-type containing an apparent genitive either
in -s or in -er, according as the first term was understood to be
either singular or plural, e.g. kalbs-fleisch, rinds-fleisch, and
rinder-stelze (wag-tail), wärter-buch (dictionary).” Here, as
elsewhere, English has only s : calf's leg.
* Notwithstanding that the usual genitive to hahn is no longer *hahn-en,
but hahn-s.
2 Generally, however, the simple form herz-. Cf. infra 150, 1 b.
3 Originally neuter, cf. Supra 80 (XV.). For the form of such words in
composition, cf. the L. type veneri-vagus, where the s of Venus also became r.
4 The latter is not widely diffused, though, in the case where it survives,
it remains true to its origin, inasmuch as it does not involve any necessary
idea of plurality: a plural would be absurd in eier-gelb, and kålber-magen is
strictly synonymous with kalbs-magen.
COMPOSITION. 199
II. The first term is a preposition or invariable particle :
types, E. out-law, G. ab-fall, etc.—This very simple case re-
quires no explanation, but it may be of some interest to observe
that the particle thus used sometimes no longer survives as a
separate word in the present language, or has sometimes lost
its original meaning which is retained only in the compound :
E. mid-wife, where the first term is the same as G. mit (now
replaced as a preposition by with)=Gr. perä, literally “a
woman that helps'; G. after-wort (abuse), the first term being
identical with E. after," which is no longer a G. word; E.
alone=*all-one, where all would now be replaced by quite,” cf.
G, all-ein ; G. aber-glaube (superstition), the particle being the
same as Sk, apara-m (after) and consequently expressing a
pejorative meaning akin to the sense of after-, while isolated
aber is now merely an adversative conjunction.
III. The first term is a verbal stem.—This formation
is unknown in Indo-European etymology proper: in Sanskrit,
Latin, and even Gothic, no compounds are found except with
a noun or a particle as first term ; English and German, how-
ever, separately developed in their historical period many com-
pounds in which the first term has a verbal form and meaning.
These must be divided into two classes, according to the
different causes from which they arose.”
1. The first is the determining term.—We have already
seen how such a compound as schiff-bar, which may be trans-
lated literally “bearing a ship,” was wrongly supposed to con-
tain the wb. schiffen “to ship,” and how this error led to the
formation of such erratic compounds (now called derivatives)
as esz-bar, trink-bar, les-bar, from the verbs essen, trinken, lesen.*
Now, since derivative composition is but a particular case of
composition, the same, as a matter of course, happened with
* The change of meaning is “late—coming too late—improper—bad.”
* Afterwards pleonastically, quite alone; and, by syncopating the initial
vowel, which seemed an insignificant element (cf. supra 96, WI., and 103,
II. 2), the words lone, lonely, loneliness.
* Greek has likewise created such compounds, but only of one kind, the
second, namely 6aké-0upos “biting the heart,” tepiru-képavvos “shaking the
thunder,” “paeat-upporos “enlightening the mortals.”
* Supra 110, III., and cf. Supra 99, 102 (3), etc.
200 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
compounds properly so-called : thus, G. bet-haus=O.H.G. bete-
his (prayer-house) being referred to wb. beten (to pray), on
this and the like were and still may be created, if needed, the
G. types wohn-haus, schiesz-pulver, mieth-kutsche, etc. In Eng-
lish the same process would have been possible; but here it is
no longer to be recognised, because there scarcely exist any
verbs without homonymous nouns." It must be observed, how-
ever, that English verbs, when they occur in the first term of
a compound, are always used in the present participle, which
is as much as to say that the first term is etymologically a
nominal form * : eating-house, frying-pan, racing-club, etc.
2. The first is the determined term. — Locutions in
which the first term is a verb governing the second term are
very common, chiefly as popular nicknames, which have often
become proper names, or are still used as epithets in familiar
speech. We have already noted E. Make-peace, and Shake-
speare, which was sometimes parodied as shake-scene; here we
may add turn-back, wag-tail, break-fast, spend-thrift, run-away,
would-be, pin-afore, round-about, and such possible nicknames as
Rill 'em all, Go-to-bed, etc. In German we have proper names,
as Bleib-treu (remain true), Lebe-recht, and familiar epithets, ,
tauge-nichts (good-for-nothing), sauf-aus (drunkard), wage-hals
(rash), stell-dich-ein (appointment), Spring-ins-feld, etc. As, in
such compounds, the verb always shows the bare stem-form,
they probably proceed, at least to a large extent, from familiar
exclamations which required the verb to stand in the imperative
mood: a few nicknames of this kind, being once created, might
easily serve as models for further imitation.
§ 2. Form of the Last Term.
(118) The last term of any English or German compound
is always a nominal stem; in other words, every compound
properly so-called, in either language, is a noun or an adjec-
tive ; there are no compound verbs. Such verbs as are com-
1 As to ink was drawn from ink, so also, reversely, a noun drink was
formed from to drink, so that, in English, the originally nominal and verbal
stems are now scarcely distinguishable.
2 Like the G. type rettungs-ufer. Cf. Supra 103 (II).
COMPOSITION. 201
monly termed by this. name, will be seen to belong to one of
these three classes:–(a) verbs with an inseparable prefix,
already analysed under derivation;–(b) verbs with a separable
prefix (G. aus-gehen, E. to go out), well-known types of simple
juxtaposition, so loose indeed that they form two distinct words
in English and are often separated in German *;—(c) verbs
derived from compound nouns or adjectives, an important class
treated below. -
This point being settled, the rules for the last term of an
English or German compound are extremely simple.
1. As a general rule, the last term of a compound undergoes
no change, and does not differ from the isolated word, apart
from such mechanical alterations as may be caused by its being
unaccented and swiftly sounded.”
2. This rule, of course, does not prevent a compound, when
formed, receiving, like any other word of the language, a
derivative suffix, and developing in this way new derivatives,
which might prove more generally used than the word from
which they sprang: thus, E. light-footed and G. vier-fiszler
cannot be deemed true compounds, since there are no words E.
*footed and G. *fiszler; they are derivatives from the com-
pounds light-foot and vier-fusz. Now, this process having once
become familiar, a language could easily construct such deriva-
tives on the basis of two simple words, without any inter-
mediate compound ever existing, e.g. E. gray-headed on gray
and head,” G. ein-àugig on ein and auge, and so forth : this in
fact still constantly happens.
3. For the same reason it will be understood that a verb
may be derived from a compound as from any other word, and
that the process of derivation is the same in this case as for
ordinary verbal derivation : thus, from E. lord, we have the
intransitive to lord, and the transitive to ww.lord, and further
such verbs as to husband, to elbow, to mildew, to worship, to horse-
* The inseparable type, E. to over-eat [o.s.), G. iiber-setzen (to translate),
is a peculiar and rarer variety of the same class.
* See the numerous instances mentioned in their proper places: 65, 5 ;
114, I. 1; 115, II. etc.
* There exists no word headed, in this acceptation at least, and the
existence of a word “gray-head is only a possibility.
202 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
whip, etc.; G. arg—wohn (distrust) has produced argvöhnen,
for there is no G. v.b. *wēhnen, and, in spite of appearances,
handhaben (to handle) is not a mere compound of hand and
haben, but a derivative from the nominal compound hand-habe.
(a handle). The same is the case with the types rechtfertigen,
wetteifern, lustwandeln, etc.; similarly, with still more complex
derivatives, nothaiichtigen from noth-zucht, bevollmächtigen from
voll-macht"; and thus there will be no difficulty in understand-
ing how, by imitating such patterns, German even sometimes
united into one verb two words which ought to remain syntac-
tically separated, and formed such faulty verbal compounds as:
lobsingen and wahrsagen.”
1. Cf. supra 107 (V.4).
* As a counterpart, E. has to vouchsafe, wherein the verb is to vouch, safe.
being a mere apposition; but a strange confusion caused the verb to be con-
jugated as a whole, so that the person-endings are now adapted to safe:
instead of to vouch.
CEIAPTER IV.
THE SYSTEM OF NUMERATION.
(119) Germanic Numeration is an Indo-European decima}
system, depending on the general principles of derivation and
syntactical as well as non-syntactical composition previously
described. It therefore forms a suitable vehicle for a recapitu-
lation of the Second Part and, as it were, an exercise on the
rules we have stated. We must first distinguish the so-called
cardinal numbers, and the various numeral expressions which
have been derived from them.
SECTION I.
CARDINAL NUMBERS.
(I2O) The I.-E. units are conventional expressions, of un-
known origin, and without any visible etymological connection
with one another. The tens are either derivatives from, or
combinations of units. The numbers 100 and 1000 are isolated
expressions, which however show a prehistorical derivative
relationship with the tens.
§ 1. Units and Sums of Units.
(121) 1. The primitive root of “one * is i, probably the
same that occurs in the L. demonstrative i-s i-d. Its numeral
value may be seen in the Homeric -a (one frn.). But it ap-
pears but seldom in such a bare state: usually it is deflected
* Not to be confounded with ets pita èv, since this proceeds from a different.
root, namely sem, also in Latin sem-el (once).
203
204 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
and followed by a derivative suffix, Sk. 6-ka-s (one), Zd. ae-va-,
Persian ai-va-. In Latin, Germanic and Slavonic, the accom-
panying suffix is -no-: I.-E. *öy-no-s, L. ii-nu-s=oi-no-S," Preg.
*ai-ma-2, whence Go. 4'-n-s, O.N. einn, O.E. in and E. one (an
or a when unaccented), O.H.G. ein and G. ein.
2. The primitive stem was “dué- and *dwó-, furnished with
the ordinary dual endings: nomin, msc. *dwów, fm. *duáy, nt.
*dwóy; Sk, msc. dwów, fm. nt, dvé; Gr. 600 800 invariable; L.
duo, dua, duo. Gothic had partly adopted the plural-endings:
msc. twäi, frn. twos, but nt. tua =*dwóy. West Germanic like-
wise altered the primitive endings: O.E. msc. twägen, frn, two,
nt. tº ; O.H.G. m.sc. zwéne, frn. zwó, nt. zwei.” Whereupon the
declension was reduced to one form, the neuter serving for all
genders: E. two (which however keeps the old spelling of the
frn, twä) = O.E. til ; G. Zwei.-In composition, the stem of
number 2 assumed a form *dwi-, Sk. dvi-, Gr. 6-, L. bi-, Preg.
*twi- eventually lengthened to *twi-, which latter are respect-
ively to be recognised in : E. twi-n, to twi-me, and twi-light, i.e.
“a double, doubtful light °; G. zwie-fach (two-fold, double),
zwi-º-nen (to double, to twist), and zwei-fel (doubt) = O.H.G.
zwī-fal.”
3. I.-E. root tri, in the normal grade and with the pl. msc.-
frm. ending *tréy-ès, Sk. trāy-as, Gr. and L. (the y being dropped
and the vowels contracted) Tpe's très, nt. Tpſ-a tri-a. Similarly
in Germanic : Go, msc.-fm. Jhreis (contracted from *brij-is), nt.
Brij-a; O.E. Örö and Öréo, the latter being now E. three, the
former extinct ; O.H.G. drà drio dràu, whence G. drei.4
4. I.-E. stem *qetwor- *qetwº-, Sk. msc. catvār-as, Gr. Tétrapes
* Thus we read OINO(M) in early Latin inscriptions.
* The msc. twägen and zwéne are as yet unexplained. The fn. two and
zwó reproduce Go. twäs. The nt. til is Go. tua. As to the nt. zwei, it
probably contains the diphthong seen in the stem of the Gr. derivative
60t-ot.—All these forms survived very late: down to the Seventeenth century,
classical German still distinguished zween månmer, zwo frauen, zwei kinder,
and some traces of the distinction persist even now in Alamannic, and in
class. E. and G. in the number twen-ty and 2wam-zig, infra 122, 20.
* Literally “double case.”—The diphthong is not the same in zwei and
zweifel, since, in Alamannic, we find tsway, but tsvifl-
* Numbers 2 and 3 had a strong tendency to become invariable, because
numbers 5 and the following very early became, or even had always been,
invariable words. For number 4, cf. L. quatuor invariable.
THE SYSTEM OF NUMERATION. 205
tégorapes=*Térfap-es, L. quattuor, Go. fidvár, O.N. fjör-, O.E.
fêower and E. four, O.H.G. fior and G. vier, though the loss of
the medial dental is a riddle as yet unsolved. &
5. I.-E. *péâge, Sk, páñca, Gr. Tréputé révre, L. guinque, Go.
fimf, O.N. fimm, O.E. fif and E. five, O.H.G. finf, then funf from
the intrusion of the vocalism of the ordinal number, M.H.G.
viinf with metaphonical vocalism imitated from vinf-zic (fifty),
and G. finf."
6. I.-E. *swéks *séks, Sk. Sáš, Gr. 38–%a Féé, L. sea, Go. saſhs,
O.N. sehs, O.E. seoal = Seohs, and E. sia (metaphony caused by
the h), O.H.G. séhs and G. sechs.
7. I.-E. *septm, Sk. Saptă, Gr. Trá, L. Septem, Go. sibun (the
final from sibun-da “7th''),” O.E. seofon and E. seven, O.H.G.
Sibun (u- metaphony) and G. Sieben.
8. I.-E. *októw, Sk. aštáw, Gr. Öktaş, L. oct), Go. ahtáu, O.E.
eahta and E. eight, O.H.G. ahto and G. acht.
9. I.-E. *néwº, Sk. náva, Gr. Švvéa =*é-vvefa, L. movem=
*nevem (cf. novus “new”= Gr. véos), Go. nium = *niwun, O.E.
nigon and E. nine, O.H.G. nºun and G. newn.
10. I.-E. *dék-m, Sk. dáça, Gr. 86Ra, L. decem, Go. taíhun,
O.E. ten tēn and E. ten, O.H.G. záhan, M.H.G. zéhen and G.
zehn, the last three being traceable to an I.-E. form *dékom (t)
with deflected last syllable.
11–12. These two numbers assume a peculiar shape only in
Germanic : they are formed by non-syntactical composition, the
last term being *-libi-, a stem abstracted from the root which
produced Go, bi-leib-am = G. b-leib-en (to remain), thus *aina-
libi- “l left [above 10] * : Go. 6in-lif, O.N. ellifu, O.E. andleo-
fan” endleofan and E. eleven, O.H.G. einlif, M.H.G. eilif eilf and
G. eilf elf; Go. twa-lif, O.N. tolf, O.E. twelf (metaph.) and E.
twelve, O.H.G. Zwelif (metaph.), M.H.G. Zwelf, and G. Zwölf for
zwelf.4
* E. and G. fing-er seems to be a cognate word.
* Cf. Supra 39, 1, and 40, 1. Of course the group pt is here reduced to
simple p.
* A euphonic d is inserted between n and l. Final an is here probably a
superadded plural exponent, from which twelf has remained free.
* Compare the spellings schöpfen, schwören, instead of schepfen, schwerem,
and a few others.
‘206 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
13–19. As in every other I.-E. language (cf. Gr. ev-8eka, L.
ºwn-decim), these numbers are compounds, the last term being
10 : O.H.G. dri-zëhan, etc., and G. drei-zehn ; O.E. Öri-tên-e,
with a subjoined ending, owing to which the preceding vowel,
since it no longer stood in a close syllable, was not shortened
as it was in ten, whence E. -teen." The initial unit undergoes
no change; in English, however, the shortening in a close
syllable changed fifténe to fifteen, whereas Öriténe, sounded M.E.
thritteem, became by metathesis thirteen.
§ 2. Tens.
(122) The names for the I.-E. tens are compound words :
Sk. vin-gati, Gr. Tptă-kovra,” L. guadrā-gintá, etc. The Germanic
corresponding terms are only apparent compounds. In origin
they are locutions, consisting of two words, the name for the
unit governing in the plural number the name for the ten, thus
“two tens” = 20. But this archaic formation is hidden from
the eye, both in German and English.
In order to understand it, we must consider some equivalent
Gr, form, e.g. Toei's 8ekáðes=30. The word 8ekás (stem öeká8-,
observe the accent) represents an I.-E. noun *dekmt- which is
derived from *dekm (ten) and has become Preg. *tegun, then
*tegu, whereupon, as it appeared to be a stem in -u-, it was
declined as such : Go. Sg. *tigu-s, pl. tigjus, acc. tigu-ns, etc.
From this arose such juxtapositions as nomin, tvái tigjus and
acc. twans tiguns =20, which, by dropping their endings, reduced
the last term to O.E. -tig and E. -ty, O.H.G. -zug,” M.H.G. -zic
and G. -zig, which are invariable.
Hence grammatical exactness would require the noun
governed by a ten to stand in the gen, pl., and this rule in fact
often holds good in early O.H.G., e.g. feorzuc w8hhönö, literally
1 This was afterwards abstracted from such compounds, and became an
independent word. tº 5 tº e
2 The last term is a shortened derivative from number 10: cf. infra 123,
8 This strange and as yet unexplained vocalism is probably due to a
reduced grade of the radical syllable in "dékpi...—As to G., 2 for Preg. t,
observe that the t here is really an initial consonant, supra 49, III. 2.
THE SYSTEM OF NUMERATION, 207
“four tens of weeks,” as in L. tria milia hominum. But, as
the unit-numbers governed the nominative, the same case was
used throughout.
When a unit is added to the ten, they form together a merely
syntactical compound: E. three and twenty, G. drei und zwanzig.
English, however, probably influenced by French, also admits
of the simple juxtaposition : twenty-three.
20. Go. twäi tigjus, O.E. twen-tig and E. twenty, O.H.G. zwein-
zug and G. Zwanzig, cf. the nomin, msc. twägen zwéne.
30, Go, acc. brins tiguns, O.E. Yri-tig órittig and E. thirty
(like thirteen), O.H.G. dri-35ug (the t treated as it usually is
when medial, but also dri-zug) and G. dreiszig.
40. Go. fidvör tigjus, O.E. fšower-tig and E. forty, O.H.G. fior-
zug and G. vierzig.
50. Go. fimf tigjus, O.E. fif-tig and E. fifty, O.H.G. finf-zug
funf-zug, M.H.G. viinf-zic and G. fünfzig.
60. Go. Saihs tigjus, O.E. siew-tig and E. siaty, O.H.G. sehs-zug
sèhzug (by reducing the group) and G. sechzig.
70–90. The three following tens are now formed after the
pattern of the first five; but such was not always the case, for
Go. has no type *sibwn tigjus, etc. Indeed, the process formerly
used was exactly the reverse : the term is sibwnté-hund, wherein
sibwntë- is a gen. pl. governed by -hund (this shortened from
*taíhund), the whole meaning “the tithing of sevens”; and so
also, ahtáuté-hund, niumté-hund, and even taſſhunté-hund “tithing
, of tens” = 100. In O.E. the two terms changed places, whilst
analogy substituted the syllable -tig for the syllable -tê: hund-
seofontig, hundeahtig, hundnigontig; then, the syllable hund,
which seemed meaningless, was dropped. In O.H.G., however
far we go back, this hund has already disappeared : sibwn-zo
(instead of -30, owing to the analogy of the z in -zug), ahto-zo,
even zéhan-20 (100); whereupon, analogy working its way
throughout, we have sibwn-zug, now siebenzig, etc."
* Except that zéhanzug is replaced by hundert. The process, though it
lmas quite disappeared, is interesting inasmuch as it throws light upon the
pre-historical formation of number 100.-As to -zug and -zo, observe moreover
that the sibilant often followed a nasal, and cf. supra 49, III. 2 in fine.
208 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
§ 3. Hundreds and Thousands.
(123) I. The word for 100 was I.-E. *km-tá-m, neuter
noun : Sk, ca-tá-m nt., Gr. -ka-tá-v (one hundred), L. cen-tw-m,
Lith. Szim-ta-s, Go. tua hunda “two hundreds,” which literally
translated would be L. duo *centa. If we traced farther back
the origin of this form, an easy explanation could be suggested,
namely, a derivation from *dékm by addition of the suff. -tó-;
this syllable, being accented, suppressed the accent of the first
syllable, which then appeared in the reduced grade: an I.-E.
*dkm-tó- or *tkm-tó-, being barely pronounceable, might have
lost its initial consonant, and, finally, *km-tó-m would very well
mean “the tithing to ten.”
This is, without doubt, the meaning of Go, taihuntē-hund,
O.E. hund-têontig, O.H.G. zéhanzo, which are the only ancient
Germanic terms for 100. But the simple *hund= L. centum
nevertheless also existed, since we find it in Gothic forming
every multiple of 100: brija hunda, fimf hunda, etc. Now,
this word very early entered into composition with a noun
*rab-, akin to Go. rab-jan (to count) = G. reden (to speak),
whence the modern forms, E. hund-red, G. hund-ert, are obviously
substantives literally signifying “a count of hundred.”
II. The old multiples are O.E. til hund, etc., O.H.G. Zwei hunt,
etc. = Go. twa hunda, etc. The substitution of hundred and
hundert took place as a matter of course. But, although the
latter were originally and, in fact, still are substantives in both
languages, being as such capable of receiving the sign of the
plural (E. hundreds, G. hunderte), yet they never assume this
sign in numeration (two hundred, zwei-hundert)," and moreover
have ceased to govern the following noun in the genitive. The
tens and units, if needed, are added by juxtaposition.
III. The word for 1000 is only found in Germanic and Letto-
Slavonic * : it is Go. Bilsundi, a frn. noun (once nt.), which has
1 This is not at all an irregularity, but very likely a survival from a time
when a great many nouns kept the singular form in the plural without
alteration: cf. G. vier-mal, zehn mann, sechs fusz, and popular E. three year,
infra 139, III. 1; 143, II., and 147, 4. -
2 In Sk. and Gr (x|\lot) we have quite a different term, and another still
in L. (mulle, pl. milia).
THE SYSTEM OF NUMERATION, 209
become nt. in O.E. Yūsend and E. thousand, O.H.G. diisunt til-
sunt and G. tausend. As the word occurs, in Salic Frankish
and elsewhere, with an inward aspirate (thàs-chunde, cf. O.N.
Büs-hundrað “1200'’), we are led to explain it as an old com-
pound meaning “the large hundred.” +
IV. Though this term is a substantive, it does not vary in
the multiples (two thousand-zwei-tausend) and governs the
multiplied noun in the nominative.
V. Numbers beyond 999999 are, as elsewhere, learned terms
constructed on the basis of Latin stems.
SECTION II.
DERIVATIVES FROM CARDINAL NUMBERs.
(I24) I. Ordinal numbers.-Among the derivatives, the
ordinals are the simplest and most regular : several suffixes
were used, but Germanic preserved but one, I.-E. suff. -to-, cf.
Gr, Tréput-to-s (fifth), L. quinc-tu-s quintus, etc. The accent of
such words, being variable in Sk, and even in Gr. (86ka-to-s, but
eikoo-tó-s), probably also varied in the primitive speech. Now,
in Germanic, after an unaccented syllable, as in Sk, catur-thd-s
(fourth), we should expect regularly E. *four-d and G. vier-te;
after an accented syllable, as in Sk. Sapta-tha-s (seventh), we
should expect, on the contrary, E. seven-th and G. sieben-de;
lastly, after an for an s, the I.-E. t here remaining unaltered,
the result would be E. sia;-t and G. Sechs-te.* All these distinc-
tions hold good for the earliest state of both languages, but we
See at once what has become of them in later times : excepting
only number 3, analogy in E. extended the exponent -th
throughout, and the exponent -te in G., so that E. and G. now
disagree in the consonant of their ordinal suffix.
1. The ordinal is nowhere cognate with the cardinal: Go.
fru-ma (cf. Gr. Tpo “before ” and L. pri-mu-s), superlative
frum-ist-s=O.E. fºrm-est (cf. the E. comparative form-er),
* For Preg. *pils, cf. Sk, távas (strength) and tavás (strong," mighty,
great). - g
° Of course the final G. e is a declensional ending, cf. infra 156.
P
210 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
which a popular etymology finally corrupted to E. fore-most;
another superlative is Go. *fair-ist-s, O.N. fyr-st-r, O.E. fyr-st
and E. first, O.H.G. fur-isto, M.H.G. viir-ste (first), and G. first,
now confined to the sense of “prince’ (cf. L. princeps “first");
another still, from the same root that produced Gr. ºp-t (early),
E. ere and ear-ly, etc., is O.E. ſer-est (lost in E.), O.H.G. &r-ist
and G. er-st, cf. Go. &r-is (sooner).
2. No relation with the cardinal: Go. an-bar, the compara-
tive of the root occurring in Sk, an-yā-s (other)"; O.E. *on-öer,
whence Óðer, but E. second borrowed; O.H.G. an-der,” but G.
zwe?-te, a late derivation from Zwei.
3. Go. Bri-dja = Sk, tr-tiya-s (for *tri-) = L. ter-tiu-s; O.E.
Örö-dda (and Ör-da), E. thir-d ; O.H.G. dri-tto and G. dri-tte.
4. O.E. feower-Öa” and E. four-th, after the analogy of seven-th
and the like (cf. L. quar-tu-s); O.H.G. feor-do and G. vier-te.
5. O.E. fif-ta, M.E. fif-t,4 altered to E. fif-th; O.H.G. finf-to
funf-to regular (the latter probably reproducing a form with
reduced radical syllable, I.-E. *pºq-tó-s) and G. fünfte (the
metaphony as in fünf).
6. Go. saíhs-ta ; O.E. siea-ta, M.E. sia-t,4 altered to E. Sæ-th ;
O.H.G. sehs-to and G. sechs-te, regular forms.
7–10. E. seven-th, eighth (syncopated from *eight-th), nin-th,
ten-th (the noun ti-the being an older form with O.E. compensa-
tory lengthening). G. Sieben-te (corrupted from M.H.G. Sieben-
de), achte (syncopated from O.H.G. ahto-do), newn-te, zehn-te.
11–19. The formation is the same throughout.
20–90. The same formation in English; but O.E. g developed
before the suffixal a euphonic vowel, which is kept in E. twen-
fieth, etc. German here changes its system : to the cardinal is
now added a superlative-suffix (O.H.G. Zweinzug-Östo), whence
the modern type Zwanzig-ste.
* It must be borne in mind that suff. -tero- involves an idea of choice or
alternation between two things only ; cf. Gr. Öeū-repo-s “second ’’ and Öst-
Taro-s “last.”
* A meaning preserved in G. ander-t-halb (infrt III.) and in the current
F. locution every other day.
* Where the 3’ might very well be still voiced.
4 Still used in some provincial dialects.
THE SYSTEM OF NUMERATION. 211
100–1000. E. hundred-th, thousand-th ; but G. hundert-ste,
dausend-ste : as above.
Ordinal adverbs are derived: in E., by means of suff. -ly; in
G., by adding an old genitive-ending, erst-ems.
II. Multiplicatives.—1. The formation of multiplicative
adjectives, namely, E. -fold and G. -falt -filtig, has been given
above. But Mod. G. uses by preference a composition with the
word fach (compartment, class), viz. zwie-fach or zwei-fach
(double), etc.
2. The E. multiplicative adverbs, once (O.E. in-es), twice
(M.E. twi-es) and thrice are old genitives used adverbially; next
comes a syntactical locution, four times. G. einst (once) =
O.H.G. ein-èst seems to have been influenced by the ordinals;
for it looks very like an old genitive ein-es, the more so be-
cause the corresponding ander-s (otherwise) has also become
ander-st dialectally. Apart from these two, all are syntactical
(eim-mal, zweil-mal, etc.), the invariable nt. noun mal being per-
haps akin to the L. final in semel (once) and simul (at once) =
semol. The very late adverbs in -lei are likewise syntactical
forms, but in the genitive case, thus einer leie “ of one sort,’’’
now einer-lei, and analogically zweiler-lei, etc.
III. Partitives.—The partitive *halba-, though common to
all the Germanic dialects, is not found in the rest of the I.-E.
family. Its original meaning was probably “side,” so far as
we can judge from such curious compounds as G. meiner-halb-
(en) = M.H.G. min-halp, as it were “on my side" (in my con-
cern, upon my account) *. Preg. *halba- is O.E. healf, E. half,
G. halb, and its derivative hālf-te. The compounded type
*bričja-halba-, literally “the half of a third,” that is “two
and a half,” is likewise Pregermanic : O.E. Öridda-healf, feorča-
healf, etc.; G. drift-halb, viert-halb : but it is quite lost in Mod.
English.”
Further partitives are: in E. (as in F.), the ordinals, a third,
a fourth, etc.; in G., non-syntactical compounds, the last term
* M.H.G. leie (manner) is borrowed from O.F. ley, now loi (law).
* Sk. Óirdha- likewise means “side ’’ and “half.”
* Analogy transferred the medial t of dritt-halb, viert-halb, etc., into
anden'-t-halb = O.E. 50 er-healf “one and a half.”
212 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
of which, as unaccented, is reduced to a dull syllable, drittel=
*dritt-theil (M.H.G. drit-teil), viertel, etc.
IV. Distributives. – The old distributive derivation by
means of the I.-E. Suff. -no- (L. bi-nî tri-ni, Go. twei-h-nó and
O.N. twen-ner “two by two ") is no longer represented except
by a few survivals: E, twi-n=I.-E. *dwi-no-s, and to twi-ne; G.
zwīr-n (twist) = I.-E. *dwis-no-S," and wb. zwīr-n-en. The dis-
tributive locutions now used are E. two by two and G. je zwei.
* For the medial s, compare E. twist and G. zwist (discord).
THIRD PART.
DECLENSION.
(125) Under the name of Declension are comprised the
various modifications, either in stem or termination, under-
gone by nominal and pronominal stems, and corre-
sponding to the various relations of meaning of which
they are capable.
These relations are three in number, namely: gender,
number, and case.
Indo-European had three genders, masculine, feminine,
and neuter. All these are kept in the Germanic languages.
Indo-European had likewise three numbers, singular, dual,
and plural. But the dual, which is preserved in Sk, remark-
ably, and in Gr. tolerably well, has left in Latin but two
isolated representatives (ambó and duo =*duà), and is com-
pletely lost in the Germanic group, being replaced everywhere
by the plural.
Lastly, the relation between an I.-E. noun or pronoun and
the other members of any given sentence comprised eight
cases, which are still exhibited by the Sk, and partly even by
the Mod. Russian declension. But this number is well known
to have been already reduced to six in Latin, and in Greek to
five. A further simplification took place in Germanic : the
vocative or calling-case was everywhere blended with the
nominative; the locative (situation in) and the ablative
(coming from) were expressed by means of prepositions *; the
* The few cases in which it survives have been just mentioned above
*Hººdºº, :—E. in or at, G. in or zu (with the dative), cf. Gr. Év, L.
in ;-E. from or out, G. von or aus (with the dative).
213
214 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
instrumental (means or accompaniment) survived a little longer,
though Gothic has already lost it; O.E. and O.H.G. still show
it in use," but it died out later and was also replaced by a
periphrastic locution.” In short, M.H.G., like Go., is confined
to four cases, still surviving in Mod. German, viz.: nomina-
tive, or subject-case ; accusative, or object-case (direct
complement); genitive, or case of possession and admominal
determination ; and dative, or case of attribution to a
given subject ; with this restriction, however, that the accusa-
tive in nouns very seldom differs from the nominative. In.
English, the same confusion is constant, and the dative is
denoted by a preposition *: so that the English declension is
reduced to two cases, nominative and genitive, the latter,
moreover, being often replaced by the concurrent use of the
particle of. &
The words which admit of these three relations of gender,
number and case, are distinguished under four grammatical
categories, respectively called article, noun, adjective, and
pronoun."
* The adverbial formation (supra 110, I. 4) still exhibits a number of (at
least probable) instrumentals.
* E. with, by, or through; G. mit (dative) or durch (accusative).
* Usually to = G. zw. The possibility, however, of construing occasionally
'a so-called indirect complement without any preposition (the land yields the
owner two hundred a year, cf. G. es gilt dem besitzer . . . .) is an impor-
tant survival from the old dative, which will further be found in the promo-
minal declension (infra 161 and 166). Hence, the dative may be said still
to be a living case, as far as function is concerned, though, in form, it is one
with the nominative-accusative.
* The participle, of course, inasmuch as it is a declinable word, is a mere
adjective; the adverb has been seen to be a case-form of the noun or adjec-
tive : So that six among the ten parts of speech fall under the above divisions.
The verb (with the participle as a form of it) is the subject of our Fourth
Part. The remaining three classes of invariable particles require but little
etymological explanation ; the reader should refer for these to the alpha-
betical indexes where very many will be found. Hence the work comprises
the whole of Anglo-German comparative Grammar.
CHAPTER I.
ARTICLES.
(126) Properly speaking, the article is simply a demon-
strative pronoun, a part it often plays in Gerrnan. As such,
it ought to fall under the head of chapter IV., and it might
appear to be an error in method to separate it. In a strictly
historical sense, it is an error, no doubt ; for Indo-European,
and even Pregermanic never had an article-3-Slavonic—still-does
without it ; and this essential part of English and German
speech is but a late product of the improper and somewhat
blundering use of an old demonstrative stem in a weakened
and vague meaning. From a practical point of view, however,
which is the one here chiefly requiring consideration, it seems
advisable to isolate the article: being of frequent and often
obligatory use, it occupies a distinct place among the demon-
stratives; having strongly influenced the other parts of speech,
it is well fitted to afford us a general paradigm of declension,
which it allows us to analyse once for all ; and lastly, at least
in German, where it has preserved its endings unaltered while
the noun has mostly dropped them, the article is the chief
exponent of gender, number, and case, so that the declension of
the noun necessarily supposes a knowledge of this prefixed and
declined particle.
Yet more accurately, the article is either an old demonstra-
tive or an old numeral ; for it seems, in every language, the
unavoidable destiny of the little word meaning “this,” to be-
come, sooner or later, an insignificant aid to speech, as of the
numeral “one '' to degenerate into the indefinite article. L.
caballus means equally “the horse” and “a horse ’’: so, when-
ever a speaker wanted to express more precisely one of the two
meanings, he naturally said either ille caballus or wmws caballus,
215
216 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
whence O.F. li chevals and uns chevals; the same thing exactly
happened in passing from Pregermanic to English and German.
SECTION I.
DEFINITE ARTICLE.
(I27) The greater part of the declension of the definite
article proceeds from an I.-E. demonstrative *só *tó, which,
though more or less altered, may be found in any member of
the I.-E. family. A few forms, however, are borrowed from
another demonstrative, nearly akin indeed, viz. *syó *tyó, which
scarcely appears anywhere but in Sk, though there with per-
fect clearness.
§ 1. Origin and Primitive Declension.
(I28) I. The demonstrative, I.-E. nomin. m.sc. sg. *sé, frn.
Sg. *sé," never showed an initial s except in these two forms
only : Sk, msc. Sá, frn, sé; Gr. 6 Å (article). Everywhere else,
that is to say, in the nomin, nt., in every other case of the
three genders, and in any case of the plural, the stem-form
became *tó- : I.-E. nomin. nt. Sg. *tó-d, Sk, tá-d, Gr. 76,” L.
(is-)tu-d; I.-E. acc. m.sc. sg. *tó-m, Sk. td-m, Gr. Tó-v, L.
(is-)tu-m; I.-E. nomin. msc. pl. *tóy, Sk, té, Gr. Tot,” L. (is-)tā,
etc. Now, in Sk., Homeric Gr. and even in the L. compound,
the word has kept its full demonstrative value ; but, in classical
Gr., it has already become an article, merely meaning “the ” +
and accompanying the noun throughout. In the history of the
Germanic languages we find a similar evolution : the same
stem, which is essentially a demonstrative pronoun, only with
somewhat weakened stress, in Go., O.E. and O.H.G., is an
article, that is to say, a kind of nominal prefix, almost constant
and obligatory in German speech, and likewise obligatory, in
the great majority of cases at least, in English.” How this
1. Cf. Supra 73 (III.). -
2 For *rē-6, since any final explosive disappears in Greek.
* A Doric form. Ordinary Gr. oi after the analogy of 6.
4 The meaning “this ’’ was then confined to the juxtaposition 8-8e.
5 Except when the noun is conceived in a general and undefined meaning
(man delights me not), an exception which confirms the rule, as strictly
agreeing with the original demonstrative value of the article.
ARTICLES, * 217
change came to pass, is also easily seen : when we read, for
instance in Ulfilas’ “manné sums &ihta, tvans Sununs, jah qab sa,
jūhiza izé du attin, of-men some-one had two sons, and quoth
this younger of-them to father,” or in Old English * “sóðlice it
éode se sædere his sced tâ sawenne, soothly out went this sower
his seed to sow,” we translate at once without any difficulty
“the younger told . . . ,” “the sower got out . . . .”;
and, in fact, the demonstrative here is already a mere article.
The Gr, declension of this demonstrative nearly reproduces
the I.-E. accidence; again, the Gothic declension is truly re-
flected by the German: nothing, therefore, would appear better
fitted to smooth the way from one to the other, than a Go.
paradigm with the similar Gr. cases. The agreement will at
once strike the eye.
Singular.
II].S.C. . frm. nt.
N. sa = 6 sj=#4 Ba-t-a8= Tó
A. Ba-n-a 3 - Tó-w Jö– Tº-v Jha-t-a=tó
G. Bi-s Jhi-zös Bi-s
D. ha-mma bi-zái | ba-mma
Plural.
IſlSC. frm. nt.
N. hd = Toſ Bös p5 = t6. 6
A. ha-ns = t6-vs.” bös Jó- Tó.
G. Ji-zé Ji-zó pi-zé
D. Bóim. Báim. báim.
In comparing, however, this old declension with that of Mod.
German, the reader must remember that the demonstrative,
after it had become confined to the function of an article, was
apt to become proclitic and, therefore, to undergo several
phonetic alterations.”
* Parable of the Prodigal Son, Luke xv. 11–12.
* Parable of the Sower, Matt. xiii. 3.
* The a is a subjoined particle (as in F. ce-ci), which maintained the
consonantal ending by covering it, supra 39 and 46.
* Remember that I.-E. & is always shifted to common Gr. m.
* Cretan. Lengthened to Gr. Tows.
° Originally *ra (Sk, tá), but shortened in Greek, as also in Latin.
7 Cf. Supra 34 and 66, II.
218 . ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
II. The I.-E. demonstrative *syó likewise assumes this stem-
form in the nomin. sg. msc. and fm, only, Sk. Syð syá. Every-
where else, the stem is “tyó- : Sk, nt, tyá-d, etc. The declension
was the same as the preceding ; but, since Germanic borrowed
from it only two forms, we need not lay any further stress.
upon it.
§ 2. Modern State.
(I29) Of this elaborate declension English is well known
not to exhibit even a trace: it is all reduced to a single mono-
syllable. Hence German, as having to a large extent retained
it, claims here the foremost place. But, at the outset, a general
observation is indispensable : even German no longer knows.
anything of a stem either *sé or *syó in the nomin. Sg. msc.
frm. *; in other words, the analogy of the other cases, in which
the stem began with a t, transferred the t to the nominative
and extended to the whole declension a stem *tó-” or *tyó-, the
Preg. form of which is naturally *ba- or *hja-. This being
understood, we have to consider successively, in the order of
the above paradigm :—the sg. forms which proceed from the
stem *ba-;-the pl. forms from the same stem;-the few sg.
or pl. forms which proceed from the stem *hja-;—and the
indifferent English form.
(130) I. Singular.—1. Nominative.—In the masculine, Sk.,
Gr, and Go. agree in showing the bare stem without any
ending; but the demonstrative, nevertheless, could always.
take the ordinary ending -s of the nomin, msc. Sg., thus Sk.
also st-s3; and this is just what has happened in German.
Now, an I.-E. nomin. *tó-s, next *té-s 4 would become in turn
Preg. *bé-s, then *be-s proclitic, whence *be-2, West Germ.
*he-r, O.H.G. dé-r and G. der.—The fm. is taken from *tyó-,
infra III.-The I.-E. nt. exponent is -d : Sk, tá-d, Gr, té, L.
1 Both of them were kept in O.E., and we shall find the frn. *syá among
the personal pronouns, infra 166.
2 The same is the case with Latin: nomin. Sg. mSc. (is-)te, frn. (is-)ta.
3 Cf. L. (is-)tu-s, (ip-)su-s, and infra 137.
4 The vocalism of the oblique cases (infra 3) intruding into the nomina-
tive (?). Or else, simply dér– “bar=I.-E. *tós, owing to lack of accent (?).
ARTICLES. 219
(is-)tu-d. An I.-E. *tó-d was changed to Preg. *ba-t, which
should have become *ha; but the added -a prevented final t
from dropping, Go. ha-t-a, so that, after this -a was again lost,
there remained O.E. Yaº-t and O.H.G. da-3. E. tha-t is still
living, but only as a demonstrative or relative pronoun and a
conjunction." As to O.H.G. da-3, no change is found in the
modern article das, the relative das and the conjunction dasz "
being, of course, only particular varieties of it, the latter dis-
tinguished by a somewhat stronger accent which is rather
awkwardly represented by the usual spelling.
2. Accusative.—The ending of acc. m.sc. is -m : Sk, tú-m, Gr.
tó-v, L. (is-)tu-m. I.-E. *tó-m gives Preg. *ba-n, which should
have become *ba; but, final n being covered by the particle -a,
we have Go. ba-n-a, O.E. Öo-n-e, O.H.G. dé-n and G. den.—The
frm. belongs to class III.-The nt., even in the I.-E. period, was
always identical with the nt. nominative.
3. Genitive.—In order to obtain a correct view of this and
Some further formations, we must recall the fact that every
I.-E. Stem in -o- is at the same time a stem in -e- * : hence, a
stem *tó- may, under certain conditions, assume a form *té-,
which becomes Preg. *be- and Go. bi-; and such is the case
here. Now the I.-E. exponent for the gen. Sg. msc.-nt. in the
demonstratives was a double ending : either *-syö, Sk, tá-sya,
Gr. *ró-quo changed to Toſo and further contracted to too; or
*sū, cf. Slav. ce-so gen. of the relative pronoun. The latter
type, let us say I.-E. *té-så, would give Preg. *bé-s, whence Go.
Bi-s, O.E. Öe-s, O.H.G. dé-s and G. des.—The fm. ending corre-
sponding to msc.-nt. *-syö was "-syās: Sk, tá-syás. But Ger-
manic, following the analogy of msc.-nt. *-so, likewise Sup-
pressed the j in the fm. exponent, whence Preg. *-sås, gen, frn.
*he-202, Go. bi-zós, where the final as well as the medial s is
a z, owing to the syllable being unaccented, as shown by O.N.
Bei-rar. Final 2 was lost in West Germanic, and there re-
mained O.E. Öge-re, O.H.G. dé-ra dé-rºw and G. der.
* Though we have some traces of it in the article, supra 66, II. 1.
* Cf. the use of quod as a conjunction both in Latim and the Romance
languages. -
* Supra 72, II., and cf. the L. nomin. m.sc. (is-)te.
220 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
4. Dative-The Gr. form tº is not primitive, but imitated
from the similar form in the dative of nouns." The I.-E.
msc.-nt, dative inserted, between the stem *tó- and the specific
ending *-0y, a group -sm- of uncertain origin, Sk. tit-sm-āī; a
formation well preserved in Go. ba-mm-a,” O.E. Öae-m, O.H.G.
dé-mu and G. dem.—The frn. dative (Sk, tá-syāi, Go. bi-zái)
was like the frn, genitive, except in its final diphthong, which
is still visible in Go., but could not help being lost in the
uniformity of the West Germanic unaccented syllables: O.E.
Ode-re, O.H.G. dé-ru and G. der.
(I31) II. Plural,—1. Nominative: msc. I.-E. *tóy, Sk, té,
Gr, toi oi, L. (is-)ti, Preg. *hai, whence Go. bāi, O.E. Yā and
G. dé, the latter afterwards diphthongized to dea, dia, die,
under which shape it became blended with the nomin. pl. frn.
and nt, belonging with their accusative to class III.
2. Accusative.—As the acc. pl. nt. was identical with the
nomin, even in I.-E. times, and the acc. pl. frn. had become so
at least as early as the Pregermanic period, it was only natural
that the acc. pl. m.sc. should also reproduce the corresponding
nomin., O.E. Öă, G. dé, die.”
3. Genitive.—The Preg. stem is *be-, as in the gen, sg. The
ending, in the demonstratives, was I.-E. *-Söm, as shown by Sk.
frm. td-sām, Homer. Gr. frn. Táov = *rā-orov and L. frn. (is-)tā-rum.
=*tā-som. Now, the Preg. msc. and nt, being of course identi-
cal, the frn. could not differ very much from them, apart from
the vocalic force of the Go. ending (viz. bi-zé bi-zö) which is not
yet satisfactorily explained, but may well be neglected here,
since it disappeared in the later languages: hence, in the three
genders, O.E. Öae-ra, O.H.G. dé-ro and G. der.
4. Dative.—This case has nothing to do with the Gr. and L.
so-called dative, toſs, (is-)tis, which corresponds to a Sk, in-
strumental tăis. Here the ending is *-mi(s),” and this, as also
in the corresponding Sk, instrumental tă-bhis, is not attached
directly to the stem *tó-, but to its pl. m.sc. nomin. form, thus
1 Dat. "Trg from nomin. Tºros (horse), etc., cf. infra 152.
2 Supra 61 (III.) and 34, § 1, III.
8 Neither O.E. nor O.H.G. show even a trace of Go. ba-ns = Gr. Tó-vs.
4 Which will appear again in the nominal declension, infra 152, II.
ARTICLES, 221
I.-E. *#óy-mi(s), O. Slav. t?-mi (with them), Preg. *bai-mi,
whence, in the three genders, Go. bāi-m, O.E. Öae-m, O.H.G.
dé-m, next dé-n,” and G. den quite regularly.
(I32) III. From the I.-E. declension of the stem *tó-, we
have been able to deduce the whole G. accidence, with the
exception of three forms, viz.: nomin.-acc. sg. frn., nomin.-acc.
pl. frn., and nomin-acc. pl. nt.
1. The stems in -o- form their fm, in -á to msc. *tyô the
corresponding frn. is “tyé, Preg. *hjö, whence O.H.G. diu and
G. die. The acc. is naturally *hjö-m, which also became G. die.”
2. The nomin.-acc. pl. frn. had the exponent -s, Sk. tyá-s,
whence Preg. *hjö-z, O.H.G. deo dio, G. die.
3. The nomin.-acc. pl. nt. is always identical with the nomin.
sg. frn., cf. L. (is-)ta bona in both cases : I.-E. *tyá, Preg. *hjö,
whence O.H.G. diu and G. die.
Hence, nothing could prevent the various forms which pro-
ceeded from stem *tyó- being blended with the nomin. pl. msc.
belonging to stem *tó-, so that the four-and-twenty theoretical
forms of the G. article become finally reduced to six.4
(I33) IV. This process of assimilation was carried on much
farther in English, where the stem *tyó- plays no part at all.
O.E. possessed a regular nomin. m.sc. Sg. se sé = Go. sa, and a
corresponding frn. São, which has become E. she. In later O.E.,
under the influence of the nt. nomin, Öce-t and the oblique
cases, there arose Yé and Öéo, and these new forms again became
blended together, owing to their being unaccented; later still,
the neuter was confounded with the msc.-fm., and all three
resulted in the uniform unaccented M.E. the. On the other
hand, the nomin. pl. Öá, from the same cause, assumed a duller
* Cf. the E. pronominal dative the-m, infra 160, 3, and 166, II.
* Here the m was final. It was not final in the dat. Sg., cf. supra 130, 4.
—In order to simplify the reader’s task, I have reminded him, throughout
the Section, of every phonetic law that found an application in it; but
henceforth I shall suppose him to be familiar with them.
* The O.H.G. acc., however, is not *diu, as theory would require, but dia,
a somewhat puzzling form in its vocalism. But we may leave the point
unsettled: for, as dia, would also become die, which was favoured moreover
by the analogy of the nomin., the confusion between the two forms was
unavoidable.
* Namely: 8 die, 6 der, 4 den, 2 dem, 2 des, and 2 das.
222 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GIRAMMAR.
vowel; the identity of the nomin. and acc., in the nt. and in
the pl., induced the speaker to confuse the cases everywhere
else; the increasing use of prepositions, influenced by the
imitation of French syntax, gradually turned the other cases
into useless and obsolete forms: in short, ultimately, English
was confined to the single form the, a few others, however,
being retained in the pronominal declension.
SECTION II.
INDEFINITE ARTICLE.
(I34) In the sg. E. uses an and a, the unaccented and now
invariable forms of one =O.E. ſin. G. spells ein the word for
the indefinite article, as well as for the number, but the stress
in pronouncing the former is much weaker. The G. negative
kein is O.H.G. dihh-ein, M.H.G. dech-ein, where, the e no longer
being sounded, the initial t has become unpronounceable'; but
the element dihh- is quite unexplained.” The declension of
both is the ordinary declension for all determinatives.”
G. has no indefinite article for the plural number: mensch-en
(some men), wort-e (some words). E. either uses an-y- G.
ošn-ge (several, some), or some = Go. Sum-s (a certain) *= Gr.
àp.6-s= Sk. Sama- (whoever), both undeclined.
1 Cf. I.-E. *kmtöm=*tkmtöm, supra 123.
* The O.H.G. doublet mihh-eim is much plainer. The E. negative is the
pronoun mome=n-one, shortened to mo (adjective and negative particle) = O.E.
nā, cf. G. m-eim.
3 Cf. infra 159 and 169.
* See the sentence quoted above (128) from Ulfilas. Likewise sg. in E.
some-body, some-thing, etc., cf. amy-body, etc. The inserted -sm- in Go.
pa-mm-a=I.-E. *to-8m-öy (supra, 130, 4) is probably a reduced grade of this
stem.
CHAPTER II.
NOUNS.
(I35) In the declension of E. and G. nouns, we have to deal
with three grammatical categories: gender, number, and case.
S ECTION I.
GENDER.
(136) As a general rule,_excepting the class of stems in
-á, which are all feminine nouns, and the specific ending of
the nomin.-acc. in neuter stems in -o-,”—I.-E. gender had no
influence on the accidence of nouns: thus, in Latin, soror is
declined like dolor, and früctus, like manus. On the contrary,
in the Germanic declension, the genders have become of much
importance, and are now heading the G. paradigms. The
reason for this change is obvious : when the final syllables had
been dropped, and the stem-class to which a noun originally
belonged was no longer known, several nouns of various genders
left the declension that suited their etymology, and were forced
into agreement with other nouns of the same gender, but of
different formation. Of this process, many instances will occur
below. Here, one will suffice : G. flut (flood), which ought to
be masculine, since it is an I.-E. Stem in -tu- (Go. flö-du-s,
O.H.G. fluot msc.), became feminine, together with many like
it, in imitation of words which came from stems in -ti-, thus
fm. bucht (bent, gulf) * : whereupon both bucht and flut, and a
large number of other feminines, were declined after the pattern
of fraw (lady), which is a stem in -en-.
* L. bonu-s boma bonu-m, supra 72–73.
* Supra 78, 2–3. Cf. L. m.sc. fråctus borrowed and changed to G. fim.
frucht.
223
224 BNGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
English and German, although they kept the three I.-E.
genders, distributed them in quite a different way.
It must be owned that the I.-E. distribution was very arbi-
trary and corresponded as little as possible to the meaning of
the nouns to which it applied. Generally speaking, a noun
denoting a male being or agent was masculine; the names of
female beings or agents, feminine. But there was hardly any
further attempt made to lend any system or order to the chaos
of grammatical gender. We are not even able to assert that
the names of male or female animals were all, respectively,
masculine or feminine." As for the names of inanimate beings
and the abstract nouns, there is no rule whatever : some are
masculine, some feminine, and some neuter; thus, among the
nouns denoting instrument, though many end in -tro-m, there
are also several stems in -tro-S or in -trá.”
In German this state of chaos still continues. This, how-
ever, must not be misunderstood as meaning that German has
retained unaltered the primitive distribution. Since the dis-
tinction of genders is arbitrary, it is apt to become unsteady, in-
asmuch as a word may easily change its gender if the mind does
not perceive any reason for assigning it to one class rather than
to another. Such changes even took place in the short interval
between Latin and French *; and they would be much greater
in the course of forty centuries. Much more surprising, in
fact, than this occasional gender-shifting, is the marvellous
agreement with I.-E. gender, shown in a great number of cases:
thus, in a single word, I.-E. *yugó-m, Sk. yugé-m, Gr. ºvyó-w,
L. jugu-m, Go. juk, G. joch, Slav. igo, all neuter; in the whole
class of feminines in -in-a-L. On- (L. frn. leg-iö, G. frn. hdh-e-
höh-7); in the whole class of feminines in -ti-, G. -t; in the
neuter formation of plurals in -er, etc., etc.*
1 Indeed, most European languages, however logical they claim to be.
have not passed this rudimentary stage : thus, in G. and F., maus and soulis
º are exclusively feminine, schmetterling and papillon (butterfly) ex-
ëlusively masculine, so that the notion of their being male mice and female
butterflies actually requires a slight effort of thought.
2 L. ară-tru-m (plough), cul-ter (knife), mule-tra (milking-pail).
8 L. arbor frn., F. arbre msc.; L, morès msc., F. moeurs (customs) frn.
4 See the formation of words, and especially 74 (2 C), 78, 80.
NOUNS. 225
But the changes, none the less, embraced whole classes of
words. So it happened that the masculines in -tu-, after the w
had vanished, were classed with the feminines in -ti- whereof
the 7 had been lost, and thus became feminine; a further
consequence was, that the suffix -heit and -keit, which was
a masculine noun (Sk, msc. kè-tº-s), became an essentially
feminine exponent. So also, the Go. Suff. -n-assu-, regularly
masculine, became the G. suff. -nisz, which forms only neuter
nouns and a very few feminines. From its origin, suff. -sal
ought to have been applied indifferently to masculine or neuter
nouns, whereas it is now exclusively neuter, with the exception
of three feminine words. Lastly, the diminutives, probably as
forming logically a class in themselves, were all made neuter."
The triumph of logic is seen in the English distribution,
where, apart from a few immaterial exceptions, the three
genders rigorously correspond to the male, female and neuter
sex (the last-named including animals in which the sex is
neglected, inanimate beings, and abstract nouns). Of course,
the language only arrived by degrees at this artificial levelling,
another example of which could hardly be found throughout
the whole of linguistic science: the O.E. genders still admit
the anomalies that now survive in Mod. German; in M.E., the
remnants of such old finals as would still allow the recognition
of the original gender were dropped altogether, whereupon
the gender itself became slowly modified, mainly under the
influence of Anglo-French, and without exhibiting as yet any
decidedly logical tendency; this, however, may be seen to
prevail from the beginning of the fourteenth century, and, at
the end of the sixteenth, arrived at the universal agreement
which is now found to exist.
Further details with regard to gender should be sought in
the ordinary grammars.
* The typical diminutive, viz. the word kind (child), is neuter, though it
involves the idea of a sex; still more so such as do not involve it.
226 ENGLISH AND GERMAN G|RAMMAR.
SECTION II.
NUMBER.
(137) The nominative singular, whether in English or
German, has no ending, and resembles a bare stem. But
this is already known to be the combined effect of phonetic
reduction and analogy. In fact, Pregermanic possessed, for the
nominative singular, as for all other cases, even more than one
ending, bequeathed to it by I.-E. ; but from their very nature
these endings were doomed to disappear.
From the Greek declension, which is extremely well pre-
served, we are able to restore five primitive types of nomin. Sg.
The ordinary masculine and feminine stems formed this case :
either by a mere lengthening of the vowel in the final syllable,
Gr, stems àkpov- (anvil, acc. &kpov-o), ºpépovt- (carrying, acc.
dépovt-a), Tatép- (father, acc. ratép-a), nominative sg. ākpov
(cf. L. homān-em, and homó), ºpépov, Tarſip, etc.; or by adding a
final -s, Gr. itto- (horse, acc. itto-v), wēkt- (night, acc. vökt-a),
nomin, sg. itto-s (cf. L. equë-s), viſé =*vökt-s (cf. L. méa), etc.
But feminine stems in -á, -7, -ā, even in the earliest period,
lacked any nominative-ending: Sk. &vá (mare), Gr, Xópå
(land), L. terra (earth), etc. Neuter stems in -o- added a
final -m in the nominative as well as in the accusative: Sk.
Ayugé-m (yoke), Gr. Čvyó-v, L. jugu-m. Every other neuter stem
remained unchanged: Sk, nt. Svādū (sweet), Gr. nt. §§§, cf.
msc. jöö-s; Sk, pſtºw (cattle), L. pecu, Go. faihu, etc.
Hence, West Germanic inherited a large number of neuter
nominatives which lacked any case-sign. With these were
already confounded neuter nominatives ending in -m, since
final m was dropped in Pregermanic. Feminines ending in a
long vowel first shortened, and then occasionally lost the vowel,
which besides was not exclusively found in the nominative.
The lengthened nominatives, type àkpov or homó, likewise
shortened the vowel ; thus, I.-E. *kanó (=L. *canã “the
singer”) became Go. hana (cock), O.E. homa, O.H.G., hano;
and this short vowel again vanished later on, G. hahn. In
INOUNS. 227
short, four of the five I.-E. types could not help becoming
nominatives without a case-sign in West Germanic.
There yet remained one type, and that the most important,
the nominative in -s. This -s ought to have survived, at least
after an accented vowel. Gothic, indeed, kept it, and even
shows it by analogy 4 after an unaccented syllable. On the
contrary, in Old Norse and West Germanic, after the -s of
nomin. Sg. had become -z when following an unaccented vowel,
this -2 analogically intruded everywhere else : whence the
regular O.N. -r, and the total loss of the termination in West
Germanic. A further consequence in the latter group is that
the plural-exponents and case-endings henceforth seem to be
adapted,—not to a declensional stem, as theory would require,
and Go. and O.N. grammar still show them to be, but to
the nominative singular: which is as much as to say that this
case is no longer a case ; in the eyes of an English or German
speaker, it is the word itself.
The singular having attained this simplicity of form, the
plural necessarily followed : the various stems being no longer
distinguishable from one another by the presence or absence of
a nominative-ending, or by the character of their stem-vowels
which had vanished long before, their declensional varieties,
based on hidden differences in etymological structure, naturally
tended to become levelled under the influence of analogy, so
that a merely outward likeness, or occasionally, as noted above,
a logical association would substitute, here and there, some new
classification for the grammatical categories inherited from the
past. In what measure the German plural,” after being thus
shifted, either reproduces or alters the primitive formation, is a
point easily settled by glancing at the curious and, in the main,
regular forms exhibited by the Gothic declension.
1. Stems in -o- and -yo-:
msc. Sg. dag-s, pl. dagôs, cf. G. tag tag-e ;
nt. , waitrd, , raûrd-a, , ,, wort wort-e (but also würt-er);
msc. , hanji-8, , hanjos, , , heer heer-e (nt.).
* Cf. Supra 63 and the instances below.
* English, with its almost universal plural in -s, does not here concern us:
in it the analogical levelling is complete.
228 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
2. Stems in -á and -yā :
frm. Sg. airba, pl. airbós, but G. erde erden ;
,, , hóðhú, , hóðbjôs, ,, , heide heiden (heaths).
3. Stems in -á and -w- :
msc. Sg. gast-s, pl. gastels, cf. G. gast gåste;
frm. , déb-s, ,, débels, but , that that-en;
mSc. , Sunºl-3, , Sunjus, cf. , Sohn Söhne ;
frm. , handu-s, , handjus, ,, , hand hinde.
4. Stems in -en- and -yen- (so-called weak declension):
msc. Sg. blóma, pl. blóman-s, cf. G. blume blumen (fm.);
,, , arbja, ,, arbjan-s, ,, , erbe erben;
,, , garda, , gardan-S, but , garten gårten ;
,, , hand, ,, hanan-8, ,, , hahn hähne *;
frm. , tuggð, ,, tuggön-8, cf. , zunge zungen ;
,, , hówhei, , hówhein-S, , ,, höhe höhen ;
nt. , hairto, , hairtön-a, , ,, herz herzen.
5. Stems in -es- (Gr. ºpeſ80s, gen. Épé8e(q)-os):
nt. Sg. riqis, pl. rāqīz-a, cf. G. kalb kälber.”
6. Stems in any other consonant :
msc. sg. fr.jönd-s, pl. fr.jönd-s, but G. freund freund-e;
fm. , daºſhtar, , daſhtrºjus, cf. , tochter tāchter.
Now, let the reader reflect that O.E. and O.H.G. had exactly
the same declensional classes as Go. itself, and he will under-
stand how far the modern languages have since gone astray.
Our further task is to show the roads they took.
§ 1. General Remarks.
(138) Nowhere do English and German more widely dis-
agree, than in the part of their grammar which deals with
plural-formation: the characteristic English type is unknown
to German; to the manifold German types, English opposes
scarcely a dozen survivals. And yet nothing is more certain
* Also regular hahnem, but less used.
* In this and the preceding class, the outward agreement of Gothic and
German is striking at first sight; but, if we scrutinize it closely, we perceive
an intrinsic difference, namely, that an integral element of the Go. noun
has become a G. plural-exponent.
NOTUNS. 229
than that both languages once started from a common declen-
sion, as illustrated by the Go. examples given above, and traced
by linguistic comparison up to I.-E. Hence, our best course
will be to define the starting-point and the present state of
these endings.
I. The I.-E. nouns formed their plural with great simplicity,
namely: the masculine and feminine, by adding a syllable -ès;
the neuter nouns, by adding a vowel -ă.
1. When the stem ends in a consonant, the ending remains
pure: Sk, pād-as (feet), Gr. tróð-es, L. ped-ös; Sk, pl. bhárant-as
(carrying), Gr. ºbépovt-es, L. ferent-és."
2. When the stem ends in -ó- or -á (Gr. and L. so-called
second and first declension), the é is contracted with the pre-
ceding vowel to a long vowel: I.-E. *ékwo-s (horse), pl. *ékwó-ès,
whence *ékwós, Sk. &vās, Preg. *éhwöz; I.-E. *ékwā (mare),
pl. *ékwā-ès, whence *ékwás, Sk. 48vãs, Preg. *éhwöz, etc.”
3. When the stem ends in -i- or -īt-, this vowel passes to
the normal grade -èy- or -ëw- before the plural-ending -ès :
I.-E. root *tri (three), declined "trèy-ès, Sk. trāy-as, Gr. *rpéy-es
*Tpées Tpeſs, L. *tréy-ès *tréés très; so also, Sk. gali-s (march),
pl. gatáy-as, Gr, pºvti-s (prophet) pl. pºdivrets, L. hosti-S (enemy),
pl. hostés; I.-E. *swādū-s (sweet) pl. *swädéw-ès, Sk. Svādāv-as,
Gr. *#8éf-es à8ées à8éïs, cf. L. manu-s (hand) pl. maniis, etc.”
4. If the neuter stem ends in -à-, the plural sign -á simply
replaces the 5: I.-E. *yugö-m (yoke) pl. *yugé, Sk. yugé-m
gugé, Gr. Čvyó-v Čvyá, L. jugu-m juga,” Go. juk juka, etc.
5. In any other case, the -ă is added to the stem-form : I.-E.
nt. *gén-os, stem *gén-es-, pl. *gén-es-à ; Gr. Yév-os, pl. *yév-eo-a
yévéa yévm; L. gem-us, pl. *gen-es-a genera ; Go, riq-is (darkness)
* The L. lengthening is later and secondary, being borrowed from the
following class of words: see Henry, Gramm. of Gr. and Lat., no. 206.
* The Gr. and L. forms are quite different : respectively £Tirot and equi-
*equoi, *ēttraw and equa: = *equài. But, that is because here the plural of
these stems has followed the analogy of the similar demonstratives, cf. Gr.
oi at (article) and L. .." (is-)ta, supra 131.
° In other words, here as in the preceding case, final s follows a long
vowel, which is the product of contraction between the final vowel of the
stem and the é of the termination.
* Shortened in Gr. and L., but still kept long in Preg., since it occurs as
a short vowel in Gothic: if it had been short in Preg., it must have vanished
in Gothic, supra 34.
230 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
= Gr, pe/3eo-, pl. riq-iz-a ; O.H.G. chalb (calf) = Preg. *kálb-iz,
pl. chelb-ir(-w) = Preg. *kólb-iz-5.
II. On the other hand, the English and German plurals may
- be divided into five main classes. -
1. Plurals in -s; exclusively English ; without any dis-
tinction of gender; no equivalent in German.
2. Plurals in -em, or -m : no metaphony ever occurring ;
masculines (bote boten, christ christen), feminines (zunge zungen,
fraw frauen) and a few neuters (auge augen, herz herzen); so-
called weak declension.
3. Plurals in -e without metaphony: German masculines
and neuters (tag tage, arm arme, wort worte).
4. Metaphonical plurals in -e or without any ending:
masculines (sohn Söhne, water väter) and feminines (hand hānde,
mutter mitter); cf. E. goose geese.
5. Metaphonical plurals in -er : neuters (kalb kälber,
lamm, liimmer, haws häuser) and a few masculines.
Let us now inquire how it could happen that the latter
system proceeded from the former.
§ 2. Plurals in -s.
(I39) It has been seen that every I.-E. masculine or
feminine noun formed a plural which ended with s. Now this
s, according as it was or was not immediately preceded by the
accent, ought either to survive, or to be shifted to 2 and then
disappear. History confirms this theory: O.E. has a minority
of plurals in -s, and a large majority of plurals without -s, that
is to say, in -z ‘; but in German, however far we go back, the
latter had eliminated the former and are found throughout.
O.H.G. in consequence as completely lacks the -s in the
nominative plural, as West Germanic lacks it in the nomin.
sg, : a new way has been found for plural-formation, and thus,
English having taken to propagating by analogy” the
1 As to these being in a majority, the reader is referred to § 1, where it
appears that the é in the termination -ès never had the I.-E. accent, so that
the s could never be immediately preceded by the accent, except when the
stem itself ended with an accented vowel which had coalesced with the
initial é of the ending. Now this case, of course, is by far the rarer.
2 Analogy here is not the only responsible factor: after the Norman
NOTUNS. 231
very exponent that had become lost by analogy in
German, it happened that the two sister-tongues diverged
from each other as widely as possible.
The main processes of the English evolution may be easily
and shortly retraced as follows.
I. Masculines.”—1. The plural-exponent s could nowhere be
better preserved and nowhere more widely diffused, than in
the class of primitive masculine stems in -o-, because there the
words accented on their final syllable are rather common, so
that the final s very often followed an accented vowel. We
need but quote such Gr. words as otpagó-s, ſhopó-s, šeuvó-s,
Avrö-s, Xapatpd-s, it tukó-s, etc., etc. Thus, if we consider an
I.-E. stem *dhoghö-s (day),” pl. *dhoghös =*dhoghā-ās, the cor-
responding Preg. forms are sg. *čazá-s, pl. *čazós, Go. dag-s
dagós, and nothing could be more regular than that the s should
be retained in the O.E. pl. dagas of sg. daeg, whence E. day
day-s. From this the O.E. plural-ending -as, which became E.
-es or -s, was extended to all similar nouns, whatever might
have been their original accent: O.E. wulf (L. lupus) wulf-as,
weal (L. vallus) weall-as, paei) (Gr. Trátos) pač-as, ende (Sk.
&ntyas) end-as, earm (L. armus) earm-as, etc.; E. wolf wolv-es,
wall wall-s, path path-s, end end-s, arm arm-s, and so indefinitely.
2. The same analogy, also as early as the O.E. period, largely
contaminated the old stems in -i-, since, their -i- having been
dropped, they were no longer distinguishable from stems in -0-.
O.E. lyge, for instance, is Preg. *lugi-z, as shown by the early
metaphony which did not take place in G. lug: now, the old
plural is lyge=*luzīz (G. liige); but another analogical plural
is lyg-as, whence E. lie lie-S. Words in which the i had left no
conquest, French doubtless played a great part in this expansion of E. S.;
for, since words borrowed from F. used to form their plural in this way,
native words could easily adopt the same exponent, the more so as Some of
them already admitted of it. At any rate, it is a remarkable fact, that the
s-plural should have reached such a high degree of development in the two
Germanic languages which were brought into nearest contact with French,
that is, in English and Dutch, whereas it is lost everywhere else. A few
instances occur also in Low German (mädchens “lasses,” fråuleims “misses”),
but these are generally acknowledged to be due to a modern French influence.
1 Starting, as a matter of course, from the historical gender.
2 Cf. supra 72, II.
232 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
trace were naturally even more liable to be altered in this
way: thus O.E. giest=*zasti-2 (= G. gast) has no other plural
but gºest-as, E. guest guest-s, and wyrm =*wurmº-2 (cf. Sk.
kºmi-s, G. wurm) has only wyrm-as, E. worm worm-s, and so
forth. But the stems in -u-, as long as they keep the w, remain
unaltered (O.E. sumu, pl. suma); this having vanished, their
plural also gives way to the influence of analogy (E. son son-s).
3. Again, and as early as O.E., the same s became attached
to one masculine noun denoting relationship : foºder, pl. foedr-as;
E. father father-s. But of brjöor the pl. is still brûâor or brùörw;
later we have brother brother-s.
4. No less intelligible is the analogical process which modified
the plural of the stems in primitive -en- and nearly effaced in
English the so-called O.E. weak declension. We have seen
and are yet to see further on 4 how it happened that the n,
though lost in the nomin. Sg., re-appeared in the other cases.
Hence, a Preg. *zuman- (man), Sg. *zumd=L. homó, pl.
*xuman-iz=L. homin-ès, becomes O.E. sg. guma, pl. guman ;
and, in the same way, we have mona mäman, fléa (= G. floh)
fléan, crèda crédan, etc. As long as this characteristic a was
retained in common pronunciation, the weak declension re-
mained free from any external corruption; but, the a being lost
in M.E., nothing was left which could prevent such words as
moon, flea, creed, etc., from forming such plurals as moon-s,
flea-s, creed-s, etc. The pl. oa:en from Oa (O.E. Oa'a. Oa'an) alone
survived from this class.
5. The same is the case with the old metaphonical plurals.
A Preg. *frijónd-s *frijönd-iz had become O.E. sg. fréond and
pl. friend (cf. Mod. E. foot and feet); but, the plural -s being
added by analogy to the latter form, it gave way to a pleonastic
plural friend-s, from which analogy again easily transferred the
metaphony to the sg. friend *; and so also with O.E. f60nd fiend,
now fiend fiends.”
* Supra 74, 87, 114, 117, and infra 140.
* The more so, because there already existed in the sg. a metaphonical
form, namely the O.E. dat. friend= *fréond-i (cf. L. dat. ferent-i).
* Many other analogical blunders might have taken place: from sg. foot
might have come a pl. *foot-8 (O.E. fot-as is occasionally met with), or a pl.
*feet-s, whence there might have proceeded a Sg. *feet, or, in another form
Nouns. 233
II. Feminines.— 1. O.E. bröðor has been seen to keep its
plural unaltered. It stands to reason that the names of female
relationship should keep it even better: mſdor, dohtor, Sweostor;
pl. mºdru, dohtor, etc. But, in imitation of father and brother,
these nouns also took the ending -s in M.E., mother-8, daughter-8,
Sister-s.
2. The path being thus opened, no feminine could escape,
especially as the stem-vowels in all had become dull and in-
audible, while in a great many the gender had a tendency to
shift. Thus, the long specific à of the fm. Sg., which had
become a dull short vowel in O.E., being no longer sounded in
M.E., we find such contrasts as: O.E. cearu, pl. ceara, but E.
care care-s; O.E. Ondswaru, pl. ondswara, E. answer answer-s, etc.
3. The same is the case with frn. stems in -i- and in -u- :
O.E. tid (= G. Zeit), pl. tid-e, E. tide tide-s; O.E. hond, pl.
hond-a, E. hand hand-s; O.E. flór, pl. flör-a, E. floor floor-s, etc.
4. Further with stems in -en- (weak declension): O.E. tunge,
pl. tungan (cf. Go. tuggö tuggðm-s), E. tongue tongue-s; O.E.
eorðe, pl. eorðan (passed to the weak declension like G. erde
erden), but E. earth earth-s, etc.
5. Lastly, with the metaphonical stems: O.E. bāc, pl. bec, E.
book book-s”; O.E. burg, pl. byrg, now borough borough-s, etc.
III. Neuters.-1. Neuter nouns could never have an 8-plural,
and therefore O.E. knows nothing of this formation. But the
analogy of masculine stems first introduced it into neuter stems
in -o-, a natural process; for a great many masculine nouns had
become neuter through logical gender-shifting, and, these of
course keeping their old s-plural, there appeared no reason
why such a plural might not as well be added to any other
neuters; on the other hand, the old neuter plural-ending -ā (-5)
being now phonetically dropped, the plural in this class did not
differ from the singular,” although in most cases the speaker
of declension, the pl. “child-s *oa:-es from child oac, etc. The few plurals
which are known to be formed without -s and which will occur below, are
interesting archaisms which succeeded in resisting the assaults of progressive
amalogy.
* The metaphony survives in beech, which was transferred to the sg., like
friend above. Cf. Supra 33, 1.
* Still sheep, pl. sheep, infra 143, II.
234 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
would wish to distinguish them. Hence: O.E. wif, word, geoc,
déor; pl. wif, word, geoc (= Go. juka), dēor; but E. wife wive-s,"
word word-s, yoke yoke-s (deer still remaining deer in the pl.),
etc., etc.
2. Stems in -i- : O.E. spere, pl. speru, E. spear spear-s; O.E.
gewile, pl. gewölu, E. will will-s, etc.
3. Stems in -en- (weak declension): O.E. Gage = Go. &ngö, pl.
êagan = Go. (tugān-a, E. eye eye-s; O.E. &are ëaran, E. ear ear-s,
etc.
4. Stems in -es- : here analogy was long kept at bay. Several
representatives of the G. type kalb kälber occur in O.E., viz.
cild, pl. cild-ru, cealf cealf-ru, lomb lomb-ru, etc. This ending
not only survived, but even spread by analogy at the beginning
of the M.E. period. It disappears in later times, slowly giving
way to calv-es, lamb-s, folk-s (cf. G. völk-er), which are directly
derived from the sg. calf, lamb, folk, so that child-r-en” remains
the only instance of the former formation.
§ 3. Plurals in -en.
(140) The plural type which belongs to the Weak
Declension is extremely simple, if we only bear in mind that
I.-E. stems in -ón- and the like * lost the n in the nomin. Sg.
and kept it everywhere else. So, an I.-E. stem *wks-án- (ox)
was sg. *uks-6, pl. *uks-ón-ès, whence Sk. Sg. ukš-à, pl. whºs-án-as,
consequently Go. aths-a aths-an-s, E. Oa. Oa -en, G. ochs ochs-en.
So also, I.-E. stem *kan-Ön- (singer), Sg. *kan-6, pl. *kan-Ön-ès,
which would be L. *can-Ö *can-Ön-és : Go. has regularly han-a
(cock) han-an-s, O.H.G. ham-o han-on, and G. hahn hahn-en.
It is easy to restore the historical process: when the final s
in the plural, retained in Gothic, had ceased to be sounded in
West Germanic, the preceding nasal syllable, the only
remnant of the ending, was mistaken for the plural-
1 This, moreover, was shifted to the fm. gender at an early date.
* This again corrupted from another cause, infra 140 and 147, 2. But
popular speech sometimes keeps it pure : thus we read childer in Jane Eyre,
as used by an old servant-maid.
* Cf. Supra 74 and 137.
NOTUNS. 235.
exponent, for the sole reason that it was missing in the
singular. This gave birth to a class of plurals formed by an
exponent which Pregermanic knew nothing of. The observa-
tion, of course, applies not only to masculines as exemplified
above, but also to similar feminines, which had lost the final n
of the nomin. Sg. only in the Preg. period (Go. tugg-0 tugg-On-s,
O.E. tung-e tung-an, O.H.G. Zung-a zung-ăn), and even more to
neuter nouns, which lacked the plural -s and never had it (Go.
haîrt-ö haîrt-ön-a, O.E. heart-e heort-an frn., G. herz herz-en).
This formation, nearly forgotten in English, is a living and
active one in Mod. German.
The further point, why here it proscribes metaphony
altogether, is likewise easily settled by referring to its origin.
The word-classes to which it can apply are but five in number :
—(1) masculines in -on-, Go. hama hamans, blóma blómans, G.
hahn hahnen, blume (now frn.) blumen; –(2) masculines in -yon-,
Go. arbja arbjans, G. erbe erben; –(3) feminines in -on-, Go.
tuggö tuggöns, G. Zunge zumgen ; –(4) feminines in -yon- and -īn-,
Go. managed manageins, hºuhei hauheins, G. menge memgen, hohe
höhen ; –(5) neuters in -on-, Go. (tugo (tugöma, G. auge augen.—
Now, in these five classes, we see plainly that the first, third
and fifth can never have any metaphony in the plural, whereas
the second and fourth must have it already in the singular;
which is as much as to say that the plural of this declension
can never differ from the singular as to the vowel of the stem-
syllable.
Such being the case, it may well seem somewhat strange
that, English having preserved three plurals of this kind, viz.
oaten, brethrew and children, one of them at least should be a
metaphonical form. But brethren is not an English word (O.E.
pl. bröðor): O.N. had for this noun a metaphonical plural, like
the G. pl. brider; thus, M.E. brethre was borrowed from O.N.
and afterwards received an added m on the analogy of children."
Besides the pl. Owan, O.E. had also a metaphonical plural eaen,
which probably proceeded from the other vocalic form of suff.
* Because both denoted relationship. We need scarcely observe that
brethren now belongs exclusively to ecclesiastical language.
236 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
-On- (-en-), found in L. hom-in-ès. Lastly, child-r-en obviously
contains a pleonastically double plural-ending. Every other
weak plural has been replaced by the s-plural.
In German, the weak plural was also exposed to the influence,
though far less active, of other formations; and, though it gave
way here and there, yet on the whole it has rather gained than
lost ground. The facts may be stated briefly, as follows.
(I4I) I. Masculines.—1. The m-plural requires no ex-
planation in the masculines which still end in -e ; for this -e
represents, as a matter of course, a prehistorical long vowel,-
otherwise it would have been dropped,—and this again is as
a rule the representative of the final vowel of L. hom-6= Go.
gum-a, pl. gum-am-s=archaic L. hom-on-ès. Thus, we have
regularly : knabe knabe-n, rabe rabe-n, lùwe live-n (cf. L. leó
leónés), etc.; a class which naturally comprises the names of
nations, Sachse Sachse-m (cf. L. Saaj Saajnés), and further the
adjectives used with the same meaning, Deutsche Deutsche-n,
and, generally speaking, every adjective used substantivally."
2. But this sg. -e was not likely to be kept everywhere; for,
though the old law of Germanic finals would protect it, the
gradual weakening of modern finals, or even analogy alone
might easily prevail against it: thus, the sg. for “ox” is ochse,
but also ochs, so that, in ochsen when contrasted with ochs, the
plural-sign seems to be -en. The same is the case in many
words: bauer (peasant) = O.H.G. (gi)bāro; graf (earl) =M.H.G.
grâve = O.H.G. grávo grávio ; O.H.G. heri-zogo “leader of an
army,” wherein the element -zogo bears the same relation to
the vb. ziehen = Go. tºuhan (to lead, to draw) that a substantive
*dicò would bear to the L. v.b. diſcere; the pl. of *dicò would
be *ducönés, hence O.H.G. pl. herizogon, M.H.G. herzoge herzogen,
G. herzog (duke) and pl. herzog-e (now corrupt, see below); G.
herr=O.H.G. hºrro (lord), pl. herr-en; G. mensch = O.H.G.
memnisco, an adjective used substantivally, or a noun derived
from an adjective *mann-iská-s, the latter being formed in the
same way as Deutsch = Go. biwd-isk-s, cf. Go. adjective mann-
isk-s (human) and observe the regular German metaphony, etc.
1. Cf. infra 156.
NOTUNS. 237
3. This plural formation in -en being now steadily fixed in the
words which had a legitimate claim to it, analogy caused it to
spread:—either, through a merely material association, to nouns
ending with an -e in the nomin, sg., though this -e had actually
no relation at all to that of the weak declension, as, for instance,
to primitive stems in -yo-, namely hirte (also hirt) = O.H.G. hirt-7
= Go. haird-ei-s," cf. E. shepherd= O.E. scèap-hyrde, etc.;-or,
above all, through logical association, and because the nouns
mentioned above chiefly denoted male beings or agents (knabe,
bote, herr, graf, narr, etc.), to other nouns of similar meaning as
they were imported from foreign languages into German (christ,
soldat, philosoph, etc.). Hence it happened that this plural was
deemed the specific One for borrowed words, which still for the
most part follow the weak declension, including even names of
animals (elephant) and inanimate things (planet).
4. As opposed to this increase, a small apparent decrease
may be observed, owing to the fact that the ending -en occa-
sionally intruded into the singular. This process” is marked,
in its gradual development, by three main types, as follows.-
Gothic has a nt. namó, pl. mamm-a, which is exactly reproduced,
except in gender, by G. m.sc. name, pl. name-n. But, as some
nouns are seen to have regularly the pl. like the sg. (ofen,
boden),” the pl. namen gives birth to the sg. namen, whereupon
both name and namen survive side by side. So also, friede and
frieden,” funke and funken, wille and willen (Go. vilja, pl.
viljans); further, the -e being dropped in the nomin, sg., fleck
and flecken, fels and felsen, dawm and dawmen, etc.—Gothic has
brunna, pl. brunnans. In German, the pl. brunnen produces a
sg, brunnen, which replaces and supersedes the regular brunn =
M.H.G. brunne (source)—Gothic has garda (enclosure), pl.
gardans. The G. pl. *garten, produces a sg. garten, and this
* As it were Preg. *herd -ja-2 “belonging to the herd.”
* Similar to the extension, referred to above, of metaph. pl. friend to the
sg., supra 139, I. 5.
* O.H.G. ovan, bodam. The metaphony in the plural is later, infra 146,
I. 3.
* For this word, the process is still more intricate, for the stem did not
legitimately belong to the weak declension, the nomin. Sg. being Preg. *fri-
pu-z. It became first shifted to the weak declension and then corrupted.
338 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
again, after the analogy of väter, iipfel, etc., introduces a new
metaphonical plural gårten. So also : laden (shop), pl. laden
and låden ; magen (stomach), pl. magen and mágen, etc.
5. Lastly, though seldom, a noun may be shifted from the
weak to the strong declension and assume in consequence a new
ready-made plural formation. Thus, the often quoted hahn still
keeps the old pl. hahnen = Go. hamans; but hähne is far com-
moner, and the whole case-declension agrees with the latter
(gen. sg. hahn-s, no longer *hahn-en). The case-forms of herzog
likewise exclusively correspond to the strong declension; in-
deed, the plural is now herzoge.
(142) II. Feminines.—l. Most weak frn. nouns still ex-
hibit, in the shape of final -e, the ending -ó which characterized
their Preg. and Go. nomin. sg. : G. Zunge, pl. zunge-n, cf. O.H.G.
zunga zungún and Go. tuggå tuggön-s; so also, G. taube, sonne,
wittwe (O.H.G. tilba, sunna, wituwa); G. blume, pl. blumen,
shifted to the frn. gender (Go. m.sc. blóma blómans), etc.
2. The fm. nouns ending in -7 in their Preg. and Go. nomin.
sg, belong to the same class in Gothic (managed manageins).
Not so, however, in O.H.G., where the plural does not differ
from the sg. : höhi, pl. h5hī; though the type hôhin is found
occasionally. Later on, the 7 being shortened, the words menge,
höhe, linge, etc., become blended with the words zunge, taube,
sonne, etc., in the nomin sg., and consequently also in the nomin.
pl., viz. memgen, hôhem, lángen, etc.
3. The weak plural-formation is no less regular in nouns
which no longer show an -e in the nomin. Sg., but are known to
have formerly ended with that representative of the Preg. frn.
-5 of stems in -on-: G. frau = M.H.G vrouwe=O.H.G. frowwa,
which would be Go. *fråujū, frn, of fråuja (lord), pl. fråujans;
hence, G. pl. frau-en-Go. *fréu-jön-s; G. au (meadow) = awe =
M.H.G. owe; G. ader (vein) = O.H.G. ddara, etc.
4. After this termination, -en or -n, had become the apparent
plural-exponent of a large number of feminine nouns, it gradu-
ally invaded the whole feminine accidence, either owing to the
similar ending in the nomin Sg., or merely from the influence of
the gender itself. A brief enumeration must suffice.—(a)
Stems in I.-E. -á; Go. airba, pl. airbós; O.H.G. &rda, pl. &rdà ;
NOTUNS. 239
but G. erde erden.1—(b) Stems in I.-E. -ī, which in O.H.G. had
yielded to the analogy of the preceding class: Go. bandi (tie),
pl. bandjös; but O.H.G. sunta (sin), pl. suntá, and G. Sinde
sinden; O.H.G. kuningin” kuninginná, but G. königin königinn-
en, etc.—(c) Stems in -ti-, for the most part : Go. náub-8
(need), pl. maudeis, O.H.G. not noti, G. moth næthe regular ; but,
on the contrary, G. that that-em, schlacht schlacht-em, etc.; SO
also, tugend, arbeit, and all nouns ending in -schaft.—(d) Stems
in -tu-, wholly assimilated to the preceding class, viz. flut flut-en,
kost (=L. gus-tu-s) kost-en, and further every substantive ending
in -heit or -keit.”—(e) All abstract nouns in -ung, which, how-
ever far we go back, appear to have been distinguished from
masculines of similar formation by being shifted to the weak
declension (O.H.G. nomin. sg. -unga).—(f) One noun of female
relationship: Go. Svistar, pl. Svistºfus ; O.H.G. Swester, pl.
swäster; but G. Schwester schwester-n.—(g) Lastly, at any period,
any feminine noun borrowed from a foreign language, from
O.H.G. phlanza phlanzin, lira lirim, kirihha kirihhün (G.
pflanze-n, leier-n, kirche-m), down to the latest and contemporary
words, as universität-en, photographie-n, etc., etc.—In short, this
termination was used for every feminine, unless it originally
possessed and kept, or subsequently adopted a metaphonical
plural *; and, since these two exceptional cases hardly apply to
more than forty nouns, the weak plural having spread here as
elsewhere, the termination -en or -n may be deemed the specific
and characteristic exponent for the plural of feminine German
Il Oll]].S.
III. Neuters.-Neuter stems in I.-E. -on-, which naturally
could never have an ending -s in the plural, regularly dropped
their plural-exponent -a in West Germanic, and, like the mascu-
lines and feminines, kept the bare nasal as a plural-sign. They
are few in number and did not increase. We need but mention
the three Germanic words: Go. &ugö dugon-a, O.H.G. ouga
* M.H.G. already &rden, though many mouns of this class are kept un-
altered in M.H.G. : gäbe (gift), pl. gåbe, not göben.
* Supra 87. Beware of confounding such mouns with stems in -i = -in-.
* Cf. supra 109, I. and 136.
4 Indeed, it has even often replaced the metaph. pl., since every stem in
-i- ought to have a metaph, plural, infra 146, II.
240 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
ougun, G. auge auge-n; Gó. &us.j čusön-a, O.H.G. Öra örun, G.
ohr ohr-en; Go. hairt-ö hairt-ön-a, O.H.G. hirza herzun, G. herz
herzem."
Summing up the results, we find that the plural in -en gained
no ground in the neuter, though it influenced the masculine to
a large extent, and was quite overwhelming in the feminine
gender.
§ 4. Plurals in -e without metaphony,
(143) This class was originally large, but became reduced
to scanty dimensions by the gradual influence of analogy: it
may be said to exclude all feminine nouns,” with the exception
of a few words in -sal and -nisz, which moreover were shifted
to the feminine gender and did not originally belong to it; all
original feminines adopted the weak plural, whereas masculines
and neuters generally gave way to the analogy of the meta-
phonical plural.
I. Masculines.—Final -e in the G. pl. is the exact
equivalent of the E. -s (-es)-plural,” with but this differ-
ence, that English extended the s after the analogy of the cases
in which it had been kept, whereas German suppressed it
everywhere after the analogy of the cases in which it had
become voiced and been dropped : in other words, the E. pl.
days being I.-E. *dhoghös and Preg. *čazós, the G. pl. tage no less
clearly suggests I.-E. *dhoghös unaccented, changed to Preg.
*öazöz, whilst Go. dagôs of course may represent either the one
or the other form. O.H.G. in consequence has sg. tag = Go.
dag-s, and pl. tagă = Go. dagös; but, as early as O.H.G., the
final vowel was shortened, thus taga, later on changed to the
duller sound of tag-e, where the -e was mistaken for the actual
plural-ending. So also: L. armus (flank), of which the regular
pl. is *armös, G. arm arm-e ; Gr. Tatos (path), regular pl.
*Taros, G. pfad pfad-e ; L. calamus, G. halm halm-e ; Sk. Gaphés
* Go. mamö has been shifted to the msc., and O.H.G. wanga (G. wange), to
the frn. On the other hand, emde emd is an old msc. in -yo- (Sk. &ntya-s).
* The regular plurals of erde, königin, etc., have been seen to be *erde,
*königimme, etc., like tage to tag. But they have disappeared.
9 And, therefore, of the so-called Gr. and L. second declension, supra
139, I.
NOUNS. ‘241
(hoof), pl. caphas, G. huf 1 huf-e; Sk. Crutás (heard), pl. grutés,
G. laut (sound) laut-e, etc.”
Had this class retained all the nouns which would regularly
have been comprised in it, that is to say, all the German sub-
stantives which etymologically belong to the same suffix-forma-
tions as Gr, and L. nouns of the so-called second declension,
it would have been an extremely rich one. But it was quite
overwhelmed by the influence of the metaphonical class * and
is now reduced to about sixty nouns, whereof:—a half, roughly
speaking, may be traced back, with certainty or at least great
probability, to I.-E. stems in -ā- (pl. -ós), in which therefore
this formation must be deemed primitive ;-a few others are of
undefined structure, as hund (dog), which may be a secondary
derivative, with suff. -tó-, from the I.-E. stem *kwn- (I.-E. *kun-
tó-s, Preg. *hun-Öa-z), or perhaps a mere corruption from the
originally consonantal stem *kun- (Sk, ºván- gun-, Gr. Küov
kvv-ós), in which latter case the pl. in -e is analogical *;-and,
lastly, words borrowed from L. (grad, punkt), to which the
plural in -e was applied by analogy,
English has nothing resembling this formation : people is not
a plural, but a collective singular; and, besides, the word is not
a Germanic one.
II. Neuters.-In this class the neuters correspond like
the masculines to the second Gr. and L. declension, the more
so since here there was no possibility of an s-plural. The type
is I.-E. *yugö-m, pl. *yugé, Sk. yugd-m yugé, Gr. Čvyó-v Čvyd, L.
jugu-m juga, Preg. *juká-m *jukö, whence Go. juk juka : final
Preg. -6 ought to have become O.H.G. -it, or to have been
dropped, according to a well-known distinction"; but, in point
of fact, it was dropped everywhere, after the analogy of cases
where it disappeared regularly, and we find O.H.G. joh, pl. joh,
wort, pl. wort (cf. Go. vaſºrd vaſºrd-a=L. verbum verba), jär, pl.
* O.H.G. huof, which presupposes a Preg. *háfaz = Sk. *gáphas.
* It is clear that such a formation cannot, any more than the plural in -en,
admit of metaphony.
* Infra 146, I. The Southern dialects have gone so far as to create the
plurals tig (e), ārm(e), and the like almost throughout.
* Such it is certainly in herzog-e for herzog-en, Supra 141, 2 and 5.
* Supra 34, § 1, II.
R
242 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
jār, fuir, pl. fuir (G. fewer, pl. fewer), and a great many similar
plurals."
This equivocal plural type subsisted during the whole O.H.G.
and nearly the whole M.H.G. period: a circumstance which
must have strongly favoured the analogical shifting of neuter
nouns to the metaphonical plural-formation in -er.” But,
though this shifting was carried out on a large scale, M.H.G.
in its later period also exhibits a tendency to add a final -e to
these plurals, under the obvious influence, either of the pre-
ceding masculine nouns, or of the demonstratives and adjectives
which occasionally accompany the neuter plural *; thus, the
formation gives Mod. G. joch joch-e, wort wort-e, jahr jahr-e, bein
bein-e,” etc. Besides the greater part of neuter collectives with
pref. ge-, mouns in -nisz (formerly masculine), and nouns in -sal
=I.-E. *-tlo-, contemporary German comprises under this head
about fifty neuter nouns, which according to their etymology
may be divided as follows:–a few which immediately corre-
spond to neuter nouns of second Gr. and Latin declension, as
schwein = L. swimum (adjective), werk = Gr. pyov, recht = L.
rectum ;--a great many nouns of possibly the same origin, as
thor (door), which would be Gr. *6, pov, cf. the fm. 6 ſpā, or rosz,
which can scarcely be anything but Preg. *hrossam (cf. E.
horse), pl. thor-e ross-e;—some words which doubtless underwent
an analogical shifting, as nt. heer = O.H.G. heri = Go. m.sc.
hanji-s, knie = Go. kniu = L. genu, Salz=L. m.sc. Sál =*sald;—
lastly, a few borrowed mouns, pferd (horse), pfund, nt. kreuz
(cross) = L. frn. Crua, fest (feast), etc.
1 Metaphony, of course, cannot occur here, and, in fact, appears nowhere,
but in words which already show it in the singular, that is to Say, in Words of
other classes which were analogically transferred into this ; namely stems in
-i-; meer = L. mare = *mani, pl. meer-e=L. mari-a; and the neuter collectives,
gestirn = g stirn-e, cf. 8wpra 96, I.
2 Supra 80, 137, and inf a 147: thus wort had a pl. wort-e, but also a pl.
wört-er, both exactly synonymous, though now a slight difference in meaning
is observed between them.
8 In such a combination as diese wort (these words), the final -e of diese
naturally intruded into wort-e.
4 The old plural, like the singular, survives in numeral locutions (vier
pfund, zehntausend pferd), because here there is no ambiguity. So also in
popular English (thirty year); cf. Wright, Dialect of Windhill, 337. And
even currently, ten pounds, but a ten-pound note.
NOUNS. 243
This very important class in German is represented in
English by only three plurals formed without -s : deer, pl. deer,
O.E. déor déor, O.H.G. tortior, G. thier thier-e; sheep, pl. sheep,
O.E. scèap scèap, G. Schaf-e ; swine, pl. swine, O.E. swin swin,
O.H.G. swin swin,” G. Schwein-e ; though the double (sg. and
pl.) sense of E. hair might well be due to its having been a
primitive neuter invariable in the plural number, cf. Mod. G.
haar haar-e.
§ 5. Metaphonical plurals with or without an -e.
(I44) Here, an apparent likeness, at first sight, between the
English and German plurals may be said to further emphasize
the curious and constant contrast which keeps the two lan-
guages apart. German has a great many metaphonical
plurals, Old English had some, and English has preserved six,
which correspond exactly to six German metaphonical plurals:
man men, foot feet, goose geese, tooth teeth, mouse mice, louse lice ;
cf. G. mann-er,” fisz-e, gåns-e, zähn-e, mäus-e, láus-e. And,
notwithstanding all these coincidences, the English and German
metaphonical plurals must be traced back, respectively, to quite
a different origin, as having nothing in common but the form,
and corresponding only by accident. This statement, strange
and paradoxical as it appears, will prove clear and natural to
any reader who bears in mind the chronological relation of the
two metaphonies, namely, that the English metaphony is much
older than the German, and therefore must have been occa-
sioned, in primitive O.E., by some suffix-syllables which in this
remote period could not yet produce it in O.H.G., whereas later,
that is, when German metaphony took place, these same sylla-
bles, being then completely dropped, could no longer produce it.
Hence, the E. metaphony is the proper characteristic of the
plurals of consonantal stems, while the German metaphony
takes its origin from the declension of stems in -i-. Both points
are easily verified.—A consonantal stem Preg. *föt- (foot) is
nomin. Sg. *ft-s, pl. *fét-iz=I.-E. *pdd-ès. Now, in primitive
* Also, though late and rare, swin-ir, tior-ir, cf. infra 147.
* Only in this word the G. ending differs, cf. infra 147, 4.
244 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
O.E., the i in the termination causes metaphony in the stem,
and we have pl. *feti, whence historical fät. Nothing of the
sort can happen in O.H.G. : the 5 remains unaltered in its
O.H.G. form uo (dat. pl. fuog-um), so that, after the plural-
ending had vanished, the nomin. pl. must have been *fuoż,
exactly like the nomin. Sg. (cf. the pl. man of O.H.G. man).
Afterwards, the word analogically passes to the declension of
stems in -i-, and we have O.H.G. pl. fuog-i. Finally, after
many more centuries, that is, in M.H.G., the new ending pro-
duces metaphony in the stem, whence Mod. G. fisz-e.—Let us
now take a primitive stem in -i-. Why should it not exhibit
metaphony in the E. plural P Plainly because it has it already
in the singular, so that the stem-vowel in the plural cannot
differ from the stem-vowel in the singular. A Preg. sg. *gastiz
is *gastiz in the plural: then, O.E. in *zastiz occasions the
metaphony in the stem, and disappears, whence O.E. sg. giest,
E. guest; now, whatever else may become of the plural, whether
O.E. regular *giest-e, or analogical giest-as, E. guest-s, the stem-
vowel appears the same in both numbers. But, on the con-
trary, in O.H.G., the final 7-syllable had vanished long before
it could cause metaphony in the stem, the word thus being Sg.
gast, pl. *gastī; in the latter, final 7 is shortened, *gasti, where-
upon it produces metaphony, gest: ; and thus comes the contrast
which is still seen in gast gåst-e.
(I45) A. English metaphony : consonantal stems.
I. Masculines.—The I.-E. stem *pód- (foot) is declined Gr.
sg. troës ºrds= *róð-s, pl. róð-es; on the other hand, we learn
from Sk, sg. pdd and pl. pdd-as that the long vowel in the
nomin. sg. may extend to the other cases, as, for instance, to
the nomin. pl., which might equally well be Gr. *Töö-es: this
is what happened in Preg, where we have sg. *föt-s, pl. *föt-iz,
In consequence, such languages as admit of an early meta-
phony, viz. O.N. and O.E., agree in showing here a metaphony
of the plural stem : fit-r, foºt-r (long oº); fat, fêt, whence E.
foot, feet. So also, we have an I.-E. stem *dónt- *dént- *dºt-,
meaning “tooth,” Sk. dánt-, Gr. 38oſs =*óðovt-s, L. dén-s-
*dent-s, etc. : the form *dónt-s produced Preg. *tánh-s, pl.
*tánb-iz, whence O.E. tdö tää, E, tooth teeth. The third plural
NOUNS. 245
of this class is due to analogy; for it is primitively a stem in
-o-, a secondary derivative from I.-E. *anan-u- (man, Sk, mān-
w-s), thus I.-E. *man-u-0-s “manwos (human, man), whence
Preg. *mannaz, O.E. man, mon, of which the plural is men =
*manniz, just as if the sg. were consonantal, E. man men. The
compound woman =wif-man, pl. women = M.E. wim-men = wif-
men, afterwards follows without difficulty.
II. Feminines.”—I.-E. had a stem *mis- (mouse), nomin. Sg.
*mºs=*mits-s, nomin. pl. *mits-às, Gr. 9:0s pºiſ-es, L. miſs mār-às,
consequently Preg. *mits *mis-iz, exactly represented by O.E.
Tmiſs mys, whence E. mouse mice. The same formation holds
for louse lice, though the word has no acknowledged kin.” Gr.
Sg. Xīv, pl. xiiv-es=*xãvor-es, similarly points to a consonantal
stem *gháns- (goose), sg. *gháns, pl. *gháns-ès,” Preg. *záns
*zóns-iz, O.E. gås (= "göns) gés, whence E. goose geese. And so
we have done with the English metaphonical plurals.
(I46) B. German metaphony: stems in -i-.
I. Masculines.—1. The I.-E. stems in -i- assume the normal
form -èy- before the plural-ending -ès: I.-E. *ghos-ti-s *ghos-
têy-ès, Sk. agní-8 (fire) agnéy-as, Gr. pºdivrt-s (prophet) pºdivres =
*pdvrees=*pdvrey-es, L. hosti-s hostěs =*hostěčs=*hostěy-ès, con-
sequently Preg. *gasti-z *gastīz, Go. gast-s gasteis, O.H.G. gast
gesti, G. gast gåste. To this class, in which the etymology
strictly requires the metaphonical process, belong such words
as balg (E. bellow-s) bālg-e, sang sång-e (Go. balg-S balgeis,
saggv-s saggveis), most probably also schlag schläg-e, wurf wirf-e,
and a few others.
2. As early however as O.H.G. this plural begins to spread :
first, to stems in -w-, Go. Swnws sunjus, but O.H.G. sumu suni,
* Neuter nouns, since they never could have had an ending -iz, do not
enter into the question.
* The c in mice and lice is an artificial spelling, intended to indicate a
voiceless sibilant sound. The two remaining plurals in -ce have nothing to
do with metaphony : dice is a mere graphic variety for “dies (cf. twice =
twies, supra 124, II., and the spelling ice = O.E. is a O.H.G. is = G. eis), the
ordinary pl. of the word die borrowed from French ; and pence is merely the
regular *penn(i)s, which lost its vowel when rapidly uttered. From this
again a new plural, some siapence-s.
* Which likewise occurs, but accompanied by a derivative suffix, in Sk.
háns-a-8 (Swan, goose), and L. anser (goose) = *hams-er.
246 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
now sohn Söhn-e ; next, to some stems which formerly ended in
-o-, Go. ast-s (= Gr. 3&os=*čaršo-s) astós, but O.H.G. ast esti, G.
ast Öste; to consonantal stems, O.H.G. zand zendi, fuo; fuo;3i,
G. 2ahn ziihne, fusz fisze, etc. As the language grows older,
the tendency grows stronger: O.H.G. still keeps stwol stuola,
hals halsa, scalk scalka, slāf slāſa, whereas Mod. G. has stuhl
stühle, hals hålse, Schalk schälke, schlaf schläfe, wolf wilfe, etc.
In short, the metaphonical plural has become the prevailing
formation for masculine monosyllables."
3. No less early it is occasionally found in some dissyllabic
nouns ending with a liquid : O.H.G. zahar (tear), pl. zahari,
now frn., with the metaphony transferred to the sg., and a new
weak plural, zähre zähre-n; O.H.G. aphul (E. apple), pl. ephili,
now apfel àpfel. Here the plural-ending is dropped altogether,
and there remains no other plural-sign but the metaphony: in
consequence of which, metaphony was mistaken for a plural-
sign and assumed this function in many other words. Thus,
the pl. to magel (nail) is still M.H.G. magel-e = Preg. *nazlöz, but
now nigel; so also Preg. *fuglaz (bird), pl. *fuzlóz, has become
G. vogel vögel. Further, in nouns of male relationship : O.H.G.
bruoder bruoder, fater fater-a “; but G. bruder brider, water väter.
Further, hammer himmer, acker ticker, etc.; then, for of n (Gr.
itvá-s), boden (E. bottom), hafen (a late borrowing), were formed
the metaphonical plurals öfen, būden, häfen, etc., whence, for
many words ending with a liquid or a nasal, metaphony alone
is now considered to be the proper plural-sign.
4. On the other hand, it may be seen from nagele above that
M.H.G. possessed a great many nouns with unaccented final
syllable, which formed their plural without metaphony, so that,
the plural-ending -e being once dropped, the pl. became exactly
like the sg. Several nouns afterwards swelled this class:
either such as were already metaphonical in the sg. (gårtner);
or such as contained a vowel which was no longer capable of
1 It must be understood that, if the vowel is not capable of metaphony in
M.H.G. and Mod. G. (berg, weg), or if it never was (fisch), then, of course,
both formations are outwardly identical, though historically distinguishable.
? It need scarcely be observed that this again is an irregular plural bor-
rowed from stems in I.-E.-0-.
NOUNS. 247
metaphony in M.H.G. or Mod. G. (degen) 1 ; or, lastly, such as
deserted a class in which no metaphony could primitively take
place (laden).” Now, this type likewise, though partly influ-
enced by the metaphonical class, held its own and even in-
creased : whence the pl. always like the sg. in adler = O.H.G.
adel-air “noble eagle,” sommer (cf. winter, where metaphony is
quite impossible), and generally in the nouns, denoting agent,
in -er, bohr-er, etc.”
II. Feminines.—1. The I.-E. plural, in stems ending in -i-,
is the same for feminine or masculine nouns: cf. Gr. pl. TóAets
like pövtets, L. pl. vestés like hostés, etc. G. haut (skin) hiwte
may be said therefore to reproduce the L. cwtis cutés. It is
chiefly in abstract nouns with suff. -ti-, that the process is
seen : O.H.G. maht mahti, G. macht máchte, and so also kraft
kräfte, kunst künste, etc. A great many of them, however, have
been seen to have passed to the weak declension.*
2. An early confusion, as often noted, took place between the
stems in -ti- and the stems in (primitive) -tu- : whence G. luft
(air) lifte, lust liste, etc.
3. Moreover, in O.H.G., the feminines, as well as the mascu-
lines, in -u- had adopted the -i-declension : O.H.G. hant (= Go.
hand-w-s) henti,” G. hand hānde.
4. This formation was extended to some frn. monosyllables
ending either with a consonant or a long vowel: gans giinse, magd
mägde, maus máuse, laws lăuse, macht ndchte, kwh kihe, saw stiue.
In a quite different class, the analogy of väter and brider gave
rise to mitter and tâchter, the only feminines which show no
other plural-sign but metaphony.
5. In spite of this slight expansion, the weak plural, as
stated above, got the upper hand, so that the feminine meta-
phonical plural is now reduced to about forty representatives."
* F. dague imported into late M.H.G.
* Supra 141, 4: pl. laden, but also the analogical läden.
* In the neuters with similar endings, fewer, femster, and the diminutives
in -chen and -lein, the result is naturally the same, the cause being slightly
different, though indeed of the same kind, supra 143, II.
4 Supra 142, II. 4.
* M.H.G. has also the weak declension, which still survives in the locution
vor-hand-en (ready, to be disposed of), literally “before the hands.”
9 For the sake of completeness may be mentioned a few irregular though
248. IFNGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
§ 6. Metaphonical plurals in -er.
(I47) Unless a neuter noun forms its plural in -e or -en
without metaphony, its regular plural-sign must be metaphony
and an ending -er. Such is the case for the great majority of
neuter nouns. After all that has been said of this curious
word-class,” very few further details are here required.
1. Let us consider the Gr. nt. Bpép-os (child, young animal),
gen. Spéºpovs=8pébeos =*3pép-co-os, pl. Boébm=|3pébea =*6pép-
eo-a. From a nearly identical root” might have been derived
an I.-E. nt. *gólbh-os, pl. *gólbh-es-à, which would become
Preg. *kálbaz, pl. *kálb-iz-5, O.H.G. chalb, pl. chelb-ir(-w) chelb-
ir, G. kalb kälber. So also, most likely, in lamb lembir, hºrind
hºrindir, huom huomir, G. lamm lámmer, rind rinder, huhn hihner,
ei eier, etc., the metaphonical plural is attributable to an I.-E.
-es-suffix.
2. O.E. has been seen to possess the equivalent forms, cealfru,
vombru. The pl. of cild, however, is cild, and cildru is excep-
tional. The latter type, being, as it were, pluralized anew by
the addition of the weak plural-ending, is now child-r-en, the
Only survival from this nt. class.
3. While English lost this characteristic formation, it became
largely diffused even in the earliest period of O.H.G. : thus,
from sg. grab, rad, holz, krät, etc., the pl. grebir, redir, holzir,
krütir, etc., now grāb-er, rād-er, hälz-er, kräut-er, etc. This end-
ing gradually gained ground and was considered the regular
one, whence Mod. G. bānd-er, wärt-er, bich-er, häus-er,” etc., etc.
easily explained forms: (1) the fim., with un-metaphonical pl., drang-sal and
trib-sal (formerly either nt. or msc.), and the fm. in -nisz (as kennt-misz),
formerly either msc. or nt. ; (2) on the contrary, four metaphonical neuters,
two of which, at least, are old masculines (chor chäre, flosz flösze), whereas
the two others may well proceed from analogy (rohr röhre, kloster klöster
borrowed from L.). Further details belong to ordinary grammar.
1 Supra 80, 90 (VIII.) and 117 (I. 4).
* It is only an approximation, the vocalic grade being different, and Ger-
manic showing an l instead of the Gr. 1'; but it must be understood that
Gr. 8péqos is quoted here only as a representative of an I.-E. neuter class
which is known to have comprised a great many primary stems.
* O.H.G. still possesses side by side the plurals his and hiſsir, bant and .
bantir. In German, if preserved at all (bande and bánder), the doublets
always assume different shades of meaning.
NOUNS. 249
4. The few masculines which follow this declension are only
slightly irregular : irr-thum and reich-thum, the only nouns in
-thwm, which have kept the msc. gender, borrowed their plurals
from the other nouns in -thum which had been shifted to the
nt. gender (supra 109, II.); msc. wald is probably an old neuter,
Gr. nt. &Agos (forest); msc. Gott is certainly a primitive neuter,
for Go. gub is nt. in the meaning “false god,” and O.H.G. abgot
has already the pl. abgotir; msc. mann, the regular pl. being
mann,” adopted an analogical plural to that of Gott, on account
of “God” and “men” being frequently opposed to each other;
and the same is probably the case with msc. geist (mind)=-Sk.
nt. hèdas (anger), to which msc. leib (body) was very often
opposed; the other words of this class (msc. rand, ort, wurm,
dorn, bāsewicht) are quite insignificant.
SECTION III.
CASES.
(I48) Though German preserves twice as many cases as
English, it has only four, and these moreover are often repre-
sented by the same external form. The nominative was the
subject of our preceding section. Here we have to examine
the accusative, genitive, and dative, in both numbers.
§ 1. Accusative.
(I49) Either primitively, or more commonly owing to pho-
netic decay, the Preg. accusative was, almost everywhere, either
like, or at least scarcely different from, the nominative : hence
it afterwards was quite blended with this case, in English
everywhere, and almost everywhere in German.
I. Singular.—l. Even in I.-E., the accusative of neuter
nouns is always and everywhere like the nominative.”
2. In msc. and fm. nouns, the accusative-exponent is an end-
ing -m, which remains -m if preceded by a vowel,” and becomes
* Kept in numeral locutions: vierzehn mann.
* Gr. To ºvyöv, Yévos, kpéas, etc.; L. jugum, genus, caput.
* Gr. Zirtro-v, x&pa-v, tróXt-v ; L. equo-m, terra-m, manu-m.
250 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
-ny if following a consonant." Since, in either case, the Ger-
manic laws require the final nasal to be dropped, the accusa-
tive, in most Gothic declensions, will be seen not to differ from
the nominative except by suppressing the nominative-sign -s”;
and, since this -s again has been lost in later languages, no
English declension, and scarcely any German one, keeps a dis-
tinct form for the two cases.
3. In one class, however, the two cases are to be distin-
guished, not of course by the accusative-ending, which is com-
pletely lost everywhere, but by the form of the declensional
stem : namely, in the L. type hom-6 hom-in-em, leg-iö leg-iön-
em, where the n has been seen to disappear in the nomin. Sg.
and to persist in every other case; in other words, in the Ger-
manic so-called weak declension. Gothic answers the L.
forms with nomin. gum-a, acc. gum-an, han-a (cock) han-an ;
and, in frn. nouns, tugg-6 tugg-ăn, häuh-e hāuh-ein, etc. O.E.
has likewise : gum-a gum-an, ow-a oa-an (Sk, whºs-à wh:$-án-am);
frn. tung-e tung-an, eorð-a eorð-an. Lastly O.H.G. : han-O han-
wn, has-0 has-wn, bot-O bot-wn, herizog-o herizog-wn, etc.; zung-a
zung-ăn, bluom-a bluom-ān, sunna summân, diorna (now dirne
“lass") diorniin, etc. But this regular formation of the weak
accusative suffered from several encroachments.
(a) As the accusatives everywhere else were like the nomina-
tives, M.E. effaced the distinction in this class also : E. Oa',
tongue, earth, etc.
(b) In the feminines in -à =-in, O.H.G. has already sup-
pressed it, that is to say, the form is optionally either höhi or
höhim in the nomin. and the acc., whereas Mod. G. has but höhe
in either case, hähen being confined to the plural. In other
feminines M.H.G. still preserves the distinction : acc. sg. die
zungen, etc. But, either from the analogy of feminines belong-
ing to a different class (erde, gabe), where the two cases could
not differ, or because such a form in the sg. was liable to an
* Gr. Iróð-a, troup.év-a ; L. ped-em, homin-em.—For the first case, compare
Go. vulf - L. lupu-m (nomin. vulf-s=L. lupu-s); for the second, Go. fot-wa
“fat-um = L. ped-em= *ped-m.
* And not to differ from it at all, when the nomin. has no case-sign (supra
137), as in Go. airpa (earth), acc. airpa (L. terra terra-m).
NOUNS. 251
undesirable confusion with the plural (acc. pl. likewise die zum-
gen), Mod. G. confined the ending -n to the latter number, and
the sg. is die zunge, frau, sonne, taube, dirne, nominative and
accusative alike, in all feminine nouns.
(c) A similar confusion being impossible in masculine nouns,
their declension remained by far the purer: most of them have
kept their regular accusative sg. (ochs-en, bote-n, hase-n, bauer-n),
indeed, it has even extended to some new words (christ-en,
philosoph-en, planet-en).” Yet a few are already known to have
been shifted to another declension, whence den hahn, den herzog,
etc. It happened even more frequently that a masculine noun
kept the weak declension in the plural, but assimilated its
accusative singular to the nominative; then, of course, the
weak forms are as completely lost in the whole sg., as they are
in feminine nouns: thus we have pl. die pfauen = L. pāvönes,
but no longer acc. sg. dem *pfauen = L. påvönem, the identity, as
it were, in (der) vogel = (den) vogel having here produced a
similar identity in (der) pfall = (den) pfau, etc.; and further,
though a German correctly says die bauern and den bauern, and
also die nachbaren, he will say den machbar like den mann. The
tendency to assimilation proved here stronger than the histori-
cal system of accidence, as shown even by the plural-forma-
tion.3 -
II. Plural.—1. The accusative of neuter nouns is even in
I.-E., and everywhere, exactly like the nominative.
2. In the msc. and fm, gender, the exponent for the acc. pl.
was everywhere an ending -ns (Sk, &vān =*áçva-ns, Gr. iTtrous
=*irtov-s, L. lupós =*lupó-ns), which is still visible in the
Gothic forms, viz. nomin. vulfös, acc. vulfa-ns.” But, either
after the analogy of the neuter nouns, or because the nomin.
and acc. of several declensions had become alike, owing to a
peculiar phonetic treatment of the nasal when following a long
1.
* Because acc. Sg. den boten was clearly distinct from acc. pl. die boten.
* Cf. supra 141, 3.
* The masculines of this class, that is to say, weak in the plural, but with-
out nasal ending in the singular, are about thirty : for a list, the reader may
refer to any grammar.
* Cf. Supra 128, I. : Go. påi = rot (ol), and pans = rows.
252 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
vowel,” Germanic speakers at an early period took to using the
former case for the latter,” so that they were blended together
as early as O.E. and O.H.G., and still more so of course ten
centuries later.
§ 2. Gemitive.
(I50) I. Singular.—The formation of the gen. Sg. was
rather complicated in I.-E., and probably even in Pregermanic ;
but it became analogically simplified in German and especially
in English. In order to understand it thoroughly, it will suffice
here to distinguish three main I.-E. terminations:—an expo-
nent -så, borrowed from the demonstratives, and used exclu-
sively with stems ending in -ā- (second Gr. and L. declension),
as I.-E. *wlqö-s (wolf), gen. *wlqè-sö (cf. Gr. Aćkoto=*Avko-orto),
whence Preg. nomin. *wulfa-2, gen. *wulfi-za ;—an ending -ós
or -ès, which appears very clearly in consonantal stems, Gr.
Troö-ós Kvy-ós, L. ped-is nec-is ;-lastly, a simple ending -s, which
results from the contraction of the preceding exponent with
the final I.-E.-à of feminine stems, Gr. ºp på juépā-s, archaic
L. escă-s for classical escoe, etc.—Observing at the outset that
every one of these exponents contained an s, let us enquire
what has become of them in Germanic.
1. German,—(a) In the last class, the s was but seldom
preceded by the accent * : hence, West Germanic dropped it
and the genitive here differed but slightly from the nomina-
tive: thus Go. airba, gen. aſ rhôs; but O.H.G. &rda, gen, Érda
êrdu èrdo. Since, on the other hand, feminines in -á formed a
majority of feminine nouns, analogy favoured this assimilation,
so that the genitive of frn. nouns, though still distinct from the
nominative in a great many O.H.G. words,” finally became
identical with it and the accusative. Weak feminines offered
a stronger and longer resistance, but gave way in their turn:
* Go. nomin.-acc. pl. airpäs (earths), tuggöns (tongues).
* Cf. the Gr. acc. tas tróAets, the L. nomin.-acc. mamās, ovés, etc.
* The first Gr. declension, for instance, chiefly consists of nouns accented
on the penult; nouns accented on the last syllable are here in a minority.
* Namely, for instance, in stems in -ti-, the i here being kept in the gen.
and causing metaphony: Go. anst-8 (favour), gen. ansteis (cf. Sk, agni-s
“fire,” gen, agnés); O.H.G. amst, gem. ensti.
NOTUNS. - 253
O.H.G. déro zungún, M.H.G. dére zungen, but Mod. G. der zunge,
der frau, etc."
(b) Whilst the weak feminines thus everywhere lost the n
of the oblique cases, the weak masculines preserved and even
propagated it. In fact, here, the genitival s was likewise pre-
ceded by an unaccented vowel; and, in consequence, from the
whole genitival ending, Gr. troup.év-os, L. homin-is, Go. hanin-s,
the n alone survived, the genitive being henceforth exactly like
the accusative, G. des ochsen, des boten, des herrn,” etc. Now,
we have seen that this class occasionally underwent a slight
decay: in the same way as acc. den hahn, den herzog, dem pfau,
den nachbar, etc., there were created the genitives hahn-s,
herzog-s, pfaw-es, machbar-s, etc., with a genitival -s imported
from the following class; an analogy which likewise reached
and completely swept away the weak declension of neuter
stems, auge-s, ohr-(e)s, instead of O.H.G. oug-en, Ör-en. As to
the rare genitives in -en-s, name-n-S, herz-en-s, we must beware
of classing them with the Go. genitives nam-in-s, hairt-in-s; for
O.H.G. and even M.H.G. drop the final -s here as everywhere
else. Gen. namen-s proceeds from the nomin. namen, which is
known to be an analogical type *; whereas herzens is an hybrid
product of two cumulative genitive-exponents (regular O.H.G.
and M.H.G. hèrz-en, and irregular Mod. G. herz-es), and schmerz-
ens, a later imitation of the hybrid herzens.
(c) In the ending -ē-sà, the s often followed an accented
vowel: I.-E. msc. *dhogh-6-så, nt. *yug-é-sà, whence Go. dag-i-s,
juk-i-s, G. tag-s, joch-s. The same was the case, very often,
with the ending in consonantal stems: Sk, pad-ás, Gr. Troö-ós,
* A gen sg. frauen is still found as late as Goethe, Herm. whd Doroth., IX.
* Supra 149, 3. More precisely, the O.H.G. gen.-dat. is hamin hanen,
while the acc. is hanon hanum ; but this difference has become lost in the
uniformity of unaccented syllables.—The reason must now have become ob-
vious, why weak masculines have all cases alike both in the sg. and pl.: it is
because, properly speaking, they have nowhere kept any case-sign or number-
exponent whatever. -
* Supra 141, 4: The spoken language even went farther : then were once
created the genitives knabens, rabens, etc.; but they could hardly survive,
since there was no nominative *knabem, *raben (cf. E. raven) to support
them.
254 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
O.E. f6t-es. Hence, particularly in all the masculine and neuter
nouns which correspond to the 2nd Gr. and L. declension,--a
remarkably rich class, West Germanic may be expected to
have, and actually has, an ending -es, O.E. daeg-es, word-es,
O.H.G. tag-es, wort-es; and this case-sign, which appeared to
be a most convenient one, easily became diffused. Thus,
O.H.G. has already lamb-es, chalb-es," gast-es, sun-es, and even
fater-es side by side with gen, fater. Next, this syllable -es,
often reduced to a mere -s, was gradually considered to be the
specific exponent of the gen. Sg. for all neuter nouns without
distinction, and for all masculine nouns, except those which
either adopted or regularly retained the weak declension.
2. English.-The latter process proved still far more widely
energetic in English. As early as O.E., every msc. and nt.
noun, unless of the weak declension, has a gen, sg. in -es
(dapg-es, word-es, giest-es, wyrm-es, sun-es,” fot-es, faedr-es side by
side with gen. foeder, frēond-es, lomb-es, etc.) *; whereas the
feminine nouns are free from contamination, and preserve the
old genitive, which differs but slightly from the nominative
(cearu “care,” sorg “sorrow,” lyft “air,” gen, ceare, sorge, lyfte),
and the weak declension, in the three genders, retains its nasal
exponent (gen. Oa'an, tungan, Čagan = O.H.G. ougen): to sum up,
O.E. is still much purer than Mod. German. But all these
varieties soon disappeared : even Chaucer knows but little of
a genitive formed without -es, which element, now spelled 's, is
added to the nomin. Sg. of any noun, including even feminine
nouns (mother's after the analogy of father's, queen's, wife's,
etc.), which theoretically ought not to have taken it, and never
have taken it in German.* The syntax and use of this genitive
belong to English grammar.
1 It need scarcely be observed that the only regular form would be “chelbir
(a dat. Sg. chelbir-e occurs once) = Preg: *kalb-iz-az, wherein final s, changed
to z, was regularly dropped, and medial s, likewise changed to z, had become
r; and so also, *lembir, etc. But lamb-es (now lamm-s) was derived imme-
diately from the nomin. lamb.
2 Rarer however than the regular suna, and much later.
8 E. day’s, word's, guest's, worm's, son's, father's, friend's, lamb's, with this
restriction however, that the genitive is now obsolete for nouns denoting
anything but a man or woman.
4. It must be noted, however, that in German also some feminine nouns
NOUNS. 255
(151) II. Plural.—1. Even without investigating the for-
mation of the I.-E. genitive plural, we are aware of the simple
fact, that it always substitutes, for the ending of the nomin. pl.,
another ending with final nasal, either -óm or -óm : Gr. iTTot
(horses) introv, Švyá (yokes) {vyöv, tróð-es troë-öv, L. ped-ös
ped-àm, etc. This nasal having vanished, there remained a
vocalic ending, not quite the same, to be sure, as that sounded
in the final syllable of the nominative," but not sufficiently dis-
similar to prevent the two being blended together when the
vowels were weakened ; and, since on the other hand the
O.H.G. nomin. pl. in -es had everywhere lost its consonant, the
two cases could no longer be distinguished from each other.
Hence arose the constant likeness of nominative, accusative
and genitive plural throughout the whole German declension.
2. It is a curious and singular exception, that English, poor
as it is in declensional forms, should appear in this single case
even richer than German; for it has secured a distinct genitive
plural, merely by transferring to the plural the case-sign of
the genitive singular. German could do without it, because
the article was a sufficient case-exponent ; but English, having
ceased to decline the article, would have been confined to the
use of a preposition. Hence, the genitive of child being child's,
it seemed a matter of course that that of children should
similarly be children’s.” Further, since in time almost every
E. plural became provided with an s, this ending was deemed
to represent at once both the number-exponent and the geni-
tival s, the actual form being fathers', mothers', sons', the only
distinction from the nomin. pl. being in the spelling.
§ 3. Dative.
(152) I. Singular.—The Germanic so-called dative is in
reality an old locative, which was formed by adding to the
adopted it, but only proper names, Clara-s, Maria-s, concurrently with
Mariä (Lat.), Marien and Mariems.
* Go. dagôs dagé, varirda vačirdé, gasteis gasté, etc.; O.E. dagas daga,
word worda, giestas giesta, etc.; O.H.G. tagã tago, wort worto, gesti gestio,
etc. (now, in both cases, tage, worte, gāste).
* We find the same process in Swedish, viz. nomin. Sg. fisk, gen. fisk-s,
nomin. pl. fisk-ar, gem. Jisk-ar-s.
256 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
stem the I.-E. ending -ì. When the stem ends in a consonant,
the case-sign is isolated and visible : Sk, pád-' (at the foot),
Gr. Troö-t, L. ped-e ‘=*ped-i, etc. If the stem ends with a
vowel, either -ó- or -ā, contraction gives a final diphthong :
Sk. dºvé (to the horse) =*áçva-i, Gr. oikot (at home), L. humi
(on the ground) = humoi, Go. vulfa (to the wolf) = Preg. *wulfai,
etc. The whole of the modern formation may be said to pro-
ceed from these simple premises.
1. In feminines in -à, the primitive diphthong still kept in
Gothic (airba, dat, airbái), became a simple vowel in O.E.
(cearu, dat. ceare) and in O.H.G. (€rda, dat. &rdu èrdo), where-
upon the final vowels, both in the nominative and the dative,
were weakened to the same form : G. erde. Analogy completed
the assimilation: the dative, as well as the genitive,” of
feminine mouns, was everywhere blended with the nominative,
even in stems in I.-E. -ti-, which formerly had a characteristic
metaphonical dative,” and in the feminine weak declension,
which, in consequence, no longer shows any trace of its old
nasal element in any case of the singular.”
2. On the contrary, masculine nouns, inasmuch as they re-
tained 5 or adopted the weak system, quite regularly exhibit
the nasal as the sole remaining case-sign (Go. han-in “to the
cock ’’= *han-in-i, cf. L. hom-in-e): whence we may say, that
the dative, in the German weak masculine declension, differs
from the nominative, and is identical with the accusative and
genitive, thus dem ochsen, dem herrn, dem bauern, etc.
3. In the case of the other masculine and all neuter nouns,
the influence of the dat. sg. in -0-? (2nd Gr. and L. declension)
prevailed and formed a new termination. To the Preg. type
*wulfai, Go. vulf-a (nomin. vulf-s) corresponded in O.E. and
1 Termed ablative ; but really locative in such locutions as in pede, etc.
2 Supra 150, 1 a.—The identity was regular in nouns denoting relation-
ship: nomin. muoter=I.-E. “mâtér, dat. muoter=I.-E. *mâtér-i.
& O.H.G. amst (favour), dat. ensti = Go. anstäi.
4 O.H.G. déru zwmgün, M.H.G. déré zumgen, G. der zumge. The last
survivals of a frn. or nt. dat. in -en are found in such locutions as awf erden
and von herzem.
5 Cf. Supra 150, 1 b. Of course, we have nt, dem auge, dem herze, msc.
dem hahn, etc. for the reason explained above.
NOUNS. 257
O.H.G. a duller ending, respectively wºulf-e wolf-e, which was
dropped in English, but spread in German. Now, after the
pattern of the regular datives, msc. tag-e = I.-E. *dhoghā-i,
fisk-e (also fisk-a), stuol-e, stein-e, nt. johhe-I.-E. *yugø-à, wort-e
(also wort-a), jār-e, lamb-e," etc., O.H.G. has the same types:—
in masculine stems in -i-, gast-e, for *gesti ;—in those in -u-,
sun-e ;—in those ending with a consonant, fater-e, etc.” So this
-e was added everywhere; but, being almost mute, it is now
suppressed in dissyllables in which the accent rests on the first
syllable (dem water, dem adler), and may also be dropped in any
other noun (dem sohn, dem joch, dem lamm). The main result
is a dative which scarcely differs from the nominative in all
classes except the weak declension.
II. Plural. — Several I.-E. cases in the plural number
(instrumental, dative, ablative) are formed by adding to the
stem a peculiar element, in which, though the vowel and final
may vary, the initial is always a labial consonant : Sk. -bhis,
-bhyas ; Gr. (Homeric) -$0 -q,w ; L. -bos, -bus. In Germanic,
as well as in Balto-Slavonic, the initial labial is an m, and the
form of the endings seems to have been -mi or -mis, -mii or
-miis.” The initial m is the only sound we need lay stress
upon, since the rest of the syllable naturally disappeared in the
Germanic languages; and we find that, however far we go
back, the case-sign for the dat. pl. is invariably an ending -m :
Go. daga-m, vačrda-m, airbó-m, gasti-m, sunu-m, bröbr-um, etc.;
O.E. dagum, wordum, cearum, giestum, sunum, faedrum, etc.;
O.H.G. tagum (tagom, whence also tagon, tagun), wortum, 3rdöm,
gestim (also gestin and gesten), Sunim (instead of sunum, analogi-
cally assimilated to the preceding), faterwm, muoterum, etc.
English has altogether lost this form. M.H.G. completed the
assimilation, by transferring to this case the plural-metaphony
exhibited by the other cases, and, final -m being further regu-
* With the restriction mentioned in 150, 1 c ; for, if the declension were
quite pure, the dative ought to be *lembir = *lamb-iz-i.
* By the way, observe the remarkable purity of the O.E. datives fêt,
friend, where the final -i has caused metaphony ("fjt-i, *f, Čond-i).
* Still in Mod. Russian: slöv-0 (word), pl. slov-4, dat. pl. slov-Č-m(ii),
instrum. pl. slov-d-mi, etc.
S
258 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR. .
larly changed to -n, the whole process may be summed up in
the simple rule :
The dative plural is formed by adding an ending -n to the
ordinary plural-form, unless this already ends in -n.”
1 Supra 39, I. 1, in fine.
* It must be observed that a great many proper names, of feasts or places,
are historically traced back to old dative cases, which have become invari-
able in this shape, because they were more frequently used than the corre-
sponding nominatives; for it stands to reason that we should have more
occasion for saying “about Easter-tide,” or “he is in London,” than for
saying “Easter is a great feast,” or “London lies on the Thames,” etc.:
whence, such German words as Ostern (E. merely Easter = O.E. &astre),
Pfingsten, Weihnachten, etc., geographical names as Meyringen (a very
common type), etc. (In Unterwaldem, the second term is a dat. pl. governed
by the first term.) A parallel English type to Meyringen is Canterbury, the
second term being the dat. Sg. of borough, Supra, 65, 5.
CEIAPTER III.
ADJECTIVES.
(153) Every German adjective is capable of two de-
clensions, which, as is well known, are used in distinct
syntactical combinations. Further, the adjective, when used
as a predicate, is invariable, or incapable of receiving any
exponent, either of gender, or number, or case : msc. sg. der
mann ist blind; frn. die frau ist blind; nt. das kind ist blind;
acc. er machte ühm blind; pl. die minner sind blind, etc.
The English adjective is always invariable : a blind
man, a blind girl, a blind dog, the blind men, etc., like the man is
blind, etc. Now, in order to understand how this twofold, or
even threefold system could proceed from one and the same
primitive declension, we must first distinguish the declined
and invariable adjective.
Such a distinction, though already existing in Pregermanic,
was quite unknown to the I.-E. language. The Sk, Gr. and
L. adjective, for instance, agrees with the noun it qualifies, in
whatever grammatical construction they may be found: L.
pater est bonus, like bonus pater, etc. And, again, the declension
of the adjective in these languages has no peculiar character,
except that it is capable of the three genders; that is to say,
an adjective is declined in the same way as a noun, provided
they be of the same gender: Gr. ka?.6s kakſ, ka).óv, just like
itritos keſha)\# pyov ; L. bonus bona bonum, in the same way as
dominus terra jugwm, etc."
* The adjectives we are here dealing with are only those which belong to
the so-called (Gr. and L.) 2nd and 1st declension ; for this declension is the
only one preserved for adjectives, in Germanic, and it has extended so far
beyond its limits as to overwhelm any other: thus, the comparatives (G.

259
260 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
Hence we infer, at the outset, that Pregermanic has com-
pletely altered the primitive type, whereas English again shows
not even the slightest trace of the Pregermanic declension.
Let us now proceed to explain this simple evolution.
SECTION I.
DECLINED ADJECTIVE.
(154) The old I.-E. type bonus bona bonum is not dead in
Germanic : it still survives in the invariable adjective. But,
side by side with this ancient declension, analogy had created
two other systems, which may be traced back to Pregermanic,
and which survived into Mod. German, becoming in the latter
the double, so-called strong and weak, declension of the
adjective when used as an attribute to a following noun, viz.
blind-er mann, and der blind-e mann.
The general rule for the use of either declension, in Go.,
O.E. and O.H.G., is nearly the same as in Mod. German,
namely: if the adjective is not preceded by a demonstrative
(article or the like), it supplies the place of the missing demon-
strative, and assumes the demonstrative endings, or, in other
words, the case-signs of the strong declension ; but, if the
demonstrative precedes, and sufficiently indicates the gender,
number, and case, then the adjective assumes uniform and
simplified endings which belong to the weak system.
§ 1. Strong Declension.
(155) The fact is, that the so-called strong adjectival
declension merely proceeds from an analogical adaptation, to
the adjectival stem, of the endings which were originally the
property of the definite article and similar demonstrative
words: an extension logically justified, since the adjective
resembles the demonstrative so far as both are accessories to
the noun. Hence, most of the Go, endings which have occurred
|
besser), though actually consonantal stems, are declined with the case-
endings of their positives (G. aut), whereas in Greek and Latin they regu-
larly retained their primitive (3rd) declension.
|
AIDJECTIVES. 261
above in the declension of the article also became attached to
the Go. adjective, whilst in O.H.G. the likeness is even more
striking and almost complete. The reader need but compare
with the earliest declension of the article that of the O.H.G.
adjective, as given below:
Singular. Plural.
IIlsC. frn. nt. IſlSC. fm. nt.
N. blint-êr blint-iu blint-a; blint-e blint-o blint-int
A. , -07? , , -0. 25 -a 3 , , -6 , , -0 32 - it
G. , -es , , -era | y, -és , -el'O | , , -ero , , -67’O
D. , -emu , -eru , -emu , -ém , -ém , -ém *
Further, remembering the duller sound of modern final syl-
lables, the change of final m to n, and the analogical processes
stated above for the article, we shall easily understand the con-
temporary type and may even dispense with transcribing it,
since it exactly corresponds to the article.”
O.E. possessed a similar declension.” How it was lost in
English, will be explained when we come to the invariable
adjective.
§ 2. Weak Declension.
(I56) In order to trace back to its origin the adjectival
weak declension, we have but to note one historical fact, namely
that, side by side with a great many adjectives in -o-s -ă -o-'m
(L. type bonus bona bonum), there existed other adjectives, with
the same meanings, wherein the suffix-element was -ēn- or -ón-,
the common and familiar formative syllable which loses its m
in the nomin. Sg, and retains it everywhere else. Thus, in
Greek, side by side with pāyos (glutton), we have bayºv (glut-
ton), the plural of the latter being bayóv-es, and of the former
simply payoff. Thus also, in Latin, catus (wise, sensible), and
the doublet *cató, which may be assumed from the proper
name (nickname) Cató, gen. Catónis. Further instances are :
* Sg. also -emo, -ero ; pl. also -ēn.
* Cf. supra 128–131. The only difference is nomin.-acc. sg. nt. -es instead
of -as = O.H.G. -ag.
* And even as late as Shakespeare we find an adjectival genitive plural,
alder-liefest “dearest of all,” which corresponds to G. aller-liebst, and would
be O.E. eal, a léofesta.
262 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
Gr. aiffés (soot-colour) attov, effeXmpás (willing) éðexàuov,
oùptivuos (heavenly) Oüpavioves (the gods), ortpagós (squint-eyed)
otpaşov Xtpd/3ov (proper name), etc.; L. (multi-)bibus bibó
(drunkard), rebellis (from bellum “war”) rebellić, scelerus
(felon) scelerö, susurrus (murmuring) susurró, etc. Now, sup-
posing analogy to create other such doublets after these pat-
terns, and that any adjective may assume a form either without
or with a nasal suffix: Latin, for instance, along with bonus,
probus, prāvus, niger (pl. boni, probi, prāvī, nigri), would exhibit
the synonymous adjectives, *bonó, *probó, *pravà, *nigró (pl.
bonān-es, *probón-ès, *pravón-ès, *nigrón-ès), and so forth, all
interchangeable.
This is precisely what happened in Pregermanic. Besides
the strong form, which is declined after the demonstrative,
every Gothic adjective has a weak form, which is declined, if
masculine, like hana, if feminine, like tuggö, if neuter, like àugö,
which nouns are well-known to be the Germanic representatives
of the I.-E. stem-formation with suffix -on- *; and the same cor-
respondences are rigorously reproduced in O.E. and O.H.G.
English lost the weak declension in its adjectives as well as
in its nouns. But, on the contrary, the German adjectives
retained it even with more vigour and purity than the nouns
themselves. For the latter have been seen to keep the regular
ending -en only in the plural of the three genders and in the
masculine singular declension, whereas, in the adjectives, this
ending characterizes, quite regularly, any oblique case of any
gender, whether plural or singular: thus, we find gen, des auges
and dat. dem auge, for des augen and dem augen ; but always
gen. Sg. nt. des guten, and dat. Sg. nt. dem guten; so also, gen.
dat. Sg. der zunge, for der zungen ; but gen, dat. Sg. frn. der
guten, etc. This strictly coherent system suffered encroachment
in one point only, that is, the acc. frn. Sg. was assimilated to the
nominative,” owing to the preceding demonstrative having be-
come the same in both cases: O.H.G. nomin. Sg. diu blinta, acc.
dea blintin; M.H.G. nomin. diw blinde, acc. die blinden ; but
Mod. G. die blinde in either case.
1 Supra 74, 140–142, 150 and 152.
2 The acc. nt. Sg., of course, can never differ from the nominative.
AIDJ ECTIVES, 263
SECTION II.
INWARIABLE ADJECTIW E.
(157) The English invariable adjective and the adjectival
form which is commonly called “unflektiert” in German
grammar, were both originally declensional forms, and primi-
tively no less variable than any that have occurred above. But
this flexion no longer appears, because phonetic laws effaced
most of their endings, and analogy afterwards disposed of the
remainder.
§ 1. In German.
Let us return to the original type represented by L. bonus
bona (=*bonā) bonum. After the loss of final s or m together
with the preceding vowel, both masculine and neuter as-
sumed an indifferent form, the phonetic equivalent of which
may be seen in F, bon, thus O.H.G. guot, blint, etc. The primi-
tively long final vowel in the feminine, shortened in late Pre-
germanic (Go. blind-a), was destined to disappear in West
Germanic, at least when the preceding syllable was long, as is
the case with these two adjectives and with many others, thus
frm. guot, blint, etc. Now O.H.G. analogically lost this termin-
ation even when the preceding syllable was short, so that the
form of the adjective in the nominative singular became the
same for the three genders.
Since this form is historically a declined one, no less than
the so-called forms of strong or weak declension, it is but na-
tural that it should appear fit for the same use and be con-
strued in the same sentences, without any noticeable difference
in the earliest documents. Hence O.H.G. has either : blintér
man, or blint man; blintiu magad, or blint magad; blintaº, kind,
or blint kind, etc. And, no less optionally, even : dér man ist
blintér, or blint; diw magad ist blintiu, or blint; da; kind ist
blintaş, or blint, etc. As early, however, as this period, there
may be observed a slight tendency to decline the qualificative
adjective rather than the other, and to assign the invariable
form to the predicative in particular.
264 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
Next, from this increasing tendency, arises a new conse-
quence: the speaker being now accustomed to keep the adjective
invariable in gender, began to make it invariable also in num-
ber. The plural, indeed, is still required in the construction
blinte man," but the agreement is optional in the sentence die
nan Sint blinte, or blint; and similarly, in the three genders.
Lastly, that artificial regulation occurred, by which any
language, sooner or later, aims at making the most of its
resources. M.H.G., it is true, still often uses the invariable
adjective as an attribute,” but rarely shows the variable form
in a predicate.” And this adventitious distribution gradually
became the modern German rule: the qualificative adjective
agrees with its noun; the predicative adjective is always
invariable.
§ 2. In English.
It is somewhat surprising to find that the so-called invariable
adjective is less invariable in O.E. than in O.H.G. : of course,
since the phonetic law applies equally to the whole West Ger-
manic group, the type göd, blind, etc., here also, is the same for
the three genders in the singular; but, when the preceding syllable
is short, O.E. regularly keeps the feminine ending, and declines,
for instance, msc. blacc, frn. blac-w, nt. blacc, forms now replaced
by E. black, and even in O.H.G. by msc. frn. nt. flah (flat).
The later process is quite plain: the same analogy that had
corrupted the O.H.G. declension entered into action in M.E.
and thus an invariable adjective black was formed on the
pattern of the regularly invariable good. On the other hand, it
must be observed that the analogy of the demonstratives, either
in O.E. or in Go., had never affected the nominative of the de-
clined adjective : in other words the O.E. strong declension had
nothing like the G. nomin. blind-er blind-e blind-es, so that the
adjective, either as predicate or attribute, had no other form
but göd in the three genders for the nomin. Sg. The corre-
* It must not be forgotten that the pl. to man is regularly man.
* Rural dialects and popular speech still retain this use, which is likewise
illustrated by many geographical names, as Newburg, Neukirch, etc.
* A survival is found in the adj. voll, still declined, though a predicate, in
such sentences as der ort war voller leute.
ADJECTIVES. * 265
sponding plural forms were msc. göd-e, frn. god-a, nt. göd, the
latter again like the singular ; the primitive plural sign -8,
which as a rule was omitted in the feminine, had been lost in
the masculine, as it had also disappeared in the nominal G.
type tag-ă (tag-e); and there was no reason for analogy to re-
store it in the adjectives as it had restored it in the nominal
declension : in short, all circumstances conspired to a complete
levelling of the adjective in the nominative of the three genders
and the two numbers, whence the indifferent form good.
Now there remained the other cases and the forms of the
weak declension. But in all these also the final syllables had
become obscured ; and, since the old distinction of cases had
perished in demonstratives and nouns, it could not be expected
to survive in adjectives, as there it was even less needed, the case
being always indicated either by the noun itself” or else by a
preposition. Hence the English adjective has kept no flexional
forms but an analogical plural in -s which appears when the
word is used substantivally (the good-s).” In any other position,
whether qualificative or predicative, the English adjective is
altogether invariable.”
* English, for instance, in the good wife's, expresses the case quite as
clearly, as it would by the “gooden wife’s, or as German by its threefold
case-ending des guten weibs. Cf. however the archaic and still used locution
in the olden times.
* So also eatable-s, etc., but the wise = the wise men ; in M.E. the other is
still plural, now the others; and the plural the . . . ones is even later.
* For comparatives and Superlatives, adverbs, and other points which are
usually dealt with in connection with the adjective, the reader must be re-
ferred to our Second Part, especially 80, 90, 111, etc.
CHAPTER IV.
PRONOUNS.
(I58) The I.-E. Pronouns must be divided first into two
great classes: Demonstrative and Personal Pronouns.
The declensional system of the two classes is quite different.
But their main distinction lies in the following fact : the
demonstratives, theoretically, agree in gender with the person
or thing which they determine or represent, whereas the per-
sonal pronouns do not mark any difference in sex. Thus, in
Latin, msc. ille, frn. illa, nt, illud, but ego “I,” tº “thou,” in-
differently for the three genders.
The latter distinction holds good, in English 4 as well as in
German, for the pronouns of the first and second person, and,
in German alone, for the reflexive pronoun; while the third
person is an exception in both languages, the so-called pronoun
of the third person being really an old demonstrative used for
this purpose.”
SECTION I.
1) EMONSTRATIVES.
(159) The general paradigm for the declension of every
I.-E. demonstrative is that of the stem *tó-, which has become
the Germanic article. Since this system has already been
* But here the contrast disappears, because the demonstrative has also be-
come invariable in gender. It will be seen to have varied in O.E.
2 Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, and even Mod. Russian agree in showing no
other personal pronouns, except those of the 1st and 2nd person and the
reflexive, which primitively represented all three persons, as it still does in
Russian. Cf. infra 166.
266
PRONOUNS. 267
studied and has not suffered change, either in German, or in
the scanty relics of a demonstrative declension which English
has retained, we need no longer dwell upon it. It will be
sufficient to point out, as they occur, a few interesting pecu-
liarities which present themselves in the different classes of
demonstratives, namely:—demonstratives (either adjectives
or pronouns) properly so-called;—interrogative and indefi-
nite pronouns;–relative pronouns.
§ 1. Demonstratives properly so-called.
(160) I.-E. was well furnished with demonstratives of
various forms and meanings; but most of them were lost in
Pregermanic, and the whole of English and German demonstra-
tives might be said, with one exception, to proceed from a single
primitive pronoun, either shifted in its form, or altered in its
meaning.
1. O.E. Öé-s à éo-sº-s, and E. this in the three genders; O.H.G.
dèse désiw diº, and G. dies-er dies-e dies-es' : demonstrative for
things close at hand.--This word was originally a mere juxta-
position of the ordinary demonstrative and an indeclinable
particle -se,” as still clearly shown by the O.E. declension. In
German, this inward declension is but partly visible, having been
replaced by an outward declension imitated from the endings of
the declined article; that is to say, the indeclinable particle
adopted the case-signs, whilst the declinable stem lost them.”
Lastly, in English, every trace of a declension was swept away,
and nt. this serves for all genders. The O.E. pl. is Yā-s, and,
with a slight vocalic shifting, Öae-s, which respectively became
E. those and these: the latter is retained as the invariable plural
of this, whereas the former now belongs to another system.
2. Go. jáin-s; O.E. geon and E. yon ; O.H.G. jen-èr, etc., and
G. jen-er jen-e jen-es: demonstrative for distant objects.-This
pronoun is of doubtful origin and belongs exclusively to the
* The regular form dies remains still in use as a neuter pronoun: dies mag
wohl sein = this may well be. O.H.G. m.sc. Sg. also désér, frn. Sg. also disiu.
* As in F. celui-ci, celle-ci, ce-ci.
* Such confusions are not at all rare in pronominal declension ; cf. F.
pl. quelconques, which ought to be "quels-conque = L. quales-cumque.
268 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
Germanic group. Besides it is nearly obsolete in English,
though used in poetry; compare however yon-der and be-yon-d.
3. E. that : usual demonstrative for distant objects.—It is
the neutral form of the ordinary demonstrative (article)," now
stiffened in an invariable shape which serves for all cases
and genders. The Mod. E. pl. is those, in reality a plural of this
and a mere phonetic doublet of these. Popular English still
shows a trace of the old dative : in them days.
4. G. der-selb-e, “this (pronoun), he,” literally “the same,”
die-Selb-e, das-selb-e, pl. die-selb-en, etc., obviously, a purely
Syntactical juxtaposition, wherein, as a matter of course, the
demonstrative showing the strong forms, the adjective assumes
the weak terminations. This adjective, Go. Silba, O.N. sialf-r,
E. self, is a stem of uncertain etymology, which, in the Ger-
manic family, plays the part of a pronoun denoting identity,
and is further combined with personal pronouns.
5. G. der-jenig-e,” etc., the demonstrative which precedes a
relative pronoun : a syntactical juxtaposition of the article
with an adjective derived from the demonstrative jen-; whereas
English in this construction merely uses he in the singular and
those in the plural.
§ 2. Interrogative and Indefinite Pronouns.
(161) Both the interrogative and indefinite pronominal
categories are expressed by the same I.-E. stem, either a stem
in -o- or in -i-, characterized by an initial q, thus I.-E. *q6- and
*qī-, whence further: Sk, ká-s (who?), frn, ká, nt, kā-m, and
ci-d indefinite particle; Gr. stem Tó-, with its many forms, troë
(where P), tróðev (whence P), tróre (when P), trós (how P), and
ti-s (who?), fm. Tí-s, nt. Ti-ºri-8°; L. quo-, stem of the pro-
noun qui quae quo-d, and qui-, stem of the pronoun qui-8 (who?),
qui-d (what ?), etc. To these, the Preg, corresponding forms
naturally were *hwá- and *hwā-, the former surviving as an
1 Go. pa-t-a, supra 128 and 130, 1.
2 Which replaced the simpler O.H.G. dér jenär.
3 The unaccented forms, trov, Trore, tra, rus, ti, are indefinite adverbs or
pronouns; and so also L. quis quid. -
PRONOUNS. 269
isolated pronoun, the latter as the first term of a compound,
both interrogative and indefinite.
1. Go. msc. hwa-s, frn. hwö, nt. hwa, declined like the demon-
strative, but without any plural. form; O.E. msc. hwā, nt.
hwae-t, and E. who what, no feminine or plural ; O.H.G. msc.
hwā-r, nt. hwa-3, and G. wer was, no feminine or plural.—Here,
exceptionally, English retains almost the whole declension,
viz.: gen. Sg. whose = O.E. hwæ-s; dat. Sg. whom = O.E. hwā-m =
Go. hwa-mma, shifted moreover to the accusative-meaning
instead of regular O.E. h.wo-n-e = Go. hwa-n-a. But the nt. is
invariable, and admits of no other form but what (like that =
Go. ba-t-a) for all cases."—German has the four cases: wer
was, wen was, wessen, wem. The regular gen. is O.H.G. hwö-s,
M.H.G. w8s, kept in the juxtapositions wesz-wegen, wesz-halb,
etc., whereas wess-en is a recent and pleonastic form, created
by subjoining to the old genitive a new genitive-ending of weak
declension. The dat, wen, like the acc. wen, may only refer to
a person. -
2. Go. hwi-leik-s, a compound of the stem *hvi- and the Preg.
adjective *lika- (like),” literally “to whom or what alike P of
what sort P which P”; O.E. hwylc and E. which invariable;
O.H.G. w8-lich-, and G. welch-er welch-e welch-es. The Mod.
G. locution was für, which often replaces the interrogative
adjective, must be interpreted thus: was hast du für ein kleid 2
“what hast thou for, instead of a garment P” whence “what
garment do you wear P”
Further, the indefinite meaning may be emphasized by adding
to these pronouns such adverbs or particles as E. ever, so ever
(whosoever), G. je, irgend.” But these syntactical constructions
have nothing to do with declension.
* The analogical process here is quite plain : with whom (dat.) have you
been * being regular, and the dative being next used for the acc. in such a
Sentence as whom have you seen 3, the regular construction what have you
seen 2 naturally produced the fourth term with what . . . 2 For acc.
whom, see below 164, I. 4.
* Cf. Supra 110, I., and compare Go. spa-leik-s (sva =E. so = G. so), E.
such, G. solch (L. tilis “such,” qualis “which ").
* O.H.G. io wer-gin : io, the particle which has become G. je ; wer,
identical with E. where; and -gin, the same as Go. -hun and L. -cum- in
qu?-cum-que (whoever). So also, immer= O.H.G. i0 mór (now je mehr), and
ever = O.E. ac-fre = *a-mre.
270 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
§ 3. Relative Pronouns.
(162) The so-called relative pronouns, which introduce a
subordinate sentence, cannot be properly said to have existed
in I.-E. times; in origin, they appear to be in all the I.-E.
branches either old demonstrative or old interrogative-inde-
finite pronouns, afterwards adapted to this new function. Thus,
the Gr. article is also the relative pronoun in Homer and
Berodotus, and even the ordinary relative, Śs # 6, shows some
traces of its original demonstrative value. In Latin, on the
other hand, it is the interrogative-indefinite stem that plays
the part of the relative pronoun, qui quae quod. The E. and G.
relatives are taken from both sources concurrently.
1. G. der die das, identical with the article, demonstrative
used as relative. In the latter function, however, and not
earlier than Mod. German, the pleonastic process described
above has developed some new case-forms with redundant end-
ings: gem. m.sc. Sg. dess-en, gen, frn. Sg. and gen. pl. der-en der-er,
dat. pl. den-en, as if the regular monosyllables seemed too short
to express clearly what the speaker meant."
2. E. that, identical with the demonstrative (neuter article),
used as relative in all genders and numbers, though keeping
its etymological value, inasmuch as it stands only for a nomina-
tive or accusative and is never governed by a preposition.”
3. E. who (gen. whose, dat.-acc. whom), primitively interro-
gative-indefinite, used as relative for both numbers and both
the msc. and fm. gender, never neuter. Its neuter what never
assumes the relative function.
* Supra 161, 1. Used also as a demonstrative pronoun (not adjective):
dessen, “ of him, his ’’; es gibt derer zwei, “there are two of them.”—It is
only use that gradually assigned to each of these forms a peculiar and
distinct function : as late even as Goethe we find der for the gem. frn. of the
relative pronoun, and on the other hand, as late as Klopstock, derer is used
even for the gen. pl. of the simple article. There existed besides a common
dat. Sg. derem, which has become obsolete, d rem being exclusively assigned
to the genitival function, whereas der was used exclusively for expressing
the dative. The same and very late distinction has been drawn between
derem (now exclusively gen, frn. Sg.) and derer (now exclusively gen. pl.),
which once stood indifferently for each other.
* Further, that and dasz as conjunctions, supra 130, 1.
PRONOTUNS. 271
4. E. which invariable, and G. welch-er welch-e welch-es, usual
relative pronoun, the same as the interrogative-indefinite.
We need not deal here with the ellipse of the relative pro-
noun, which is common in English."
The various pronouns which have been purposely excluded
from this summary require but little etymological explanation.
Some have already appeared in the Study of Sounds”; at any
rate, they belong rather to the province of the Dictionary than
to that of Grammar properly so-called.
SECTION II.
PERSONAL PRONOUNS.
(163) In this class, we have to distinguish the pronouns
of the three persons in both numbers, the reflexive
pronoun, which theoretically knows no distinction in number,
and lastly the possessive pronouns and adjectives, as
being, in both languages, peculiar forms or derivatives from
the corresponding personal pronouns.
Even in the earliest period, the primitive personal pronouns,
that is to say, those of the first and the second person, are re-
markable for the fact that they are not declined on a
single stem, like most demonstratives, and thus they often
assume different shapes, not only in passing from the sg. to the
pl.,-as may be seen in L. ego and nös, til and vös, but from
one case to another in the same number, from nomin. Sg., for
instance, to acc. sg. in L. ego and mé.–Germanic and, in con-
sequence, English and German reproduce all these peculiarities.
§ 1. First Person.
(164) I. Singular.—l. The probable I.-E. nominative was
*egóm, Sk. ahám, Gr. )0, L. ego, Preg. *ik(a), whence: Go. ik,
* The relative was likewise often dropped in O.H.G. : Fater unseer, thū
pist in himile (in the so-called “St. Galler Lord’s Prayer”). It must be
borne in mind that the relative is but a slightly modified demonstrative;
and a demonstrative never need be used when the sentence can do without it.
* Refer to the Alphabetical Indexes of Words.
272 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
O.E. ic, M.E. ich and E. I, O.H.G. il, and G. ich. These present
no difficulty.
2. Accusative. — Of the many accusative-forms of the
primitive stem, the simplest (I.-E. *mé) may be inferred from
Gr, p.6 or på, which is often accompanied by a strengthening or
emphatic particle, thus éué-ye, like nomin. Éyo-ye, “as to me.”
The parallel form I.-E. *mé-ge has become the Germanic accu-
sative, Preg. *mi-k(i), Go. mik, O.E. me-c mé ºne and E. me
(short because unaccented), O.H.G. mi-h and G. mi-ch.
3. The Go, genitive is meina, and really belongs, not to the
personal pronoun, but to the possessive, as given below." O.E.
answers with min, lost in English. O.H.G. likewise has min,
which as late as Mod. German * assumed a redundant case-sign
and became pleonastically mein-er, by adding to mein the
regular termination of the corresponding gen. pl. uns-er.
4. The puzzling Go. dat. mis cannot be traced back to any
primitive type, and seems to have been formed after the analogy
of a (lost) dat. pl. *nis = Sk. nas. According as the final s (2)
was merely dropped, or changed to r, we have now : O.E. mé
and E. me, blended with the accusative *; O.H.G. mir, G. mir.
II. Plural.4–1. The curious nomin. pl. with initial w is
common to Sk, and Germanic (Sk, vayám, Go. veis), whereas
it occurs nowhere else: it has become O.E. w8 and E. we,
O.H.G. wir and G. wir *; compare me=mir.
2. Accusative. — The initial syllable of the oblique cases
clearly proceeds from an I.-E. nasal vowel, either p or m,
which again is simply the reduced grade of the stem exhibited
in its normal grade by Sk, nas “us” (cf. L. nás), or by Gr, pºé
* It is a case-form of it, but which case ? The question remains open ;
perhaps a weak msc. nominative, elsewhere obsolete, and surviving here in
this shape. At any rate, the use of the possessive in the function of genitive
to the personal pronoun (“my’’ instead of “ of me”) is everywhere common :
thus, in L., mùs has the gen. Mostrum nostri, and even mei, the gen, of ego, is
probably identical with mei the gen. of meus.
2 The pure form survives in the compound vergisz-mein-nicht (the flower).
3 This confusion further caused the two cases to be confounded in the
interrogative-indefinite declension, supra 161, 1.
* In all these declensions, Go. and O.E. had also retained some dual-
forms; but O.H. G. has lost the dual.
* Dialectal (Alam.) mir imitated from the singular-stem.
PRONOUNS. 273
(cf. L. mé). The plural Sk, and Gr. forms moreover require a
particle 4 to be inserted between the stem and the endings:
I.-E. *º-smé-; Sk. (ablative) a-smá-d; Homeric Gr, acc. dpipe =
*ā-opé-; Attic jué's for *āpés (long a) = *ā-opé-s. But Pre-
germanic has merely *uns = **s, as attested by Go. uns. In
O.E. and O.H.G., the analogy of the acc. sg. caused a new
ending to be added to this simple form : O.E. iisic =*uns-ic, and
O.H.G. whs-îh. O.E. iis, however, which survived concurrently,
afterwards became the prevalent form : E. us; and so likewise
G. uns.
3. Genitive.—Go. unsara is a case-form of the corresponding
possessive, like meina : O.E. iiser, syncopated to ire, lost in
English; O.H.G. wºnsér and G. unser.
4. Dative.—On the primitive basis uns, Gothic had con-
structed, after the analogy of sg. mis and of the pl. pronoun of
2nd person, a new dative uns-is. But E. and G. have only the
pure form, ws, uns, like the accusative. So in Sk, nas also
serves for both cases.
§ 2. Second Person.
(165) I. Singular.—1. The nomin. was I.-E. *tii and *tii, Sk.
tvám =*tu-ám, Gr. Tú (rù) and ord, L. til, Preg. *bii, whence:
Go. Bu; O.E. Öº Ču, and E. thow = Yū; O.H.G. dii du, and G.
du. These present no difficulty.
2. Accusative.-In the same way as in the 1st person, we
get Preg. *bi-k. Go. has buk, which has evidently been in-
fluenced by the vocalism of the nominative. But O.E. and
O.H.G. retain the pure vowel ; O.E. Öec Śē Öe, and E. thee = Yé
(the emphatic form *); O.H.G. dih and G. dich.
3. Genitive.—Go. beina, O.E. Öin, O.H.G. din and G. dein,
then deim-er, just as in the case of the 1st person.
4. Dative.—Go, bus instead of *bis, like buk ; but O.E. Öé Öe
and E. thee, O.H.G. dir and G. dir (supra 164, I., 4).
* The same we have met with in Go. pamma, supra 130, 4, and 134.
* Hence it is obvious, that each personal pronoun ought to have two
ecusative-forms, respectively, emphatic *mee and thee, unaccented me and
e; but the first person kept only the unaccented type, whereas the
phatic type alone remained in the Second person.
T
274 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
II. Plural,—1. The plural-stem of the 2nd person was I. E.
*yu-, which occurs, for instance, in Sk, yu-šmá-d ablative, Gr.
ippe acc. Homeric, and Špels - "yv-opé-s. Gothic has the simple
nomin, jus. But West Germanic has altered the vowel under
the influence of the plural-stem of the 1st person: O.E. gé
(like w8) and O.H.G. ir (like wir); E. ye and G. hr. Usual
Mod. E. you is an accusative, while literary and dialectal E.
retains ye. +
2. Accusative.—Go. izvis is not easy to explain and certainly
corrupt, though the last syllable seems identical with Sk. vas –
L. vös, West Germanic has a monosyllabic form, O.E. Gow (cf.
pl. 1 is), and a dissyllabic form, O.E. Gow-ic, O.H.G. ww-ih,
the ending of which is imitated from the corresponding sg.
pronoun. Of these, éow became E. you, whilst tww.ih survives
in G. euch. The difference in the initial diphthong is due to
a different accentuation: in English, the first component is a
semi-vowel, and the second a vowel; and the reverse in German.
Further, ye and you, being nearly alike, were confused.
3. Genitive.—Go. izvara ; O.E. Gower and O.H.G. iwwér (like
diser and unsör); lost in English ; G. euer.
4. Dative.—Go. izvis, like acc.”; O.E. Éow and E. you (the
same); O.H.G. iu, also without ending, but Mod. G. euch,
assimilated to the acc. because in the 1st person whs is used for
both cases (M.H.G. dat. in and acc. iuch).
§ 3. Third Person.
(166) Indo-European, it has been seen, did not possess any
personal pronoun for the third person. Such languages as
secured one for their own use borrowed it from the demonstra-
tive class: thus F. il proceeds from L. ille. This being the
case, it is a remarkable fact that English and German, con-
sidering their strict correspondence to each other, should have
chosen to adopt a different stem to supply the want. Not a
single form, in the whole declension, is common to both lan-
guages, with the one exception of the nomin. frn. Sg.: E. she=
1 It is doubtless from this dative that the analogy arose which created pl.
1 unsis and further sg. mis “pis (G. mir dir).
PRONOUNS. 275
O.E. séo, and G. sie = O.H.G. siu, both identical with Sk, syá =
I.-E. *sić, which is the fm. of the well-known demonstrative
*sió." Everywhere else the comparison must be confined to the
mere endings.
I. Singular.—The P. pronoun proceeds from an I.-E. demon-
strative stem *kyó- and *kī-, from which some scanty remains
survive in other members of the family: Gr. ormuépov tºpºpov
(to-day) =*ky-āpāpov; L. demonstrative hi-c hoº-c ho-c”; Go.
dat, hi-mma dag-a “in this day,” and G. heute="hió taga (to-
day); E. here, and G. hier, her, hin, etc., locative adverbs.—The
G. pronoun is the little demonstrative stem i-, which is chiefly
illustrated by the L. pronominal declension, msc. i-s, nt. -d,
acc. msc. i-m (archaic), the latter identical with poetical Greek
t-v (uſu viv) “him.”
1. Nominative.—O.E. msc. h5 (cf. the from the demonstrative
*tó-) and E. he ; O.E. nt. hi-t, with the characteristic pro-
nominal neuter-ending (cf. tha-t=I.-E. *tó-d), and E. it, the
initial aspirate being dropped.”—O.H.G. msc. &r, instead of *i-r
=L, i-s, owing to the vocalism of dēr, and nt. 3 = Preg.”-t=L.
7-d; M.H.G. m.sc. §r, and nt. 33 owing to the vocalism of ér ;
G. er and es.—The frn, she and sie borrowed from another stem.
2. Accusative.—E. nt. it; in the two other genders the dative
is used as an accusative (O.E. acc.msc. hi-n-e).—O.H.G. msc. i-n
=L. i-m, also ºn-an with redundant termination, but G. merely
thn= in lately lengthened; frn, siu, next sie, and nt. 3, next es,
like nominative.
3. Genitive.—O.E. m.sc. nt. hi-s and frn. hi-re (hiere hyre) :
compare, on one side, the ordinary genitive-endings of the
demonstratives, and, on the other, the E. possessives.—O.H.G.
fm, i-ra, without difficulty; but, in the msc. and (later) the nt.
* Cf. supra 127 and 128, II.-Even this slight agreement disappears in the
oldest period of English and German, the latter always using siu, whereas
O.E. declines the whole of the pronoun of the 3rd person on the stem of he .
nomin. Sg. frn. hèo (she), and even pl. hea (they).—The initial E. consonant
($ instead of s) is due to the influence of the following i, which was sounded
º semi-vowel (group S + y, as in passion), whilst in G. the i kept its vocalic
V8,1U10.
* The compared term is not the stem ho-, but the suffix -c, which repre-
sents a L. particle -ce = *ké (cf. L. gen, hujus-ce).
* Cf. Supra 66, II., 4, and further see the declension of the article.
276 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
gender, the analogy of min and din in the other persons led
the language to adopt the correlative form of the reflexive
possessive sin,” which further became changed to a pleonastic
genitive sein-er imitated from mein-er and dein-er.
4. Dative.—O.E. msc. nt. hi-m = Go. hi-mma (like ba-mma),
and fm. hi-re hiere hyre; E. msc. him, frn. her, but nt. it, the
accusative here serving for the dative.—O.H.G. msc. nt. i-mu,
frm. -ru; G. ihm and ihr.
II. Plural,—Here, deviating from the O.E. type, M.E. and
Mod. E. use the case-forms of the Germanic demonstrative *bá-
=I.-E. *tó-, the same from which O.E. had already derived its
article: not the genuine O.E. case-forms however, but such as
were borrowed from O.N. at the beginning of the M.E. period.
German shows the same stem both in the singular and plural,
save that its nominative-accusative belongs to the demonstra-
tive I.-E. *sjó.
1. Nominative.—E. they= O.N. bei-r.—O.H.G. m.sc. sie, frn.
sto, nt. Siw, whence G. sie in the three genders.
2. Accusative.—E. them (original dative).-G. sie.
3. Genitive.—M.E. thei-r=O.N. bei-rra, to be found again
among the possessives.—O.H.G. i-ro regular, but Mod. G.
ihr-er, with pleonastic genitive-ending.
4. Dative.—E. the-m, with the usual and well-known dative-
ending.”—O.H.G. i-m, whence regularly in, and Mod. G. ihn-en
with a redundant plural case-sign.
§ 4. Refleasive Pronoun.
(167) The reflexive pronoun is expressed in the two lan-
guages by a different process. The only primitive one is the
German.
I. In the first and second persons, the reflexive G. pronoun
is merely the personal pronoun : ich denke mir, “I am figuring
to myself”; du befindest dich, “you find yourself,” etc. But, in
the third person, German still possesses the representative of
1 Infra 168, I., 3, and supra 164–165 (I., 3).
2 It is, of course, owing to a simple phonetic process (cf. Supra 130, 4, and
131, 4), that the ending of this case has become identical in both numbers,
so that even O.E. has him in the plural as well as in the singular.
PRONOUNS. 277
the general I.-E. reflexive pronoun, which was characterized by
an initial sw or s, and appears clearly in the whole I.-E. family,
e.g. Sk, stem svá-, Gr, acc. & =*a-fé, L. sé, etc. Of course,
this stem could have no nominative. It was, moreover,
indifferently singular and plural. All these characteristics
had been faithfully kept by Pregermanic; but the Saxonic
branch of West Germanic lost the pronoun altogether, as early
as O.E. -
1. Accusative.—Go. Si-k=I.-E. *sé-ge, cf. mik and buk; O.H.G.
sih and G. sich ; all both singular and plural.
2. Genitive.—Go. Seina, O.H.G. sin, G. sein-er.
3. Tative.—Go. sis; but G. sich, the accusative here being
used as dative (sg. and pl.).
In order to lay stress upon the reflexive meaning, the speaker
may add to the pronoun of any person, an invariable word
selb-st, which is apparently a superlative, but really a corrupt
form of M.H.G. sélb-es, nomin.-acc. nt. and gen. m.sc. nt. Sg. of
the adjective sélb (self, same). This adjective formerly agreed
in gender, number and case with the governing pronoun; but
it has now become invariable. -
II. This stem, by means of a somewhat different, though
kindred construction, supplied English with a reflexive forma-
tion, which is now deemed obligatory." Even in the O.E. period
are to be found such juxtapositions as sé seolfa, literally “the
self” (the same, himself nomin., cf. G. der-selb-e). From a
similar juxtaposition with the pronoun hé, first proceeded the
accusatives-datives him-self, her-self, hit-self, pl. them-selv-es.
Next, since the form her could be equally referred to the posses-
sive adjective, and since, therefore, her-self might easily be
mistaken for a substantival use of the word self, thus “the self
of her, her very person,” the language at an early date also
created min-self “my person,” whence my-self, thy-self, our-
selv-es, your-selv-es, and (sg.) your-self. The equivocal sense is
the reason why the E. pronoun denoting identity, strangely
enough, in one case appears to be formed with the possessive
(1st-2nd person), and in another (3rd) with the pronoun itself;
1 Authorised Version of the Bible, still ye clothe you (Haggai i. 6), now you
clothe yourselves, etc.
278 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
but rural dialects still show many traces of the old regular
types me-self, thee-self, ye-self," etc. We now pass to the posses-
sive element.
§ 5. Possessives.
(I68) As a rule, the declension of the possessive adjectives
or pronouns comprises, beside the gender, number, and case of
the possessed object, which is expressed in German by means
of the declensional endings, but not at all in English,_the
number and, only in the 3rd person, the gender of the
possessor, which must be inferred from the stem-form.
I. Singular of the possessor.—In every I.-E. language the
possessive adjectives and pronouns have been formed by some
method of derivation from the corresponding personal pronouns.
Now the derivative element adopted in Germanic in the singular
number seems to be the same we have already met with in E.
swine = G. Schwein = L. su-inu-m, literally “that which belongs to
hog.” Thus, probably, Preg. *m-ina-2 “which belongs to me,”
etc. Go. mein-S, bein-S and (nt) sein, O.E. min Öin sin, and
O.H.G. min din Sîn.
In these words, when somewhat swiftly sounded and unac-
cented, either in English or in many German dialects,” the final
n often happened to be dropped, whence there arose such
doublets as E. mine and my. Further, in such monosyllables
the accent necessarily becomes weaker, when they are used as
adjectives, and consequently followed by an accented noun,
than it is when stress is laid upon them as pronouns and repre-
senting the noun itself; and thus it is that English later made
the most of this accidental distinction by assigning its two
forms, respectively, to the adjectival aud pronominal function,
my house is higher than thine. German, in either case, has but
the form with final n. Here, however, a process of secondary
derivation by means of suff, -ig gave rise to a periphrastic and
emphatic locution, concurrently used in the pronominal mean-
ing : der mein-ig-e, der dein-ig-e, further pl. der wms-r-ig-e, etc.
1 Cf. Wright, Dialect of Windhill, no. 353.−After the pattern of my-self
was afterwards formed the late one’s self, literally “somebody’s person.”
* Alsatian and Swiss mi pfifli = mein pfeiflein (my little pipe).
PRONOUNS. 279
1. O.E. min, E. mine and my; O.H.G. min (nomin, msc. Sg.
min-Ér like blint-Ér, etc.) and G. mein.
2. O.E. Öin, E. thine and thy; O.H.G. din and G. dein.
3. The two languages are here at variance.—English, having
lost the reflexive, lacks the corresponding possessive, and
replaces it by the genitive of the pronoun of the 3rd person :
O.E. hi-s “of him,” if the possessor be of msc. or nt. gender;
hy-re “of her ”; E. his,' her; whereupon, after the analogy of
the relation observed between he and his, a neuter possessive
was created, it-s. Again, the analogy of the relation observed
between dat. it and possessive it-s induced the speaker to derive
in the same way from dat, her a possessive her-s, which how-
ever, for the sake of distinctness, was confined to the pronominal
function. Hence: adjective his her its; pronoun his hers its—
O.H.G. sin and G. sein, which etymologically ought to serve for
the three genders of the possessor, since the reflexive, like any
other personal pronoun, knows no distinction of gender.” But,
for a possessor of feminine gender, German, like English, took
to using the genitive of the personal pronoun (G. stem i-),
whence O.H.G. i-ra “ of her,” G. hr (her).
II. Plural of the possessor.—In the same way, and in both
languages, the plural of the possessor is denoted by the genitive
of the corresponding pronoun, as it were “of us, of you, of
them,” but here the exponent of the gen, pl. is a syllable ending
in r, of rather obscure origin, which cannot be certainly identi-
fied with any I.-E. element.”
* E. his with a possessor of neuter gender is quite common as late as
Shakespeare, as also in the Authorized Version of the Bible: And it (the rock)
shall give forth his water (Exod. xvii. 6).
* Supra, 158 and 167: G. sie selent sich exactly like es versteht sich,--Ob-
serve that G. sein is still clearly reflexive, though not so rigorously as L.
swus, since it is not allowed to stand in a sentence where it might be mis-
taken as referring to the subject. It would there be replaced by the genitive
of the demonstrative pronoun : er griff an sein schwert ; but Rolland ritt
hinterm water her, mit dessen (his father's) schwert wrid schilde (Uhland).
* Perhaps it is the same r that appears in locative derivations, Go. h5-r
= G. her hier =E. here, Go. ba-r-G. dar (also da)=E, there, Go. hwa-r
(=G. wo)=E. where, etc., so that Go, whsar and O.H.G. whsér would have
meant originally “among us,” as in the Russian sentence esti li w vasú
chlebi. ? “is there with you bread 2 ” that is “have you any bread 2 °–On
the other hand, Go. wºns-an might very well be a true possessive, a derivative
with a suffixal comparative element, like the Gr. possessive hué-Tepo-s.
280 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
l, Go, uns-ar; O.E. iiser, and (syncopated) ſir, whence E. our,
and (pronoun) our-s, formed like her-s; O.H.G. whs-ár (nomin.
sg, unser-ér like min-èr, etc.) and G. ww.ser.
2. Go. 32var; O.E. &ow-er and E, you-r, pronoun your-s;
O.H.G. ww-êr and G. eu-er.
3. E. thei-r=O.N. bei-rra (gen. pl.), pronoun their-s. O.H.G.
6-ro (gen. pl.) “ of them,” and G. hr.
The use of the pronoun and possessive of pl. 2 (English and
German), and of sg. 3 or, chiefly, pl. 3 (exclusively German),
instead of sg. 2, is merely a matter of conventional usage.
(I69) III. Declension.—English is well known to have
dropped every exponent of gender, number and case in its
possessives, even more constantly than in its demonstratives.
German has no less naturally transferred to its singular
possessives, inasmuch as they are genuine adjectives in the
nominative case (mein dein sein), the usual endings of its
demonstratives. In contemporary German, however, the nomin.
mSc.. Sg. and the nomin.-acc. nt. Sg. always assume the invari-
able form, and the terminations appear in the following
adjective; mein vater, mein gut-er vater ; deim haws, dein schön-es
haus." The possessive pronoun has the endings even in these
two cases: msc. mein-er and nt. mein-s (mine) = O.H.G. min-èr
and min-a%.
The possessives which are really genitival forms (ihr frn.,
wnser, euer, ihr pl.), ought, of course, to be invariable : since
ihr mase means “of-her the-nose,” the word ihr is theoretically
incapable of any further agreement with the word nase, and, in
fact, frn. and pl. ir, even as late as M.H.G., never appear with
any sign of gender, number or case.” But the reverse is the
case with the genitives wasér and twwér, which, even in O.H.G.,
were declined like min and din, as if they were genuine nomina-
tives. Their declension was somewhat arbitrary : thus, the
ending -ër being mistaken for an ending of nomin. mSc., the
1 In other words, the declension of mein dein sein has been completely
overruled by that of ein, a very plain and natural analogy.
2 Such is also the case with F. leur (their), which ought to be invariable,
as representing L. illorum (cf. Italian loro with either a singular or a plural
noun), but is now analogically sg. leur and pl. leur-s.
PRONOTUNS. 281
endings of the other genders, numbers and cases naturally
suppressed and replaced it with apparent regularity, msc.
wns-Ér, fm. uns-w, nt. uns-ag, etc. (Frankish); on the other
hand, unsér being again mistaken for the invariable adjectival
form, the other terminations became added to it in the ordinary
way, msc. unser-èr, fm, unser-iu, nt, unser-a%, etc. It is the
latter type that prevailed in classical German and was more-
over extended to the gen. ihr, msc. ihr-er, frn. ihr-e, nt. ihr-es,
though under the restriction stated above. The derivatives in
-ig require no further explanation.
FOURTH PART.
CONJUGATION.
(I70) Under the name of Conjugation are comprised the
various modifications, either in stem or termination, under-
gone by the verbal stems, and corresponding to the
various relations of meaning of which they are capable.
These relations are five in number, namely: Tense, Mood,
Aspect (or Voice), Number, and Person.
The category of tense corresponds to the notion of time,
either present, past, or future. Indo-European possessed a
great many tenses, as we may gather from the extraordinary
richness of Sk, and Gr. conjugation. But Pregermanic kept
only two of them, Present and Historical Past. All the
other tenses are now supplied by various periphrastic locutions.
The category of mood states the manner in which the verbal
idea is thought of: either as simply affirmed or denied
(Indicative); or as eventually possible (Subjunctive),
desired (Optative), or subordinate to some uncertain event
(Conditional); lastly, as the object of command or prohibi-
tion (Imperative). The English and German conjugation
admits of but three moods: indicative, subjunctive, and impera-
tive." All other shades of meaning, and occasionally even these
three, are expressed by means of a periphrasis.
The aspect of the verb–what is termed Voice in Greek
Grammar—is either Active, or Reflexive (middle), or
1 The reader must not forget that neither the infinitive nor the participle
is a verbal mood. Both are mere nouns (supra 77–78), which however, for
the sake of completeness in the conjugational system, will be reviewed below
(229) at the head of the Chapter on Verbal Periphrases.
282
CONJTUGATION. 283
Passive, according as the agent (subject) performs the action,
or performs and at the same time suffers it, or simply suffers
it. Latin and, in particular, Greek denote the last two aspects
by various changes in the endings, which English and German
do not possess. A periphrasis must here again supply the loss.
The categories of number and person are the same for verbs
as for personal pronouns'; indeed, as stated above in the
pronominal declension, they cannot be resolved into distinct
exponents, as it were, a number-sign and a person-sign. A
single element expresses both relations at once : whence a total
of six person-endings, three for the singular and three for
the plural.
In short, the Tenses, the Moods, the Person-Endings,
and lastly, the various Verbal Periphrases, which fill up the
gaps in English and German conjugation, are the four main
objects of study which fall under the head of Conjugation.
. * Supra 163 sq. The Gothic conjugation still keeps two persons (1 and 2)
in the dual number; but nothing similar appears in the later languages.
CHAPTER I.
TENSES.
(I7I) Logic, as well as grammar, distinguishes three essen-
tial classes of tenses, viz. Past, Present, and Future. In
grammar, however, the present-form is simply the form of the
verb itself, as analysed above in the study of word-formation.*
Further, the I.-E. future was completely lost as early as the
the Preg. period, no Germanic tongue ever exhibiting the least
trace of it; for all agree in replacing it by the present, or else,
when more precision is required, by using one of the periphras-
tic constructions considered below. Hence, of the whole tense-
system of English and German, there is nothing left for our
present study but the expression of the past, so far as it does
not itself consist of a periphrasis, but depends on some modifi-
cation of the verbal form.
(I72) The latter mode of expressing the past tense is, again,
in Germanic, confined to one primitive grammatical form: of the
various original past tenses, namely imperfects, aorists, perfects
and pluperfects, best illustrated by the Sanskrit and Greek con-
jugations, Germanic has preserved but one, the perfect, which
plays the double part of an imperfect and an historical
past, E. he was and G. er war, both in stating a fact and in relat-
ing it. This somewhat awkward and ambiguous confusion took
place very early; and, very early also, in order to remedy the
inconvenience, English and German were compelled to look for
a supply of periphrases. Indeed, it is a very remarkable fact,
that the form which in Germanic, as well as in Latin and
French, essentially assumes the function of an historical or
* Supra 81 sq., 92–93 and 106–107.
284
TENSES. 285
narrative past, has no such value at all in Greek, nor had it,
most likely, in I.-E. : a Greek narrator regularly uses the
aorists, whereas the Greek perfect involves the statement of an
achieved action, and therefore very often acquires the force of
a durative present *; on the contrary, in Germanic, the his-
5
torical tense is the perfect, while the deficiency of a tense for
achieved action is made up, as in French, by the introduction
of auxiliary verbs. We need but contrast I did with I’ve done,
and er starb with erist gestorben, to become aware of the rigorous
connection between the narrative meaning and the simpler and
primitive verb-form.”
SECTION I.
PERFECT : GENERAL SURWEY.
(I73) Thus we see that the study of the primitive English
and German tenses is confined to the Theory of the Perfect.
But this is worth a whole conjugation in itself, as the minutest
phonetic processes and the most various analogical resources
are here displayed, crossing and interacting upon one other in
every way. It is, in particular, impossible to study it apart
from the formation of the past participle, the first principles of
which have been already explained,” though many more particu-
* Compare 86ave (he died) with Téðumke (he is dead), etc., and observe that
this durative function is retained in a few Germanic perfects (termed preterito-
presents, infra 222).
* An almost constant exponent in the I.-E. perfect is an initial reduplica-
tion (Sk, bi-bhéd-a “he split,” Gr. Né-\out-e “he has left,” L. ce-cid-it “he
fell”), which scarcely ever occurs in the aorist, and is likewise wanting in
most Germanic perfects. On the other hand, it is the I.-E. aorist that per-
forms the function of historical past, assigned to the perfect in the Germanic
family. From this double contrast, a very probable, and even certain infer-
ence may be drawn, namely, that the Germanic preterite—many scholars
preferably use this term in order to lay more stress upon the actual value of
the historical past—really consists of a nearly equal number of primitive
perfect-forms and aorist-forms, which were mixed together and blended into
one tense. This, moreover, is found in Latin. But the suggestion here
hinted at will not be repeated, since it would only cause needless compli-
cation; for, whether, for instance, Go. bit-wm =E. (we) bit = G. (wir) bissen
was originally a perfect-form (Sk, bi-bhid-), or an aorist-form (Sk. bhid-), the
vocalism of the root, of course, must always become the same, so that the
distinction is of no interest, except as explaining the meaning of the tense or
the loss of the I.-E. reduplication.
* Supra 77–78 and 89–90.
286 IENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
lars will naturally be required here. There exists a close relation
between these two grammatical categories: generally speaking,
if an English or German verb shows a so-called Strong
Perfect, that is to say, with interior vocalic change and no
other tense-exponent, it will also exhibit a so-called Strong
past Participle,_namely, a participle ending in -en, often
with either a similar or different change in the root-vowel,-
and reciprocally; if a verb has a so-called Weak Perfect,
without vocalic change, but formed by adding a suffix containing
a dental consonant, the past Participle is likewise a Weak
one,—without vocalic change and with dental suffix,−and
reciprocally. Indeed, the vocalic shade in the strong perfect
must have often determined the vocalic shade in the strong
participle, or reciprocally: we have but to compare E. shine
shone shone and G. scheinen schien geschienen, wherein the
radical vowel, though the same in the present, differs in the
two languages in the other forms, but, in each, remains alike in
perfect and past participle. Hence we ought to group the two
forms side by side, as they are grouped in ordinary grammars,
and examine them together in every class of strong verbs in
which they were exposed to mutual contamination.
(174) But, at the outset, a question must be solved: whence
arose, in the Germanic verbs, this fundamental and important
difference in conjugation P or, in other words, why are
there Strong Verbs and Weak Verbs 2 Language never
produces any arbitrary creations: there can be no doubt that
the distinction goes back to some ever-increasing difference in
one primitive and characteristic feature; but this feature,
neither English nor German, nor their immediate ancestors, nor
even Gothic itself, would be able to reveal. In order to dis-
cover it we must trace the verb back to its earliest origin.
Such being the case, the rules of verbal derivation, as stated
above, are the necessary premises of our present search : conju-
gation, without them, is mere chaos; with them, it becomes
perfectly regular. For the answer to the previous question is
found in a simple formula : there are strong and weak verbs,
because there are primary verbal stems, that is to say,
verbs derived from the root merely by adding to it a single
TENSES. 287
suffix,−and secondary (further tertiary, quaternary, etc.)
verbs,-that is to say, later verbal derivatives from a nominal
stem, the perfect of which must be a secondary and somewhat
complicated construction, since even their present is already an
aggregate of various elements added to the pure root-form."
Let us emphasize the contrast: E. (to) bear, for instance
(Go. bair-an), or G. mehm-en (Go. nim-an) has a pf, bare (Go.
bar) or nahm (Go. nam), and further a part. bor-n (Go. baúr-an-s)
or ge-nomm-en (Go. num-an-s), because it corresponds to an I.-E.
verb derived directly from a root bhér or mêm, a simple verb
like Gr. ºpép-0 or vép-0, the perfect of which, if it existed in
that language, would be *mé-ºpop-a or *vé-wop.-a, a form likewise
constructed on the basis of the pure root by mere vocalic
gradation. But, still keeping the same examples, we find that
a Gr. causative like pop-é-0, or a Gr. secondary derivative like
vop-eč-0, can no longer draw its perfect from the pure root,
since its present already contains other elements, or form it by
vocalic change, since the root-vowel has already undergone
such a change in the present: wherefore it forms a pf. Te-dép-
m-k-a or ve-vóp-ev-k-a, the perfect-exponent here no longer being
an internal change in a stem which has now become invariable,
but a new suffix -k- added to the prior derivative complex.
And this again is exactly the case with our weak perfect, except
that the Germanic suffix has a dental for the Greek guttural:
both elements, indeed, of equally obscure origin, but of equally
clear and similar meaning : E. ask and ask-ed; G. lieb-en and
lieb-te.
Hence,—putting aside the cases in which a derivative verb
adopted a strong perfect and participle after the pattern of a
radical verb, and the other and more frequent cases in which a
primary stem has been analogically conjugated like the secon-
dary verbs,”—we may formulate the general rule as follows:
* Cf. Supra 70, 81 sq., 92–93, and 106–107. From this, however, it does
not follow that every primary verb is a strong one : of course, analogy has
interfered ; but the formula is convenient and simple, true in a general
sense, and quite satisfactory even for details, if restricted as shown below.
* Since the latter were in a majority and daily increased in number, they
tended to ultimately prevail: a tendency, as will be seen, still far more ener-
getic in E. than it is in G.
288 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
strong verbs correspond to primary verbal stems; weak verbs,
either to secondary stems, or else to such as were at an early
period assimilated to them. Still more accurately, strong
verbs are those which belong to classes II., III., V.
and VI. of our primary verbal derivation ; for class I.,
being lost in Germanic, does not concern us; and the causatives
(class IV.) even in Sanskrit have a periphrastic perfect"; classes
VII.-VIII., though really primary, are well-known to have
been treated as secondary in several parts of their conjugation,
and particularly in regard to their perfect-formation.”
Of these so-called strong and often improperly termed irregular
verbs, English has preserved only about a hundred, counting
only simple verbs.” So great has been the power of analogy
that even some of these strong verbs only betray their primitive
character by forming a participle in -en, their perfect being
weak and ending in -ed. German is much purer and retains
twice as many, the complete enumeration of which belongs to
1 In some cases it happened, from a merely phonetic and regular cause,
that the present-vocalism of both the simple and the causative verb became
identical: thus E. sit = G. sitz-e (= I.-E. *séd-yô) and E. set = G. setz-e
(=I.-E. *sod-6y-ö), are still contrasted forms; but I.-E. *Smeld-ö (Gr. MéAö-w
“I become molten”) and I.-E. *smold-Éy-ö (Germanic *smalt-ja. “I cause to
melt") became respectively O.H.G. Smélzen and smelzen, which were further
blended into G. Schmelzem. The same is the case with E. to melt, which
unites the two meanings. Next took place, analogically, either an extension
of the strong forms which swept away the weak ones (G. now only recognises
schmolz and geschmolzen), or a confusion which led to the two being indiffer-
ently used (E. molt-em and melt-ed): a process more or less illustrated by
such G. verbs as verderben “to become corrupted ” and “to corrupt,” lbschen
“to become extinct” and “to extinguish,” quellem, schwellem, etc., though
the primitive distinction is not forgotten. A correct speaker will say das
licht erlosch, but er läschte das licht aus. Likewise in E. a swollen leg, but
the rain has swelled the river, though the pf. is swelled in either sense.
* Generally speaking, strong verbs correspond to the 3rd Latin conjugation,
and weak verbs, to the three others, viz.: the type suchen (Go. Sökjam. = L.
sāgire), to the fourth ; the type salben (cf. Go, fiskön=L. piscúrº), to the 1st ;
and the type haben (O.H.G. habén = L. habère), to the second conjugation.
Cf. the imperative-forms: swochi (Seek) = sāgi ; salbo (Salve) like amā; habe
(have) = L. habé; infra 196.
* It need scarcely be observed that a compound verb follows in general the
conjugation of the simple verb : thus, kommen has kam and gekommen, in
am-kommen, zu-kommen, etc. But, of course, we must not be deceived by the
mere appearance of composition: the pf. and part. of bewillkommen are be-
willkommte and bewillkommt, because the vb. is not a compound of wb.
kommen, but a derivative from the adjective willkommen (cf. Supra 118, 3).
And the same is the case with E. he overcame and he welcomed.
TENSES. 289
ordinary grammar. Here our task will be to compare the
strong verbs in the two languages by classifying them accord-
ing to the regular vocalic changes which characterize their
tenses, and to ascertain the occasional influences which either
in English or German may have altered the original correspond-
ences in their conjugation.
SECTION II.
STRONG PERFECT AND PARTICIPLE.
(175) The so-called strong perfects of Modern Germanic
languages proceed from two distinct Pregermanic formations,
which are still clearly illustrated by the Gothic and, sometimes,
even by the later Germanic accidence, namely: perfects with
vowel-gradation and perfects with reduplication. The
former have been seen to change the root-vowel of the present-
stem : Go, bair-a (I carry), nim-a (I take), pf, bar and nam, with
deflected root. The latter usually keep it unchanged, though
some may also alter it, and the leading characteristic of this
class, as of the Greek and Latin perfect, is a reduplication con-
taining a vowel & and prefixed to the root-syllable: Go. hdit-a
(I call), lêt-a (I leave), pf, haſ-hdit and laí-lôt; cf. Gr. Aé-AouT-a,
L. me-min-7, etc.
Of course, when taking these as two distinct classes, we are
considering exclusively the Germanic family; for the fact is,
that the deflected and the reduplicated perfects formed origin-
ally but one class, or, in other words, that any I.-E. primary
perfect exhibited at the same time reduplication and vowel-
gradation." But the adventitious distinction which took place
in Pregermanic may be easily accounted for: perfects in which,
owing to the phonetic laws of the Germanic group, the root-
vowel had become the same as in the present, kept their
reduplication, as the only means of distinction from the other
tenses; while, in the perfects which kept their vocalism plainly
contrasted with that of the present, reduplication seemed a
* Thus, the reduplicated Gr. pf, Aé-\ott-a, from a root \ett (to leave),
shows exactly the same vowel-gradation that characterizes the primitive non-
reduplicated pf, olö-a=Foč6-a (I know) =Sk, véd-a, from a root Fevå (to see).
U
290 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
needless and rather cumbrous element which might well be
rejected."
§ 1. Perfects with Vowel-Gradation.
(I76) I. Let us recall the elements of I.-E. vowel-grada-
tion *: it is a vocalic alternation between three main grades
which have been termed respectively the normal, reduced and
deflected grade. To each of these grades correspond some well-
known I.-E. vowels. It remains to state the grade which
ought regularly to correspond to each tense-form of the conju-
gated root. This point too is easily settled : Sanskrit, and, in
particular, Greek, which are here in marvellous agreement
with Gothic, allow us to summarize it under four short and
invariable rules.
1. The present, and consequently the Germanic infinitive,
which always resembles the present, generally has the normal
grade (Gr. 6-0 dép-0 \ett-o ºbeiſy-o vép-0), sometimes—though
very seldom in Germanic—the reduced, never the deflected
grade;—and this alone is sufficient to distinguish it from the
perfect.
2. The singular of the perfect always has the deflected
root: Gr. root Felâ (to see), in eið-os (image), eið-o-v (I saw), but
pf. otö-a (I wot) = Foïè-a; Gr. Neit-0, pf. Aé-\ott-a; L. füg-iö and
pf, füg-i, vid-eô and pf, vid-7 =*void-ei, etc.
3. In the plural of the perfect, the root is reduced 8: Gr.
otö-a, but pl. ta-pev tor-piew (we know). The fact is nowhere
better verified than in Sanskrit and Gothic : Sk, bi-bhéd-a (I
split), pl. bi-bhid-imſ ; Go. bāit (I bit), pl. bit-wm.
4. The suffix -onó- of the participle (Sk, -ănā-, Go. -an-) is
accented and consequently always reduces the root : Go, bit-
an-s, cf. E. bitt-en and G. ge-biss-en; Sk, root vart (to turn, L.
vert-ere), pf. part, vä-vrt-ànà-s= Go. vaſºrb-an-s, cf. G. ge-word-en,
etc. -
(177) II. Hence, if Pregermanic had kept the I.-E. tradi-
* The more so, because, as noted above º some aoristic non-redupli-
cated forms intruded into the perfect and strongly influenced it.
* Supra 43–45. -
* Because here the primitive accent was shifted to the personal-ending; cf.
the Sk, accentuation below, and supra 44, 45 (2), etc.
TENSES. 291
tion unaltered, the theory of the strong verb would correspond
to the theory of vowel-gradation and would present a series of
phonetic equations of the utmost simplicity. But no language
of the European group is found in this state of archaic purity 4:
at various times and in various circumstances, the four forms
stated above influenced one another, in such a way as to modify,
confound, and even differentiate one another by adopting new
characteristics, quite unlike their original features. Now these
various processes may again be summed up in four correspond-
ing formulas, the application of which will cross and limit the
effect of the preceding rules.
1. In imitation of presents, which primitively had the re-
duced root, -that is to say, the vowel-grade of the participle,
it might well happen that other presents adopted,—chiefly as a
means of distinction from the perfect, with which the effect of
the Germanic phonetic laws tended to confound them,--the
vowel-grade of the participle, and thus opposed the reduced
root to the deflected root of the perfect.”
2. In some verb-classes, Germanic phonetics had blended
both the reduced and the deflected grade to the same form ;
besides, in all of them, the vowel-grade was regularly the same
in the participle and the plural of the perfect: from this to a
closer assimilation and to the extension of the perfect-vocalism
to the participle itself, was but one step, and this step the
speaker often took.”
3. Even within the perfect itself, such forms as báit bit-um
might easily seem to be strange : hence there was a natural
tendency to adopt either one form or the other, and to con-
jugate the tense, either bait *báit-wm, or *bit bit-wm.* This
* Up to a certain point, Gothic may be said, together with Sanskrit, to
abide by it most of all, since it still retains the curious alternation from the
Sg. to the pl., which is entirely lost, apart from some immaterial survivals, in
Latin, and even in Greek.
* Such is especially the case with the type slay = schlagen (Go. slah-a slah-
an-s), supra 45, 7, and infra 184.
* A fact already stated in regard to the E. part. shone, contrasted with the
G. part. geschiemen. Cf. infra 179 (2), 184 (2), 185 (III. 2), and observe
moreover such popular blunders as I have took, etc.
* Thus too, in Greek, the regular conjugation Aé-\ovt-a *Xe-Attr-pºev was
soon forgotten, while a new pl. AeAoſtraptev was formed from XéXoutra; or else,
292 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
analogy sooner or later worked its way throughout, and we are
able to follow its progress from the mother-tongues, which are
nearly free from it, down to the modern offspring, which pas-
sively obey its law.
4. Lastly, in imitation of the cases, in which the I.-E. reduced
grade did not differ from the normal vocalism, the participle
and the present thus showing the same vowel,-it happened
that the participle adopted the present-vocalism in other cases
when it ought to have had the reduced syllable, a corruption
which is found in all the Germanic dialects and is, therefore,
due to a vocalic peculiarity belonging to the common ancestor."
(I78) III. These general principles being well understood,
We shall find that the English and German verbs with vowel-
gradation or deflected perfects fall under six distinct heads;
the verbs with reduplicated perfects constitute by themselves
a seventh class. For the sake of brevity these seven types are
distinguished by letters.”
(I79) A. Type drive = treiben.
The type drive = treiben corresponds to our 2nd class of
vowel-gradation, that is to say, it comprises I.-E. verbs, the
root of which contains, in its normal grade, a diphthong éy
(Preg. 7), which, deflected, becomes ày (Preg. ai), and, reduced,
merely i (Preg. i.). Thus we shall have a triple alternation 7 at #,
which, when applied, for instance, to a Preg, wb. *ērāb-ana-m
(to drive), and retained in the further evolution of the later
when the plural-vocalism prevailed, a sg. ē)\}\v6a (for the regular Homeric
elN-j)\ov6-a) was created in imitation of the regular pl. *éA-m)\v6-pºev (we are
come). Latin has many perfects with deflected root, like füg-i, and many
others with reduced root, like tål-ī; but, whatever may be the actual vocalism,
it always holds good for the whole tense, singular and plural. Apart from a
few survivals, English and German have reached exactly the same point.—
Cf. also F. je trewve and mous trouvons (tróvo trovámus), j'aim and mous amons
(ſimo amámus), now levelled to trouvé trouvons and, inversely, aime aimons.
1 The root kept without reduction in the participle is the leading character-
istic of the type see = Sehem, Supra, 45, 1, and infra 183.
2 Hence our types A-G strictly correspond to the classes I.-VII. as distin-
guished in the historical grammars of the Germanic languages. The order
in which they are enumerated is rather arbitrary; but it seemed convenient
fo abide by it, since grammatical usage has adopted the terminology.
TENSES. 293
languages, would produce the following historical, or theoretical,
forms:
Preg. inf. *örib-ama-m; pf. sp. *öráib-a; pf. pl. *örib-umé; part. *č’rīſī-amá-8;
Go. , dreib-an ; , , dráif ; , , drib-um ; , , drib-am-8 ;
O.E. , drif-am ; , , dräf ; , , drif-on ; , , ge-drif-em. ;
E. ,, drive ; , , I drove ; , , we “drive' ; , , driv-en ;
O.H.G., trib-am ; , , treib ; , , trib-um ; , , gi-trib-an ;
G. ,, treib-em. ; , , ich *treib ; , , wir trieb-en ; , , ge-trieb-em.
We see at once the absolute purity of the Go., O.E. and
O.H.G. conjugation. By contrasting, on the other hand, the
historical and theoretical E. we “drive with the actual we drove,
and the historical and theoretical G. ich *treib with the actual
ich trieb, we easily become aware of the fact that, in the latter
language, the sg. of the pf, was accommodated to the pl.,
whereas, in the former, the pl. borrowed its vocalism from
the sg.
Dealing now, in the same way, with a Preg, wb. *bit-ana-m
“to bite” (I.-E. root bhéyd bhöyd bhid, cf. L. find-ere “to split,”
pf, fid-7), we get the forms:
Preg. inf. *bit-ana-m; pf. sg. *báit-a; pf. pl. *bit-umé; part. *bit-and-s;
Go. , beit-an ; , , báit ; , , bit-wm ; ,, bit-an-8 ;
O.E. ,, bit-an ; , , bāt ; , , bit-on ; , , ge-bit-em ;
E. ,, bite ; , , I ‘bote ; , , we bit ; ,, bitt-em ;
O.H.G., big-an ; , , bei: ; , , biş5-wm; , , gi biº-am ;
G. , beisz-en ; , , ich *beisz ; ,, wir biss-em ; , ge-biss-en.
Here, both in English and German, the asterisk stands in
the same column, which is equivalent to saying that in both
languages the analogical process was carried on in the same
way, the sg. of the pf, being conjugated like the pl., thus E.
I bit like we bit, and G. ich bisz like wir bissen.
These two verbs represent the whole of this class, which
therefore requires but a few brief remarks.
1. English has about twenty and German about forty verbs
of this type; though, excepting the constant alteration in the
pl. of the perfect, English here is by far the purer, having often
retained the vowel-gradation with three grades, e.g. in rise rose
* Pronounced like give, not like drive in the present.
294 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
risen, drive drove driven, shrive shrove shriven, smite smote smitten,
write wrote written, ride rode ridden, etc.
2. The last verb, however, also admits of a participle rode,
and, similarly, the vocalism of the pf. Sg., after having invaded
the pl., further corrupts the part, also in abide abode abode,
shine shone shone, and strike struck struck," which have only two
vocalic grades; though, of course, strick-en survives as an
isolated word.
3. The reversed process, as seen above, was no less possible;
in that case the vowel-gradation was confined to the two grades
7 and 7, the vowel of the part. and pf. pl. being transferred to
the pf, sg., bite bit bitten (and bit *), chide chid chidden, hide hid
hidden, even split * split split.*
4. Now, in German, it is exclusively the latter process which
has spread and affected the whole of this class. German has
no more than two vocalic grades, namely, ei (=i) for the
present, and, for the whole of the perfect as well as for the
participle, an i sounded either short or long" according as it
stands in a close or an open syllable : treiben trieb getrieben,
reiben, leihen, schreiben, etc.; beiszen bisz gebissen, greifen griff
gegriffen, schneiden schnitt geschmitten," leiden, weichen, streiten,
etc. And consequently, as opposed to the regular E. shone
wrote rode, we find the irregular G. schien risz ritt.
5. Having thus reduced its vowel-gradation, German applied
it even to some obviously secondary verbs which never had
anything to do with the primitive process: whence the strong
1 With vowel-shifting, owing to the shortening in a close syllable, supra
17, 4. The verbs stick stuck stuck and dig dug dug belonged originally to
type E (cf. G. Steck-en stack ge-steck-t) and were transferred to type A by
analogy.
* On the accidental loss of the syllable -em, cf. Supra 19, 2.
8 With shortening : cf. G. spleisz-em splisz ge-spliss-em. The reader should
supply for himself any comparison that may have been omitted for the sake
of brevity.
4 The verbs rive and writhe still preserve their strong parts, riven and
writhem, but they have adopted a weak pf. rived and writhed. On the
contrary, strive (cf. G. Streb-en) is a weak verb analogically adapted to the
strong conjugation.
5 Further, this long i is already known to be spelled ie, supra 12, 4.
6 In this verb and the following we have a remarkable instance of “gram-
matical alternation ” (supra 53 D and 55), the Preg. being inf. *Snip-ana-m
and part. *smid-and-8, with accent-shifting leading to consonantal change.
TENSES. 295
conjugation of gleichen, a derivative from the adjective gleich =
Go, ga-leik-s (cf. E. weak wb. like); and, even to preisen, a
derivative from preis (praise), which is a borrowed word (cf.
M.F. pris and F. pria). -
(18o) . B. Type choose = kiesen.
This type corresponds to our 3rd class of vowel-gradation,
namely to the roots which respectively exhibited the three
vocalisms: normal éw, deflected ju, reduced iſ ; Preg. iu (eo)
aw it. Thus, a root gèws gèws gis (to taste, cf. Gr. Yeti-a) and L.
güs-tu-s), treated according to our rule, assumes the following
forms, rigorously reproduced in the earlier Germanic languages:
Preg. inf. *kéus-ana-m; pf. Sg. *káus-a ; pſ. pl. *kāz-wmé; part. *kūz-and-s;
Go. ,, kius-am ; , , káus ; , , kus-um ; , , kws-an-s;
O.E. ,, cé0s-am. ; , , Céas ; , , cur-Om ; , , ge-cor-em. ;
O.H.G.,, kios-an ; , , kös ; , , kur-um ; , , gi-kor-an.
Here, owing to the peculiar treatment of the I.-E. ii in the
Germanic languages," the threefold vowel-gradation has become
a fourfold one in O.E. and O.H.G.” But analogy has greatly
simplified this complicated conjugation.
I. English.-1. First of all, the O.E. grade éa in the pf. Sg.
vanished altogether: the O.E. type fléog-an (= G. flieg-en) fléag
flug-on ge-flog-en, although the purest in the later language,
is nevertheless confined to the three grades fly * flew flow-n;
which is equivalent to saying, that, the infinitive and participle
respectively keeping their primitive vowel, the vocalism of the
pf. pl. was extended to the pf, sg., whence in the whole tense
flew = *flug, with the same change in spelling as in slew =*slög.”
2. No other verb has retained the three grades. The vowel
of the participle corrupted the perfect everywhere else, as
may be seen in : shoot (= G. Schiesz-en) shot shot ; cleave (= O.E.
cléof-an) clove cloven; even choose chose chosen, where the double
1 Cf. supra 28, I.
2 Observe also the “grammatical alternation ” between s and z, which,
while entirely lost in Gothic, persists down to Mod. G. kies-en er-kor-em.
* On y =eog, cf. supra. 21.
4 Supra 45, 7, and infra 184.
296 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
vocalism is no longer betrayed except by the spelling, the s
being moreover extended throughout.
3. Further, two E. verbs show the gradation ee o, viz.: freeze
froze frozen (instead of *fro-en, cf. G. frier-en fror ge-fron-en,
which, on the contrary, has extended the r), and seethe sod
Sodd-en, which in both languages (G. Sied-en sott ge-Sott-en) has
kept the grammatical alternation.
4. These six verbs are the sole representatives of type B.
All the rest were shifted to the weak conjugation, so that
English, for instance, represents by verbs lose lost lost (formerly
loren, cf. for-lorn), lie lied lied, bow bowed bowed, etc., the G. verbs
ver-lier-en-lor -lor-em, liigen log gelogen, biegen bog gebogen, etc.
II. German.—1. Here, on the contrary, there are no less
than thirty verbs of this class still existing; but all of them
are confined to two vocalic grades. The old diphthong io in
the present is now, of course, spelled ie and sounded 7. Now,
the diphthong in the pf, sg. is either O.H.G. ow or O.H.G. 5,
according to the neighbouring sounds ºf but it has become
levelled to 6, which again, in later times, was sounded either
long or short, according as the syllable was open or close.
This 6, in consequence, became blended with 5 in the part.,
which was itself either short or long under the same conditions,
and the iſ in the pf. pl. proved unable to resist this double
concurrence. In short, the modern paradigm is : ziehen zog
(Go. td wh) gezogen, fliegen, fliehen, wiegen (analogical), etc.;
kriechen kroch gekrochen, gieszen, genieszen, triefen, Sieden, etc.
2. In some as yet undefined circumstances, an I.-E. root
which had a iſ in its reduced grade could assume a normal
grade iſ instead of the regular diphthong Św. The fact is
verified as to two Germanic verbs, which, while exhibiting in
the pf, and part, the vocalism of the preceding verbs, merely
lengthen their root-vowel in the present: O.H.G. silf-an and G.
sauf-en (soff gesoffen); O.H.G. sig-an and G. Saug-en (sog gesogen).
Their conjugation was afterwards applied to schnauben and
schrauben.
3. The metaphonical verbs er-kiir-en (cf. the primitive kies-en),
1 For the different vowel in the presents choose and freeze, see below 204.
2 Supra 32, the rule and the examples.
TENSES. 297
trig-en (cf. the primitive (be-)trieg-en) and lüg-en, which are
later derivatives from the nouns kur (choice)," trug and lug,
analogically adopted the conjugation of the primitive verbs
kios-an, triog-an and liog-an. -
4. With the exception of these seven presents, the leading
characteristic of type B is a vowel ie in the infinitive.
(181) C. Type drink = trimken and swell=schwellen.
Supposing the radical I.-E. & to be followed either by a
nasal or liquid, we reach the fourth and fifth classes of vowel-
gradation. But these two classes are not entirely comprised
in type C : they only belong to it so far as the radical nasal or
liquid is again followed by another consonant. When this is
the case, the é before a liquid remains à, but becomes à before
a nasal in West Germanic : hence, in West Germanic, type C
must be divided into two sub-classes, whereas in Gothic it is
the same throughout.”
I. Let us consider an I.-E. root dhreñg (to drink), deflected
dhroñg, reduced dhºg, and see what becomes of it in Preger-
manic and the modern languages.
Preg. inf. *öriñk-ana-m; pf, sg. *dráhk-a; pf. pl. *druńk-umé; part. *druhk-and-s;
Go. ,, drigk-an ; , , dragk ; , , drugk-um ; , , drugk-an-S ;
O.E. , , drinc-am ; , , dronc * : , , drunc-on ; , , ge-drumc-em ;
E. ,, drink ; , , I drank ; , , we *drunk ; , , drunk ;
O.H.G. , trinch-an, ; , , tranch ; , , trunch-um ; , , gi-trunch-an;
G. ,, trink-en ; , , ich trank ; , , wir *trunk-em. * ; , , ge-trunk-en.
1. The similar process in English and German is at once
obvious : the vowel of the pf, sg. was transferred to the plural,
we drank, wir tranken, etc.; and consequently, even the purest
verbs of this class, namely such as keep unaltered the threefold
gradation a u, never have any other grade but a in the
perfect-stem.
* Also chur (election), whence chur-first (high elector), and cf. the com-
pound will-kiir-lich (arbitrary).
* Because Gothic changes every & to i, supra 26.
9 O.E. o for E. a before a nasal, supra 39, 3.
4 Still M.H.G. (constantly) ich trank and wir trunken, ich fand and wir
fundem, ich bram (I burnt) and wir brunnen, etc. -
298 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
2. Of the 25 E. verbs belonging to this type, eleven have pre-
served the regular alternation, e.g.: begin began begun, sing sang
sung, spring sprang sprung, sink sank Swnk, swim swam swum,
etc. *; cf. G. beginnen begann begonnen, singen sang gesungen,
Springen, sinken, schwimmen Schwamm geschwommen, etc.
3. But, even in the verbs which remain regular in English,
the perfect is liable to be assimilated to the participle : thus,
we may say either sank or sunk, span or spun, stank or stunk (G.
always sank spann Stank). Next, the regular grade was com-
pletely forgotten, and the gradation was confined to two sounds
in cling clung clung, fling flung flung, string strung strung, win
won won (G. regularly gewinnen gewann gewonnen), where the
whole perfect is conjugated with the vowel of the plural-stem.
4. The latter has become the invariable rule for verbs in
which the primitive it has been lengthened to ou = i. before the
group nd * : bind bound bound, find found found, wind, grind, con-
trasted with G. binden band gebºunden, finden, winden, etc.
5. Though German, in this sub-class, is scarcely richer than
English, it is seen at once, from a glance at the previous in-
stances, to have preserved its original character far better. In
fact, the threefold gradation i a w (o) * here survives nearly in
every case. Occasionally, it is true, the vowel of the participle
appears in the perfect (ich begonn archaic); but this can hardly
be deemed an exception to the rule, as it is actually confined to
an optional hesitation in the metaphonical vowel of the sub-
junctive of this tense (réinne or rönne, gewänne or gewönne, and
always begünne). There are but four verbs in which this cor-
ruption is consistently found,-and out of these four there are
two which once belonged to the weak conjugation,-viz. glim-
men (cf. the E. derivative glimm-er) glomm, klimmen (=E.
climb, likewise a weak wb.) klom.m. (also klümm-te), schimden
schund geschunden, and dingen dung (bedingen bedung).
II. As the type of this sub-class we have chosen the verb
1 In run ran run (G. rinnem “to flow,” not to be confounded with its caus-
ative remmen “to rum ”) the vowel of the part. has intruded into the present.
2 Supra 20, 4 B.
* On the change of iſ to 3 (gesungen gefundem, but gewommen geschwommen),
cf. Supra 28, I.
TENSES. 299
swell=schwellen, because it happens to be the only verb directly
comparable in the two languages. In the theoretical paradigm,
however, it will prove advisable to replace it by another verb,
which has been preserved in Gothic, and to neglect the English
type, which, with many more, has passed to the weak conjuga-
tion.
Preg. inf. *hélp-ama-m; pf, Sg. *halp-a; pf. pl. *hulp-umé; part. “hulp-and-s;
Go. ,, hilp-an ; , , halp ; , , hulp-um ; , , hulp-an-s;
O.E. , , help-an 5 § 5 healp ; , , hulp-om ; , , ge-holp-en. ;
O.H.G., hēlf-am ; , , half ; , , hulf-um ; , , gi-holf-am ;
G. ,, helf-em. ; , , ich half ; , , wir half-em. ; , , ge-holf-en.
1. Here, as above in type B, and owing to the same circum-
stances in Germanic phonetics, we find a fourfold gradation,
e a wo, which however in Mod. German has been reduced to
three grades, e a 0, on account of the vocalism of the pf, sg.
having been extended throughout the whole tense."
2. But English scarcely shows a single representative of this
class, with the exception of a few participles: molt-en (cf. G.
ge-schmolz-en), as opposed to pf, melt-ed; holp-en, now replaced
by help-ed, etc. The whole set has been transferred to the
weak conjugation, and in particular the curious wb. starve (cf.
G. sterb-en “to die”), which, having adopted in the present the
vowel of the perfect (G. starb),” developed on this new stem a
new pf, starv-ed. Making these deductions, we find that only
three verbs fall under this head : swell swell-ed swoll-em, where
the pf. has become weak "; burst burst burst (G. bersten barst ge-
borsten), where the vocalism is the same throughout; and, lastly,
fight fought fought.
3. German is much purer in every respect. Here, the type
schwellen comprises 22 verbs, namely:-10 with consonant l
(helfen, melken, Schmelzen, schwellen, quellen, bellen, etc.), including
also befehlen = O.H.G. bi-félh-an, and erschallen (for *erschellen)
influenced by the vocalism of the substantive schall (sound);-8
* Still M.H.G. half hulfen, warf ww.rfen, etc., as above famd fundem.
* Possibly this is only an effect akin to the O.E. breaking, supra 21.—Ob-
serve the restricted meaning, and compare F. moyer (to drown) = L. mecăre (to
kill). -
* The regular M.E. swal in Chaucer, e.g. Prioresses Tale, 72.
300 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
with consonant r (werden, welfen, werben, sterben, bergen, verder-
ben, etc.), including wirren (verwirren) = O.H.G. w8rran, influenced
by the metaphonical vocalism of the adjective wirr (intricate);
–2 in which the liquid precedes the vowel, the phonetic result
being naturally the same as far as the reduced grade is con-
cerned," flecht-em = L. plect-5 (cf. L. plicã “I fold” and Gr.
TAék-o), and dresch-en = E. thrash (weak verb) *;—2 analogi-
cally conjugated after the two preceding, fechten =E. fight, and
erlöschen = O.H.G. ir-lèsk-an (6 in spelling instead of e).
(a) The fourfold gradation persists but in one, namely
werden = Go. vairb-an=L. vert-ī (to be turned, to be changed, to
become), which retains ich ward, wir wurden and geworden,
together with subj. pf, ich wirde ; though, even here, the
primitive conjugation is somewhat altered, inasmuch as the pl.
wir wurden gave birth to a sg. ich wurde, which is now oftener
used than ward. But there at least the grade u survives.
(b) Such is no longer the case anywhere else, but the meta-
phonical form iſ appears occasionally in the subjunctive of the
perfect : Stürbe, hilfe, verdiirbe, wiirbe, wirfe; but also stärbe,
wärfe.
(c) Among the ten verbs that still retain the triple grada-
tion, several are already seen to admit concurrently either of
the perfect-vowel or the participle-vowel in the perfect-stem :
thus, side by side with barst, drasch, Schalt, galt, befahl, we have
borst, drosch, scholt, golt, befohl,” with the vowel borrowed from
geborsten, gedroschem, etc.
(d) This anomaly becomes the rule in the remainder, whence
the merely double gradation e o in: schwellen Schwoll geschwollen,
cf. E. Swell; and so also, quellen, melken, erschallen, erlöschen,
etc. -
(182) D. Type steal–stehlen.
This type comprises all the verbs of our fourth and fifth
* Am I.-E. root plek, for instance, and an I.-E. root pèlk, if reduced, must
equally give plk.
* The present thrash = *thresh, like starve = *sterve and warp=*werp (G.
welfen). Besides, thresh as a rural form, is used in G. Eliot (Scenes of
Clerical Life) by a country-woman.
* The last two are archaic, but subj. befºlile.
TENSES. 301
classes of vowel-gradation, which do not belong to type C, or—
theoretically at least—those in which the radical é is followed
by a single nasal or liquid that is not followed by any other
consonant ; the nasal verbs, however, here are very few ; and,
on the other hand, analogy at an early date introduced into
this class some verbs which contained neither a nasal nor a
liquid, but were formerly, and still ought to be, conjugated
after the type E.
In fact, type D well marks a transition from the preceding
to the following verbs. It resembles the preceding, in that it
depends on the presence of a nasal or liquid in the verbal
stem : Preg. *ném-ana-m (to take), *bér-ana-m (to carry), Go.
nim-an, baïr-an. And, therefore, like the preceding, it strictly
requires the gradation e a w 4: Go. nim-an nam, num-an-s (G.
nehm-en nahm ge-nomm-en), qim-an qam qum-an-s, bair-an bar
baúr-an-s (G. ge-bār-en ge-bar ge-bor-en), etc. But, like the
following verbs, it assumes in the pf. pl. a peculiar vocalism,
namely a grade é (Go. nam, ném-wm, qam qêm-wm, bar ber-wm),
which, being unknown in I.-E. vowel-gradation, has excited
the curiosity of many enquirers, without as yet betraying the
secret of its origin.”
At any rate, the Go. alternation bar ber-wm necessarily gives
O.E. baer baºr-on and O.H.G. bar bàr-um, that is to say, in each
language, a very similar sound for both numbers. Hence there
arose a tendency to unification, which took place everywhere, so
that English, which ought to answer O.E. with Ibare and we "bere
(cf. we were), has merely we bare. In German, the case is still
easier : for, as soon as the a was lengthened in an open syllable,
and shortened in a close one, there no longer remained any reason
why,+analogy moreover furthering the confusion,-the vowels
in ich gebar and wir gebaren, ich stahl and wir stahlem, ich kam
and wir kamen, ich nahm and wir nahmen, etc., should be dis-
* Indeed, apart of course from Gothic, the e here is never changed to i.
The w, naturally, is changed to o under the usual conditions.
* To this é, have been compared the L. & in sédi, vēni, etc., contrasted with
sèded, véniö, etc., and a Sk. É, which likewise occurs in the plural of certain
perfects; but the connection between those various processes is quite doubt-
ful. We would rather adhere to the supposition of a so-called “ lengthened
grade” of the root-syllable.
302 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GIRAMMAR.
tinguished from each other. Thus, the gradation admits of but
three grades at most : e a o.
German has 18 verbs of this type, namely:—2 with consonant
m, nehmen = O.H.G. ném-an, and kommen (E. come) = O.H.G.
quêm-an, where the present has adopted the vowel of the
participle ;-2 with consonant l, stehlen (E. steal) = O.H.G.
stél-an, and verhehlen —4 with consonant r, gebären = O.H.G.
bër-am," scheren gå(h)ren and Schwären –5 with a guttural,
though 4 of them have also an ºr in the root, erschrecken, brechen,”
sprechen, rächen and stechen ;-1 assimilated to the last type,
treffen;–and, lastly, 4 verbs which in O.H.G. belonged to the
type E and have passed to this, owing to the likeness of the
stem-vowel in the present, viz. pflegen, weben, bewegen and er-
wägen. On the contrary, the wb. verzehren (=E. tear) has passed
to the weak conjugation ; but its old gradation still survives in
zorn (anger), a participle used substantivally.
English has respectively :—come ;-steal ;-bear, shear, tear;
—break, speak ;—weave, get, tread, three verbs from class E *;—
heave, swear, from class F ;—wear, formerly a weak verb, now
assimilated to bear;-whereas play=O.E. pleg-ian =G. pflegen
has now become a weak verb, as the latter may also be in
German.
Of these 13 E. verbs, two only have kept the threefold grad-
ation: bear (in the meaning “to produce ’’) bare born, and come
came come. Two others still keep it in M.E., break brake (G.
brach) broken, and speak spake * spoken ; but the analogical broke
and spoke have decidedly prevailed. The vb. beget, in scriptural
style, has the pf, begat, whilst the only pf. of get is got, and so
with the rest : steal stole (cf. G. stahl) stolen, weave wove (cf. G.
wob) woven, bear (to carry) bore borne, shear, etc.
German is purer. Ten of its verbs preserve the three
grades: nehmen, kommen, Stehlen, gebären, erschrecken, brechen,
1 The ā, here as in some other cases, is only a different spelling for etymo-
logical e.
2 Cf. supra 181, II, 3, and 42, note.
8 Compare forget forgot forgotten, tread trod trodden, with vergessen ver-
gasz vergessen, treten trat getreten.
4. Usual in Shakespeare and his contemporaries.
TENSES. 303
sprechen, Stechen, treffen and pflegen (pflag or pflog). The re-
maining eight introduce the o of the participle into the perfect.
(183) E. Type see =sehem.
Excepting as regards the participle the two types D and E
are in full agreement: in the present, vowel 8, Go. saſhv-an;
in the pf. Sg., vowel à, Go. Sahv (cf. E. see saw and G. Seh-en
sah); in the pf. pl., the same unexplained 6, Go. Séhv-wm. The
only difference is in Go. Saïhv-an-S = E. see-m = G, ge-seh-en, which
has the infinitive-vowel.
The reason for this is that type E corresponds to our first
class of vowel-gradation, namely to the radical vowel à, standing
in any other position but in the four types A–D : such being
the case, the é, as noted above, when the syllable becomes
reduced, disappears in I.-E. without leaving any vocalic sound
to support the neighbouring consonants, so that the syllable
ought to disappear altogether; but it has been seen that Pre-
germanic does not go so far as this. The reduced grade here
remains identical with the normal grade, that is, the stem of
the participle identical with the stem of the infinitive. Hence
there arises a threefold gradation, viz. & 3 & 8 (Go, gib-am gaf
géb-wm gib-an-s, it-an at ét-um it-an-s, etc.), which of course per-
sists in O.E. and O.H.G., but which still, by the process defined
above, is confined to two grades, e a a e, in the later languages:
E. give gave gave given, eat ate ate eaten ; G. geben gab gaben ge-
geben, essen asz aszen gegessen, etc.
Instead of an é, we may also find in the present, and ana-
logically even in the participle," a metaphonical i, that is, when
the verb is formed by means of the I.-E. suffix -yo- instead of
the simple -o-; thus, Preg. *ēt-ana-m (to eat), from I.-E. *éd-5
(I eat) = Gr. 8-0 = L. &d-ö ; but Preg. *sūt-jana-m (E. sit = G.
sitz-en), from I.-E. *séd-yö; and so also, E. lie = G. liegen, E. bid
= G. bitten (to beg, to pray) = Go, bid-jan.”
Briefly, the verbs of this class must have : in the infinitive,
* In English only, in bidden part. of bid, whereas German has gebeten
part. of bitten.
* In E. give=G. geben, the sound i is caused by the preceding g (O.E.
gief-am, cf. Supra 50, II.).
304 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GIRAMMAR.
either e or i ; in the perfect, always a ; in the participle, theo-
retically at least, always e.
This main law holds good in English for six verbs of this
class, which, when its losses are deducted (stick, tread, weave,
get), becomes reduced to nine in all,—namely: see saw seen, eat
ate eaten,” give gave given, bid bade (also bid) bid, spit spat (also
spit) spit, and lie lay lain.” In one of them, sit sat (sate) sat,
the perfect-vocalism has intruded into the participle. The
two remaining have neither a present nor a participle, viz.:-
quoth = O.E. cwacö,” infinitive cuečan = Go, giban (to say); and
was, pl. were, the only one which, curiously enough, has kept
unaltered the regular gradation from the sg. to the pl., together
with the regular change of s to r, though, by being incorporated
with the wb. to be, it has lost every other tense.*
The last verb is in German wesen (an infinitive used substan-
tivally), pf war (with the r imported from the pl. to the sg.),
part. ge-wes-en; cf. O.H.G. wes-an was wār-um gi-wós-an, and
Go. vis-an was vés-um vis-an-s. And the same triple alternation
is reproduced in the fourteen verbs of type E which survive in
German : sehen sah gesehem, essen asz gegessen (a corrupt form
replacing the regular *gessen "), geben, bitten, sitzen, liegen, etc.;
lesen, genesen, messen, geschehem, lost in English ; treten, Stecken,
vergessen, shifted in English to some other class. Here we can-
not but admire the marvellous preservation of the German
vowel-change.
(184) F. Type slay = schlagen.
With the five types A–E we have completed the five essential
classes of I.-E. vowel-gradation "; the 6th class has no longer
1 Though a double analogy has produced the pf, eat and the part. ate,
both moreover unusual.
2 In laim = *lein = G. gelegen, the vowel may as well be an e, as in way =
O.E. weg = G. weg, etc., supra 50, II, 4. -
3 E. o for a owing to the influence of the preceding labial consonant.
4 Cf. infra 217, III. But illiterate people often say you was, thus effacing
the last trace of the traditional accidence.
5 O.H.G. gi-833-an, syncopated to M.H.G. gè33em, and this again altered
to gegessen by receiving anew the half worn-out prefix ge-.
6 Let us state once more, in concluding, the general correspondence:
TENSES. 305
*
any representative in Germanic accidence: there remains for
examination the 7th class, the characteristic of which has been
seen to be a mere alternation between ü, in the infinitive and
participle, and Ö, in the sg. and pl. of the perfect; for, as early
even as the Pregermanic period, the vowel here had become the
same throughout the whole perfect-tense, Go. slah-an sloh slöh-
wm slah-an-s, O.E. slē-an slög slög-on sleg-en, E. slay slew (=*slū)
slai-n, O.H.G. slah-an sluoh sluog-um gi-slag-an,” G. Schlag-en
Schlug Schlug-en ge-schlag-en.
This type is usually kept without alteration in the verbs
which still survive, namely: E. shake shook shaken, take
(borrowed from Scandinavian), forsake, draw drew drawn =
G. tragen truggetragen, G. fahren fuhr gefahren, graben, wachsen,
schaffen, laden, backen, etc. : in all, about ten English and a
dozen German verbs, besides the two metaphonical verbs
mentioned below. A very few remarks will suffice.
1. Several verbs have passed to some other system : E. fare
is now a weak verb ; so also E. shave and G. Schaben, but the
former retains a part. shaven ; E. bake and lade are likewise
weak verbs, though the latter has a part. laden, cf. also the
vowel in the substantive load; E. shape and waa, preserve the
parts, shapen and waaien, but the pfs. are waved and shaped, cf.
the G. forms Schaffte geschafft from the wb. Schaffen meaning “to
work”; and, lastly, E. awake has awoke and awaked, whilst G.
avachen and E. wake are weak verbs.
2. The E. v.b. stand = O.E. stond-an has several peculiarities.
The internal nasal, being a present-sign, does not pass to the
other tenses *: O.E. stad and E. stood. Next, the vocalism of
the perfect has been transferred to the part., now stood instead
Classes: 1st — 2nd — 3rd — 4th — 5th – 6th — 7th
>--—"
2–~
Types: E – A – B – C — D — , , — F.
* Observe the “grammatical alternation,” variously levelled in Go., O.E.
and Mod. German.
* This should be the rule for any verb whatever assuming an interior
nasal, supra, 82, 3 ; cf. L. vinc-0 vic-i, find-ö fid-i, etc. But analogy every-
where transferred the nasal of the present into the perfect (as in L. jung-à
junoj-i), and E. stand is the only one that remained free from such cor-
ruption.
X
306 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
of O.E. regular gestonden. The same is the case with awake
awoke awoke. The G. v.b. *standen is lost, but its pf. stand and
its part. gestanden are in use: the latter is regular (O.H.G.
gistantan); the former ought to be *stund (= O.H.G. stuont),”
which is at any rate found in the pf. subj. stiinde, so that
German has certainly undergone the reverse analogy to that
of English.
3. Two Anglo-German verbs exhibit, in the present only,
instead of an a, the metaphonical vowel corresponding to a,
because they are derived by means of the Preg, suff. -ja--I.-E.
-yö-, namely: Go, haf-jan (=L. cap-à), O.E. hebban and E.
heave, O.H.G. heſian and G. heben; O.E. swer-ian and E. swear,
O.H.G. swer-len and G. schwören.” Both being identical, in
their present-vocalism, with the verbs of the type D, became
assimilated to this type, completely in English, and partly in
German : E. heave hove hoven (also weak), swear swore sworn ;
G. heben hub (also hob) gehoben ; Schwören schwur (also schwor)
geschworem.
§ 2. Reduplicated Perfects.
(185) G. The only Type being fall=fallen.
I. The last type we have to study now is merely differ-
entiated from the six preceding, as the six preceding are
differentiated from one another, by the nature of the alterna-
tion in its root-vocalism : in other words, this type appears,
no less than the types A–F, to proceed from vowel-gradation.
In reality it is nothing of the kind. For the history of the
Germanic languages and, in particular, comparison with Gothic
accidence show that verbs of this class, those at least which
were primitive and served as patterns for English and German
conjugation,-kept the present-vowel both in the perfect and
the participle, and that the perfect took no other tense-sign but
+ Replaced by stehem, infra 220.
* German, less pure than English, has allowed the nasal of the infinitive
stamtan to spread into the whole verb. Compare moreover Go. standam, pf.
st Op. -
8 Spelled č - e, cf. Supra, 50, III. 2, and 121, 12; as also in lüschen, Supra,
181, II. 3.
TENSES. 307
\..
the initial reduplication mentioned above: thus Gothic, for
instance, answers with hald-an hai-hald hald-an-s the verb
which is E. hold held hold-en (now held) and G. halt-en hielt
ge-halt-en; and, if Gothic had a vb. *fall-an, it would likewise
oppose a pf. *fai-fall to O.E. feoll and E. fell= O.H.G. fial and
G. fiel.
Hence the perfects of type G were clearly reduplicated in
Pregermanic, and adopted an interchangeable vocalism only as
late as West Germanic. How the latter fact took place, will
be examined further on, though at the outset we may clear the
ground, by stating that their leading characteristic is a clearer
vowel (E. e and G. ie) as opposed to the obscurer vowel in the
present and participle. This obscurer vowel is not the same
throughout the whole class, as it is in the types A–F. Indeed,
it is a very capricious one, and here the unity of the class
comes by no means from the vocalism of the infinitive, but
only from the constant perfect-vocalism, as the whole category
admits of no less than nine sub-classes, fall =fallen, hold=
halten, blow =blasen," let =lassen, (hew =) haven, (leap =) laufen,
stoszen, heiszen and rufen, all of which, in spite of the differences
in their infinitive-stem, assume the same vowel in their perfects
fell=fiel, held =hielt, blew =blies, let = liesz, hieb, lief,” stiesz,
hiesz and Tief: a remarkable likeness which at first sight
betrays a principle of formation common to all these various
stems. -
And what could this common principle be but reduplication,
since the nine corresponding presents and perfects respectively
either are or would be Go. *falla ºfdſ-fal, halda hai-hald, blésa
*bai-blés, lêta laí-lót, *hagva *hai-hagv, hláupa ºhai-hláup, stºuta
*staí-stáut, hâita hai-hdit and hröpja *hai-hrôp ? The system
moreover is of the greatest simplicity: the vowel of the infini-
tive is always that of the participle, almost always that of the
perfect, and the latter always remains unchanged from the
singular to the plural. English and German reproduce all
* More accurately speaking, E. blow would be G. blåhem (weak wb.); buf
the G. added s is reproduced in the E. derivative moun blas-t.
2 Unluckily, these two verbs, with many others, have passed in English
to the weak conjugation, cf. infra III. 2. &
30S ENGLISH AND GERMAN GIRAMMAR.
these characteristics with the single exception of the alteration
in the perfect-vowel. -
II. The whole question, therefore, is how it happened that
West Germanic was led to substitute for the primitive re-
duplication a single syllable with clearer vowel; and this
question answers itself; for, since the I.-E. or Preg. reduplica-
tion, being always characterized by a vowel à, necessarily con-
tained a clearer sound than that of the verbal root to which it
was prefixed, there can be hardly any doubt that the vocalic
change in the E. and G. root is due to the influence of this
reduplication. The only difficulty under which we labour is
to state the precise circumstances under which this process
took place; for we have no historical documents to guide us,
and are left to choose between two different though equally
plausible and not altogether contradictory ways. Analogy may
have followed both at the same time, together with perhaps
some unknown paths.
1. Let us restore some Preg. perfects of the Go. type hai-
hald, that is to say, perfects of verbs beginning with an h,
*hè-hálē-ă (he held), *hé-házw-à (he hewed), *hè-háit-8 (he
called), *hé-háñx-à (he hung), etc. Nothing is more natural
than that, the medial h being sounded weakly and then
dropped, the two vowels thus brought together should coalesce
into one long vowel, whence *helöö, *hézwé, *héâté, *héâzâ, etc.
(G. hielt, hieb, hiesz, hieng). Now the visible relation between
such stems as hålö higw hit hitāz and such as helö hegw heit
béñg, respectively in the present and perfect, being analogically
transferred to other verbs, there arose, for instance, fél and
féâz (G. fiel and fing), created on the stems fil and fiſſiz, and
so forth. Further, when the root contains a w, we find the
diphthongs O.E. do and O.H.G. io in the perfect stem (O.H.G.
lowf-an liof- G. laufen lief); the simple à underwent the O.E.
|breaking (feall-an föoll), while English still shows it unaltered
though shortened (held, fell); the same & became diphthongized
to O H.G. ia (fial, hiang); and, lastly, O.H.G. io and ia, both
equally gave G. ie or i (lief, fiel, hing): these are matters of
simple inference for any one acquainted with phonetics.
2. We have seen that the root-vowel remained unchanged
TENSES. 309
throughout the perfect. But it may be doubted whether this
was the case in Pregermanic, since it is a well-known fact that
in the I.-E. plural of the perfect the root-vowel tended to be-
come reduced, and even occasionally to disappear altogether."
Now, it is a curious coincidence that O.E. retains five perfects
which clearly show an initial reduplication, together with a
root which has lost its vowel, e.g. he-ht, from hāt-an (to call),
and reo-rd, from rād-an (to read); cf. G. hiesz, from heisz-en,
and rieth, from rathem (to guess). Hence, supposing Preger-
manic to have possessed such perfect-stems as *hé-ht-, *rē-rð-,
etc., it was but natural, indeed, almost unavoidable that the
medial consonant in these forms should be eliminated, since the
speaker, when contrasting them with such present-stems as
*háit-, *réð-, would obtain the misleading view that the interior
h or r (or other consonant) in each was a superfluous growth ;
and thus he would begin to suppress it, and to form the perfect-
stems “hāt-, *réð- (close 6),” next analogically *fel- for *fö-fl-,
and so on.”
III. If however the origin of the phenomenon is lost in the
mists of the past, all its present applications are plain, simple
and absolutely constanţ.
1. German keeps fifteen perfects of the reduplicated type,"
all of them with vowel ie (), and with the same vowel in the
infinitive and participle. To those quoted above we need but
add braten briet, Schlafen Schlief, fangen fing, and (gangen) * ging.
2. English is far less pure. Besides the four verbs quoted
1. Cf. Supra 44 and 45, 1.
* We may even, in *rēd from reord, treat the transition as merely pho-
netic, inasmuch as we find E. meed and G. miethe (salary) = O.H.G. méta =
O.E. meðrd = Go. mizdij= Gr. uta:05s, cf. supra 62.
* On this difficult and intricate question, the most recent and complete
authority is: H. Lichtenberger, de Verbis quae in vetustissima Germanorum
Lingua reduplicatum Perfectum eachibebant (Nancy 1891), the work of an
acute and well-trained scholar.
* O.H.G. had a few more, but some of them have passed to the weak
system : thus salzen (Go. salt-am, pf. sai-salt, but G. salz-te) still betrays
itself as a strong verb through its old part. ge-salz-en (but ich habe ge-salz-t
in conjugating), whilst méthen, stien, etc., have lost every survival of the
strong type.
* Infinitive and present obsolete in German, now replaced by gehem. In
English the whole verb is lost. Cf. infra 219.
&
310 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
above may be mentioned grow grew, throw 1 threw, crow crew,
know knew and beat beat (O.E. bāat-an bāot). The vb. hold re-
places its part. hold-en by held after the analogy of the perfect.
The verbs hew (=hauen), sow, mow, strow and strew, show and
shew (cf. G. silen, māhen, strewen, schauen, weak verbs) still keep
a part. in -n, but have a weak' perfect. Some others, as leap
(=G. laufen) have become weak throughout their whole acci-
dence. Lastly, the vb, which is quite regularly O.E. *hong-an”
heng ge-hong-en|=G. hang-en hing ge-hang-en, is now E. hang
hung hung, owing to the intrusion of a vowel which has nothing
to do with this class and has probably been imported hither
from type C.”
SECTION III.
WEAK PERFECT AND PARTICIPLE.
(186) Weak Verbs, as already stated, are those in which
the perfect and participle are formed, without any vocalic
change, by mere addition of a dental element, E. -d (-ed) or -t,
G. -ie (-ete) and -t (-et). The great majority of English and
German weak verbs obey this fundamental rule; but a con-
siderable minority, especially in English, are exceptions, whether
as apparently lacking the dental element, or as actually under-
going in their root some accidental vocalic shifting. Hence,
in order to fully understand the principle of formation, it
appears advisable to begin at once with stating all these
apparent anomalies and reducing them to the normal form
from which they are separated only by an insignificant detail.
§ 1. Apparent Anomalies.
(187) In order to analyse the doubtful cases of weak
perfect and participle, we must first observe that the un-
accented vowel (now & mute) which preceded the dental suffix,
tended in early times, as it still does, to disappear in rapid
1 G. drehen “to turn,” weak verb.
* The actual O.E. infinitive is hôn = Go. hdham = *hánh-an, supra, 24.
* For the part. hang-ed, see above, p. 148, n. 2, and p. 288, n. 1.
TENSES. 311
pronunciation. In fact, it vanished in any position, even after
a dental consonant, since German regularly has er sandte (he
sent), gesandt (sent), beredt (eloquent), so that the fuller forms
send-ete ge-red-et are obviously refashioned, by a late analogical
process, on the basis of the infinitives send-en and red-en.
Next we must remember the undecided character of the
sound d as an English final; for, although the consonant here
was a true Germanic ē, it could nevertheless become shifted to
t, either before a voiceless initial consonant in the following
word, or when absolutely final at the end of a sentence, or
when immediately preceded by a voiceless consonant after the
intermediate vowel had been dropped."
No wonder, therefore, if we often find an English final t, or
if the d or t appears to be wanting altogether, that is, when
the verbal stem itself ends with a dental, so that the two
contiguous dentals coalesced after the syncope. Let us now
follow, in both languages, the further development of these
various processes.
1. Such a form as pas-t requires no explanation, being indeed
the true transliteration of the pronunciation of the word pass-ed
with which it alternates. And durs-t, instead of the analogical
dare-d, is hardly more puzzling; for the Preg. root is not *ēēr-,
but *ēērs- (I.-E. root dhërs, cf. Gr. 6apor-eiv “to cheer up,”
6pag-iſ-s “bold.”), and the present dare=O.E. dearr” merely
conceals the s by assimilating it to the preceding r, whereas it
reappears before the -t of the perfect. The difference in the
vocalism proceeds from dare regularly having the deflected
grade, while the remarkable archaic form durst no less regularly
exhibits the reduced grade (O.E. durs-te, from an I.-E. root-
form dhys), which is likewise the case with the Greek words
compared above.
2. We can also easily understand the rather rare syncopes
which took place, usually in common words, between the final
consonant of the stem and the dental of the suffix, and led to a
complete absorption of the former: E. had = O.E. haef-de, and
* Remember moreover that the I.-E. Suff. -tó- of the participle is in Some
cases represented quite regularly by a Germanic -t, supra 53 B and 78.
* Exactly speaking, this present itself is an old perfect, cf. infra 222.
312 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
E. had = O.E. ge-haef-d, cf. E. head = O.E. heafod; G. hatte =
O.H.G. hap-ta (also hab-ê-ta), but part. ge-hab-t = O.H.G.
g?-hab-ê-t; E. made = O.E. mac-o-de.
3. Now, whether these two consonants thus become assimil-
ated, or keep their original sound, in any case the loss of the
intermediate vowel produces a consonantal group, which again
may exert its usual influence over the preceding vowel, that is,
may either shorten it, or prevent it being lengthened: we have
but to compare the long vowel in G. hiben = O.H.G. hib-à-n,
with the short one in hatte, gehabt. This is quite an elementary
distinction. But in English the phenomenon leads to further
consequences: the lengthening or shortening in its turn alters
the sound of the radical vowel, whence there arise such alterna-
tions as keep kept (O.E. cép-an cép-te), weep wept, feel felt, kneel
knelt, flee fled," lean leant (also leaned), mean meant, lose lost,
shoe shod, etc., all familiar to the reader.
4. Under the same conditions, if the syncope develops, after
a vowel capable of O.E. breaking, a consonantal group capable
of causing it (rd, ld), then, the breaking of the vowel produces
the alternations hear heard (O.E. her-an hier-de), sell sold (O.E.
sell-an seal-de), tell told, etc., so that the verb seems to vary in
its stem, whereas the history of the language explains this
apparent variation as the result of combined breaking and
metaphony, acting on an originally identical vocalism.
5. If the final consonant of the verbal stem happens to be a
dental explosive, d or t, like the suffix-consonant, the usual
syncope of the intermediate vowel, as a rule, takes place both
in O.E. and O.H.G., whereupon, the two dentals being blended
into one, the perfect and participle will seem as if they lacked
any exponent; and, since English chiefly retains this primitive
formation, it inherits and keeps throughout such types as send
sent (O.E. send-an and sende=*send-de), rend rent, gild gilt, gird
girt, or cast cast, cut cut, put put, set set, hurt hurt, even cost cost
(borrowed from F.), indeed, even shed shed (O.E. scèad-an.
scéad-de), wed wed, etc., etc. In the last two cases, the perfect
1 Supra 19 and 20. The vb.fléon =G. fliellen is strong in O.E.: it became
weak as a means of differentiation from E. fly - O.E. fléogam = G, fliegen,
and assumed a d which closes the syllable, whence the é is shortened.
TENSES. 313.
and participle have exactly the same relation to the infinitive
as in the types of strong verbs let let, split split, etc., and it is
only the history of the language that allows us to distinguish
between these strong and weak forms.” Later on, analogy
caused the formerly syncopated final to be restored in many
verbs of this kind : from last, blot, wed, etc., were derived
last-ed, blott-ed, wedd-ed; and this is almost constantly the case
with literary German, rett-em rett-ete ge-rett-et, red-en red-ete
ge-red-et, etc.; but the surviving forms, sandte gesandt, wandle
gewandt, beredt, etc., wherein the d is spelled but not sounded
and might be dropped altogether,” still shows in German an
early syncopated state, similar in regularity and constancy to
the O.E. accidence.
6. Before the double dental group thus obtained in O.E.,
English naturally undergoes the processes of shortening and
vowel-shifting, whence come the well-known alternations read
Tead (O.E. rād-an rēd-de), lead led, meet met, light lit, etc., and
even clothe clad (O.E. clº-an clāū-de). The last shows us that
the change of a to 5 is later than the shortening of a vowel in
a close syllable. Thus, here too the stem seems to vary,
whereas the phenomenon is late and the result of accident.
7. Some variations appear more serious, merely because
they are older and carry us back farther into the past of
Germanic phonetics. Thus the present sometimes shows a
regular metaphony, which has no reason for appearing in the
perfect.” Taking, for instance, the Go. v.b. vand-jan (to turn),
the pf. of which is vand-ida, we find the infinitive to be regu-
larly represented by O.H.G. wenten, and the perfect, no less
regularly, after syncope has taken place, by wanta, after the
analogy of which German will replace the old part. gi-went-it
by a new one gewandt. These alternations were quite common
* It is quite plain that, reciprocally, this identity must have contributed
on a large scale to further the loss of final -en in such strong participles as
bid (for bidden), and them, analogically, in a great many others,
* The O.H.G. forms are infinitive went-en, pf. wanta, part. gi-went-it;
and so also, rett-en (to save), pf. Tat-ta (also ret-ita, which shows the work
of restoration to have begun very early), part. gi-ret-it, nomin. Sg. gi-rat-t-ér:
a curiously varied, though now altogether uniform accidence, cf. infra 7.
* This has already been seen above in the types sell and tell, where the
present-metaphony actually combines with the perfect-breaking.
314 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
in O.H.G., but the later language has levelled them almost
throughout, keeping merely a few survivals in the class of
verbs improperly termed “mixed verbs”—intermediate, as it
were, between strong and weak—in some grammars, namely:
ºvemn-en (= Go. namn-jan) mann-te ge-mann-t, rennen, kennen,
brennen, senden and wenden. English, more corrupt in this
case, has extended the vocalism of the present to the whole
conjugation: send sent, rend rent, burn burnt with metathesis.
8. English, notwithstanding, retains some traces of this effect
of present-metaphony, namely in verbs in which the present
and perfect had diverged too far to be again reconciled by
analogy. Nothing could be more unlike, at first sight, than
buy and bought ; but, on going back to O.E., we find bycg-an
and boh-te, and we at once recognise the y as the metaphony of
o; in other words, we restore a Preg. *bitz-jama-m, wherein the
di has been mutated, while it was kept unaltered in the pf.
*büh-ta, no i here being inserted. So also, seek and beseech are
metaphonical forms of suchen and beswchen, whereas the perfects
sought and besought strictly reproduce the vocalism of suchte
and besuchte. The relation is the same, though combined with
metathesis, in work and wrought, which are O.E. wyrc-ean and
worh-te," and so with others.
9. Lastly, when to these various phenomena is superadded
the effect of the well-known and earlier law called Tregermanic
compensatory lengthening,” we have the curious and rare
alternations of the type bring = bring-en and brought =brachte,
think = denken (diimken) and thought = dachte, upon which we
need not dwell further.
10. There remain a couple of English verbs, nearly alike,
teach and taught, catch and caught. O.E. tiec-eam, contrasted
with pf, tah-te, shows in the present a regular metaphony: the
sound of the two vowels, which at first scarcely differed,
acquired in time the present striking dissimilarity. This ex-
planation, however, cannot hold good for M.E. caugh-te, since
the M.E. v.b. cacch-en is not Germanic, but Romance, borrowed
from the Picardian cachier = M.F. chacier (to hunt, to catch,
* For the interchangeable guttural, See above 53 C.
* Supra 24, where the applications are enumerated.
TENSES, 315
now chasser): it has been suggested that the perfect was
imitated from that of another verb of Germanic origin and
similar meaning, which became obsolete after the former had
'been introduced. Everywhere else analogy worked in a con-
trary direction; we have, for instance, E. reached from reach =
O.E. ràc-an,” and many like it.
On Summing up results, we find, not only that the forms
with dental suffix which appear most irregular agree with the
general rule of weak perfect and participle accidence, but even
that these are the most regular and primitive, inasmuch as
their changes are due to the phonetic laws of the two languages,
whereas the specious regularity of others really proceeds from
later and artificial restoration.
§ 2. Principle of formation.
(188) I. It must now be well understood that the English
and German weak perfect and participle are always and every-
where identical, and consequently identical with the Gothic
types såk-ida (he sought) and sôk-ih-s (sought). The next
question is: what is this dental element P to which I.-E.
formation does it correspond P. This question has already been
asked and answered in the case of the participle : it has been
stated that the Preg. suff. -íða- is the same, both in form and
function, that appears in Sk, dam-itá-s (tamed), Gr. 8ap-ató-s,
L. dom-itu-s, Go, ga-tam-ida, O.E. *ge-topm-d and E. tame-d,
O.H.G. gi-zem-it and G. ge-zähm-t; and this identity is too
universal to admit of contradiction or even doubt.”
II. But the case is quite different in the perfect, though
outwardly it looks so like the participle. The first thought,
indeed, that occurs to the mind, namely the suggestion of a
derivation from the participle itself, proves at once unable to
stand the test, since, in a transitive verb, the perfect has
always a transitive, and the participle an intransitive meaning,
and consequently no precise relation either in meaning or
derivation can be perceived between them. But, setting aside
* Skeat, Principles, II., p. 187.
* G. reichem and errenchen are likewise weak verbs.
* Cf. Supra, 78 and 90.
316 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMIA.R.
this hasty induction, we are compelled to acknowledge that the
Germanic weak perfect occupies a strangely isolated position
in comparative grammar; for there is not a single I.-E. tongue,
even of the Letto-Slavonic group, which stands so near in
many other respects, that can show anything at all related;
and, unless we recur to the absurd theory of a creation from
nothing, we must suppose Germanic to have somehow de-
veloped a previous I.-E. form in which the dental element had
nothing to do with deriving the stem of the perfect-tense.
Many intricate processes may have had such an effect. Here
we may venture to sketch in rough outline the most plausible
of all. In order to understand it, the reader must remember
that every I.-E. verb possessed two conjugational systems, the
so-called voices, which were differentiated by the nature of
their person-endings, and that the so-called middle voice,
though it theoretically involved an action returning to the
subject, in many cases hardly differed from the active, except
for a vague and almost immaterial shade of meaning : thus,
Sk, bhārat; and bhāraté stand equally well for “he carries,”
Gr. 60 and ākoſo, actives, have the middle futures éðo-pat and
ãkočo-o-pal, and the L. so-called deponents, imitor, morior, etc.,
though passively conjugated, do not differ in meaning from the
active forms imit5, *morij, etc. Nothing, therefore, is more
common, and nothing will seem more natural than the use of a
middle form in the conjugation of an active verb."
Let us then consider any Gr, Vb., for instance Tpép-o (to
feed), with normal root in the present: with the regular grada-
tions and endings of the active and middle perfect, it forms a
pf, active sg. 3 Té-Tpoºb-e (deflected root) and a pf. middle sg. 3
Té-Épat-tat (reduced root). Let us now take in the same way
an I.-E. root, for instance skiib (reduced), the deflected grade
of which will be sköb : it needs but slight reflection to see that
the Pregermanic forms strictly correlative to the Gr. forms
above will be pf act. Sg. 3 *ské-sköp-e and pf. m. sg. 3 *ské-
1 Particularly in reference to the present remarks, the L. pf. is certainly,
in the main, a perfect with middle person-endings, and the anomalies it,
exhibits, especially when contrasted with the Gr. pf., could by no means be
otherwise explained.
TENSES. 317
skåp-tai. Now, carrying this twofold formation into German,
we shall find it to correspond sound for sound with two actual
G. forms which have already occurred, viz. the two perfects (er)
Schuf and (er) schaffte, the former strong, the latter weak.
Hence, speaking generally, and omitting many accessory
elements," we may lay down this main formula : the strong
and the weak perfect look as if they were, respectively, the
active and the middle perfect of the I.-E. conjugation.
But, if this were the case, ought they not both to coexist
side by side in any verb, as they actually coexist in Greek, and
do here coexist accidentally” in the verb schaffen, which, owing
to this circumstance, has afforded us an appropriate example P
Certainly, and it will be seen, moreover,” that in fact they do
coexist in a larger number of Germanic verbs than we should at
first sight expect. In general, however, one of them has dis-
appeared as early as the Pregermanic period; but the loss is
attributable to a principle of economy, the effects of which
are obvious in every language: the memory of the speaking
subject has no room for useless words; two exactly synonymous
forms, either survive by assuming peculiar shades of meaning,
or else, if they remain exactly synonymous, one or the other
soon becomes obsolete. So it happened with the Germanic
perfect, either strong or weak: wherever a strong perfect was
contrasted in its vocalism with the general verbal form, clearly
enough to be able to play without confusion the part of past-
tense, there was no reason for a weak perfect being retained;
elsewhere, its dental element, denoting the 3rd person of the
singular, became associated in the speaker's mind with the
notion of past time, and thus the form remained indispensable
and was secured from decay.
* Restricted to these terms, the theory must needs appear superficial,
inasmuch as it leaves out of account some phonetic and grammatical diffi-
culties, the details of which cannot conveniently find a place in this work.
Should the reader wish to proceed further, he should refer to Collitz' article
in either Amer. Journ. of Philology, ix., p. 42, or Bezzenberger's Beiträge,
xvii., p. 227.
* Of course, schaffte is not primitive, but has been formed on schaffem,
after the analogy of some other type; but the twofold pf. of this verb proved
convenient for the purpose of the present demonstration.
* Under the Preterito-presents, infra 222.
3.18 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
III. Our task is not yet over; for, now that we are dealing
with a new and complete past-tense, the cause no longer
appears adequate to the effect. The Greek exponent -tat is
well-known to characterize only the third person singular:
now, if the final syllable in er schaff-te be the same, how does it
come that German says, quite as correctly, ich schaff–te, or, in
other words, that a whole tense is conjugated on a syllable
which really represents one of its person-endings P Here we
come to one of the most curious, though by no means rare,
phenomena due to grammatical analogy, namely, a single
and isolated form giving birth to a whole system of forms.
Let us briefly state the series of analogical facts.
1. Owing to grammatical and phonetic peculiarities which
- will be explained below," the two Germanic forms of sg. 1 and
sg, 3 of the strong perfect had come to be identical : Go. bar
“I carried ” and “he carried,” nam. “I took ’’ and “he took,”
etc.; cf. E. I bare and he bare, G. ich nahm and er nahm, and
so forth, everywhere.
2. On the other hand, as noted above, the form of sg. 3
in the weak perfect was Go. Sök-ida, cf. E. he sough-t and G.
er such-te, from vb. Sök-jan = seek = suchen.
3. The identity of sg. 1 and 3 in the strong perfect quite
naturally led the speaker to use similarly sg. 3 of the weak
perfect for sg. 1, and to say Go. Sök-ida. “I sought,” E. I sought,
G. ich suchte,_a bold transposition, indeed, though so simple in
appearance.
4. After these two forms have become levelled, the others
must follow : hence, each Germanic language, according to its
own genius and to the conjugational resources it is able to
display, constructs on the basis of sg. 1 and 3 a new perfect-
accidence (Go. Sükida sūkidés, etc.), which, even in O.E. and
O.H.G., and still more so of course in Mod. German and English,
is entirely modelled on the person-endings of the strong perfect.
5. In this marvellous growth of a single person-ending into
a whole tense, and in this new tense again extending through-
out almost all the verbs, whether present or future, of the
1 Under the Person-endings, infra 208–209.
TENSES. 319
Germanic family, we ought never to forget that the analogical
influence of the weak participle must have played a large and
decisive part. It has been already explained that the weak
perfect cannot have arisen from it ; but these two grammatical
categories must have always gone hand in hand, and, by their
fortuitous and exact likeness, have protected each other from
the risks they ran, inasmuch as every verb which had a par-
ticiple with a dental suffix would naturally show a propensity
to develop a perfect with the same suffix, and vice versé. Hence
the actual correspondence, established long ago, with but a few
insignificant exceptions, between these two formative currents
which, starting from far distant sources, soon flowed together
and ended by uniting in a single channel.
§ 3. Applications.
(189) I. The formation of the weak perfect being well
understood, its applications will appear of the utmost simplicity,
the more so because, in the later languages, the progress of
analogy, together with the dulness of unaccented finals, greatly
contributed to simplify them. Gothic distinguishes mainly
three classes of weak verbs, according as the Pregermanic
derivative syllable in each was -ja-, or -ó-, or -&-," viz.:
1. Infinitive sūk-ja-n, pf. Sg. 3 Sök-i-da, part. Sök-i-p-s;
2. 5 * salb-Ö-m, 3 y salb-0-da, , , Salb-0-p-s ;
3. 3 5 hab-a-n, } } hab-di-da, , , hab-ài-p-s.”
II. Old English has the tolerably regular correspondences
to these three types, viz.:
1. Infinitive sūc-ea-m, pf. Sg. 3 Süh-te, part. ge-sdh-t ;
2. 3 y sealf-ia-m,” 3 y Sealf-0-de, , , ge-sealf-a-d;
3. } } habb-a-m, 3 y hacf-de ,, Je-half-d.
III. Old High German is either preserved or restored re-
markably well, viz.:
* Besides a 4th class, comprising some intransitive verbs, which does not
occur in West Germanic. Cf. Supra. 83 (IV.), 85, 92 and 93.
* The derivative vowel of the 3rd class is seen to disguise itself in Gothic.
But it appears clearly in O.H.G.
* The present-form visibly influenced by the analogy of the 1st class.
320 FNGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
1. Infinitive swoch-e-n, pf, Sg. 3 swoh-ta, part, gi-swoch-i-t;
2. 5 § salb-0-0, 3 * Salb-d-ta, ,, gi-Salb-0-t.
3. 3 y hab-8-m, $ 3 hab-ê-ta," , , gi-hab-ê-t.
IV. Now, let the reader contrast the present states:
1. E. seek sough-t sough-t = G. Such-en such-te ge-such-t;
2. , salve salve-d Salve d = , , Salb-en salb-te ge-Salb-t;
3. , , have ha-d ha-d = , , hab-em hat-te ge-hab-t.
Provided he has borne in mind our previous observations
(§ 1), he will easily perceive how it happened that, apart from
apparent exceptions, the three historical types were blended
into one, which may be reduced to the following rules:
(a) The English weak perfect and participle are formed by
adding to the infinitive a suffix -d, which, even when written
-ed, does not constitute a syllable (saved pr. Sévd, pushed pr.
pušt, etc.), except when the infinitive itself ends with a dental
explosive (shade shaded, melt melted, etc.);
(b) The German weak perfect and participle are formed
by substituting for the -en of the infinitive a dental element,
respectively -te and -t, spelled and sounded -ete and -et when
preceded by a dental explosive (geredet, gestattet).
V. These rules, without exception, apply: (1) to primary
verbs which, as early as the Pregermanic period, were shifted
to the weak accidence, especially to those in I.-E. -Sko-, E.
wish = O.E. wyscean, G. forschen = O.H.G. forscón, etc.; (2) to
primary verbs, much more numerous in English than in German,
which in Pregermanic still belonged to the strong conjugation,
but later passed to the weak”; (3) to all secondary, tertiary,
etc., I.-E. verbs; (4) to all verbs which in English or German
have arisen from later derivation; (5) and, of course, to any
late created verbs; (6) lastly, to all verbs in particular which
English has borrowed from French, and, generally speaking,
to every foreign element imported into English or German;–
excluding only the few cases in which a verb of regularly weak
conjugation has been compelled, through outward likeness to
a strong verb, to obey the laws of strong accidence.”
1 Earlier hap-ta, but analogy restored the unsyncopated form, whereupon
the syncope again took place in Mod. German.
2 ſhe most important instances have been quoted under 179–185.
8 Cf. supra 179 (5), 180 (II. 8), etc., etc.
CHAPTER II.
MOODS.
(Igo) The Indo-European conjugation distinguished four
moods, Indicative, Subjunctive, Optative and Imperative, all
well preserved in Greek and Sanskrit. But the subjunctive
and the optative had a kindred meaning, which was often
indistinct and soon became confused : thus, the so-called Latin
subjunctive, as a matter of fact, is a mixture of forms borrowed
from both the original subjunctive and optative." In Pre-
germanic, the whole Subjunctive is simply the original
Optative, with perhaps vague traces of the I.-E. subjunctive.”
Now, as the indicative, from its nature, did not need the use
of any exponent, being the stem of the verb itself, the study of
Anglo-German moods is confined to two verbal forms, Sub-
junctive and Imperative.
SECTION I.
S U B J U N C T J W E .
(191) The two tenses of the Indicative, Present and Per-
fect, are both capable of being conjugated in the Subjunctive,
the form of which is derived for each, by means of a peculiar
suffix, from the corresponding form of the Indicative.
§ 1. Present Subjunctive.
(192) I. Referring to the Greek optative present, which
accurately reproduces the original I.-E. accidence, we find it,
1. Cf. infra 211, the subjunctive of the vb, “to be.”
* Immaterial for our present subject: cf. infra 192, I.
321
Y
322 - ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
that is, in the so-called verbs in -o), as there are no others
left in the Germanic conjugation,--to be formed by inserting
an element -t- between the stem in -o- and the person-endings.
Thus, a verb, for instance, the stem of which was I.-E. *bhér-ö-,
formed an optative stem *bhér-ó-ā-, whence sg. 1 *bhér-oy-m
(nay I carry), sg. 2 *bhér-oy-s, sg. 3 *bhér-oy-t, etc., as obviously
represented by the conjugation of the optative of the Gr, wb.
véu-0 (I divide), and by the almost identical one of the sub-
junctive of the Go. v.b. nim-a (I take).
Gr. : Sg 1 vép-ol-pºt, 2 véu-ot-s, 3 véu-ou,
GO. : , l nim-aw, 2 mim-4'-s, 3 nim-ái,
Gr. : pl. 1 vép-ol-pºev, 2 vép-ol-te, 3 véu-ol-ev,
. . jm-ái- 'm-áē-b lim-dºt-ma.
GO. : , 1 nim-ài-ina, 2 mim-ài-b, 3 nim. Q,
Apart from a slight difference in pl. 3, the agreement is
exact ; though, only in sg. 1, Gothic has a different diphthong;
but this difficulty, however it may be got rid of in Gothic,"
no longer exists in the later languages, where all the endings
have become uniformly obscured. Here, as far as we go back,
the whole accidence rests on an identical stem.
O.E. : sg. 1 nim-e,” 2 nim-e, 3 mim-e,
O.H.G. : , 1 ném-e, 2 ném-é-s, 3 mém-e,
O.E. : pl. 1 nim-e-n, 2 nim-e-n, 3 nim-e-n,
O.H.G. : , 1 ném-à-m, 2 ném-&-t, 3 mêm-ē-n.
The uniformity of the O.E. person-endings being for the
present neglected,” this single paradigm explains the whole
formation of the subjunctive in the modern languages; for it
is the same throughout every class of verbs, strong or weak.
It is true that the O.H.G. weak verbs of 2nd class still exhibit
their characteristic vowel before the endings: sg. 1 salb-6 or
salb-à-e, 2 salb-à-s or salb-0-6-s, etc. But it does not matter
for our purpose, since, the final syllables being everywhere
obscured, the types némés, farés, swochés, salbös, habés, etc.,
1 It is probably not a diphthong at all, but the transliteration of a vowel:
in other words, mimau ought to be accented mimatí and pronounced mimõ =
Gr. subj. véuw, a Preg. remnant of the I.-E. Subjunctive.
2 Infinitive minam, with i for e before a nasal.
8 Cf. infra 212 and 214.
MOODS. 323
necessarily became blended together in nehmest, fahrest, suchest,
salbest, habest, etc.
II. These main points being settled, the analysis of the
modern subjunctive present is very simple. German keeps it
almost unaltered, and English hardly less pure.
1. The Preg. diphthong ai, preserved in Gothic, has become
G. e, more or less distinctly sounded : sg. mehm-e mehm-e-st
neham-e, pl. nehm-e-n mehm-e-t mehm-e-n; and so everywhere.
Since this diphthong could, at no stage of its phonetic evolu-
tion, have caused metaphony, and since it was the same for
every person, the accidence of the subjunctive always remains
free from metaphony, even in strong verbs characterized by the
regular metaphony of sg. 2–3 in the indicative : ind, nehm-e
nimm-st nimm-t," but subj. nehm-e ‘nehm-e-st melim-e; ind, fahr-e
fähr-st führ-t = O.H.G. far-u fer-i-st fer-i-t, but subj. fahr-e
fahr-e-st fahr-e = O.H.G. far-e far-à-s far-e, etc. Hence an im-
portant rule of practical grammar is accounted for in every
detail: verbs of this kind distinguish the subjunctive, in sg.
2 and 3, by the absence of the metaphony of the indicative ;
the remainder keep it distinct only in sg. 3 by the absence
of the person-ending ; every where else, the present tense is
identical in the two moods, except for a slight differenee in
pronunciation.
2. English not only obscured the final syllables, but also
dropped all the person-endings, as will be explained below,
both in the singular and plural. But, since the indicative itself
has kept no endings except in sg. 2 and 3, the present tense
does not differ in the two moods save in these two forms.
§ 2. Perfect Subjunctive.
(193) The subjunctive of the perfect, which is often called
the imperfect subjunctive, is derived from the perfect indicative
by means of a suffix very like the preceding. I.-E. verbal forms
which do not end with the conjugation-vowel -o-, when con-
jugated in the optative, add to the stem a syllable which is -yé-
in the normal, and -i- in the reduced grade: Gr, simv =*éo-im-v
* Cſ. Unfra 204 and 205.
324 ENG. I.ISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
(may I be), Ti-6e-in-v (may I place), pl. t.t-6e-t-pev, middle sg. 1
ti-6e-t-pºmu, etc. The two grades originally alternated according
to a regular law, namely, the normal in the sg. of the active,
the reduced in the plural of the active and throughout the
middle voice. But in time the conjugation became gradually
levelled, so that, for instance, the vocalism of the plural was
transferred to the singular : thus, in Latin, the contemporaries
of Plautus still conjugated s-iā-m (may I be, cf. Gr. einv) s-ié-s
8-ié-t 8-7-mus s-î-tis, whereas a century later analogy had pro-
duced the sg. S-i-m s-î-s s-î-t by extending the plural-vowel
throughout the whole tense. This uniform exponent -i- is
likewise, however far we go back, the general mood-exponent
in Pregermanic, so that a Preg. pf. *fé-fall-à (he fell) would
show a correlative subj. *fe-fall-i-h (might he fall). In the
application of this rule, strong and weak perfects must naturally
be considered apart.
(194) I. Strong Perfect.—1. Let us start from the double
conjugational stem of the perfect in the Go. v.b. nim-an, thus
nam- and mémº-, and observe, at the outset, that the subjunctive-
exponent -i- is always added to the reduced stem of the plural,
and never to the deflected stem of the singular.” The conju-
gation of the mood thus obtained will be as follows:
Go. Sg. 1 ném-jaw, 2 mêm-et-s, 3 ném-i,
,, pl. 1 m&m-ei-ma, 2 ném-ei-b, 3 ném-et-ma.
In each of these forms, excluding the first,” we recognise at
once the suffix -ī-, though regularly shortened as final in Sg. 3.
2. It would be quite superfluous here to give an O.E.
paradigm," for it would lead to no knowledge of the modern
accidence, beyond the fact that, at this early period, and for
similar reasons, the subjunctive was as poor in endings in the
1 Cf. infra 211.
* Because the I.-E. Suffix -yé-, being accented, caused the stem to lose its
accent and consequently to be reduced. Compare, for instance, Sk. va-vdirt-a
(he turned), optative va-vrt-yô-t; Gr. ré-0un-k-e (he is dead), opt. Te-0va-tm :
L. root &s (to be), subj, 8-ie-t 8-i-t, etc. Again, in the plural, the accent
was shifted to the person-ending: whence the suffix -yé- became in its turn
reduced to -i-.
* Which of course is modelled on sg. 1 of the present subjunctive.
* It will occur below (211).
M.O.O.D.S. 325
perfect as in the present : sg. -e throughout, pl. -en throughout.
The whole evolution of the E. subj. pf. is contained in the
statement of two very simple analogical processes.
(a) As shown by the Go. and even the Mod. G. conjugation,
the radical vowel of the perfect tended to suffer, and actually
suffered metaphony before the of the following syllable.
Of this regular metaphony, however, O.E. itself exhibits but
scanty traces: it was already effaced almost everywhere by the
analogy of the indicative, so that the subjunctive of the perfect
had no other stem than that of the indicative plural, viz.:
infinitive bind-an, pf. sg. 3 bond, pf. pl. 3 bund-on, subj. sg. 3
bund-e (might he bind), pl. 3 bund-en, etc.
(b) Now, it happened, as seen above, that the E. perfect no
longer exhibited two distinct stems, but became entirely con-
jugated on one of them, thus either he bound like they bound,
or they drank like he drank." Then, the uniform stem of the
indicative became analogically the stem of the subjunctive.
The only perfect which keeps the double stem in the indicative,
he was, they were, is likewise the only one which, according to
the historical rule, shows throughout the subjunctive, he were,
the plural-stem of the indicative. No other English subjunctive
perfect differs from the corresponding indicative, except in the
loss of the person-ending in the 2nd person singular.
3. German is far purer, and it will be worth while to quote
here the paradigm in which either Old or Modern German
agrees sound for sound with Gothic :
O.H.G. : sg. 1 m&m-i, 2 nám-i-s, 3 mám-i,
G. : , 1 náhm-e, 2 mähnº-e-st, 3 math-me,
O.H.G. : pl. 1 m&m-i-m, 2 nam-i-t, 3 mám-i-n,
G. : , 1 withm-e-n, 2 māhm-e-t, 3 māhm-e-n.
Hence we should expect to find, in the G. subjunctive per-
fect, the radical vowel which regularly ought to appear in the
plural of the perfect indicative, though of course metaphonically
altered by the influence of the following i. Let us now carry
the application of the principle throughout the seven classes of
strong verbs.
* Cf. Supra 177, 3, and the applications, 179 sq.
326 ENGLISH ANI) GERMAN GRAMMAIR.
A. The vowel of the pf. pl. is not capable of metaphony: so
we have, without any difficulty, trieb-e, biss-e, etc.
B. The vowel of the pf. pl. is u, and it is therefore this
vowel we find, for instance, in the pf. subj, of the wb. kios-an,
in the common expressions O.H.G. ni curi and mi curit, translat-
ing respectively L. noli and mölite." But, as the vowel-grade
o of the sg. finally prevailed in the whole indicative, it was
thence transported, with metaphony, to the subjunctive, and
consequently the modern formation is zög-e (M.H.G. zig-e),
frór-e, verlör-e, krôch-e, stiff-e, etc.
C. In the sub-type trinken, we should expect triink-e (M.H.G.);
but, here also, the stem having once become uniform in the
indicative formed the subjunctive with its ordinary vowel,
usually a (metaph. trānk-e, finde, zwänge), occasionally 0
(metaph. klömm-e, and even begönn-e in spite of begann). The
w is either preserved or restored in schiind-e, bedüng-e.—In the
sub-type helfen, the w is, as a rule, unaltered, and wiird-e, stirbe,
verdürbe, wiirbe, wirfe are retained, in spite of starb, warf
(though wirfe exists also). When corrupted, the vowel hesi-
tates between a and o, under the influence of the participle
(befáhle and befoble, gålte and gölte).”
D. The perfect-vowel being d, the types nãhm-e, kām-e,
gebār-e, bråch-e, etc., are quite regular; but verbs which have
adopted o in the indicative, naturally have 6 in the subjunctive,
scheren schor schöre.
E. Regular wār-e, gāb-e, isz-e, without difficulty.
F. Regular schlüg-e, trig-e, führ-e, without difficulty; but,
owing to stand, the regular stiind-e also admits of a doublet
stand-e.
G. The vowel being incapable of metaphony, we have fiel-e,
hielt-e, liesz-e, lief-e, rief-e, etc., without any modification.
(195) II. Weak Perfect.—The Gothic formation rests on
the same basis as the plural of the indicative, and both are
1 Literally “choose not to [do this or that],” whence “do not,” a general
formula of prohibition: cf. the actual use of E. choose.—The regular form
mi churis, which is also met with, had lost its final -8, under the influence of
sg. 2 of the imperative, as being used here in imperatival function.
* Cf. Supra 181, II. 3 b.
MOODS. 327
rather difficult to explain.' But, fortunately, it is a point we
need not deal with, because West Germanic has modelled its
subjunctive perfect, as also the plural of the indicative,” entirely
on the singular forms of the indicative ; so that, upon the
whole, the result is the same as if the 7 of the subjunctive
merely replaced the a of sg. 2 and 3 of the indicative.
1. Consequently, owing to the general levelling of the person-
endings, which partly took place even in O.E., the English
subjunctive bears to the indicative exactly the same relation
in the weak perfect as in the strong perfect.
2. O.H.G. for the three classes of weak verbs has respectively
swoh-t-i, salb-à-t-i, and hab-ê-t-i : in the last two, the radical
vowel, not being brought into contact with the i, could not
undergo metaphony, and in fact did not do so; in the first,
however, it could undergo it, but the analogy of the other two
tended to impede or efface it. Hence Mod. German scarcely
shows it,” except in the so-called mixed verbs, where the out-
ward likeness to the strong verbs caused it to be kept : O.H.G.
dáhta and G. dachte (he thought), but subj. O.H.G. dahti and
G. dichte. So also : brachte brächte, that thiite, next kennte,
brennte, nemºnte, rennte, sendete, wendete, and the archaic dôuchte ;
in the preterito-presents,” könnte, wiiszte, etc.; lastly, hätte,
which certainly proceeds from the analogy of the parallel
auxiliary wire. Everywhere else, the subjunctive of the per-
fect, both stem and endings, is identical with the indicative.
SECTION II.
IMPERATIVE.
(196) The Imperative Mood, in Germanic, appears ex-
clusively in the Present Tense; though, of course, owing
to its nature, the mood necessarily involves some idea of future
time, either deferred or immediate.
* Go. 85k-idéd-um (we sought) and sok-idédjaw (might I seek). Cf. infra
233.
* Cf. Supra 188, III.4, and infra 210.
* M.H.G. has many more instances of it: mechte, bedrechte, opposed to
indicative machte, bedrachte “betrachtete.”
4 See below 222 sq.
328 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
The I.-E. imperative, generally speaking, is the simplest
possible form of the verb ; and, in particular, the 2nd
person sg. of this mood, which is the genuine and properly so-
called imperatival form, in such verbs at least as are charac-
ized by the interchangeable vowel -ē- || -ó-, is simply the pure
and bare verbal stem, always ending in -à-, and without any
personal termination : I.-E. *bhār-à (carry), *nam-è (take),
*wēgh-à (convey); Sk, bhār-a, Gr. véu-e, L. veh-e, cte. Hence
the Germanic imperatives of strong verbs, quite regularly, are
Go. bair, nim, drigk, tiuh (draw), and so everywhere. In the
weak verbs we have solº-ei (=I.-E. *sag-yô), salb-6, hab-àº,
wherein the final long vowel, being first shortened and then
obscured in the later languages, produced O.H.G. Suoch-i Salb-0
hab-e, G. such-e Salb-e hab-e, and lastly the Mod. E. form.
The bare stem of the verb, altogether free from the meta-
phony we are to meet with in German,” and with no ending
whatever, is what we find without exception in the English
imperative of verbs either strong or weak —drive, drink, bear,
give, eat, seek, salve, have, so that the mood requires no further
observation.
(197) German, on the contrary, as being less affected by
phonetic and analogical decay, here retains a primitive distinc-
tion, though not between properly strong and weak verbs, but
rather between two different classes of strong verbs. For its
imperatival formation is well-known to be twofold: in such
strong verbs as still retain a vowel e in the radical syllable of
the indicative, the imperative is usually formed by metaphony
and without adding any final vowel, mehm-en nimm, geben
gieb, essen isz ; whereas, in every other verb, strong or weak,
the imperative ends in -e and the stem is not metaphonized,
treib-e, flieg-e, trink-e, fahr-e, lauf-e, etc.” Let us inquire
whether the double process is traceable to an original variation.
We must first remember that I.-E. final & had become Preg.
#: thus, to the I.-E. imperatives quoted above, would cor-
1 The metaphony has been eliminated in the same way as the metaphony
of sg. 2 and 3 of the indicative, infra 204.
? Of course, this short unaccented vowel may afterwards be dropped in
rapid pronunciation.
TMOODS. $329
respond such Preg. types as *némì (take), *záb-i (give), *far-à
(travel), *hlaup-à (run), etc. On the other hand, the meta-
phony of & has been seen to be far older, having taken place in
Pregermanic, whereas the metaphony of Čí is much later, and
still more so that of other vowels: hence the first two forms
had become Preg. *nim-i, *zīb-7, while *fir-i and *hlaup-7 re-
mained unaltered; the result, after the loss of the final vowel,
was O.H.G. nim, gip, but far, hlouf, etc. Shortly, no strong
verb had a final vowel in the imperative; in those which had
an é in their stem, this mood was differentiated by a stem with
metaphonical #; in the remainder, it had no sign at all : such
was the ancient and regular state.
Now, the weak verbs, on the contrary, as seen above, showed
in the imperative a final vowel, which in M.H.G. had become
a uniform and unaccented e : to the infinitives suchen, salben,
haben, were opposed the imperatives suche, salbe, habe, and the
speech only obeyed a logical and obvious tendency, when it
restored likewise fahre, laufe, as opposed to fahren, laufen, and
So also trage, trimke, treibe, ziehe, etc.; the more so, because
there existed some strong verbs which seemed to exhibit no
metaphony in the imperative for the reason that their indica-
tive already had it, sitze, liege, hebe, etc." Thence it followed
necessarily that final -e became added anew to the imperative,
either of verbs in which the imperative was originally like the
indicative, or of such as later and analogically had effaced the
difference: thus, schere, gebäre,” riche (cf. the regular Urich,
sprich), even dresche in spite of er drischt, and werde in spite of
er wird. Here the final vowel is found throughout.
But verbs which had inherited from Pregermanic the meta-
phony of the imperative, naturally held aloof from the weak
verbs with invariable stem and remained free from their in-
fluence : wherefore we find them retaining the genuine forma-
tion in types C (2nd sub-type, hilf, wirf, stirb, erlisch), D
(mīmm, brich, sprich, stiehl), and E (isz, gib, tritt, vergisz). The
duality in the German imperative may be deemed a very con-
sistent and important survival.”
* Cf. supra 183 and 184 in fine.
* Cf. infra the metaphony in the present (206 D).
* The verbs that still keep it are thirty-five in number.
CHAPTER III.
PER SON - END IN G. S.
(198) The Anglo-German Person-Endings constitute a
very consistent system, which comprises all verbs, strong or
weak, without distinction, though it does not apply, apparently
at least, to a few conjugations of anomalous appearance. The
latter must be reserved to be dealt with separately. We begin
by considering the ordinary conjugation of both languages.
SECTION I.
ORDINARY CONJUGATION.
(199) The I.-E. language distinguished four classes of
person-endings, which have become more or less altered and
blended together in its offspring, namely:-primary or pre-
sent-endings, which in Germanic are those of the indicative
present;-secondary endings, those of the so-called Gr.
augmented tenses, which are also those of the optative, and
therefore, in Germanic, characterize the subjunctive, either
present or perfect”;-perfect-endings, in Germanic (indi-
cative) as everywhere else;—lastly, imperative-endings.
Though they are much mutilated in the later languages, a
thorough analysis will enable us to recognise them.
§ 1. Present-Endings.
(200) I. Primitive Forms.-Let us conjugate, in the
present indicative, the I.-E. stem *bhér-ó- (to carry), together
1 Hence it will prove advisable to study them only after those of the
perfect indicative.
330
PERSON-ENDINGS. 331
with the corresponding forms in the oldest tongues of our
family.
I.-E. Sk. Gr. L.
Sg. 1 *bhér-5 bhár-à-mi pep-0 fer-5
2 *bhér-è-8, bhár-a-si $épets 1 fer-(-)s *
3 *bhér-à-tº bhár-a-ti $épet” fer-(-)tº
Pl. 1 *bhér-ó-mês bhár-à-mas ºpép-0-pew fer-i-mus
2 *bhér-&-té bhár-a-tha pép-e-re fer-(?-)tis”
3 *bhér-o-nti bhár-a-mti pep-o-vtt * fer-u-nt.
Two main facts are to be observed at the outset.
First, we note the alternation, as stated above,” in the vowel
which precedes the termination, being 6 in sg. and pl. 1 and in
pl. 3, & in the three other persons. The I.-E. languages fully
agree as to this point, with the single exception of Latin in pl.
l,” and this curious variation, which probably proceeds from
the effect of primitive accentuation, will be seen to take place
in the Germanic group as everywhere else.
Next, we recognise the striking likeness of the person-end-
ings, with but insignificant differences between one language
and another." That of sg. 1 is the only one which remains
obscure. It has been suggested that the stem *bhér-ó- could
not have become lengthened to *bhér-ó, unless a vocalic ending
had united with the final stem-vowel. But what was this
vocalic ending P Perhaps an -à, as we shall find it in Sg. 1 of
the perfect.
Further, it must be borne in mind that the I.-E. language
* These two forms are corrupted, since they ought to be *@ép-e-ort and
*@ép-e-Tu. But Gr. shows elsewhere the ending -tt of sg. 3: Doric 6t-öw-tº
(he gives), Attic 6t-öw-ort (because Attic changes r to a before 1). Cf. Henry,
Gramm. of Gr. and Lat., no. 249.
* Doric ; but Attic pépova u = (pépovat.
* Lest the unity of the L. paradigm should appear to be broken, we have
conjugated ferð like legö : the real forms are of course fers fert fertis; but
this type is well known to be a unique exception.
* Supra. 82 (II.), and cf. Henry, Gramm. of Gr. and Lat., no. 269.
* We should expect to find *fer-ü-mus. But we have s-à-mus, vol-iſ-mus,
quas-iſ-mus, and, in a totally different category of words (superlative opti-
mus – optimus), Latin shows a similar, probably phonetic, hesitation between
iſ and i before an m. Then, too, leg-i-mus was furthered by the analogy of
leg-i-tis.
% All attributable to primitive doublets, infra 203, 1.
} -
i
Å
332 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
had another termination for sg. 1, in verbs which did not form
their stem by means of the interchangeable vowel -ā- / -ó- (Gr.
so-called verbs in -pºt). This exponent of sg. l was -mi, which
will occur below," and even presently in O.H.G., though it
is best seen in Greek : tortmut (I place) = *ort-ord-ul, tí-6m-ul,
ôt-80-pºu, otc. But this ending, although important, only con-
cerns us here as completing the series of forms -s; and -ti, and
in later comparison with the corresponding secondary termina-
tion -m. For the Germanic ordinary conjugation consists merely
of verbs which in Greek grammar would be called verbs in -o),
and here we have only to deal with the Germanic ordinary
conjugation.
(20I) II. Pregermanic Forms.-Translating now, as it
were, into Pregermanic the I.-E. paradigm conjugated above,
we obtain a new series of forms, which, apart from unimportant
details such as may be reserved for further examination, is
rigorously verified in the accidence of the earliest and latest
Germanic languages.
Preg. Go. O.E. O.H. G.
Sg. 1 *bér-5 baïr-a ber-e bir-w
2 *bór-à-s; baïr-i-S bºr-e-s bir-i-s
3 *bér-à-b}. baïr-i-b bir-e-ö bºr-i-t
Pl, 1 *bér-à-mês bair-a-m ber-a-ty bër-a-més
2 *bér-à-bê baïr-i-h ber-a-à bër-e-t
3 *bér-a-mbè bair-a-md ber-a-ú 3 ber-a-mt
Let us set apart the obvious metaphony in the O.E. and
O.H.G. sg., and the O.E. uniform plural-ending, as both re-
quiring a paragraph for themselves. Considering only the
bare outline of the present-accidence, we find it as easy to go
back to Indo-European by starting from the earliest Germanic
tongues, as to descend from the latter to the contemporary
languages.
(202) III. Modern Forms.-A. Singular.—l. The final
1 Infra 217, I. Cf. Sg. 1 -m as a secondary ending, infº a 211.
2 The dialects differ, but the principle of conjugation is the same through-
out : the type quoted here is the accidence in Wessex, except Sg. 2 birest, as
also burist concurrently with buris in O.H.G. infra 202, 2.
PERSON-ENDINGS. 333
-ö has been shortened, and then variously obscured, down to
the dull vowel -è, which again is dropped in English," as also
in German when swiftly sounded: gebār-e, nehm-e, trink-e,
fahr-e, etc. In the weak verbs we have likewise : Go. Sök-ja,
salb-0, hab-a ; O.E. sec-e, sealf-ie, habb-e, whence E. seek, salve,
have ; O.H.G. swoch-u, salb-à-m salb-à-n, hab-ê-m,” whence G.
Such-e, salb-e, hab-e : all the forms having become identical.
2. Final being dropped, there remained -s, an ending well
preserved in Gothic, but already somewhat obsolete in the
sister-tongues, though it occasionally survives even in M.H.G. :
nim-i-S (thou takest), fer-i-s (thou travellest), etc. It will be
seen below that the regular Germanic ending of sg. 2 in the
perfect was -t, and that such perfects as retained it unaltered
possessed a decided sense of present-time * : from this arose the
analogical influence of the perfect on the present-accidence;
for, since a West Germanic speaker would say, for instance,
*waís-t “thou knowest,” “kan-t and even ultimately *kan-s-t
“ thou canst,” it was only natural that he should say likewise
*bir-i-st “thou carriest' instead of *bir-i-S. Yet another cir-
cumstance must be taken into account : the nominative of the
pronoun of sg. 2 */ ſi was often added to the verbal form of sg.
2, whence proceeded such syntactical complexes as *biris tii,"
O.H.G. biris tu, which the speaker resolved unconsciously into
birist du, E. bearst (thou), G. gebierst (du). Thus the ending
-st prevailed, in both languages, either with or without syncope
of the preceding vowel: E. bear-e-st, drive-st, give-st, take-st,
drink-e-st; G. gebier-st (gebär-st), nimm-st, trink-st, faihºr-st"—
The weak verbs require no special remarks.
* Even when written: there is no final e in drive, guve, shake, take, any
more than in bear, drink, fall, etc.
* Hence O.H.G., purer in this respect even than Gothic, retains the I.-E.
ending -mi, which here is quite justified, the verbs of these two classes being
stems which did not end in -é, -ā-, supra 85 and 92-93. But M.H.G. effaced
the distinction and consequently lost the final m (n) of sg. 1.
8 Cf. infra 208, 209, and 222.
* Do not forget that the s preceding a t impedes the consonantal shifting.
* The syncope was once even more emergetic than it is now, cf. supra 187:
German, for instance, has restored trägst trägt after trage ; but M.H.G.
conjugated trage treist treit, a syncope which is still kept in getreide (corn) =
O.H.G. gi-treg-idi (product). Compare moreover the syncopated conjugation
in E. have hast hath (has) and G. habe hast hat.
334 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
3. The Preg. ending -bi ought to remain -hi after an accented
syllable, and become -ół after an unaccented syllable (Verner's
law). Now, some I.-E. verbs in -ó- were accented on the root,
whereas others were accented on the suffix: so that the two
terminations -Ö% and -hi must have coexisted in Pregermanic.
But, as already seen above in many other instances," gram-
matical analogy led to a separate extension of each ending in
the two later languages: thus, the latter in O.E. became -öſ;
in O.H.G. the former became -t: E. bear-e-th, give-th, etc.; G.
gebier-t (gebär-t), nimm-t, führ-t, trink-t, etc. German retains
this state; not so English, though the ending -th is still current
in scriptural and poetical style. Ordinary speech replaces it
by an ending -s, which however is quite modern : bear-s, give-s,
drink-s, etc. The th and the s both being sibilant sounds, it
was easy to pass from one to the other; but this cannot be
deemed merely a question of phonetics, since a similar change
did not take place anywhere else. It must have arisen from
the s of sg. 2, which was extended by an unconscious desire to
systematise and, as it were, imposed its sound upon the th
of sg. 3: in other words, because the speaker said givest, he
took to saying likewise gives instead of giveth.”
(203) B. Plural.—1. I.-E. seems to have had several ex-
ponents for pl. 1, viz.: -més, retained only in O.H.G. : -mês,
Doric -pes; -mós, L. -miis; simple -mê, Gr. -pe(v) and Go. -m,
an ending originally limited to secondary tenses, but often
ultimately extended to the present, as may be seen from Gr.
and Go. Thus the latter has everywhere a simple -m : baár-a-m,
mºm-a-m, etc. O.H.G. hesitates between the two terminations,
that is to say, having primitively -més for the present (bër-a-
mês) and -m for the secondary tenses, it extended -m into the
present (bùr-a-m), and -mes into the secondary tenses; but the
latter form is antiquated and of no interest except from a his-
topical point of view.” Thus, O.H.G. still possesses nôm-a-més,
1 Supra 63, 124 (I.), 139, and infra 203 (2–3), 212.
2 Northumbrian at a rather early date had changed final th to s, so that
here a dialectal mixture is possible. &
3 It has probably proceeded from the very rare cases in which the ending
of pl. 1 became attached to the root without any intermediate, thus Preg.
"stä-més (we stand), *śā-més (we go), etc.; for this position is the only one
PERSON-ENDINGS. 335
mêm-e-més " and ném-à-m, zioh-e-més and zioh-à-n, far-à-m and
far-à-n; even M.H.G., ném-e-més and ném-e-n *; but the latter
type ultimately prevails, and Mod. G. knows no other form but
gebār-e-n, nehm-e-n, zieh-e-n, fahr-e-n, etc. The same is the
case with the weak verbs.
2. The termination -bé was naturally treated like -bi, whence
-bê after an accented, and -óē after an unaccented syllable : the
Go. -b, of course, corresponds to both at once; the general ex-
ponent of the O.E. pl. comes from -bê, whereas the G. exponent
of pl. 2 represents Preg. -öö, either with or without syncope:
gebār-e-t and gebär-t, mehm-e-t * and nehm-t, trink-t, fahr-e-t, etc.
3. The ending -nbī likewise becomes either -nhi or -nół:
Gothic has either; O.E. has -nhi represented by -(n)ö; O.H.G.
has -nā'ī shifted to -nt, O.H.G. bār-a-nt, ném-a-mt, zioh-e-nî,4
far-e-nt, M.H.G. mém-a-nt and mém-e-nt, and so forth, without
exception. But it will be seen that in the perfect and subjunc-
tive the termination, quite regularly, was simply -n : wherefore,
during the latest period of M.H.G., nément analogically became
nëmen (on the pattern of mămen “they took"), so that pl. 3 is
the same as pl. 1, G. gebār-e-n, mehm-e-n, fahr-e-n, etc.”
§ 2. Present-Metaphony.
(204) Our examination has been restricted as yet to the
endings, without any regard to the modification which might
that allows the ending to be accented in I.-E., cf. Sk. i-més (we go) = Gr.
t-pºev ; and, if it had been unaccented, it could not have preserved its final s.
1. Owing to an encroachment of the vowel of pl. 2 mêm-e-t. Cf. the similar
process in Latin, supra 200, note 5.
* Observe moreover an optional apocope of final m. When the pronoun sub-
ject is placed after the verb: M.H.G. méme wir (we take).
* M.H.G. (Alamannic) mêm-e-nt, pl. 2 having strangely enough adopted
the form of pl. 3; still in High Alsatian ér màmé “you take ’’ like si mãmé
“they take.” But O.H.G. and regular M.H.G. mém-e-t.
* The same vocalic corruption as in pl. 1.
5 Let us here, for the sake of completeness, give the paradigm of the three
weak verbs, which in the modern languages have reached the same dull
vocalic state :
GO. sök-ja. sök-ei-s såk-ei-p sok-ja-m såk-ei-p sok-ja-mă =
O.H.G. swoch-w swoch-i-s swoch-i-t swoch-e-més swoch-e-t swoch-ent;
Go. salb-Ö salb-0-s salb-à-p salb-0-m salb-Ö-p Sally-5-mal =
O.H.G. salb-o-n salb-5 s(t) salb-0-t salb-0-més salb-0-t Salb-0-mt ;
Go. hab-a. hab-di-s hab-di-p hab-a-m hab-ài-p hab-a-md=
O.H.G. hab-ê-n hab-ê-s(t) hab-ê-t hab-ê-més hab-3-t hab-ê-mt.
336 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
affect the verbal stem itself. Now the fact is that, while all
the English verbs and the German weak verbs conjugate their
present indicative on the same invariable stem throughout, the
German strong verbs, in general, inasmuch as their radical
vowel is capable of metaphony, undergo it in the forms of
Sg. 2 and 3, all other persons remaining free from it: mehm-e
nimm-st nimm-t nehm-e-n, etc.; fahr-e fibr-stfähr-i fahr-e-n, etc.
This peculiarity of G. accidence we have now to explain.
Referring to Pregermanic, we find the existence of three
person-endings capable of producing metaphony, that is to say,
containing an i, namely, sg. 2 and 3, and pl. 3.
The last, of course, is out of question, for the vowel which
precedes it is I.-E. 5, whence Preg. ē, in short, a vowel which
could not undergo a Preg. metaphony. In other words, such a
type as *ném-à-nē "für-á-mbi remained unaltered in Preger-
manic, since & was the only vowel capable of metaphony in
this early period; whereas later, in O.H.G., when the Čí in its
turn became liable to similar mutation, the which might pro-
duce it had long vanished, thus mêm-a-m-t far-e-nt, in which
metaphony, for another reason, was equally impossible.
Secondly, English also may be neglected, though in its earlier
state it exhibits the metaphony precisely under the same con-
ditions as German *; but no trace of it survives any more than
in the imperative, analogy having extended throughout every
verb a uniform vocalism : O.E. sg. 1 fré0s-e céos-e, sg. 3 fries-')
cles-ö, but E. sg. 1 freeze choose, sg. 3 freeze-th choose-th, without
any mutation from one person to another.”
Let us now analyse the forms of sg. 2 and 3 in German
strong verbs, and then try to account for the fact that the same
forms never undergo metaphony in the weak verbs.
(205) I. Strong Verbs.-1. Considering in Pregermanic
1 See the O.E. paradigm, supra 201; many other similar instances could
be mentioned.
° E. ee being the true representative of O.E. Go, there can be no metaphony
in freeze as opposed to choose, though their vowels are different. Hence the
oo in choose (Chaucer has still cheese), shoot, etc., probably proceeds from the
influence of the preceding consonant. Cf. however E. lose = O.E. loosam,
where such a reason cannot be given.—For the loss of the metaphony in
these types, cf. the same phenomenon in the similar G. kiesem, frierem, etc.,
infra 206 B.
PERSON-ENDINGS. 337
any strong verb, but preferably, for convenience of demonstra-
stration, a verb containing a radical Či (type F), such as *fir-
ana-m (to travel), we know it, as stated and proved above, to
have been conjugated, in the present indicative, *fir-0 *fir-à-s:
*fir-à-b% *fir-i-mê *fir-à-bê *fir-à-mbi. Now, such an acci-
dence could not persist ; for, even as early as Pregermanic, the
forms which contained an é followed by an ā, namely sg. 2 and
3, metaphonized the é and became *fir-i-sā ºftir-i-hi. Then,
in the dialects, final vanishes, whence Go. far-i-s far-i-h and
O.H.G. *far-i-s *far-i-t. But the two latter forms again be-
come impossible in O.H.G., as soon as in this tongue the a in
its turn undergoes metaphony, since, before the i which pre-
cedes the ending, the radical a must become e, whence finally
sg. 2 fer-i-S (fer-i-st) and sg. 3 fer-i-t, as opposed to sg. 1 far-u.
Let us now pass to the case when the Preg. root contained
an I.-E. &. Here the phenomenon will appear at once earlier
and more intricate. Though at first sight the two metaphonical
processes in far-an fer-i-S fer-i-t and nèm-an nim-i-S mim-it might
seem rigorously parallel, this view is incorrect, since the meta-
phony of 3 is known to be far earlier than that of it : hence, it
is not to O.H.G., but to Pregermanic itself, that we ought to
trace back the vocalic mutation of the latter type: in other
words, we have the series *mém-è-si “mém-è-Öi, then *mém-ī-sà
*ném-i-Öi, and lastly *nim-i-si “nim-i-Öi, the whole already in
the Pregermanic period. So, on one side, the type mimis mimit
refers us to a much earlier Germanic state than the type feris
ferit is able to do, though of course both rest on the same
principle.”
And, on the other hand, the former type shows a wider his-
torical extension than the latter, because in O.H.G. an é is
metaphonized under the influence, not only of an i, but also of
a following u, and the form of sg. 1 ends with a -w : so that,
O.H.G. far-u from far-an being kept unaltered, O.H.G. *wēm-w
from ném-an cannot but become nim-w, and so also bir-u, gib-u,
iž3u, etc.
* This is also the reason why the metaphony in the imperative nimm is
an isolated form, contrasted with the non-metaphomical imperative fahr-e,
supra 197.
Z
33S ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
Consequently, O.H.G. had a strong present-accidence with
metaphony in sg. 2 and 3, faru ferist ferit, which is correctly
reproduced in Mod. G. fahre führst führt, and another strong
present-accidence with metaphony throughout the whole sin-
gular, nimºu mimist mimit, which is only partly reproduced in
Mod. G. nehme nimmst nimmt. How is it that the modern
speaker no longer says ich *nimme! ? The answer is obvious,
the analogical process here being as clear as possible: a general
levelling has effaced the metaphony of sg. 1. For, in the type
falºren, Sg. I fahre being free from metaphony in contrast to sg.
2 and 3 fihrst föhrt, and similar in this respect to the corre-
sponding form pl. 1 fahren, it was but natural that, in the type
nehmen, there should be restored a sg. 1 nehme, contrasted with
Sg. 2 and 3 nimmst nimmt and similar to pl. 1 nehmen. Even a
mathematical proportion could not have a more exact result.
Hence, through a kind of compromise between two types of
strong verbs, German has come to its present rule, namely:
apart from the rather rare cases in which the vocalism has been
entirely levelled by the power of analogy,” every strong verb,
provided its radical vowel be capable of metaphony, exhibits a
metaphony of the root in sg. 2 and 3 exclusively.
(2O6) 2. Now let us proceed to the applications of the rule
throughout the various types of strong verbs.
A. The radical vowel (i) is incapable of metaphony.
B. In O.H.G. we find the regular forms, sg. ziuh-u ziuh-i-s
ziuh-i-t (metaph.), and pl. zioh-e-més zioh-e-t zioh-e-nt (non-
metaph.); but Mod. G. has extended the non-metaphonical.
form, and we have now zieh-e zieh-st zieh-t zieh-e-n, etc.,” and so
in the whole class; apart, however, from such slight traces
of metaphony as may still be found, at least in archaic and
poetical language, in the verbs fliehen, fliegen, flieszen, gieszen,
schlieszen, kriechen,* etc., but of course only in sg. 2 and 3. In
1 The present is still in M.H.G. mime mimes mimet; and down to the pre-
sent day, in High Alsatian, the regular contrast exists between i ném (I take)
and my mámé (we take).
2 A corruption often found in the dialects: Alamannic, for instance, con-
jugates er fahrt, er schlagt, er halt (however er treit “he carries”), etc.
3 The metaphonized stem would be *zeuh-, supra. 29.
4 Was da kreucht und fleugt. Schiller, W. Tell, III. 12.
PERSON-ENDINGS. 339
one of the four verbs the stem of which exhibits ant = i, we find
an analogical metaphony, viz. Sauf-e situf-st stiuf-t sawf-e-n.
C. The sub-type trimken does not here concern us. But the
sub-type helfen is quite consistent in metaphony: O.H.G. hilf-w
hilf-i-s hilf-i-t, stirb-u stirb-i-s stirb-i-t; G. helf-e hilf-st hilf-t,
sterb-e stirb-st stirb-t; further, schwillt, quillt, befiehlt, erlischt,
and, the two dentals being blended together, after the syncope,
birst for *birst-i-t, wird for *wirdit," etc. This violent though
regular syncope has been replaced by an ending -t, restored
anew and preceded by an é, whenever sg. 3 happens not to be
metaphonic : thus, binden, gestatten are conjugated er bindet, er
gestattet, because the syncopated forms er *bint, er *gestatt are
unable to show the exponent of sg. 3 hidden within them. But,
if the person is characterized clearly enough by the metaphony,
then the restoration is omitted as useless, and the syncope
retained: er gilt, er schilt, er ficht (from fecht-en), etc.”
D. The metaphony is constant: O.H.G. biru biris birit, nimu
avimvis nimit; G. gebäre gebierst gebiert (also gebärst gebirt),”
nehme nimmst nimmt ; and likewise, bricht, spricht, trift, even
kömmt owing to a quite modern analogy. It is effaced, either
partly or entirely, in gebärt, kommt, schert (scheert) and pflegt.
E. The metaphony is constant: O.H.G. sihu sihis sihit, gibu
gibis gibit; G. sehe siehst sieht, gebe gibst gibt ; and likewise, iszt,
miszt, liest; putting aside, of course, such verbs as already have
the metaphony throughout their entire accidence (bitten, sitzen,
Ziegen).
F. Here, as seem above, the metaphony is identical in O.H.G.
and Mod. G. : faru feris ferit, and fahre führst führt ; and like-
wise, schlägt, trigt, wächst, etc. But laden, once a weak verb,
did not adopt it, and Schaffen has lost it. It stands to reason
that heben and schwören cannot show it at all, since their radical
vowel is metaphonical even in the infinitive.
* Cf. Supra 187, the syncopes in the weak perfect.
* Even in Sg. 2 in wirst = "wird-i-St. And also in the other classes of strong
verbs: er tritt = *trit-i-t, er hâlt = helt-i-t, etc.
* The M.H.G. wb. wegen = O.H.G. wegan = E. to weigh (weak wb., cf. also
G. wegen in be-wegem “to move '’), being conjugated M.H.G. wige wigest
wiget wegen, thus gave birth to two synonymous verbs, respectively wéiyen
(regular with ē = 8) and wiegen (metaph.).
340 . . ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.'
G. All the verbs of this type, excluding only hauen, which
have a radical a, require the metaphony: fillt, hâlt, lászt, lituft.
Indeed, it has been extended to stijszt as above to kömmt. But
heiszen could not undergo it, and rufen remained free from it.
(207) II. Weak Verbs.-The first class of weak verbs
being characterized by an infinitive in -jan (Go, mas-jan “to
cure,” “sok-jam “to seek), its radical vowel is, constantly and
in every form either of the sg. or the pl., followed by a syllable
which was able to cause metaphony: now, supposing this to
have taken place in earlier days, either in Pregermanic as in
sitzen, or at least in O.H.G. as in heben, -thus, for instance,
Mod. G. mihrem (to feed) = Go. mas-jam,_then, of course, the
verb is metaphonized everywhere, and cannot appear particu-
larly metaphonized in sg. 2 and 3; the reverse being the case,
as in O.H.G. suocham, now suchen,” then the verb can be meta-
phonized nowhere, for it has no more reason for undergoing
metaphony in sg. 2 and 3 than in the rest of its accidence. A
type swochit (he seeks) could not undergo it in O.H.G., since wo
is not yet capable of it ; and, in M.H.G., when uo in its turn
became subject to it, the type was already altered to swochet and
no longer contained an i. Hence it is obvious that, in any case,
verbs of this class cannot exhibit in sg. 2 and 3 of their present
indicative a vocalism in any way different from that of their
whole accidence.
Still more so with the other classes; for, in Preg. *salb-à-ö.
*hab-ê-Öi, the is not yet brought into contact with a vowel
capable of metaphony, and in West Germanic the # is dropped
altogether.
Thus we have historically accounted for an important peculi-
arity which differentiates strong and weak verbs, no less than
the difference in the formation of their perfects and participles.
* The causative of the strong verb which is now Mod. G. ge-mes-em “
recover.” -
* O.H.G. suocham is (regularly) a non-metaphonical form, whereas O.E.
sćcean (E. seek) has been seen to be (no less regularly) a metaphonical one.
* With this main restriction, that, in M. H. G., as also in the dialects, the
metaphony has often, analogically, spread into the weak verb: there are
such conjugations as mache mächst méicht, sage Stigst sägt (the latter still
surviving in High Alsatian); but the literary language has proscribed these
forms, keeping only one of them, namely frågst (askest) frtigt (also fragt).
PERSON-ENDINGS. 341
§ 3. Perfect-Endings.
(208) It must be understood that the perfect-endings have
no primitive character except in the strong perfect, which how-
ever has given its accidence to the weak one. Now, starting
from the Sanskrit conjugation," e.g. the Sk. pf. véd-a (I wot),
sg, 1 véd-a, 2 vét-tha, 3 véd-a, pl. 1 vid-mé, 2 vid-á, 3 vidiſr,
we may state the I.-E. endings of this tense as follows:
sg, 1 -à, 2 -thii, 3 -è, pl. 1 -mé;
the terminations of pl. 2 and 3 being of no interest in Germanic,
because there they were borrowed from another series.
(209) I. Strong Perfect.—Choosing, for the sake of
greater simplicity, such a perfect as, in the Pregermanic period,
had already completely lost the vowel-gradation from sg. to
pl., we see that its prehistorical and historical endings were as
follows:
Preg. Go. O.E. O.H.G.
Sg. 1 *slöh-à slöh. slög sluog
2 *slöh-tū slöh-t slog-e sluog-
3 *slöh-à slöh slög sluog
Pl, 1 *slöz-imé? slöh-wm. slog-on sluog-um *
2 *slöz-itóó slöh-wb slög-on sluog-ut
3 *slöz-iùub slöh-wn slog-on sluog-un.
Sg. 1 and 3, after their final vowel had regularly disappeared,
became identical : O.E. slög and E. (I, he) slew drove chose drank
bound burst bare spoke gave was fell, etc.; O.H.G. sluog and G.
(ich, er) schlug trieb erkor trank band barst gebar sprach gab
war fiel, etc. This is the reason why sg. 3 of the perfect never
has any ending, whereas sg. 3 in the present always shows E.
-th (-s) and G. -t.
Sg. 2 in West Germanic is quite a different form from what
it was in I.-E. and even in Gothic : properly speaking, it does
not belong to the perfect, but to the primitive aorist,” though
* Controlled and corrected by the testimony of Greek, cf. the accidence of
otö-a (I wot), viz. oió-a oiv-6a oió-e ā-uév to -te to avtu.
* With the regular “grammatical alternation,” which everywhere else has
become variously levelled.
* Also sluog-umés, supra. 203, 1.
* Thus, for instance, sg. 1 zöll (I drew) and sg. 2 zug-i (thou drewest) bear
342 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
here confounded with the perfect. From this however it does
not follow that West Germanic knew nothing of a perfect-end-
ing sg. 2 -t, which in Preg. and Go. represents the I.-E.-thii ;
for we have already met with it and shall find it again in the
preterito-presents." Next, the analogy of this eventual survival
of the ending -t, together with the development of a new termi-
nation -st in the present, actually influenced the perfect, and
introduced into it, separately though similarly in both the later
tongues, the same ending sg. 2 -st: while M.H.G. still conju-
gates mam næm-e (=O.H.G. mam-i), Mod. G. has now mahm
mahºm-st nahm, and so forth everywhere, E. slew-est like slay-est,
G. Schlug-st like schläg-st, etc.”
In pl. 1 the original ending is -mé, in which, after a conso-
nant, the initial m easily develops its proper vowel, thus -mmé,
whence Preg. -wmé and Go. -wm. Later on, final m becomes m,
as may already be seen in the O.E. and even the O.H.G. acci-
dence (also sluog-um): further E. slew, and G. Schlug-em, so that
pl. 1 and 3 are as completely blended together as is the case
with sg. 1 and 3.
Like Greek (to-te, Ae-\otºr-a-te), Pregermanic borrows the
ending of pl. 2 from the series of the primary or secondary
endings, I.-E. -tê, Preg. -bé. The iſ developed by a phonetic
process in pl. 1 and 3 was analogically transferred to pl. 2,
whence a Gothic final syllable -up (-uč), O.H.G. -ut, G. (i.hr)
schlug-et, etc.”
Greek borrows its ending of pl. 3 from the primary series,
whence -nt: ; Pregermanic borrows it from the secondary series,
whence merely -m/h, as in the subjunctive, and consequently,
with the vowel-sound ºn, an ending -un in the later languages
to one another exactly the same relation as Gr. (pf) tré-pevy-a (I have fled)
to (aor.) &-pvy-e-s (thou fledst). Cf. moreover supra 172 and note.
1 Supra 53 A and infra 222 sq.
2 But the ancient aoristic form did not disappear without leaving some
traces of its existence : the complete assimilation, either in German or—
even more—in English, of the perfect subjunctive to the perfect indicative
certainly started from this form of sg. 2, in which both moods were charac-
terized at once by a termination -i and the reduced grade of the root.
3 The uniformity of the E. pl. endings has been reserved for further
examination : infº a 214.
PERSON-ENDINGS. 343
which drop the final consonant. Nothing, therefore, is more
regular than the O.E. and O.H.G. contrast between slög-on
= sluog-wn (never *sluog-wnt) “they slew,” and slé-a-ö =
slah-e-nt “they slay.” But the modern present-accidence has
been seen to efface this original difference."
(210) II. Weak Perfect.—The weak perfect, as stated
above,” probably proceeds from a single form of sg. 3: to this
form again, West Germanic applied the endings of the strong
perfect, so exactly indeed, that it will prove sufficient to
quote the modern accidence without entering into any his-
torical details:
E. sought sought-est sought sought sought sought
G. suchte suchte-st suchte suchte-n suchte-t suchte-n
And so, likewise, E. salved salved-st, had had-st, G. salbte salbte-st,
hatte hatte-st, without either exceptions or difficulty.”
§ 4. Subjunctive-Endings.
(2II) The so-called secondary I.-E. endings, which are
those of the I.-E. optative and, consequently, of the Preg. sub-
junctive, merely differ from the primary endings by dropping
the final # wherever it occurs, that is in sg. 1, 2, 3, and pl. 3.4
Hence we may conceive the two series to run parallel as
follows :
Primary : Sg. 1 -mi, 2-si, 3 -ti ; pl. 1 -mes, 2 -tê, 3 -nti ;
Secondary : , 1 -m, 2 -s, 3 -t ; , 1 -trºë, 2 -tê, 3 -nt.
As Latin has not only kept, but even transferred to its
primary tenses, the secondary endings, it affords us the best
means of restoring them. Let us compare, in form and acci-
dence, the subjunctive (optative) of the root Śs (to be):
1 Cf. Supra 203, 3, and infra 211.
2 Supra 188, II. and III.
* Gothic conjugates: Sökida sūkidës sëkida sūkidédum sökidćdup so kidédun;
salböda salbödes, etc.; habáida, etc.
* Compare, for instance, Gr, pres. Aftovoſt =X8-0-vrt with impf. &\vov =
*#)\v-o-wr. The relation is exactly the same in Germanic.
344 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
Lat. : S-7-m s-à-s s-î-i S-7-mus s-î-tis' s-î-nt;
O.H.G. : S-7 s-î-s s-i S-7-m * s-î-t S-7-77 ;
Mod. G. : sei sei-est set sei-en sei-et sei-em.
It is indeed a marvellous thing to find so striking an agree-
ment, at a distance of so many centuries, between Italic and
Germanic. ºr
From a glance at this table, the reader will derive more
profit than from any commentary, provided he has borne in
mind the essential laws of Germanic phonetics. For, seeing
that final m and t were equally dropped in Pregermanic, he will
find that sg. 1 and 3 have become identical even in this period,
as they are now. The same loss of final t in pl. 3 caused pl. 1 and
3 to be blended together, as soon as O.H.G. pl. 1 sim had been
changed to sin. Lastly, the substitution of sg. 2 sist for sis is
a simple and well-known process. Now let us turn to the
paradigms, ancient or modern, of both tenses in the subjunctive.
Present. Perfect.
Go. O.E.T.O.H.G. T. Go. O.E. O.H.G.
Sg. 1. sl th–au bind-e 4 slah-e slöh-jaw slög-e sluog-i
2. slah-dii-s bind-e slah-&-s slöh-et-S slög-e sluog-7-8
3. s!ah-ái bind-e slah-e slöh-i slög-e Sluog-i.
T]. 1. slah-di-ma 8 bind-e-n slah-à-m slöh-ei-ma 3 slög-e-m sluog-i-n
2. slah-di-b bind-e-m slah-É-t slöh-ei-p slög-e-n sluog-i t
3. Slah-di-na & bind-e-n slah-&-m sloh-ei-ma * slög-e-m sluog-i-n
Whence :
E. slay slay slay slay slay slay,
G. Schl (3-e Schlag-c-st schlag-e Schlag-e-n schlag-e-t schlag-e-n;
E. slew slew slew slew slew slew,
G. Schlii - 2 schliig-c- t schliig-e Schlüg-e-n schlig-e-t schliig-e-n.
(2I2) There is but one point left for examination : namely,
besides the uniformity in the O.E. pl., a question as yet re-
* This is the only point of divergence in L., for we should expect *si-te ;
but -tis is borrowed from the indicative, and L. has lost -te everywhere but
in the imperative.
* Also s-î-mês, which resembles still more the L. form.
* These endings with an added vowel do not concern us, since West
Germanic knows nothing of them.
* It proved convenient to replace here the vb. slē-an by the vb. bind-am,
because the former conceals its person-endings, its subjunctive being con-
tracted to slé.
PERSON-ENDINGS, - 345
served, we find here a similar uniformity in the O.E. Sg. ; in
other words, E. sg. 2 lacks the ending like all the other
persons. But this last difficulty must appear small indeed to
any one who remembers that a primitive final s, according to
the place of the accent, ought either to remain s, or to become
z and then disappear: it is the latter that took place in O.E.,
with but this additional circumstance, that the cases in which
the ending had become -z analogically encroached upon those
in which the -s had been kept, so that the ending vanished
altogether, whereas German retained the -s (-st) everywhere
after the analogy of the forms which preserved it quite regu-
larly." Hence, the E. subjunctive is a new instance of a
general treatment applicable to every form with final -s, as
often stated above, and particularly in the contrast between
the German and English plural of declined nouns.” And thus
Modern English has acquired a subjunctive invariable for plural
or singular, present or perfect.
§ 5. Imperative-Indings.
(213) English and German have lost all the original forms
of the imperative, with the exception of sg. 2 and pl. 2. The
remainder is simply borrowed from the subjunctive (G. mehme
er, mehmen sie), or else replaced by a periphrastic locution.
The form of sg. 2 being the stem of the mood,” our study is
confined to pl. 2, in which the ending is I.-E. -tê, Preg. -bé or
-Ö& : I.-E. *bhér-e-te (carry), Sk. bhár-a-ta, Gr. ºpép-e-re véu-e-Te,
L. leg-i-te dic-i-te, etc.; Go. bair-i-h (carry), nim-i-b (take);
O.E. bind-a-ö (bind), help-a-ú (help), bidd-a-Ö (pray), etc.;
O.H.G. ném-e-t (take), zioh-e-t (draw), far-e-t (travel), and G.
nehmet, ziehet, fahret, etc., etc., with the occasional syncope of
the unaccented 3.
No remark is here needed, except that, since the syllables
* As a matter of fact, the -s generally follows an unaccented syllable in
the optative of the present (Sk. viirt-à-s), and an accented syllable in the
Optative of the perfect (Sk. va-vrt-yô-s), so that in English the present may
be said to have influenced the perfect, and vice versä in German.
* Cf. Supra 63, 139 and 143, and also 202, 3, etc.
* Supra 196 and 197.
346 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
which follow the stem are never of such a kind as to require it.
to undergo metaphony, the well-known contrast between nimm.
and nehmet is in strict accordance with the history of the
German language from its beginning. *
In the weak verbs we find in the same way: Go. sok-ei-b
salb-0-b hab-áē-b; O.H.G. suoch-e-t salb-0-t hab-ê-t; G. suchet
salbet habet.
But in English there is no longer any difference between pl.
2 and sg. 2, that is to say, here, as everywhere else, the plural
has altogether lost its endings. We must now direct special
attention to this strange peculiarity.
§ 6. The English Verbal Plural.
(2I4) I. Having followed up to this point the inferences
which may be drawn, either from the original form of the
person-endings, or from their actual state in Gothic and
German, the reader would expect to find, in the O.E. plural,
five series of regular endings, thus:
(1) Present indicative : *bind-a-m 1 *bind-e-ö bind-a-à'
(=*bind-a-nē *); whereas we find only bind-a-ö in the three
persons, and in English, also in the three persons, the curtailed
bind;
(2) Perfect indicative : bund-on *bund-oë bund-on ; whereas
we have bund-on everywhere, and in English bound;
(3) Present subjunctive: bind-e-n *bind-e-ö bind-e-n; but
actually bind-e-n everywhere, and in English bind;
(4) Perfect subjunctive: bund-e-n *bund-e-ö bund-e-n; but
actually bund-e-n everywhere, and E. bound.
(5) Imperative *bind-e-à, the real O.E. form being nearly
alike (bind-a-Ö), but in E. merely bind.
II. How did such a curious levelling take place P and how
could it happen that an accidence comprising various endings
became uniform in O.E., and completely lost these endings in
English P Of course, phonetic change by itself is unable to
* More accurately *bind-a-m, and so likewise in the other tenses; but
remember that the final nasal is of an undecided character, supra 39.
* With O.E. compensatory lengthening (supra 20, 4 A) and later shorten-
ing in an unaccented syllable (supra 65 and 66).
PERSON-ENDINGS. 347
account for the fact: it must at least have been furthered by
several analogical processes, which, plain as they are, would
nevertheless require a rather tedious explanation, were we to
descend to minute particulars. But they may be briefly
summed up as follows.
1. The starting-point of the change is to be found in the two
tenses of the subjunctive, where, as explained above, the three
forms of the sg. had become the same : since the sg. was in-
differently bind-e in the present and bund-e in the perfect for
all three persons, and since, moreover, the plural was indiffer-
ently bind-e-n and bund-e-n in the same tenses for two of their
three persons (1st and 3rd), it would seem only natural to say
likewise bind-e-n and bund-e-n in pl. 2. Here, the process is so.
clear, that it may even be shown in a kind of mathematical
proportion, thus: (gè) binden : (wè) bindem = (ÖI) binde : (ic)
binde, and (gè) bunden: (wè) bundem = (Öii) bunde: (ic) bunde-
There can be hardly any scientific problem which admits of a
more satisfactory solution.
2. It must be observed, however, that—as our formula clearly
suggests—the process is necessarily in strict connection with a
new phenomenon of so-called grammatical analytism, namely,
the concurrent use of the personal pronoun as a subject to the
verb, a pleonastic locution still unfamiliar to Gothic. Thus,
for instance, as long as Old French conjugated its present
indicative aim aim-e-S aim-e-t (=L. &m-Ü &m-à-s &m-a-t),
distinctly sounding all the vowels and consonants, there was no
reason for prefixing to the verb the pronouns je tu il; but, as
soon as the speaker began to prefix them, there was no longer
any reason for distinctly sounding the terminations. Hence,
the two facts of uniformity in the endings and analytism in
conjugation are seen to go hand in hand and to further one
another. If, quite early indeed, Old English was thus allowed
to level its accidence, it is because, also quite early, the use of
a pronoun subject had secured it from ambiguity.
3. The latter point being well understood, nothing could
prevent the uniform ending in -n, when fixed in the whole.
subjunctive, from spreading also in the perfect indicative. It
is true that here the three forms of the singular were not
348 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
identical; but two of them were alike, and, above all, the
perfect indicative and the perfect subjunctive resembled each
other very nearly ; and, since moreover two persons of the pl.
indicative (lst and 3rd) had phonetically become the same, the
identical form bunden in the pl. subjunctive logically led to a
similar identical form bundon in the pl. indicative.
4. In the pl. of the present indicative, though the three
forms were different, two of them at least, *bindet) and bindač,
could easily be confounded : both became bindaú, which passed
also to the imperative. This being done, an analogical formula,
such as (wé) binday: (gè) bindai)=(wé) bundon : (gè) bundon,
was suggested, the more so as O.E. still preserved a pl. 1 im-
perative bindan, and it seemed convenient to distinguish “we
bind" from “let us bind.” Consequently, here, the levelling
took place at the expense of the 1st person, which became
assimilated to the two others.
5. Let us now return to the endings in n. Final E. m, it is
well known, easily disappears. Even as early as O.E. it may
disappear from the terminations of the verbal plural when
followed by the pronoun subject: in other words, the speaker
Ought to say wé bundon and gé bundon, but he may say either
bundon wé or bunde we, either bundon gé or bunde gé, etc.' From
this to the uniform E. type, pf ind, and subj. bound, and pres.
subj. bind, the transition is merely phonetic.
6. This apocope, being regular as to final n, was extended, by
an almost uncontrollable analogy, to the final Y of the present
indicative, whence, likewise optionally, binde w8 and binde gé.
Next, M.E. extended the use of this accidence.
7. The curtailed forms having become decidedly prevalent,
Mod. E. naturally knows no other form but bind in the plural
of the present, as also in pl. 2 of the imperative.
8. The same process having run parallel throughout the
whole, strong or weak, accidence, the final result is, that the E.
plural, in any tense or mood, has lost every characteristic
except its invariable and amorphous state.
1 A similar phenomenon has been stated in M.H.G., supra 203, 1.-
Observe, moreover, that the analogical ending -en everywhere, even in the
present indicative, spread out very early in the Mercian dialect; further,
£hat English is an offspring of Mercian, not of Saxonic.
12ERSON-ENDINGS. 349
SECTION II.
ANOMALOUS CONJUGATIONS.
(215) The apparent anomalies of the Germanic conjugation
comprise: (1) the verb “to be,” which has retained, almost
unaltered, its ancient accidence as a root-stem, that is to say,
a conjugation both more primitive and simpler than that of the
stems in -à-/-5-; (2) a few other verbs, which exhibit at
least some traces of the same accidence; (3) the false pre-
sents, which in reality are genuine perfects and, for this
reason, are termed preterito-presents.
§ 1. The Verb “to be.”
(216) It has been already stated" that a great many I.-E.
verbs could be conjugated without inserting the interchange-
able vowel -ē-/-ij- between the root and the endings, so that
the latter were immediately added to the bare root. This is
the well-known class of verbs which in Greek Grammar are
properly called verbs in -pºt, thus, ei-pat (I am) = *éo-put, ei-pat (I
am going), tí-6m-pºt (1 set), etc. It is still tolerably numerous
in Greek as well as in Sanskrit. But, in Latin, it was confined
to a single verb, namely sum (I am), and the same is nearly
the case with the Germanic languages.
In one point, however, the Germanic accidence is more
intricate : it is not a single one, but confounds several
verbs in one, in such a way that the verb “to be " is conju-
gated concurrently on three verbal roots, which moreover
are not the same even in the same persons and tenses of such
cognate languages as English and German, though all three
are found, with similar or different functions and various shades
of meaning, in every other group of the I.-E. family; namely:
—ès, the proper root for the general sense “to be,” cf. Sk.
&s-ti (he is), Gr. Čo-Ti, L. Šs-t, Russian jes-ti, etc.;-bhèw “to
become,” cf. Sk, bhāv-a-ti (he becomes, he is), Gr. ºbiſ-e-Tat (he
grows), Tré-ºw-ke (he is grown, he is), L, fu-i-t (he was), Russian
* Supra 81, and cf. 92.
350 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
bu-du (I shall be), etc.;-wäs “to dwell,” cf. Sk. vés-a-ti (he
dwells, he finds himself), Gr. Šarū =*Fea-ti-à (hearth), L. Ves-ta
(hearth-goddess), Go. vis-a (Isojourn, I remain), etc.
As early even as Gothic, these three roots possess the common
meaning “to be,” the third, however, with an accessory shade
of durative and permanent state. In Anglo-German they have
become entirely synonymous : English shows a decided prefer-
ence for the second, and German, for the first ; but both borrow
their perfect-tense from the third.
(217) I. Present indicative.—A. English.-Sg. 1: O.E. eom
eam am = Go. i-m *=I.-E. *és-mi (Sk. dis-mi, Gr. eipt=*éo-put,
Russian jes-mi, etc.); E. am. 2: O.E. eart (broken) = *er-t,
which represents Go. is = I.-E. *ésà ºðs-si (Sk. 4si, Gr. Homer.
&o-ort and class. et =*ēort, Russian jesi, etc.), with the later and
analogical addition of the ending -t of sg. 2, a process we have
already met with ; E. art. 3: O.E. is = L. es-t, with secondary
termination, whereas Go. is-t is equivalent to Gr. Čor-ri, with
primary termination *; E. is...—Pl. 1, 2, 3: O.E. S-ind, owing to
a general extension of the form of pl. 3, as already seen in every
other present indicative, this form here being I.-E. *s-ánti," cf.
Sk, stºnti, L. sunt (=*s-ánti), Go. Sind, etc. But Mod. E. has
simply are, with the form of sg. 2 curtailed of its ending as
extended to the plural.”
B. German.—Sg. 1: O.H.G. bi-m, replacing *biu-m = I.-E.
*bhāw-mż: whence bin, M.H.G. bin, G. bin. 2: O.H.G. bi-st,
replacing *bi-s, the termination -st, as explained above, having
made its way here as everywhere; G. bist. 3: O.H.G. is-t =
Go. is-t = I.-E. *és-t}; G. ist.— Pl. 1: O.H.G. birum birwn,” and
1 The O.E. vocalism is clearly corrupt ; it has been influenced by the
vocalism of the parallel verb bø0-m (G. bi-m), which was extant in O.E., but
has become obsolete in this tense. German, on the contrary, though retain-
ing only *biu-m, introduced into it the vocalism of i-m.—The E. dialects
often keep true to báon : thus, we read I binna for I am not in the first pages
of Adam Bede.
2 On this capital distinction, cf. supra 199 and 211.
3 The root &s is reduced, because the accent rests on the ending.
4 The approximate formula may be are : art = were: wast. As early as
O.E. we have earum (arom), which is obviously refashioned on the double
pattern eart and waron.
5 Also birumés, and pirum pirumés, etc. These strange and obsolete forms
are certainly attributable to the analogy of the perfect, since their w=vocal-
*.
PERSON-ENDINGS. 351
still M.H.G. birn, but also sin borrowed from the subjunctive,
and lastly sint transferred from pl. 3; for, since pl. 1 and pl. 3
had come to be identical in any verb, it seemed only natural to
say wir sint like sie sint, the accidence elsewhere being sie mémen
like wir mêmen. 1; G. sind. 2: O.H.G. birut; M.H.G. birt, but
also sit borrowed from the subjunctive; G. seid. 3: O.H.G.
sint = Go. sind = I.-E. *s-ánti; G. sind.
II. Present subjunctive.—O.E. sie, etc., as in O.H.G., and
Bëo, pl. bāo-n; the former lost in E., the latter changed to
invariable be.—O.H.G. s.l., etc. (= Go. Sijaw, etc.), and G. sei,
etc.”
III. Perfect indicative.—The root was forms naturally an
I.-E. pf. sg. 3 *wē-wös-è, whence Preg. *wēis-à, conjugated Go.
was vas-t was vés-um vés-up vés-un. O.E., still purer than Go.,
shows in the plural the rhotacism, as proceeding from the
change of s to 2, after an unaccented syllable: sg. 1 and 3 was,
pl. 1, 2, and 3 war-on; to which E. corresponds with sg. 1 and
3 was (2 was-t), and pl. were. Likewise : O.H.G. was and
wār-wn ; M.H.G. was and war-en; but G. war (2 war-st) and
waren, the rhotacism and the long vowel having been extended
from the pl. to the singular.
IV. Perfect subjunctive: O.E. ware and E. were (sg. 2 also
wer-t by analogy), O.H.G. war-i and G. wir-e; without difficulty.
V. Imperative: E. be = O.E. bāo; M.H.G. wis regular, and
also bis (instead of *bi, after the analogy of wis); G. sei, bor-
rowed from the subjunctive.
VI. Infinitive: E. be = O.E. bāo-m; M.H.G. wes-en = Go. vis-an,
kept only as neuter noun (das Wesen, “being, substance,” and
ein Wesen, “a being ”), and also sin, G. sein, likewise imitated
from the subjunctive.
VII. Participles.—Present: E. be-ing ; G. wes-e-nd regular
(in such compounds as abwesend, etc.), but usually sei-end after
the analogy of the subjunctive.—Past: E. been = O.E. ge-bé0-m;
G. ge-wes-en = O.H.G. gi-wós-an = Go. vis-an-s.
ism and non-etymological r cannot come from any other source. They must
be imitated from wirumés and wærum (G. waren).
1. Cf. supra 203, 1 and 3, and 211.
* Cf. Supra 211.
352 ENGLISH AN ID GERMAN GRAMMAIR.
§ 2. Other Root-Verbs.
(218) I. E. do = G. thun.-The I.-E. root dhé “to place, to
do ’’ (cf. Sk. da-dhá-ti = Gr. Ti-6m-ort “he places” and L. fa-c-i-t
“he does” with an inserted c), though still conjugated by
merely adding the person-endings to the bare root, shows some
unusual and even perplexing vowel-gradations, which Gothic,
moreover, proves quite unable to account for, since here the
verb has the form tau-jan and belongs throughout to the weak
accidence.
1. The present indicative, by a rare exception, seems to
exhibit the deflected grade of the root, thus I.-E. *dhó-mi,
whence O.E. d5-m = O.H.G. two-m (I do). The metaphonical
conjugation O.E. d5-m doe-st (long oº) doe-Ö, pl. d5-Ö, gives us
the reason for the present pronunciation of the English forms
dost and does (= doth) in contrast with sg. 1 and pl. do. But
the ending -m of sg. 1 is seen to have been dropped in imi-
tation of the corresponding person in the ordinary conjuga-
tion. The same is the case with German : O.H.G. two-m;
M.H.G. two-m, then two ; G. thue. The remainder, namely two-st
two-t two-én two-(n)t two-nt, are rigorously reproduced in the
modern accidence thust thºut thun thut thun.
2. The present subjunctive is regularly derived from the in-
dicative : O.E. dj, etc., and E. do; O.H.G. two-e, etc., and G.
thw-e.
3. The perfect indicative is an intricate mixture of two dif-
ferent forms at the least, viz.: a strong perfect-stem with sur-
viving reduplication, thus I.-E. *dhë-dhë-, cf. O.H.G. teta “I, he
did”; and an originally weak perfect-stem, with normal root and
reduplication dropped, thus I.-E. sg. 3 *(dhë-)dhë- téy, whence
a Preg. *ēēēa, G. that." But the latter is the only one kept in
Mod. German. O.E. again shows a third vocalism, perhaps that
of the present, though strangely shortened and undergoing the
metaphony which would be regular only in the subjunctive, as
though it were a stem of weak pf. subj. Öii-à-i-, whence O.E.
dyde dydes, etc., E. did did-st, etc.
1 For the vocalism is here the same as in the noun denoting action, G.
. rºad-go dép-s = Preg. *čſé Öſi-8 = I.-E. *dhé-ti-s, cf. supra 26 (II.)
PERSON-ENDINGS. 353
4. Perfect subjunctive : O.E. dyd-e dyd-e-n and E. did ;
O.H.G. tat-i tāt-i-s, etc., and G. metaph. thiit-e.
5. Imperative: O.E. d5, etc., and E. do; O.H.G. two and G.
thue.
6. Infinitive : O.E. d5-n and E. do ; O.H.G. two-n, and G.
thun.
7. Participles: present, O.E. d5-mde (E. do-ing) and G. thu-
end; past, O.E. ge-dò-n, and E. do-ne with the vocalic shade of
ge-doe-n; O.H.G. gi-tá-n and G. ge-tha-n, with the vocalism
borrowed from the perfect.
(219) II. E. go = G. gehen."—This verb lacks any precise
equivalent in the I.-E. family; but there is a general agreement
between scholars in considering it a Pregermanic juxtaposition
of two I.-E. elements, prefix gii-, the origin of which has been
stated above, and root &y i (to go) of Sk. 6-ti (he goes) = Gr.
et-ori = L. i-t. The vocalism here is still more puzzling than in
the preceding type: O.H.G. shows in the present two con-
current vocalisms, gā- and gé-: O.E. has only the former, gā-,
changed to E. go; Mod. G., only the latter, gé-, now spelled
geh-.”
1–2. Present.—Indicative: O.H.G. Sg. I gå-m gó-n or gē-m
gé-n, and the other persons in keeping. M.H.G. has still gé-n
and gé-n; but Mod. G. has only gehe- *gé with the analogical
loss of the ending. The same corruption appears far earlier in
English : even O.E. has only sg. I gå, whence E. go, and the
rest in keeping with it.—The subjunctive requires no explana-
tion.
3–4. Perfect.—The G. pf. is derived from another root,
which, in spite of an outward likeness, has originally nothing
to do with gehem, namely, from a verb gang-an = Go. gagg-an (to
go) of unknown etymology “: it is a strong perfect belonging
to type G, thus gieng ging. Of this root English has no longer
* Here, of course, as in stehen and similar words, the h has no etymologi-
cal value. It is simply a sign to demote a long vowel.
* Without entering into particulars, we may observe that the same double
vocalism equally characterizes the following verb (stan stén), and that these
two verbs, owing to their obviously contrasted meaning, might very easily
have influenced each other.
* A tempting comparison is Sk. jóñghā (leg) =I.-E. *ghéigh-d.
A. A
3.54 ENGLISH ANL) G. ERMAN GRAMMAR.
any trace in the conjugation of the verb, though it is kept in
the nouns gang (cf. G. gang “marching”) and gang-way (cf.
Go, gagg-s “street"). The pf. of wb. go is borrowed from wb.
wend= G. (sich) wenden “to turn, apply one's self” + = Go. vand-
jan, causative of Go. vind-an = G. windem = E. (to) wind.—The
subjunctives went and gienge offer no difficulty.
5–6. Imperative and infinitive like the present.
7. Participle (pres, go-ing geh-e-nd) past : on the stem gå-,
O.E. ge-gā-n and E. go-ne; on the stem gañg-, O.H.G. gi-gang-an
and G. ge-gang-en, according to type G.
(220) III. G. stehem, cf. E. (to) stand.—Here also two con-
jugations are blended together. English, however, no longer
possesses the corresponding verb to G. stehem, since (to) stay is
known to be of Romance origin: the whole E. v.b. is conjugated
on the stem stand-, cf. Go. stand-an, pf. stob, and O.H.G. stant-an
now obsolete. German, on the contrary, retains in the present
the bare root-accidence, corresponding to Sk. 4-sthä-t (he stood)
= Gr. -oth = L. sta-t, etc. : O.H.G. sg. 1 stā-m sta-n or stå-m
sté-n, and the rest in keeping; M.H.G. sta-n or stå, Sté-n or Sté;
G. only stehe. The perfect and participle have occurred under
the strong verbs,” and the other forms present no peculiarities.
(221) IV. E. will = G. wollen.—Ordinary grammars usually
place this verb in the next following class, with which, in fact,
it exhibits a striking though merely outward likeness. The
common feature in both, that is to say, the lack of an ending in
sg. 3 of the present, is here due to an isolated peculiarity of
accidence, i.e., as shown by the corresponding Gothic conjuga-
tion, the present of will = 'wollen is not an indicative, but a
subjunctive, or, in other words, E. I will = G. ich will = Go, vil-
jaw really means not “I wish,” but “may I wish '' (optative),
though the indicative reappears in the G. plural. The root is
I.-E. w8l (cf. L. vel-le vol-à vul-i vel-i-m), which assumes the
following regular Preg. vocalisms: normal wel, whence wil if
metaphony is required; reduced wil w8l (= I.-E. w!); deflected
1 E. went bears to G. wandte the same relation as sent to sandte, supra, 187,
7. The verb is now obsolete, except in such locutions as I wend my own way:
but it is still met with twice in Shakespeare.
2 Type F, supra 184, 2.
PERSON-ENDINGS. 355
wāl, whence wòl with later metaphony. A correct application
of these few principles will prove sufficient for the analysis of
this verb which is irregular and difficult only in appearance.
1. Present indicative (formerly subjunctive).-Sg. 1: Go.
vil-jaw, O.E. will-e and E. will, O.H.G. will-u and G. will.” 2:
Go. vil-ei-s- L. vel-7-s; O.E. already wil-t, with the intrusive
termination -t, and E. wil-t; O.H.G. wil-i = *wil-7-z,” but G.
analogically will-st. 3: Go. vil-i = L. vel-i-t; O.E. wil-e wil,
and E. will; O.H.G. wil-i and G. will.—P1. Go. vil-el-ma vil-el-b
vil-ei-na, exclusively subjunctive. But the vowel of the O.E.
final syllable will-aē (E. will) already suggests an intrusion of
the indicative-form, which appears even clearer in the root-
vocalism of Northumbr. wall-aē, The same form becomes pre-
valent in O.H.G. well-e-més well-e-t well-e-nt, which has become
G. woll-e-n woll-e-t woll-en, under the influence of the vocalism
of the perfect woll-te.”
2. Since the present subjunctive had passed to the function
of present indicative, a new subjunctive was analogically derived
from it: O.E. will-e and E. will; O.H.G. well-e (cf. Northumbr.
wall-a) and G. woll-e.
3–4. The perfect is a regular weak one, with reduced root,
thus I.-E. sg. 3 *(wè-)wl-táy : Go. vil-da has borrowed its
vowel from the present; but the vocalism remains pure in West
Germanic, O.E. wol-de and E. woul-d, O.H.G. wol-ta and G.
woll-te. The subjunctive, being formed here without meta-
phony, is of course identical.
5–7. Imperative not used. Infinitive : O.E. will-an and E.
will, but O.H.G. well-an woll-an, and G. woll-en. Participle ge-
woll-t.
§ 3. Preterito-Presents.
(222) We have seen that the I.-E. perfect was not a
historical past, but the tense denoting an achieved action
* Indicative, or else (rather) subjunctive with analogical indicative-ending;
the pure subjunctive form would be *wil-i, supra 193, 194 and 211.
* Cf. the regular loss of this ending in O.E., supra 212.
* The e of the root is due to metaphony, because the indicative is conju-
gated on a stem in -go- with deflected root, thus well-e-nt = Preg. *wēil-ja-nóſi.
ºthe present time, in High Alsatian, my velč (e open, & half mute),
“We will.
356 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
and therefore able to play the part of a durative present,
and we have already emphasized the difference of meaning be-
tween Gr. -6av-e “he died ” and tá-6v)-ke “he is dead.” Simi-
larly, Aé-Aett-Tai means not “it was left,” but “it has been left,”
whence “it remains,” and such is the case with every Gr.
perfect. We have also insisted upon the fact, that the I.-E.
pf. *wēyd-e, literally “he has seen,” means “he knows” in
almost every language of the I.-E. family 1: Sk, véd-a, Gr. otö-e
=Foº-e, Go. váit, etc. Now, the Germanic languages, though
currently shifting their perfect to the function of historical
past, preserved a trace of its original meaning in about a
dozen perfects, which down to the present time unite perfect-
accidence with present-meaning.
The isolated position of this class protected it, as a rule,
from the causes which tended to alter the conjugation of
ordinary perfects : thus, we shall find in it that vowel-degra-
dation from the singular to the plural, which has been so
constantly levelled in the later languages, and even, at least in
part, the old ending of sg. 2 -t (=I.-E. -thé) which O.E. and
O.H.G. had already forgotten”; in regard to the necessary
identity between Sg. I and sg. 3, we need scarcely say that
it is the leading, specific and regular characteristic of all these
verbal forms.”
Though every preterito-present is really a perfect, each
again is provided with a historical past (can could, weisz wuszte,
etc.), and the latter always belongs to the type of weak per-
fects; in other words, the preterito-presents are Germanic
verbs which use their active perfect as a present, and their
middle perfect as a preterite.*
Including will = wollen, ordinary grammars as a rule distin-
guish nine of them, viz. two exclusively English, one exclusively
German, and six common to both languages. There were once
1. Cf. L. movi “I have taken notice of ’’ whence “I know,” me-min-i “I
remember,” via it “he is dead,” etc.
2 Cf. supra 209.
8. At least in the literary language; for elsewhere analogy may easily have
exerted its influence; er weiszt is a current form in several German dialects,
and he cans would not be unnatural from an illiterate speaker.
4 Cf. Supra 188, II, in fine.
PERSON-ENDINGS. 357
a few more ; but some have become obsolete; some, as for
instance E. dare and G. taugen," were mistaken for real presents
and passed to the ordinary conjugation. The best way to study
them is to classify them under the familiar heads of our types
of strong perfects.”
(223) Type A.
I. Go. váit * (he knows), E. wot obsolete, G. weisz,
1. Present indicative.—The sg. has regularly the deflected
root. 1: Go. váit = Sk. véd-a = Gr. Folò-a, cf. L. vid-7 (I saw);
O.E. wit and E. wot ; O.H.G. wei; and G. weisz. 2: Go. váis-t
= Sk. vét-tha = Gr. Folo-6a ; O.H.G. weis-t and G. weisz-t (O.E.
wäs-t). 3: Go. váit=Sk, véd-a= Gr. Folò-e; O.H.G. weiz, and
G. weisz.-The pl. has regularly the reduced root. 1: Go.
vit-wm = Sk. vid-mă = Gr. Fiè-pev torpey; O.E. wit-on, but E. wot
with levelled apophony; O.H.G. wig;-um and G. wiss-en. 2:
Go. vii-ub and G. wiss-et. 3: Go. vit-um and G. wiss-en.
2. Present subjunctive: the root regularly reduced ; Go.
vit-jaw vit-et-s, etc.; O.E. wit-e ; O.H.G. wi:;3-i and G. wiss-e,
etc.
3–4. Perfect (weak): Go. vissa (regularly replacing *vis-ta),
etc.; O.H.G. wissa, etc.; M.H.G. wisse, next wis-te with ana-
logical restoration of the ending -te, lastly (late) woste ww.ste *;
G. wuszte and subj, wiiszte.
5. The infinitive, O.H.G. wig3-an, M.H.G. wiš3-em and G.
wiss-en, is formed anew after the analogy of the past participle
1 On dare, cf. Supra 187, 1. As a perfect, taugen regularly shows the de-
flected grade of the same root that appears reduced in tugend, cf. Gr. Túx-m.
* The following is an alphabetical list : E. can, may, must, need, ought,
shall, will, wot ; G. diirfen, können, mägen, missen, sollen, wissen, wollem.
* This vóit is clearly the pf. of a vb., the normal infinitive of which would
be “veit-an; cf. also the words, E. wit=G. witz, E. wise (sensible) = G. weise,
E. wit-mess, etc.
* The vocalism is corrupted by several influences: the regular subj, wisté
was partly mistaken for wiiste (wóste), and on these forms, through reversed
metaphony, were remade wuste and woste; but the leading factor, here, was
the analogy of such similar forms as muoste, kunde konde, dorfte, because the
speaker could not but perceive a connection between verbs with both cognate
terminations and meanings. This is the reason why in all the vocalism ap-
pears rather capricious.-Archaic English has the regular form he wist “he
knew,” e.g. Act. Apost. xii. 8.
358 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
and present plural, just like the preceding (wellen wollen) and
following verbs."
6. The past participle is very regular: O.H.G. gi-wiž3-an=
Go. *vit-an-s=I.-E. *wēd-onó-s; M.H.G. ge-wix;-en (cf. G.
gewisz “certain ‘’) and ge-wis-t (weak); but G. ge-wusz-t like
the perfect.
(224) Type C.
II. Go. kann (he knows), E. can, G. kann.—The literal mean-
ing is “he has learnt,” whence “he knows,” further “he is
able, he can,” the apparent present being in reality the perfect
of the I.-E. root gen (to know, Sk. jāná-ti “he knows”), which
in Greek and Latin appears chiefly in the shape gmö, Gr. Yi-yvá-
orko, pf. É-yvo-ka, L. ná-Scö=gnó-scó, pf, nāvī, part. nã-tu-s, etc.
1–2. Present.—Indicative sg. 1: Go. kann, O.E. con can and
E. can, O.H.G. kam and G. kann. 2: Go. kan-t regular, but
already O.E. con-st and E. can-st, O.H.G. kan-st and G. kann-st.
3: like sg. 1. Pl. 1: Go. kunn-um, O.E. cunn-on, O.H.G.
kunn-wn and M.H.G. kunn-en, regular. But English extends
the form can, whereas Mod. German, though keeping the
apophony, obscures it by borrowing the metaphony from the
subjunctive.—For this mood is, quite regularly, M.H.G. kinne
= O.H.G. kunn-i. Since however, in the present of the ordinary
conjugation, indicative and subjunctive always show the same
root-vocalism, a similar correspondence took place here, whence
M.H.G. kiinmen and G. können in the plural of the indicative as
well as in the subjunctive.—So too pl. 2 könn-t and 3 könn-en.
3–4. Perfect.—Indicative : Go. kun-ba = I.-E. (gè-)gº-táy;
O.E. cºlòe = *ciſm-Öe, M.E. coud and E. could “; O.H.G. kon-da,
M.H.G. kun-de kon-de, and G. konn-te.—Subjunctive : E. could,
G. könn-te.
5–6. The vocalism in the infinitive, E. can, G. könn-em, is
respectively that of the sg. and pl. of the present. The Mod.
G. part. ge-konn-t is formed from the perfect.”
III. Go. barf (he wants), G. darf (is allowed, able).—The
1 Though it might also be deemed a primitive form : supra 82, 2.
2 The true spelling changed under the influence of would and should.
8. The regular one is the adjective kund (known) = Go. kump-s.
PEHSON-ENDING-S. 359
same as Sk, ta-tárp-a, pf. of the root tarp = I.-E. tºrp (to satisfy,
or be satisfied), cf. Gr. Tépir-e-Tat (he is delighted). Thus, the
literal meaning would be “to find one's satisfaction in,” whence
“to be in want of "1 and “to have the faculty of,” the latter
sense now being the only one surviving.
1–2. Present.—Indicative sg. 1 and 3: Go. barf, O.E. Öearſ,
O.H.G. darf, G. darf. 2: Go. barf-t, O.H.G. darf-t, G. darf-st.
Pl. 1: Go. haſºrb-um, with vowel-degradation and consonantal
change; O.E. Öurf-on and O.H.G. durf-un, with degradation,
but the f extended; M.H.G. durf-en, and dirf-en, like kinnen,
with the metaphony imported from the subjunctive ; G. diirf-em.
—All the rest in keeping with pl. 1, and similarly G. subj.
dirf-e.
3–4. Perfect. — Indicative: Go. bait f-ta, O.H.G. dorf-ta,
M.H.G. dorf–te, but G. durf-te influenced by the vocalism of the
present.—Subjunctive, likewise, M.H.G. dorf-te and G. diirf-te.
5–6. Infinitive : durf-an, now dirf-em. Participle : *ge-dorf-t
(in the compound be-dorf-t), now ge-durf-t.
(225) Type D.
IV. Go. skal, E. shall, G. soll, the pf. of a root which would
be I.-E. Skël, but cannot be found outside the Germanic group.
The vowel 5 in German is due to the analogy of the plural; but
the loss of the k, which takes place from O.H.G. to M.H.G.,
remains as yet unexplained.”
1–2. Sg. 1 and 3: Go. skal; O.E. sceal and E. shall; O.H.G.
scal sol, M.H.G. sal sol, and G. soll. 2: Go, skal-t; O.E. sceal-t
and E. shal-t, unaltered; O.H.G. scal-t sol-t, and occasionally
even sol-st; M.H.G. sal-t sol-t, but G. soll-st. Pl. 1: Go.
skul-wm ; O.E. scul-on, but E. shall; O.H.G. scul-wn, M.H.G.
sul-m or (metaph.) sil-m; G. soll-en, with the perfect-vocalism,
or even (metaph.) still-en. But the non-metaphonical form has
* The O.E., O.H.G. and still M.H.G. meaning “to want?’ survives in
Mod. G. be-dirf-em, whereas the active meaning “to satisfy '' and conse-
quently “to thrive” may be seen in the lost primitive * derben, which, by
adding the pejorative prefix (ver-derb-en), has acquired the sense “to be
corrupted, to corrupt.”
* Still M.H.G. er schol (Bavarian).
360 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GIRAMMAR.
decidedly prevailed and even invaded the subjunctive: O.H.G.
scul-i, M.H.G. sill-e, G. solle. -
3–4. Go. skul-da; O.E. sceol-de and E. shoul-d; O.H.G. scol-te
sol-te, M.H.G. sol-te and G. soll-te. The subjunctive is M.H.G.
sol-te and Söl-te, but class. G. soll-te, like E. shoul-d.
5–6. Infinitive shall and soll-en.—Part. ge-soll-t.
(226) Type E.
V. Go. mag, E. may, G. mag, the pf. of an I.-E. root mêgh
(also még), which expresses an idea of greatness and might,
and is found in Sk. mah-ánt- (great), máh-as (greatness), Gr,
péy-a-s (great), cf. O.E. meah-t (power) and E. migh-t, O.H.G.
mah-i and G. mach-ţ.
1–2. Sg. 1 and 3: Go. mag, O.E. maeg and E. may, O.H.G.
mag and G. mag. 2: Go. mag-t; O.E. meah-t mih-t, but E.
may-est; O.H.G. and M.H.G. mah-t, but G. mag-st. As early
as Pregermanic the plural adopts the singular-vocalism : Go.
'mag-um, O.E. mag-on and E. may, O.H.G. mag-un. But, owing
to the analogy of kunn-un, durf-wn, we have also mug-un,
whence: M.H.G. mug-en mig-en (and meg-en); G. mig-en.—
Subjunctive: E. may, G. mig-e.
3–4. Go. mah-ta, O.E. meah-te mih-te and E. migh-t, O.H.G.
mah-ta and M.H.G. mah-te, quite regular; but also O.H.G.
moh-ta (like kom-da), M.H.G. moh-te and G. moch-te (ver-moch-te).
—Subjunctive: M.H.G. mehte mºhte and G. méchte ; E. might.
—The rest present no difficulty.
(227) Type F.
VI. Go. ga-mât (he finds an opportunity), E. must, G. musz,
pf. of an unknown root." English has lost the strong perfect,
and its weak perfect plays at once the part of present and past
tense : he must =er muszte.”
1–2. Sg. 1 and 3: Go, ga-mót, O.E. m.5t (he can), O.H.G.
muo; (he can) and G. musz (must). 2: Go. *mös-t, O.E. mºs-t
and E. mus-t, O.H.G. muos-t and G. musz-t. Pl. 1: Go. *mót-
* Cf. G. musze (leisure) = O. H. G. muoga (possibility, opportunity), lost in
O.E.
* Excepting, of course, Sg. 2 of both tenses, since there is no form *must-est.
PERSON-ENDINGS. 361
um, O.E. mot-on, O.H.G. muog-um, but M.H.G. (metaph.) mile3-
en and G. miszen, etc.
3–4. Go, ga-măs-ta, O.E. mºs-te and E. mus-t, O.H.G. muosa
(instead of *muos-sa, like wis-sa) and muos-ta (restored), M.H.G.
mu08-te, G. musz-te and subj. misz-te, etc.
(228) Unclassed.
VII. E. ought.—A weak perfect: Go. 6 in-ta (he had), from
wb. &ih-an," cf. G. eig-en = E. ow-n; O.E. ſih-te; lost in German.
According to this etymology, a locution he ought to do, either
means “he had,” or “he should have (subjunctive) to do ’’:
whence both the constant construction of ought with to, and its
absolute indifference in use for present and past time.
VIII. E. need.—A secondary verb, derived from the substan-
tive need = O.E. néad = G. moth = Go. náub-s. But the analogy
of he must not, he shall not, etc., induced the speaker to say
likewise he need not : the only point in which this verb belongs
to the preterito-presents.
IX. E. will, G. will: is not a preterito-present, supra 221.
* See the Go. sentence quoted above (128).
CHAPTER IV.
VERBAL PERIPHRASES.
(229) Conjugation being reduced, as seen above, to the
utmost simplicity,+a single past tense and no future, —had
become unable to express the minute shades of the verbal
concept: incomplete as it was, however, it sufficed for Preger-
manic, even for Gothic and for the earliest state of English and
German ; but, as the speech grew more precise and refined, it
was led, no less than French and the other Romance languages,
to use certain periphrases in order to denote clearly such moods
and tenses as could no longer find adequate expression in the
forms of the simple verb. The Verbal Periphrasis, though
it may vary as to particulars, in its main and original structure
always and everywhere appears one and the same, namely,
a kind of compounded locution, in which a so-called
auxiliary verb governs a verbal noun, whether infinitive,
gerund or participle, derived from the principal verb.
Hence, it is the latter that contains the verbal concept, whereas
the auxiliary merely indicates the tense, mood, or aspect, which
modifies its general meaning.
I. Our first task will be, therefore, to recall the formation
and function of such Verbal Nouns as may be met with in a
verbal periphrasis.
1. Infinitive.—The primitive formation of the infinitive, as
originally a neuter noun and, besides, still capable of being
used and declined in German in this quality, and further the
extension of this grammatical category to all verbs, even non-
radical, from the earliest to the latest, and, lastly, the uniform-
ity of its exponent, reduced to -en in German, and dropped
362
VERBAL PERIPHRASES. 363
altogether in English, have been illustrated in their proper
place,” and no further details are here required.
2. Gerund. — The gerund, though now completely con-
founded with the infinitive, was originally distinct, not only in
that it may be declined, while the infinitive verbal noun never
appears but in the accusative neuter, but chiefly because it
proceeds from a derivative and amplified stem : for, the infini-
tive-suffix being I.-E. *-ono-, the suffix of the gerund is I.-E.
-Onyo-,” as shown by the double nn (= Preg. nj), which every-
where characterizes this form, O.E. dat. to sáwenne (in order
to sow), tà drincenne,” O.H.G. gen, ném-anne-s (of taking), dat.
ném-anne (to take), etc. In the later languages, the gemitival
gerund is extinct, though, of course, German may decline its
infinitive in the gen. Sg. (des mehm-en-s), like any other neuter
noun, -and the datival gerund, owing to the loss of the final
syllable, has been blended with the infinitive, E. to drink, G.
zu nehmen, etc.”
3. Participles.—A. Present Active. The reader need
scarcely be reminded of the formation of the I.-E. active present
participle,” retained in Sanskrit, Greek, Latin, Gothic, Old
English, and German, whether Old or Modern, as well as of
the artificial and somewhat blundering way in which Middle
English has secured a new one * : G. trimk-e-nd, E. drink-ing;
* Supra 77 (1), 89 (2), 106 and 107.
* In other words, they bear to one another the same relation as Gr.
oùp-avó-s (heaven) and oºp-àvvo-s (celestial), and the gerund is the adjective
derived from the noun that plays the part of infinitive.
* Cf. Supra 128, and such sentences as ic tö drincenne habbe “I have to
drink,” & a com hit to witenne ôām eorlwm “then came it to knowing to the
earls,” which clearly emphasize both the nature of the gerumd, as a noum,
and the nature of the form which depends on a verb have, ought, am (he is
to do), and generally on the preposition to, as a gerund, and not an infinitive.
Hence it is through a rather awkward confusion, and merely for the sake of
convenience, that practical grammar uses to as the specific exponent of the
infinitive.
* Already O.H.G. occasionally ze wesan, za galaupian (zu glauben).--
Observe however that, after any other preposition but to, E. uses not the
infinitive, but the noun of action in -ing (supra 103, II., 2), which therefore
serves for the gerund.
5 Supra 79 (XI.) and 90 (VI.).
* Supra 103, II., 2. Even passive ; for the clear and terse expression,
the tea is a-making has been replaced only as late as the end of the last
century by is being made. The passive present participle and the active
364 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
and similarly in every verb, strong or weak, primitive or deri-
Vative, without exception. -
B. Past Passive.—This formation has been analysed in its
inner structure, the root-form and suffix being different as the
verb is strong or weak." The origin of its prefix, which is
common, though not obligatory, in O.E.,” and of constant use
in German,” has also been explained, and we have seen how
Bnglish got rid of it.* German, on the other hand, extended
it to all its verbs, excluding only such as were already provided
with some other inseparable prefix,” and even to the latter
when the speaker was no longer sensible of the existence of a
prefix: ge-fr-essen, ge-b-lieben, ge-g-laubt, etc." In fact, no verb
remained free from it, but the modern and hybrid formations
in -ieren (-ier-t).”
C. Future Passive.—By blending together, as it were,
strangely enough, its gerund and present participle, German
has obtained a passive future participle : das zu lesende buch
“the book which is to be read" (F. shorter le livre à lire), der
zu Schreibende brief, etc.; a locution which belongs to the latest
period of speech.
II. The verbal periphrases have been said to denote the
modifications of the verb, either in Tense, or Mood, or
Aspect. Hence the threefold division of this Chapter.
past participle are now, in both languages, denoted by peculiar periphrases,
respectively: E. being dome, G. gethan werdend (unusual); E. having done,
G. gethan habend. The active future participle does not exist in either.
* Supra 77 (1), 78 (1), 89 (1), 90 (1), 175 sq., 186 sq.
* But unusual in Mercian, a further reason why it should be lost in English.
* The current form worden is the only surviving example of the faculty of
deriving a root-participle without the prefix ge- But compare the use of the
infinitive, instead of the participle, in such sentences as er hat’s nicht thwn.
wollen, etc.
* Supra 96 (I.) and 97.
* And this for a good reason : such forms as *ge-er-funden, “ge-ver-ziert,
were quite impossible, since there never existed a wb. *ge-er-findem, etc.
° Supra 19 (4), 65 (4) and 183 (twice in ge-g-essen).
7 Supra 107 (VI.).
VERBAL PERIPHRASES. 365
SECTION I.
PERIPEIRASTIC TENSES.
(230) Various tenses, either Present, Past, or (in par-
ticular) Future, either may or must be expressed by a peri-
phrasis.
§ 1. Present.
Neither German nor French has a special term for the
Momentary Present. Thus, a German says, ich rauche sehr
wenig “I smoke very little " (customary present), like ich
rauche eine gute pfeife “I am smoking a good pipe ’’; or, at any
rate, it would require a complete change of expression to mark
the distinction; whereas English simply says, respectively, I
smoke and I am smoking ; and it has been seen that from this
very locution English has abstracted its present participle.
The further development of this periphrasis gave birth to a
whole conjugation, wherein the principal verb, in the shape of
the invariable present participle, serves as a predicate to the
verb to be, which latter may assume the form of any mood,
though the imperative is unusual,—and, subsidiarily, every
tense whatever, viz.: he was working as I came in ; I have been
working while you were away, etc.
§ 2. Past.
(231) I. We have already seen, that, in giving the sense
of a historical past to the I.-E. perfect which was originally
the tense of the achieved action, Germanic deprived itself of
any expression for the latter temporal relation *: in other
words, having lost the aorist, and using I spoke and ich sprach,
he died and er starb, etc., with a narrative meaning, English and
German, no less than French, missed the simple term correspond-
ing to the precise force of “I have spoken (I have done speak-
ing), he is dead (no longer alive),” etc. Both have filled the
gap by means of a very simple device, the same that Low
Latin bequeathed to the modern Romance languages.
1 Supra 172 and 222.
366 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
1. It is a commonplace fact that an achieved action very
often results in either a real or, at least, a metaphorical pos-
session : thus, for instance, the durative consequence of the
act of acquiring is the act of possessing," and such locutions as
E. I have bought a house, G. ich habe ein haws gekauft, F. j'ai
acheté une maison, etc., may be translated word for word “I
have (I possess) a house [inasmuch as it is] bought.” And
so likewise I have plucked this flower, I have filled this vessel;
further, metaphorically, I have learnt this science, I have com-
prehended the fact (“I hold the cause of it’), etc.; and, lastly,
such an abusive extension of the use of the verb “to have"
as a mere auxiliary, altogether deprived of its genuine and
primitive acceptation, that the speaker finds it quite natural
to say, in spite of common sense, E. I have sold my house,
G. ich habe me'?" haus verkauft, F. j'ai vendu ma maison.
2. On the of ºr hand, the result of an achieved action may
be also very often a durative state, which is therefore con-
veniently denoted by the use of the verb “to be" followed by a
past participle, the latter, like any other adjective, playing in
the complex the part of a predicate : thus, such sentences as
E. he is dead, G. er ist todt, F. il est mort, are, in their inner and
primitive structure, to be put exactly on a level with such as
E. She is pretty, G. wir sind stark, F. il est grand, etc.; but the
function of the verb “to be " becomes gradually effaced and
confined to the meaning of a mere auxiliary and past-exponent;
and, the angle of vision, as it were, having slightly changed,
such a sentence as G. er ist gestiegen, literally “he is mounted
(come up),” becomes equivalent to “he has ascended.”
3. Of course, it is a matter of pure usage, in French and
German as well as English, to decide whether a given verb
actually expresses an action or a state,_for the dividing line
is often a vague One,—and, consequently, whether it ought
to be conjugated with the auxiliary “to have " or “to be.”
English however, more complete and logical in this respect,
may use both at once with the same verb, and, by saying, for
instance, either he has come or he is come, may distinguish two
1 Consequently, Gr. Ké-kTm-pat “I have acquired ” signifies “I possess.”
Cf. L. nº-vº “I have learnt,” whence “I know.”
VERBAL PERIPHRASES. 367
delicate shades of meaning, for which both French and German
have but one expression, il est venu, er ist gekom men.
II. Hence, the tense of achieved action, so-called Indefinite
Past, in contrast with the historical past (perfect), is ex-
pressed, in the indicative or subjunctive, by the present
indicative or subjunctive, either of the verb have = haben, or
be = sein, accompanied by the past participle of the principal
verb." A further consequence is, that the perfect of these
auxiliaries appears well fitted for expressing a new shade of
past time, namely the Pluperfect, or tense denoting an action
achieved as prior even to another action equally achieved: I
had read (“dome reading ”) when he came in, G. ich hatte gelesen,
F. j'avais lu; E. he had or was come, G. er war gekommen, etc.;
and so likewise in the subjunctive (E. had or were, G. hitte or
wäre).
§ 3. Future.
(232) Pregermanic had completely lost the I.-E. Future.
Gothic translates the future by a mere present, occasionally,
though rarely, where more precision is required, using an
auxiliary skal or haba (I have to) with the infinitive. Such
being the case, O.E. likewise uses the auxiliary sceal, and
O.H.G. the auxiliary sculan or wellen, both however with a
decided preference for the simple present indicative as avoiding
a tedious periphrasis. Indeed, even at the present day, if the
meaning is unmistakable, the present is often used for the
future, chiefly in German, as also in French : G. morgen fahre
ich ab, F. je pars demain.
The values involved in the future-meaning being of a some-
what variable character, it is natural that we should find the
tense expressed by several periphrases.
1. The most usual value is that of a simple intention, thus
* It is a curious fact—so great is the tendency, in all languages, to use
the well-known paths—that this past of achieved action has often become,
in its turn, a historical past: thus, spoken French may be said to have lost
the so-called definite past, and a Frenchman will say “j'ai vu ’’ whether he
means “I saw" (relating) or “I have seen '' (stating); the same is the case
with South German (Alamannic), which now knows nothing of ich sali and
uses only ich habe gesehem.
368 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
“I will do.” Hence a verb denoting “will” may be used to
indicate a future event in regard to a subject upon whom no
Outward constraint either is or seems to be exerted. This is
the case with English: I will go (“because I choose to go"),
wou will go (“but there is nothing that compels you, or at any
rate I don't"). In German, though a speaker may very well
say, with the same meaning, ich will and wir wollen gehen, the
other persons are not used in a similar function, and the verb
wollen therefore cannot be properly termed an auxiliary or
future-exponent.
2. Now, it might also happen that the future involves an
accessory idea of obligation or necessity : in which case, an
auxiliary denoting duty equally answers the purpose, E. I shall
go. In this locution, however, the idea of duty is attenuated
and nearly effaced,—as it is also in F. je dois aller,-though it
reappears with great force in the other persons of the tense.”
German likewise, but with attenuated force in all persons, may
say ich soll and du Sollst; but an actual command will require
du muszt.”
3. Exclusively English is another periphrasis, which also
contains a sense of obligation, though far less marked, and
consists of the verb to be combined with the gerund: he is to
go. It has certainly been furthered by the fact that the
imperfect of will and shall was shifted to the usual meaning of
a conditional *; for it supplied the speech with an imperfect
of the future, which, if expressed otherwise, would have been
ambiguous: the member who was to read the report, cf. F. . . .
qui deva'it lire . . . and G. . . . der . . . vorlesen Sollte.
4. The ordinary German future, although exclusively
German, is very like the preceding, only replacing the wb. “to
be’” by the vb. “to become" and the gerund by the infinitive.
Besides, it is a rather late expression, the more so because, the
further we trace it back,-and it does not appear before the
1 Remember that Germanic “I will” was not originally affirmative and
peremptory: Supra 221.
* You shall do it being, in fact, such an authoritative command that it is
rarely used.
8 Cf. supra 225 and 227.
4 Infra 235.
VERBAL PERIPHBASES. 369
end of the thirteenth century, the less it shows of a real
future meaning, merely denoting, as might be inferred at once
from its components, the beginning of an action, thus: sie
wärdent 833en, literally “they become [to] eat”; er wart weinen,
“he began to cry,” etc.” It was not until Modern German
that the speaker took to using this inchoative present in a
future sense.
5. By combining each of these locutions with those which
denote the past tense, English and German created a future of
the achieved action (so-called anterior or past future) : I will
or shall have done; ich werde gethan haben, etc. Further, in
English, a future of the momentary action: I will be doing, etc.
SECTION II.
PERIPEIRASTIC MOODS.
(233) In the moods, the verbal periphrasis may be applied
to the Indicative, the Subjunctive, the Conditional, and
the Imperative.
§ 1. Indicative.
Germanic, at any time, might replace the indicative of a
given verb by the indicative of the vb. do = thun governing the
infinitive of the principal verb,” in order to emphasize more
strongly either the reality of the action or the intensity of the
affirmation. Indeed, in the opinion of some scholars, it is such
a verbal agglutination that is to be recognised as the origin of
the Go. formation säki-déd-wm *= we did seek. M.H.G. still
possesses this locution, though using it rather rarely : da3 sie
| Such a sentence would seem to require the gerund rather than the
infinitive ; but, as early even as M.H.G., the use of either form is a matter
of choice and often of caprice. Even now, the use of zu, though regulated,
is known to be very arbitrary : ich weisz, for instance, cannot do without it,
whereas ich kamm, which originally had the same meaning, altogether ex-
cludes it, as well as ich soll and many others.
* The infinitive originally being only the accusative of a neuter noum
denoting action, it is clear that a Preg. locution *ēſomi bind amam (E. I do
bind, G. ich thwe binden) must be literally translated “I perform binding,”
whence “I bind.” -
* Supra 195 and 210.
IB B
370 ICNGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
wns twom bewarm, “that they are aware of us.” In Mod. German
it is now nearly obsolete, though of course a speaker may still
Say: ich thu' es leugmen, “I deny it expressly.” But in English
it has been considerably developed, and its use has become an
important grammatical principle.
From this a double benefit was derived, namely, the possibility
of insisting strongly upon a statement (I do ask you), and that
of expressing either an interrogation or a negation without
being obliged to repeat the verb involved in it (you mean to go,
do you ? I don't). But, since the speaker was accustomed to
cast in this mould an abbreviated interrogation or negation, he
was naturally led to mistake the words do you and I do not for
the specific exponent of the interrogative or negative force
itself; and thus there became gradually consecrated the use,
which is now almost obligatory, of the auxiliary do did to
express the indicative in an interrogative or negative
sentence," unless the verb is already provided with some
other auxiliary: do you see 2 but have you seen 2
§ 2. Subjunctive.
(234) The English potential subjunctive, or subjunctive
in a final sentence,” is really the indicative of the vb. may *
followed by the infinitive of the principal verb: tell him so, that
he may know it ; I told him so, that he might know it, etc. The
same is the case, if a vague and indefinite eventuality is to be
expressed: I did not believe him, whatever he might say (G. was
er auch sagen mochie). Still more so, in the expression of a
wish *: God grant, he may succeed 1 (G. es mäge ihm gelingen /).
As seen in these instances, German in such cases is likewise
always allowed to use the similar mágen ; but the use of it is
never obligatory.
§ 3. Conditional.
(235) The Indo-European language had no special mood
* Of course only when the negative is not.
* That is to say, expressing a purpose, “in order that.”
* Supra 226.
* Here, of course, the auxiliary itself stands in the subjunctive.
VERBA I, PERIPHRASES. 371
for expressing the Conditional : in other words, the con-
ditional eventuality, no less than any other eventuality, was
denoted by the subjunctive or by the optative (Sanskrit, Greek,
Latin), two moods which in Pregermanic become the same.
Even contemporary German, at least in strong verbs, briefly
expresses the conditional by the perfect subjunctive : ich thiite
(I would do), ich hütte (I would have), māhºme er (if he took);
cf. E. were I, were you, etc. But, in English, and also in German
in the great majority of weak verbs and even a small number
of strong ones, the perfect subjunctive is scarcely or not at all
distinguishable from the perfect indicative. Such a gross
ambiguity could not be tolerated in any refined language, and
the inconvenience was remedied by recurring to a periphrasis,
the main principle of which is, that the conditional is conceived
as a past-tense of the future."
1. Consequently, English, together with the infinitive of the
principal verb, uses the perfect of its two auxiliaries will and
shall, thus would and should, respectively with the same shades
of meaning as their present may assume in the future-forma-
tion: I would go; we should answer, etc. By means of the
auxiliaries have and be, is further derived a past conditional :
they would have done it. In the same sense, German may use
its verb sollte ; but this is not its ordinary conditional peri-
phrasis.
2. For, its ordinary future-auxiliary being the present of the
wb. werden, German naturally uses, as the auxiliary for its
conditional, the perfect subjunctive of the same verb: ich
wiirde gehen, ihr wiirdet sehem, etc.; though, of course, in order
to avoid such diffuse circumlocutions as ich wiirde gekom men
sein and ihr wiirdet gesehen haben, the past conditional is better
formed by the simple perfect subjunctive of the auxiliary sein
or haben, thus, ich wire gekommen, and ihr hittet gesehen.
§ 4. Imperative.
(236) The periphrastic forms of the imperative, E. Sg. 3
1 In French also (and in the other Romance languages) we find j'awrais :
j'aurai =j'avais : j’ai.
372 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
let him go, pl. 1 let us go= G. laszt uns gehem, pl. 3 let them go,
etc., are too plain to require explanation.
Like the negative form of the indicative, the prohibitive
form of the imperative, when the negation is not, usually intro-
duces in English the auxiliary do, thus: do not steal, but never
break your word.
SECTION III.
PERIPHRASTIC ASPECTS.
(237) It has been seen that every verb is capable of three
essential aspects, namely, Active, Reflexive, and Passive.
The active aspect having naturally no further expression but
the general form of the verb itself, we have only to deal with
the two others.
§ 1. Refleaſive.
(238) The form denoting the reflexive aspect was in Indo-
European the so-called middle voice of the verb. But, since
the middle voice could also correspond, either to the active," or
even, very often, to the passive aspect, there was likely to arise
a most inconvenient ambiguity, which is much felt in Sanskrit,
Greek and Latin,” and would have become quite intolerable in
the later and more analytical languages. As early as Pre-
germanic, the middle voice was no longer applicable either to
the active or even reflexive aspect, but was strictly confined to
the passive. Hence, a periphrasis had become necessary for
the reflexive function, and nothing could appear better adapted
for the purpose than the use of a pronominal complement to
the verb, denoting that the action returned to the subject (G.
ich besinne mich, E. he asked himself, etc.), a process which has
been already described in the study of the Pronouns.”
1. Cf. supra 188, II.
* In a single conjugation, for instance, imitor means “I imitate,” lavor
“I wash myself,” and amor “I am loved.”
* Supra 167. The reflexive verb ought not to be confounded with the
impersonal verb, the neuter subject of which may be either expressed or
merely understood: E. me-think8= G. es diinkt mich (supra 24) “it seems
to me.”
W ERBAL PERIPHRASES. 373
§ 2. Passive.
(239) Gothic, like Latin, still possesses a passive voice,
which, as stated above, is no other but the former middle voice
of the Indo-European; that is to say, Gothic expresses in one
word what English, German and French are unable to express
except by two distinct words: nimada 1 “I am taken,” haitada
“I am called (my name is) **; subjunctive nimáidaw haitáidaw,
etc. This passive verb, however, has no tenses but the present,
and even Gothic, when a past tense was required, was com-
pelled to supply it by a periphrasis, a past participle joined as
a predicate to the verb visan (to be) or vaírban (to become).
Still more so, indeed, in Old English and Old High German,
since neither shows a trace of a passive voice, even in the
present. The auxiliaries here are the same as in Gothic ; but
O.E. almost exclusively uses bêon and wesan, which soon become
blended into one verb, whereas weordan early becomes obsolete;
while, on the contrary, German, from the ninth century, shows
a decided preference for wërdan, which in fact, as appropriately
expressing a passage from one state to another, cor-
responds more exactly than wésan to the concept involved in
the passive verb properly so-called.
From this it follows that German accurately marks a dis-
tinction which is unknown in English as well as in French.
These two languages, outwardly at least, confound the true
passive verb (“he is wounded,” that is “he becomes wounded
[at this instant], they are wounding him”) with the locution
formed by the verb “to be" and a past participle serving as a pre-
dicate to it, as any other adjective would do (“he is wounded,”
that is “he has been wounded [and still is sol,” thus, in either
case, E. he is wounded, F, il est blessé.” In the past tense, the
* Conjugated: Sg. 1 nim-a-da, 2 mim-a-za (Gr. *vép-e-gau), 3 mim-a-da (Gr.
véu-e-Tai), pl. nim-a-mda (Gr. vép-o-vrat).
* A last survival of this lost passive conjugation may be seen in the fact
that the G. wb. ich heisze means both “I call” and “I am called ” (L. você
and vocor).
* If however the present be not a narrative one, English may adopt the
momentary present (he is being wounded), whereas French, lacking this
form, but possessing an indefinite pronoun on (they), preferably uses the
active and Says on le blesse.
37.4 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
inconvenience appears still greater even in English, than it is
in French, since he was wounded may occasionally mean, either
“they wounded him,” or “he was hurt.” German, on the
contrary, expressly distinguishes ich werde and ich ward ver-
wundet, literally “I become" and “I became wounded,” from
ich bin and ich war verwundet, “I am ” or “was hurt,” and thus
possesses, for every tense or mood, whether simple or peri-
phrastic, a passive conjugation which, in meaning, exactly
answers the same purpose as the Greek and Latin passive verb."
* Cf. L. volmérátur, and volmerātus est or fuit.
CONCLUSION.
(240) We have now come to the end of our task. After
having first established, by means of numerous and convincing
illustrations, the essential correspondence between English and
German sounds, we have studied in detail the grammar of the
two languages in regard to word-formation, declension and
conjugation, and in all these points we have found them
identical. Wherever any violent contrasts have appeared, we
have found a reason for them in the fact that each language
has extended the use of one of two forms which both originally
possessed in common. Further, the analogies we have dis-
covered are not such as strike the eye at the first glance and
afterwards prove misleading ; they were drawn, as it were,
from the heart of the language and have been traced back, step
by step, from their present state to the source from which they
originally sprang. We have gone beyond Germanic, and have
verified them in the classical languages and even in the older
eastern tongues." For practical purposes these scientific results
may have but little value. A knowledge of them will perhaps
encumber rather than smooth the path of those who merely
desire the conversational fluency of the courier, and the master-
pieces of literature can be equally well understood and enjoyed
by students who have not dissected the elements of which these
masterpieces are composed, just as a knowledge of botany is
not required for the aesthetic appreciation of beautiful flowers.
* The subject we have just left is most instructive and suggestive on this
point. Nowhere is the likeness clearer and more striking than in the com-
plex structure of the Anglo-German and Indo-European verb ; nowhere do
the different paths lead us more certainly to the centre from which they
diverge.
375
376 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
But the scientific mind, which likes to penetrate into the reason
of things, will derive both profit and pleasure from being able
to trace in the history and evolution of a language the reasons
for its most minute and often apparently contradictory rules.
The enthusiastic student—and what is science without en-
thusiasm P-will find no more fascinating field for his enquiries
than among the scientific methods and accurate documents of
language. He cannot but admire the unbroken tradition by
which our lips still retain the words of ancestors who have left
no othor trace behind; and he will equally marvel at the genius
of those who have re-forged, one by one, the links of a chain
which has its beginning in the mists of the past, and which
passes on to the future inextricably mingled with the destiny
of mankind.
INDEX OF WORDS.
N.B.-This index does not include, as a general rule : (1)
secondary and further derivatives, which must be sought under
their respective endings in the index of terminations below ;
(2) such compounds as may be resolved at first sight, though
quoted in the Chapter of Composition (112–118); (3) nominal
forms other than the nominative singular, and verbal forms
other than the infinitive, except in cases which have a special
interest.
The references are to the sections (I-240).
A... 19, 66, 121, 184
a- 50, 96, 98, 103, 229
abide ... ... 179
above ... ... ... 54
2,CCTU162 ... ... 17
ache (to) ... ... 107
acre 30, 34, 50, 57, 76
adder ... ... ... 49
ado ... ... ... 96
afford ... ... ... 97
after ... ... ... 117
again ... ... ... 96
against ... ... 96
akin ... ... ... 96
alderliefest ... 155
alike ... ... ... 96
all ... ... 17, 117
alone ... ... ... 117
along . . 96
also . 66
am (I) 217
I)... ... ...
all 19, 66, 121, 134
... ... ... 66
angel ... ... ... 89
I. ENGLISH.
angle .. . 39
Angle ... . 23
another . 114
a,InS Welſ 96, 139
ant . 23
any ... 31, 134
apple ... . 146
a pron ... . 49
arbalist . 65
arch- ... . 96
arise . 98
3.TIOl 39, 139
3,S . 66
ash 74
ask 50, 84
asunder 40
at * * * 96
aught ... ... 96
await ... ... ... 103
awake... 50, 106, 184
awaken ... ... 106
al, Wa,I'ê . . . 96
a Way ... 96
awful ... 110
awkward ... ... 111
Bag ... ... ... 17
bake 50, 57,82, 184
balk ... ... ... 17
band ... 45
bare ... 17
batch ... :50
bath 17
bathe ... 17
be 317,230, 231, 232,
239
be- ... 17, 19, 65, 99
bear (to) 26, 82, 174,
182
beard ...
beat
become
21,48
... 185
... ... 99
beech 33, 48, 50, 56,
139
beget ...
begin ...
behead
belief ...
... 182
... 181
... 99
32
377
378
IENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
brow ... ... ... 117
brown ... ... ... 18
buck ... ... ... 48
buckmast ... ... 33
bull . +- -
burial... ... ... 104
burn ... ... ... 187
burst ...
bush ... ... ... 17
|bustle ... ... ... 23
busy ...
but ... ... 12, 66
butcher ... ... 17
butter... ... ... 5
buxom 10, 19, 110
buy ... ... 83, 187
by ... 17, 66, 99
Cab ... ... ... 17
calf
... 48, 56, 189
call ... ... ... 54
can ... 39, 84, 224
Cal’é . . . 13, 139
cast ... ... ... 187
cat ... ... ... 102
catch ... ... ... 187
caterwaul ... ... 102
cave ... ... ... 17
chalk ... ... ... 50
chew ... ... ... 36
chide ... 179
child 18, 139, 140, 147
chill ... ... ... 50
chim ... ... ... 50
choice... ... ... 29
choose 29, 50, 57, 61,
82, 180, 194, 204
circle ... ... ... 17
clad ... 187
clasp ... ... 106
clean ... 17,77
cleanse ... 106
cleave (split) ... 180
cleave (adhere) 82
climb ... 82, 181
cling ... ... 181
clothe... ... 187
co- ... ... ... 67
cold 17, 21, 50, 57, 78
colour... ... ... 5
comb ... ... 39, 48
come 39, 45, 50, 57,
182
COTI). 50, 57
COSt. ... 187
could ... ... ... 224
cow ... 14, 18, 50, 57
coxcomb ... 114
Creed ... ... ... 139
Cripple ... ... 88
believe
bellows
bend ... ... ... 45
beseech 33, 50, 99, 187
best ... ... ... 80
better 49, 61, 80, 106
19, 32
... 146
better (to)... ... 106
beyond ... 160
bid 83, 183
bind 26, 28, 45, 48, 49,
56, 82, 181
birch ... . ... 17
birth ... ... ... 17
bishop... ... ... 17
bit 17, 48, 49, 56, 57,
72, 179
bite 27, 48, 49, 56, 57,
82, 179
blast ... ... ... 185
bleed ... ... ... 33
blind ... 17,49
blood ... ... ... '33
bloom... -
blossom ... ... 33
blot ... ... ... 187
blow ... 48, 56, 185
bolt ... ... ... 17
bond ... ... ... 45
bone ... ... 17, 48
book 33, 48, 50, 56,
139
born ... ... ... 182
borough 50, 65, 139
both ... ... ... 81
bottom 39, 75
bough... ... 110
bow ... ... ... 50
bow (to)
1, 50, 110,
180
boy ... ... ... 33
boycott ... ... 107
brake (pf.)... 100, 182
breadth ... ... 90
break ... 42, 182
breakfast ... ... 117
breed ... 17, 23
'brethren ... 140
bride ... ... ... 48
bridegroom ... 65
bring ... 24, 187
broad ... ... ... 90
brood ... 17, 18, 23
brother 18, 33, 41, 48,
49, 51, 53, 54, 139
cool ... ... ... 50
crow (to) ... ... 185
cut (to) ... ... 187
Daisy ... ... ... 114
dale ... ... ... 14
danger ... ... 65
dare 187,222
darling ... ... 103
daughter 49, £6, 139
day 47, 50, 56, 72, 189,
143
dead ...
deaf ... ... ... 32
deal ... ... ... 96
death ... ... 32, 47
deed 26, 45, 47, 78, 218
deem ... ... 23, 107
deep ... 29, 57, 90
deer ... 49, 139, 143
defile ... ... ... 23
depth ... ... ... 90
dew ... ... ... 17
die (a)... ... ... 145
dig ... ... ... 179
dip ... . ... 29
dis. ... ... 100,107
dish ... ... ... 50
dive ... ... ... 29
dizzy ... ... 17, 23
do 45, 56, 218, 233,
236
doom ... 23, 75
door ... ... 17, 28
dough ... 50, 56,65
dove ... ... ... 32
down ... ... ... 18
drag ... ... 50
draw ...
17, 50, 184
dream ... ... 49
drink ... ... ... 117
drink (to) 39, 40, 181
drive (to) 45, 49, 179
due ... ... ... 17
dumb ... 17, 28
dung ... ... ... 17
durSt. ... ... 187
Dutch... 2, 29
INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS.
379
Ear 32, 61, 74, 139
early ... ... ... 124
earth 13, 17, 20, 21,
73, 139
Easter... ... 152
eat ... ... 26, 183
eatable(s) ... 69,157
edge ... ... ... 50
egg ... ... ... 50
eight ... 30, 53, 121
either ... ... ... 79
eke ... ... ... 32
elbow ... ... 10, 114
elder ... ... ... 80
eldest ... ... ... 80
eleven ... ... 121
else ... ... 23, 111
'em ... ... ... 66
en- ... ... ... 107
end , ... ... 22, 139
English ... 23, 91
enough 20, 50, 55, 96
enow ... ... ... 50
ere ... ... ... 124
even 10, 17, 48
ever ... ... ... 161
eye 50, 54, 74, 139
Fair ...
18, 50, 76
falcon... ... ... 13
fall (to) 17, 21, 83, 84,
185
false ... .. 13, 17
falsehood ... ... 109
far ... ... 17, 21
fare (to)17, 82, 83, 184
farther ... ... 17
farthing ... 103
fasten ... ... ... 93
father 17, 25, 48, 49,
51, 53, 54, 139
fatherless ... ... 10
fathom ... ... 39
feather 23, 49, 54
fee ... 34, 50, 54
feed ... ... ... 23
feel ... ... ... 187
feet ... ... 144, 145
fell ... ... ... 26
fell (to) ... ... 83
fiend 22, 54, 90, 139
fifteen... ... ... 48
fifth 20, 49, 124
fifty 20, 48, 122
fight (to) ... ... 181
file (to) ... ... 23
fill ... 17, 23, 107
º ºg 23, 70, 90
find 19, 20, 28, 181
fine ... ... ... 12
finger 26, 39, 50, 121
fire ... ... ... 29
first 17, 23, 49, 124
fish 27, 48, 50, 54, 72
fish (to) 19, 174
fisher ... ... 102
fist ... ... ... 49
five ... 20, 54, 121
flea ... ... ... 139
flee ... ... ... 187
fleet ... ... ... 84
flesh .. 48, 50
flight ... 49, 78
fling ... 181
flood ... 33, 78
floor 17, 76, 189
flower... . ... 33
flutter ... 106
fly (a)... ... ... 50
fly (to) ... 50, 180
fodder... ... 5, 49, 79
fold . ... 110
folk ... 139
follow ... ... ... 50
food ... ... ... 23
foot 18, 33, 72, 139,
144, 145
for ... ... ... 99
for- ... ... 65, 99
fore ... ... ... 23
fore- ... ... ... 99
foremost ... ... 124
forget ... ... 182
forlorn 19, 45, 180
form ... ... ... 5
former ... 124
forsake ... 184
forth ... ... ... 49
foster ... 79
foul 23, 28, 30, 70, 76,
90
four ... ... ... 121
fowl 41, 48
fox . ... ... 23
France ... ... 23
freeze ... 61, 180, 204
French ... ... 28
fresh ... ... ... 50
fret ... ... ... 99
friend 22, 41, 54, 90,
139
frost ... ... ... 61
fulfil ... ... ... 114
full ... 17, 23, 42, 77
fulness ... ... 5
funk ... ... ... 17
furrow ... ... 42
further ... ... 79
Gander ... ... 102
gang ... ... ... 219
gangway ... ... 219
garden ... ... 30
gardener ... ... 102
Gardiner ... ... 102
garlic... ... ... 32
geese ... ... 144, 143
get ... 50, 182, 183
ghost ... 50, 62
gift ... 48, 50, 78
gild 23, 50, 107, 187
gird ... ... 106, 187
girdle ... ... ... 106
give 45, 48, 50, 183
glass ... ... 20, 61
glazier 14, 50, 61
glimmer ... 106, 181
glitter... ... 106
go ... 219
God 28, 50
godfather ... ... 114
gold 17, 20, 23, 49, 50
good ... ... ... 50
goods ... ... ... 157
goose 18, 56, 102, 144,
145
gosling ... 18, 103
Gospel ... 115
grasp ... ... ... 106
great ... ... ... 32
grind ... . . ... 181
groom ... ... 65
grow ... ... ... 185
guest 30, 50, 51, 56,
139, 144
guilt ... ... ... 50
FIail 50, 54
hair 50, 143
half 21, 48, 124
halm ... 75
hand 39,49, 50,72,139
380
ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
length ... ... 90
let ... ... 45, 236
lick ... ... 27, 50
lid ... ... ... 117
lie (a)... 17, 50, 189
lie (to ... ... 180
lie (be laid) 50, 83,
183
lief ... ... 48, 56
life ... ... ... 48
light ... 29, 41, 50
light (to) ... ... 187
light (adj)... ... 50
like ... ... ... 96
lit ... ... ... 187
little ... ... ... 88
live ... 27, 48, 85
liver ... ... ... 27
load ... ... 184
loaf ... ... 17, 65
loan ... ... ... 82
lone ... .. 117
long ...
loose ... ... 17, 110
lord ... ... ... 65
lord (to) ... 118
lording ... ... 103
lose 20, 45, 61, 180,187
204
handicraft ... 96
handiwork ... 96
handsome ... ... 110
hang ... 39, 83, 185
hard 17, 20, 50, 54, 72,
110
hare ... ... ... 61
hark ... ... ... 20
harvest ... ... 41
haste ... ... ... 17
hate 50, 93
hater ... ... 102
hatred ... ... 109
have 17, 19, 85, 187,
189,231
he ... 17, 66, 166
head 19, 32, 187
headlong ... ... 111
heal 90, 93
hear ... 187
heart "20, 31, 49,74,
140
hearth ... ... 21
heath ... ... 137
heathen ... ... 19
heave 54, 83, 182, 184
hedge ... ... ... 50
height ... ... 90
heir ... ... ... 74
help (to) 45, 181
her ... 17, 168
herd ... ... ... 21
here . 166, 168
hers ... ... ... 168
hew ... ... ... 185
hide ... ... ... 179
high ... 50, 54, 90
hill ... ... 50, 88
hireling ... 103
his ... ... ... 168
hold 17, 21, 50, 54, 84,
185
holy ... ... ... 50
home ... ... ... 65
hoof ... ... ... 17
horn ... 42, 77
horse ... ... ... 143
hot ... ... ... 31
hound... 20, 28
house ... 18, 20, 28.33
hue ... ... 5, 17, 37
hundred 50, 123
hunger ... 50
hunt ... ... 103
hurt ... ... ... 187
husband 5, 18, 114
hussy ... ... ... 65
hut ... ... ... 17
I ... ... ... ... 164
ice ... ... ... 145
idle ... ... ... 110
if ... ... ... ... 66
in ... ... ... 66
in- ... ... ... 96
ink ... ... ... 13
ink (to) ... ... 107
is (he)... 26, 217
it ... ... 66, 166
its ... ... ... 168
Reep ... 20, 187
ken 39,84
kernel ... ... 88
kin ... ... 50, 96
kindred 5, 109
king ... 50, 103
kiss ... ... ... 50
knave... ... ... 17
knee ... 50, 57
kneel ... 106, 187
knight ... ... 21
know ... ...1, 84, 185
knowledge... 50, 109
Lade (to) ... 50, 184
lady ... ... ... 65
lamb ... 39, 139
lame ... ... 10
land ... ... 39, 49
landscape ... ... 109
last ... ... ... 80
last (to) ... ... 187
late ... ... ... 80
laugh ... 36, 50
laughter 50, 79
lay (to) 50,83
lay (he) ... ... 18
lead . 19, 20, 187
leaf ... ... 32
lean ... ... 187
leap ... 32, 50, 185
learn 20, 21, 31, 61,
106
lease . 61
leave . 20
leek . 32
lend . 82
loss ... ... ... 45
loud 41, 50, 78, 110
louse ... ... 144, 145
love 48, 56, 107
low ... ... 50
Maid ... 17, 19, 50
maiden ... 19, 114
make ... 20, 50, 187
Iſla, Il
37, 39, 48, 144,
145
many ... ... ... 74
Iſla,I'ê . . . 10,65
marshal ... ... 65
may ... 78, 226, 234
me . ... ... 17, 164
mead ... ... ... 39
mean (adj.) ... 96
mean (to) ... ... 187
meat. .. 65
meed ... 62, 185
meet ... ... ... 187
melt ... 174, 181, 189
mere ... 17, 19, 72
mermaid ... ... 17
INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS.
merry... ... ... 90
methinks ... ... 238
mice ... ... 144, 145
mid ... 26, 36, 39, 56
middle ... 10, 49
midwife ... 117
might... ... 50, 78
might (he)... ... 226
mild ... ... ... 20
mile 17
mill 42
mine ... 168
minster 65
mint ... 49
mirth ... 90
mis- ... 96
mischief ... 96
miss (to) ... ... 96
mist ... ... 27
molten 181
Monday 18
month... . 90
mood ... . 49
IſlCOIl . . . 18, 189
IſlCI'ê . . . 61,80
YY1OTIl . . . 50, 54
morning 50, 54
Iſlo 80
st . . . . . . . . .
mother 18, 19, 33, 49
54, 139
7
neighbour ... 50, 65
neither 79, 96.
nephew ... ... 54
nest ... ... 27, 62
net ... ... 17
never ... ... ... 96
next ... ... ... 80
nigh ... , 50, 80, 110
night 21, 39, 50, 54,79
nightingale ... 114
nine ... ... ... 121
IlO ... ... ... 134
In OIOle . . . 96, 134
nor ... ... ... 96
nose ... ... ... 61
not ... ... ... 96
note ... ... ... 10
nought ... ... 96
mut ... ... ... 50
Of ... ... 54,66
off ... ... 54,66
oft, ... ... ... 49
old ... 17, 20, 21, 80
OIl ... ... 96, 103
once ... ... 110, 124
one 31, 39,66, 121, 157
ordeal... ... ... 96
other ... 49, 124, 157
ought ... ... ... 96
ought (he)... 228,229
our ... ... ... 168
out ... ... 66,96
oven ... ... ... 48
OVer . . 54
OWI). . . .
OX 17, 74, 139, 140
Oxford ... 114
oxlip ... ... 117
Pale (noun) ... 48
palfrey ... 48
pan ... ... 23, 48
pass ... ... ... 187
past ... ... 187
IY1OULI)
t... .
mouse 23, 6
mouth...
IOOOWe . . .
In OW
murder
murther
music ...
Imust ...
mutton
my ...
mylady
mylord
TNail
Ila, Iſle . . .
napkin
nation
Ilea,T
need ...
need (to)
needle...
needs ...
neigh ...
... ... 26
1, 144, 145
... ... 4
path 49, 139
peacock 48, 115
pen (to) ... ... 107
pence ... 145
penny ... 23, 145
people... tº º º
person... ... ... 17
pilgrim ... ... 23
pillow ... ... 17
pinafore ... ... 117
pink ... ... ... 13
plant ... ... ... 48
play (to) ... ... 182
plenty ... ... 5
poison ... ... 48
pound 18, 48, 143
pretty ... ... 110
push ... ... ... 189
put ... ... 17, 187
Queen... ... ... 72
queer ... ... ... 17
quick ... 27, 50
quicksilver ... 27
quite ... ... ... 117
quoth ... ... ... 183
Badish ... ... 23
rain ... ... ... 50
raise ... ... ... 83
rare ... ... ... 10
rash ... ... ... 50
rather ... ... 17
raven ... 13, 50, 54
I'e- & © tº
reach ... ... ... 187
read 17, 20, 41, 185,
187
ready ... ... ... 109
reason... ... ... 65
red ... ... ... 41
reeve ... ... ... 65
relations ... ... 5
rend ... ... ... 187
rest ... ... ... 73
rich ... ... ... 50
riddle ... ... ... 104
ride 41, 179
Riding ... 68
right ... 53,78
ring (a) ... ... 50
ring (to) 13, 181
rinse ... ... 106
ripe (to) ... 107
ripen ... ... ... 106
rise ... ... 83, 179
rive ... ... 179
road ... ... ... 17
room ... 17, 28, 39, 75
rough ... 50, 54
roundabout ... 117
rule ... ... ... 17
rummage ... ... 17
382 ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
run ... ... ... 181
Sad ... ... ... 59
Saddle... ... ... 49
Sail ... ... ... 50
Sailor ... ... ... 102
Sale ... ... ... 21
salt ... 30, 49, 59
salve ... 92,93, 189
same ... ... ... 110
sand ... ... ... 39
save ... ... ... 189
say ... ... ... 50
Screw ... ... ... 17
second ... ... 124
see 17, 45, 50, 54, 183
seed ... 26, 49, 59
seek 33, 50, 187, 189,
207
seethe... ... 53, 180
seldom ... ... 23
self ... 21, 160, 167
sell ... ... 21, 187
send ... ... ... 187
serve ... ... ... 17
set 17, 26, 36, 83, 187
seven ... 26, 40, 121
sew ... ... ... 59
shade ... ... ... 189
shaft ... ... ... 48
shake ... ... ... 184
Shakespeare llá, 117
shall ... ... 225, 232
shamefaced ... 110
shape ... ... ... 5
shape (to) 48, 50, 57,
184
sharp ... ... ... 20
sharpen ... ... 106
shave 30, 48, 56, 57,
82, 184
she ... ... 133, 166
she- ... ... ... 115
shear ... ... ... 182
shed ... ... ... 187
sheen ... ... ... 77
sheep 5, 50, 139, 143
shepherd ... 87
sheriff... ... ... 65
shew ... ... ... 185
shilling ... ... 103
shine 18, 53, 84, 173,
179
ship ... ... ... 50
ship (to) 107
shire ... . 65
shoe ... . 50
shoe (to) . 187
shoot ... ... 180,204
should... ... 225,235
shove ... ... ... 50
shovel... 48, 50, 88
show ... 59, 185
shrine ... 59
shrive ... 179
sight ... 50, 78
silly ... 23
silver ... 21, 59
Sl]]. ... 17
sing ... ... ... 181
sink ... 39, 82, 181
sister 10, 18, 59, 61,
- 189
sit 26, 59, 83, 183
six ... ... 21, 121
slaughter ... 50, 79
slay ... 45, 59, 184
sleep ... 20, 48, 57
slide ... ... ... 17
slight ... 78
slip 59
slow 31
small ... 59
Smile ... 59
Smite ... ... ... 179
snow 37, 39, 50, 56, 59
So... ... ... ... 66
Sob . ... 106
sodden . 53
soft ... 48
some ... ... 40, 134
son 20, 34, 39, 59, 77,
189
Soothly 110
SOre 31
SOTTOW tº º vº. 93
Soul ... ... ... 31
Sound (adj.) ... 20
SOUIT ... 32,76
SOW . ... 27
Sow (to) 59,185
Speak ... 17, 182
Spear ... 48, 189
spew 48, 53
spin ... 48, 181
spindle 88
spinster 90
spit 183
split . 179
spouse ... ... 5
spring (to)... 82, 181
stand (a) ... ... 49
stand (to) 58, 184, 220
Star . ... ... 21
starch 30
stark ... ... 50
StarVe ... ... 181
Stay ... ... 220
steadfast ... 110
steal ... 182
steed ... ... ... 33
stick (to) ... 179, 183
stiff ... ... ... 48
Stink ... ... ... 181
stitch (to) ... ... 83
Stone ... ... ... 105
stood (he) ... ... 184
stool ... ... 33
Stove ... 20
Stream 59, 75
strength . 90
StreW ... . 185
stride ... . 59
strike ... 50, 179
string ... ... 181
strive ... ... 179
strong... ... 90
StroW ... ... 185
stud ... ... 33
sty 26, 53, 82
such ... 50, 161
suit ... •. ... 17
Sunday 117
Swamp 59
Swart ... . 59
swear ... ... ... 182
sweat ... 49, 57, 59
sweet ... 49, 57, 59
swell ... 28, 174, 181
swim 17, 39, 59, 181
swine 27, 59, 89, 143
sword ...
Take ...
tale
tallow...
tame ...
taught
teach ...
tear (a)
tear (to)
teens ...
21, 59
32, 184
23,49
. 50
... 49
... 187
... 187
... 30, 76
41, 82, 182
... ... 121
INDEX OF ENGLISH WORDS.
383
tell ... 23, 49, 187
ten 40, 47, 54, 57, 12
thank ... ... ... 50
that 46, 47,49, 66, 130,
160, 162
thatch 36, 57, 59
the 47, 49, 66, 133
... ... ... 165
thee
their ... 49, 168
them ... 66, 166
there ... ... 168
these ... ... 160
they e tº gº e º ºs 4), 166
thigh ... ... ... 50
thimble ... ... 88
thin 47, 54
thine . ... ... 168
thing ... ... ... 24
think 24, 47, 50, 83,
187, 238
third ... ... ... 124
thirst ... ... ... 42
thirteen ... 121
thirty... ... 122
this ... ... 160
thorn ... 47, 54, 77
those ... ... . ... 160
thou ... 47,49, 165
though ... ... 14
thousand 19, 28, 49,
I23
thrash ... 181
three ... ... 121
thrice ... ... 124
through 49, 50
throw ... ... ... 185
thumb 18, 47, 54
Thursday ... ... 114
thy ... ... ... 168
tide ... ... 49, 139
tight ... ... ... 78
tile ... ... ... 50
timber
tin ... . . . . .
tithe ... ... ... 124
to ... ... 66, 100
toe ... ... ... 50
token ... ... ... 77
to-morrow ... ... 50
tong ... ... ... 89
tongue 13, 39, 47, 50,
54, 74, 139
too ... ... ... 66
tooth ... 79, 144, 145
tother... ... ... 66
town ... ... ... 18
tread ... ... 182, 183
tree ... ... ... 37
trow ... ... ... 37
true ... ... ... 37
tub ... ... ... 17
Tuesday 17, 37, 114
tune ... ... ... 17
twelve ... ... 121
twenty ... 121, 122
twice ... ... 110, 124
twig ... ... ... 50
twilight ... ... 121
twin ... 121, 124
twist ... . 124
two ... 37,49,121
Udder... ... ... 28
un- (negative) 17, 40,
96
un- (inversive) 98, 100
uncouth 78
under ... 40, 49
undo . 10, 98
up ... ... ... 66
UIS ... ... 20, 164
Wat ... ... ... 23
very ... 110
view ... ... ... 17
virgin ... ... 17
vixen ... 23, 87
vouchsafe ... ... 118
Wait ... ... ... 103
wake ... 36, 50, 184
Wales... 23,67
wall ... 139
walnut ... ... 115
warm 21, 50, 56, 75
warm (to) ... ... 106
warp . . 48, 57, 181
warrant ... ... 97
was (he) 17, 20, 61,
183,217
wash ... 17, 84
watch (to)... ... '50
water ... 5, 17, 37, 49
wax ... ... ... 50
wax (to) ... 184
way ... ... ... 50
we ... 17, 63, 164
Wea, r ... ... 182
F. WOIYla, Il
weasel... ... ... 88
weather ... 17, 49
weave... ... 182, 183
wed ... ... ... 187
wedlock ... ... 109
weep ... ... ... 187
weigh ... ... ... 206
Welsh... 23, 67,91
wend ... ... 219
went (he) ... ... 219
were (he) ... 194, 217
were (they)61,183,217
werwolf 27, 115, 117
what .. 50, 54, 161
wheat... . ... 50
when ... ... ... 66
where ... ... ... 168
whet ... ... 50, 54
which ... ... 161,162
while ... ... ... 17
white ... 37, 50, 54
who 17, 161,162
whole ... ... 90, 93
widow ... ... 27
width ... ... ... 90
wife 48, 139
wild 17, 49
will 36, 139
will (he) 17, 221, 228
232
win ... ... 97, 181
wind ... 17, 26, 37
wind (to) 17, 181,219
wine ... ... 17, 37
wise (adj.)... ... 223
wise (manner) ... 111
wish 84, 189
wit ... ... ... 223
with ... ... ... 79
witness ... 223
wolf 34, 37, 42, 48, 54,
139
... 115, 145
womb ... . ... 48
wood ... ... ... 41
word ... ...
word (to) ... ... 107
work 21, 50, 53, 83, 187
world ... 21, 27, 65
WOl’IYı. . . . ... 139
worship ... 109
worship (to) ... 118
worth ... 21
wot (he) 31, 37, 45, 233
384
ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
would (he).
ye
year
yearn ...
yellow...
... ... 165
36, 76, 143
. 50
87, 50, 56
yellowhammer... 65
yesterday 41, 50,56
yield
yoke
50, 125
’28,36, 72.1%
II, GERMAN.
yon ... 160
yonder , 160
York ... ... 64
you 36, 165
young... ... 28, 36
youngster ... ... 90
your . 168
youth ... 90
besuchen ... 187
beten ... 117
betriegen ... 180
beugen ... ... ... 29
bewegen ... 182,206
biegen ... 29, 50, 180
biegsam 19, 110
bin ... 217
binden 26, 28, 45,49.
birke
bis tº tº º
bischof...
bisthum
56, 82, 181
... 17
96
... 17
... 109
biºiº. A8,49, 56, 57.72
bitten ...
blåhen ...
blasen ...
blech ...
bleiben 19,
blind ...
blühen ...
... 33,
blume 33, 75, 137, 140,
142
blut
boden 39,
bogen ...
bolz
böse ...
bösewicht
boshaft
bosheit...
bote
braten ...
braue ...
brawn ...
braut ...
bräutigam ...
wound tº e e
write ... 37, 179
writhe ... 179
wrought 53, 187
Y- tº $ tº ... 97
yard ... 30, 74
Ab 54
abenteuer ... 6
aber ... ... 117
aberglaube ... ... 117
abgott ... ... 147
achsel ... ... ... 76
acht (eight) 30, 53, 121
acht (care) ... ... 93
achten ... ... ... 93
acker 30, 34, 50, 57,
76, 146
ader ... 142
adler ... ... 146
afterwort . 117
all ... 17
allein .. ... 117
allod, . 115
* als 66
also ... ... 66
alt 17, 20, 21
CZ770, ... ... ... 66
ameise... . ... 23
ammer... ... ... 65
Cº. tº ºn tº 4 e & . 96
andacht . 78
ander ... ... 49, 124
anders... ... ... 124
anderthalb ... 124
angel ... 39
ant- ... 96
apfel ... 146
arbeit ... . 142
CZ7°77?, . . . 39, 143
armbrust . 65
armut ... . 90
asche ... . 74
ast 30, 146
C/20, . 142
auch 32
CZ7.6 tº ſº. 142
auf ... ... ... 66
auge 50, 54,74, 140,142
... 221,235
sº 78
Cº?!S 66,96
ausdruck ... 6
Baar ... ... 17
bachen... ... 50, 57
backen 50, 57, 82, 184
bad ... ... ... 17
bahre ... ... 26
balg . ... 146
balken ... ... 17
band . 45, 147
bart 20, 21, 48
bauen ... 18, 32
bauer (peasant). ... 141
baum ... ... ... 10
be- 17, 19, 65, 94, 99
beben ... ... ... 81
bedingen 24, 181
bedürfen ... 55,224
befehlen ... 181,206
begehren ... 23
begierde 23
beginnen 181
begleiten 19
behaftet 110
behende 22, 99
be. 17, 99
beide ... ... 31
beil ... ... 79
bein 17, 48, 143
beiszen 27, 48, 49, 56,
bekommen ...
bellen ...
bequen.
beredt ...
bereit ...
berg
57, 82, 179
... 99
... 181,206
... ... 65
17, 19, 187
... ... 109
... 146
bergen º: 164, 181, 206
bersten...
besser ...
best
17, 181, 206
49, 61, 80
... ... 80
brechen
... 83, 183
48, 56, 185
... ... 185
... ... 14
65, 85, 121,
229
17, 49, 155
3, 36
... ... 48
75, 141, 146
... ... 50
... 17
... 109
... 147
... 110
... 109
... 141
... 185
. 117
... 65
42, 182, 206
INT) EX OF GERMAN WORDS.
brennen ... 187
brenzeln ... 106
bringen 24, 187
bruder 18, 33, 41, 48,
49, 51, 53, 54, 146
brunnen ... ... 141
brut ... 17, 18, 23, 48
brüten ... 17, 23, 107
bube ... ... 18, 33
buch 33, 48, 50, 56,147
buche ... 33, 48, 56
buchsta ... 33
bucht ... ... ... 136
bulle 17,48
burg 50, 65
busch º: º: ... 17
butter ... ... ... 5
Chor ... ... ... 146
christ ... ... 141, 149
chur ... ... 180
Da ... ... ... 168
dach ... 36, 50, 57, 59
dank ... ... ... 50
dar ... 168
das ... ... 130, 162
dasz ... 46, 130, 162
dćluchte 24, 195
d&uchter. ... ... 24
dowmen 18, 47, 54, 141
decken 36, 50, 57, 59
degen ... ... ... 146
dehnen ... ... 36
dein ... ... ... 168
denken... 24, 50, 187
der ... 66, 130, 162
deuchte ... 24, 28
Deutsch 23, 29, 91, 141
dicht ... ... ... 78
die ... 66, 132, 162
die (pl.) ... ... 131
Dienstag 17, 114
dies ... ... ... 160
dieser ... ... ... 160
Dietrich ... ... 29
ding ... ... ... 24
dingen...
dirne ... ... ... 149
doch ... ... ... 14
Donnerstag ... 114
dorn. 47, 54, 77, 147
drehen... ... ... 185
dire? ... 121
dreschen ... 181,206
dritte ... ... ... 124
du ... ... 47,165
dumm ... 17, 28, 32
dung ... ... ... 17
dimken 24, 47, 83, 187,
2
dinn ... ...
durch ... ... ... 49
dirfen... ... 55,224
diirr ... ... ... 42
durst ... ... ... 42
dusel ... ... ... 23
dutzen ... ... ... 106
Liben ... ... ... 48
eber ... ... ... 54
eck ... ... ... 50
ecke ... ... ... 50
e? ... ... 50, 117, 147
eiergelb ... ... 117
eigen 50, 54, 228
eilf ... ... ... 121
ein 31, 39, 66, 121, 134
ein- ... ... ... 66
eimander ... 114
eimdruck ... ... 6
einfalt ... 110
eim?ge ... 31, 134
einöde ... ... 90
einst ... 124
eis ... ... ... 145
eitel ... ... 110
elend ... ... ... 23
elephant ... 141
elf ... ... ... 121
ellenbogen ... ... 114
emp- ... ... ... 98
ems?g ... ... 23
ende 22, 142
engel 39
ent- ... 95, 96, 98
entgegem ... 96
er... ... ... ... 166
er- ... ... 98, 99
erbe ... 74, 137, 140
erde 17, 20, 21,73, 137,
42, 152
erkilºren ... 180
erlauben ... ... 98
erlöschem ... 174, 181
erquicken 27, 50, 107
erschallen ... ... 181
erschrecken... 182,206
erst ... ... ... 124
ersuchen ... ... 99
erwägen ... ... 182
erz- ... ... ... 96
erzählem ... ... 23
es... ... ... ... 166
essen 26, 82, 183, 197,
206, 229
euch 36, 165
622/627° ... 168
evier 28, 49
evig ... 31
JFach ... 82, 124
faden ... ... 39
fºi" . . . #7
fahne ... ... 102
föhnrich ... ... 102
fahren 17, 82, 83, 184,
204, 205
Jalb ... ... ... 37
falke ... ... ... 13
fallen 17,21,83, 84,185
fillen ... ... ... 83
falls ... ... 111
falsch ... 13, 17
falte ... 110
fangen... ... , 82, 185
; ... 23, 28, 32, §
Čule . . . . . . . . . 2;
%. ... ... ... 49
fechten... ... 181, 206
feder ... 23, 49, 54
fegefeuer ... ... 50
fegem ... ... 50, 76
feind ... 22, 54, 90
fell ... 26
fels, felsen ... ... 141
jerm ... ... 10, 21
fernsprecher ... 6
fest (fast) ... ... 93
fest (feast)... ... 143
fewer ... ... 29, 143
finden 19, 20, 28, 181
finger 26, 39, 50, 121
fisch 27, 48, 50, 54, 72,
146.
fischen ... 19, 174
fischer... ... 102
fittich ... ... ... 23.
jlawm. ... ... ... 48,
flechten tº tº º: 181.
jleck, flecken ... 141
fleisch ... 48, 50
C C
386
ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
fliege ... ... ... 50
fliegen 29, 50, 180, 206
fliehen ... ... 180,187
flieszen 84,206
.ſloh ... ... ... 139
flosz ... ... 146
flucht ... 49, 78
..fl.ur ... ... 17, 76
flut 33, 78, 136, 142
..folgen ... ... ... 50
..folgerm ... ... 106
..fordern ... ... 97
..forschen
..fort ... ... ... 49
Jºragen... ... ... 207
fraw 32, 74,136, 142
frauenzimmer ... 114
freilich ... 110
fressen... ... 99,229
freund 22, 41, 54, 90,
137
..friede, frieden ... 141
..frieren 61, 180
frisch ... ... ... 50
..frohndienst... ... 74
frost ... ... ... 61
frucht ... ... ... 136
..fuchs ... ... ... 23
..fuchsin
..fuhren... ... ... 83
illlen ... 17, 23, 107
filmf 17, 20, 39, 54, 121
fünfte ... 49, 53, 124
Jºinfºehn ... ... 48
fünfzig ... ... 48
funke, funken 17, 141
für ... ... 99
jurche. ... ... 42
fürst 17, 23, 49, 124
..fusz 18, 33, 72, 144, 146
futter ... ... 5, 49, 79
Gabe ... 142
gähren... ... 182
gang ... ... ... 219
gans 56, 102, 144, 146
4&nserich ... ... 102
9&ren ... ... ... 182
garten 30, 74, 137, 141
gärtner ... ... 102
gast 30, 50, 51, 56, 137,
144, 14
ge. 19, 28, 50, 65,69,
96, 97, 143,229
grab ... 147
graben... ... 184
grad ... ... 143
graf ... 65, 141
greifen ... 179
grosz ... ... ... 32
gºlden ... 22, 23
gusz ... ... ... 45
gut ... ... ... 50
Haar ... ... 50, 143
haben 19, 85, 187, 189,
231
hafen ... ... ... 146
haft (tie) ... ... 54
haft (capture) ... 54
hagel 4
hahn 74. 137, 146, 141
halb ... 21, 48, 124
hálfte . 48, 124
halm ... 75, 143
hals ... ... ... 146
halten 17, 21, 50, 54,
84, 185, 206
hammer . ... 146
hand 48, 49, 50, 72
137, 146
handeln ... 106
handhabe ... ... 118
handhaben ... 114, 118
hangen 39, 83, 185
hdngen ... ... 83
hart ... 20, 50, 54, 72
hase ... ... 61
hassen ... 50, 93
hast ... ... ... 17
hauen ... 37, 185
haupt ... ... 19, 32
haus 18, 20, 28, 32,147
haut .. 146
heban 54,55, 83,85, 184
hecke ... ... ... 50
. 41, 137, 143
heft 54

ge- (part.) ... 97, 229
ge- (nouns) 96, 143
gebären 26,82, 182,206
gelen 45, 48, 50, 183,
197, 206
gebirge ... 96
geburt ... ... ... 17
gedeihen ... ... 24
gefährte ... ... 96
gefallen ... ... 97
gefilde ... ... ... 96
gegen ... ... ... 96
gehem ... ... 185,219
gehl ... ... ... 37
geist 50, 62, 147
gelächter ... ... 79
gelb ... 37, 50, 56
geleifen ... ... 19
gelten 50, 125, 181, 206
gemahl 96
gemein ... ... 96
genesen 97, 183, 207
genie ... ... ... 6
genieszen ... ... 180
genug 20, 50, 55, 96
germ ... ... 23.50
geschehem ... 183, 206
geschweige ... ... 97
geselle ... ... ... 96
geSinde ... ... 96
gestehem ... ... 97
gestern
gestirn... ... ...
gestand... ... ... 20
get reide ... ... 202
gevatter ... ... 96
gewahr ... ... 96
gewinmen ... ... 181
gewisz... ... ... 223
gieng ... ... 185,219
gier ... ... ... 23
gieszen 45, 84, 180, 206
gift ... 48, 50, 78
... 185,219
ging
glas ... ... 20, 61
glauben 19, 32, 65, 229
gleich ... ... ... 96
gleichen ... 179
gleichung ... ... 6
glimmen ... 181
glitzerm ... ... 106
gold 17, 20, 49, 50
golden ... 22, 23, 89
Gott ... 28, 50, 147
heide (heath) ... 137
heide (heathen)... 19
heil ... ... , 93
Heiland. ... ... 90
heilen ... .
heilig ... ... ... 50
heim ... ... ... 65
heimat... º º o s tº 6 90
heischen
heisz ... ... ... 81
heer
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388
ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMA.R.,
lilge
lügen ...
lust
lützel ...
...14, 17, 50
50, 106, 180
... ... 146
88
Machen ... 20, 50
macht 20, 50,78, 146,
226
7mag ... 226, 234
magd ... 19, 50, 146
"magen ... ... ... 141
tnähen... 50, 185
mahmen . 83
7mähre ... . 65
maid ... 17, 50
manch... ... ... 74
mann 37, 39, 67, 144,
147
marsch tº gº tº 6
marschall ... 65
marschiren... ... 6
maus 23, 61, 144, 146
777.601" 17, 72, 143
mehr ... ... 61, 80
neiden... . 96
"meile ... . 17
mein 10, 168
'meist ... ... 80
meiszel... ... 88
melken... ... ... 181
menge ... 74, 140, 142
mensch... 67, 141
%)?.62SS6%. , , , 183,206
7??62SS67° . . . ... 65
'meth tº . 39
miethe... 62, 185
mild . 20
mis- . 96
missem ... . 96
mist . 27
mis2- ... . 96
* 73, 117
7mºś e e º e º 'º $
mitte 26, 36, 39, 56,73
'mittel ... ... 1
mode ...
'mögen ...
‘monat ...
mond ...
Montag
mord ...
'morgen
mil/ile ...
"mund ...
ºmni!??sfer
j
20,226,284,
... ... 9
O
. 18
. 18
... 42
50, 54
. 42
40
65
milmze ... ... ... 49
7???!SSe74. . . ... 227
77??!S26 . . . ... 227
muth ... ... ... 49
mutter 10, 18, 19, 33,
49, 54, 146
Nach ... ... ... 50
machbar 50, 65, 149
Nachbaur ... ... 65
mdichst ...
... ... 80
14, 21, 39, 50,
macht
54, 79, 146
nachtigall ... ... 114
madel ... ...26, 39, 79
nagel ... 50, 146
máhe ... 50
né!her ... ... ... 50
mähren... ... ... 207
name ... 75, 141, 142
720,777.67? . . . . ... 141
mamhaft ... 117
720,7°7' ... 141
nase ... ... ... 61
matter ... ... ... 49
ºff. ... ... ... 54
nehmen 45, 82, 174,
182, 197, 204, 205
mein 10, 96, 134
memnen... . ... ... 187
72é8t 27, 62
net2 ... ... ... 17
726.24% . * * * * * *
nicht ... ... ... 96
nichte ...
nie ... ... ... 96
nimmer ... ... 96
noch ... ... ... 96
moth ... ... 142, 228
nur ... ... ... 96
nusz ... ... ... 50
nutzen . . . . . . ...
miltzen ... ... ... 107
Oben ... ... ... 54
ocean ... ... ... 65
ochs ... 17, 74, 140
ochse ... ... ... 141
Öde ... ... ... 90
ofen ... 48, 141, 146
49
oft ... ... ...
ohr ...32, 61, 74, 142
ort ... ... ... 147
Ostern... . 152
Pabst, papst 14, 48
parlieren ... 6
pfad 49, 143
Tafaffe º ... ... 48
pfahl ... ... ... 48
pfalz ... ... ... 65
pfanne... 23, 48
pfaw 48, 149
pfennig ... ... 23
pferd ... 48,65, 143
Pfingsten 48,65, 152
pflanze... 48, 142
pflawm... ... ... 48
pflegen... ... 182
ºfund... 18, 48,143
philosoph ... ... 141
ſphotographie . 142
pilgrim ... ... 23
planet ... ... ... 141
preisen ... 179
punkt ... . 143
Quecksilber... 27, 50
quellen... 174, 181, 206
quer ... ... 17
Rabe ...36, 50, 54, 141
ºrdchen... ... ... 182
ºrad ... ... ... 10
Tand ... 147
ºrappe ... ... ... 36
Tasch ... ... ... 50
Tósonnieren ... 6
rast ... ... ... 73
mathem ... 17, 41, 185
räthsel... ... 104
rauchwerk ... 50, 54
rauh ... 50, 54
rawm ... ...28, 39, 75
Techt ... ... 53, 78
recht (das) ... ... 143
recken ... .. 99
reden 17, 20, 123, 187
regen ... ... ... 50
zeiben ... ... ... 179
Teich ... ... ... 50
reich (das) ... ... 109
reichen ... ... 187
'reifen ... ... 107
rein ... ... ... 77
Teiszen... ... 37, 179
zeiten ... 17, 41, 179
reiter ... ... ... 102
... 181, 187
7°67???.6% & º º
INT) EX TO GERMAN WORDS.
389
Tetten ...
rettich ...
richtig...
*ind
*ing
Tönnen...
ritter e - e.
fitz
zohr
7°OS2
Toth
Tufen ...
*uhe
Saat
Sachse ..
Sół67?
Sage?? ...
salbe
salben º .
92,93,185
... 21
... 12, 26, 49, 59
. ... ... 141
59, 185
20, 50
92
Schweisz
schieszen ... ... 180
Schiff ... ... ... 50
Schiffen ... ... 107
schilling ... ... 103
schinden ... ... 181
Schlacht ... 142
Schlaf ... ... 48, 146
schlafen 48, 57, 185
schlaff'... ... 48, 57
Schlag ... ... 72, 146
schlagen 45, 59, 184
schlank ... 13
schlecht ... ... 78
Schlitten ... ... 17
Schlüpfen ... ... 59
schmal... ... ... 59
schmeicheln... ... 59
schmelzen ... 174, 181
schmerz ... ... 150
schnauben ... ... 180
schnee 37,39, 50,56,59
schneiden ... ... 179
schneider ... ... 102
schneien ... ... 50
schmitter ... ... 102
schon ... ... ... 77
schön ... ... ... 77
Schöpfen ... ... 48
Schraube ... ... 17
Schrauben ... ... 180
schreiben ... ... 179
schrein ... ... 59
schreiten 59, 179
schuh ... ... 50
schwären ... ... 182
Schwarz ... ... 59
schweigen ... ... 59
schwein 27, 59, 89, 143
...4.9, 57, 59
schwellen 28, 174, 181
schwert ... 21, 59
schwester 59, 61, 142
schwimmen 17, 39, 59,
181
salbuch tº a e º e a
salz 10, 30, 49, 59, 143
Salzen ... ... ... 185
SC.770.6 . . . 75
Samstag 6:5
sand 39
Sanft ... . 48
Sang 39, 146
Sánger... ... 102
satt ... 59
Sattel ... ... . 49
SCºº!, 27, 32,146
SC.7/67" . . . 32, 76
Saufen... 32, 180
80%ge??... ... 180
s&ule ... ... 59, 76
schaben 30, 48, 56, 57,
82, 184
schaf ... 50, 143
schaffen 48, 50, 57,
184, 188
schaft ... . ... ... 48
schalk'... ... 146
schall ... . 181
scharf... . 20
schörfen . 106
schauen 59, 77
schaufel 48, 50, 88
scheiden 31, 79
scheinen 31, 53, 84,
173, 179
schelten ... 181
scherem . 182
schieben 50, 180
schwingung ... 13
schwitzen ...49, 57, 83
schwören 96, 184
sechs ... 21, 121
Seele ... ... ... 81
segel ... 50
sehen ...17, 36, 45, 50,
54, 183, 206
sehr ... ... ... 81
se? ... ... ... 211
sein (his) ... ... 168
sein (to be)... 217,231,
239
Selb ... ... ... 160
Selbst ... ... ... 167
selten ... ... ... 23
Seltsam ... ... 23
semden ... ... ... 187
setzen 17, 26, 36, 83,174
Seufzen . ... 106
sich ... ... ... 167
sicht 50, 78
sie ... ... ... 166
Sieben ... 26, 40, 121
sieden ... ... 53, 180
sieg ... ... ... 117
Silber ... 21, 59
singen ... ... 181
singer ... ... ... 102
sinken ... 39, 82, 181
sitte ... ... 59
sitz ... ... ... 26
sitzen 26, 59, 83, 174,
183
so... ... ... ... 66
sohn 12, 20, 34, 39, 59,
77, 137, 146
solch 50, 161
soldat ... ... ... 141
sollen ... 225, 232,235
SO77????.e?" ... 146
Sonder... ... ... 40
sonne ... ... ... 142
Sonntag ... ... 117
sorge ... ... ... 93
sorgen ... ... ... 93
spähen... ... ... 53
spazierem ... ... 107
speer ... ... ... 48
Speien ...
spielen... ... ... 17
spindel ... ... 88
spinner. 17, 48, 181
spleiszen ... 179
sprechen 17, 182
springen 82, 181
stand ... ... 49
stand (pf.) ... ... 184
stark ... ... ... 50
stechen... ... ... 182
stecken... ... 179, 183
stehem ... 53, 184, 220
stehlen ... ... 182, 206
steif ... ... ... 48
390
|ENGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
steigen... 26, 82, 179
Stein ... ... 105
8terben... ... 181,206
Sterm 21
Sticken... ... ... 83
stinken... ... ... 181
Stoszem... ... ... 185
8treben... ... ... 179
streich... ... ... 50
streitem ... ... 179
Strom, ... 59, 75
stube ... ... ... 20
studźeren ... 107
stuhl 33, 146
8tute 33
suchen 33,187,189,207
sumpf... ... ... 59
Sünde ... ... 17, 142
silsz ... ...4.9, 57, 59
Tag ... 47, 50, 56, 72,
treffem ... ... ... 182
treiben... 45, 49, 179
treten ... 6, 182, 183
tretoir... ... ... 6
treu ... ... ... 37
triefen... ... ... 180
trimken 39, 40, 181
trittoir... ... 6
trugem ... ... ... 180
tugend... ... 142, 222
Uber ... ... ... 54
2/7)?, ... ... ... 40
wn- ... ...17, 40, 96
wnd ... ... ... 66
wniversität ... ... 142
wns ... ... 20, 164
2172S627° . . . ... 168
wnter ... 40, 49
2.7°- tº º is 96
urthed... ... ... 36
Water ... 25,48, 49, 51,
53, 54, 146
ver- ... 19, 65, 69, 99
verderben ... 174, 181,
206, 224
verfaulen ... ... 107
vergebens ... ... 99
vergehem 10, 99
vergeigen ... ... 99
vergessen 182, 183,206
verhehlen 83, 182
verkaufen ... ... 99
137, 143
talg ... ... ... 50
taub ... ... ... 32
taube ... .
taufen ... ... ... 29
taugen... ... ... 222
tausend 19,28,49, 123
teig ... ... , 56
Teutsch ... ... 29
thal ... ... ... 14
that 14, 26, 45, 47,78,
137, 142, 218
thau 17
theil ... ... ... 96
thier 49, 143
thiergarten... ... 49
thor 17, 28, 143
thrölne ... ... ... 22
thun 14,45,56,218,233
thur ... ... ... 28
thitrel ... ... ... 88
tief ... ... 29, 57
tiefe ... ... 74
tisch ... ... ... 50
toben ... ... ... 32
tochter 49, 56, 137, 146
tod ... ...82, 47, 48
todt ... ... 32, 78
tracht ... ... ... 20
tragen 17, 20, 50, 184,
205
trauen ... ... ... 37
traum ... ... ... 49
verlieren 19, 45, 61,
99, 180
verlust... 45, 61
wermögen ... 226
verrecken ... ... 99
versehren ... ... 31
verwirren ... ... 181
verzehren 41, 82, 182
vieh ...12, 34, 54
viel ... ... 12, 34
vier ... ... ... 121
vogel ...4.1, 48, 50, 146
volk ... ... ... 139
voll 17, 23, 42,77, 157
Q)07” . ... 23
vorder... 75. 97
vorhanden ... ... 146
Wachen , 36, 50, 184
wachs ... ... ... 50
wachsen ... ... 184
wdigen ... ... ... 206
wahren ... ... 106
wahrsagen ... ... 118
wald 41, 147
Wºlsch ... 23
wamme ... ... 48
wange ... ... ... 142
2007??? . . . "iz.30, 61
war (pf. 1 } <-- )
(pf.) iš3'2ſ;
wółre ... ... 194, 217
warm 21, 50, 56, 75,
106
wärmen ... 106, 107
warmen ... ... 106
was ... 50, 54, 161
waschen 17, 84, 184
was fur ... ... 161
wasser 5, 17, 37, 49
wasserstoff'... ... 6
weben ... ... 182
wechsel ... 104
wecken... ... ... 30
weder ... 79
weg ... 50, 96, 146
wegen (vb.) ... 206
weib ... ... ... 48
weichen ... 179
weigand ... ... 54
weigerm ... ... 54
weile ... ... ... 17
weim 17, 37
weise (adj.) ... 223
weise (manner) 111
weisz § 37, 50, 54
weisz (vb.) 31, 37, 53,
223
weizen ... ... ... 50
welch ... . ... 161
welt ... ...21, 27, 65
wenden ... 187,219
wenn ... ... ... 66
wer ... ... ... 161
werben ... ... ... 181
werden 45, 77, 181,
229,232,239
werfem 48, 57, 181
wergeld ... ... 21
werk ... ... ... 50
werth ... ... ... 21
werwolf 21, 27, 115,
117
wesen ... 61, 183,217
INDEX OF GERMAN WORDS.
391
wetter ... 17,49
ºwetzen ... 50, 54
wider ... 79
wiedehopf ... ... ài
79
worden ... ... 229
wort 20, 137,143,147
wund ... ... ... 78
wunde... ... ... 78
wilnschen ... ... 84
wurde ... ... ... 181
wilrde (subj.) 181, 194,
235
wieder... ... ...
wiegen... 14, 180, 206
wiese ... ... 88
wild ... ... 17, 49
will (wb.) 17,221, 228
wille ... ... 36, 141
willen ... ... ... 141
willkilºrlich... ... 180
wind ... ...17, 26, 37
winden 17, 181, 219
winter... ... ... 146
wir ... ... 63, 164
... ... 83
wirken... *
wirr ... ... ... 181
wissen ... 45, 82,223
wittib ... ... ... 37
wittwe... 27, 37, 142
witz ... ... ... 223
200 ... ... ... 168
wolf ... 34, * 48,
}
wölfin ... ... ... 54
wollen ... 221, 228, 229,
232
wurf ... 95,146
QU247°772, . . . ... 147
2ahl 23, 49
2&hlem ... 23, 49
zahm ... 12,49
zähmen ... ... 49
zahn 79, 144, 146
2dhre ... 30, 76, 146
zange ... ... ... 39
zart ... ... ... 20
2awn ... ... ... 18
zehe ... ... ... 50
zehn 40, 47, 54, 57, 121
zehren ... ... ... 41
zeichen... ... ... 77
zeigen ... ... ... 77
zeit ... ... ... 49
2er- ... ... ... 100
zerren ... ... ... 82
ze” ? . . . e tº tº gº tº e 29
ziegel ... ... ... 50
ziehen ...29, 53, 55,82,
180, 206
zimmer ...47, 57, 76
zimmermann ... 47
zinn tº º ſº tº gº tº tº e e 49
zistag ... ... 17
zog (pf) 32, 55, 180
zögern ... ... ... 106
zorn ... ... ... 182
zu (to)... 66, 100,229
zu (too) ... ... 66
zucht ... ... ... 55
2249 . ... 55
2unge ...13,39,37,50,
57, 74,137, 140, 142
224.7" tº º ... 66
2uanzig .. 13i, 122
2war ... ... ... 65
37, 49, 121
zwe?
zweifel... 121
2weig ... ... ... 50
zweite ... ... 124
2wiefach ... 121
zwirm ... ... ... 124
2wirmen ... 121, 124
zwist . ... 124
2200 . . . ... º 121
2wölf ... ... 121
INDEX OF TERMINATIONS.
N.B.—This index does not include the declensional endings
of the demonstratives (articles, adjectives, pronouns and pos-
sessives), which will be found in their proper place, namely,
128–133, 155–157, 160–162 and 164–168.
The references are to the sections (I-240).
-ability ... ... 69
-able ... ... ... 69
-age ... ... ... 50
-an ... ... ... 105
-ance ... ... ... 69
-a,I" ... ... ... 102
-ation ... ... ... 69
-bury ... ... ... 65
-ce (adverbs) 111, 124
–ce (plural) ... 145
-d (participles) 19, 54,
90, 186–189,229
-d (adjectives) ... 90
-d (weak pf.) 186–189
—d (abstract nouns)78
-dom 67, 75, 109
-e (or no ending at all
=infinitive) 19, 77,
89, 107, 229
-e º no ending at
all= past part.) 19,
179–185, 187
-ed (past part.) 19, 54,
90, 186–189,229
-ed (adjectives)... 90
-ed (weak pf.)186–189
I —ENGLISH.
-en (past part.) 19, 77,
89, 179–185,229
-en (adjectives de-
noting material)89,
10
O
-en (verbs in) 93, 106
-en (plural) 19, 140
-er (nouns denot-
ing agent) ... 102
-er (nouns denot-
ing instrument) 90
-er (nouns denot-
ing origin) ... 102
-er (nouns denot-
ing males) ... 102
-er (comparatives
61, 80, 90
-er (verbs in) ... 106
-es (plural) 19, 189
... 202
-es (sg. 3) ...
-ese ... ... ... 69
-ess ... ... 5, 69, 87
-est (superlatives) §
-est (sg. 2) 202, 209,
210
-eth (ordinals)... 124
-eth (sg. 3) ... 202
-fast ... ... ... 110
-fold ... 110, 124
—ful ... ... ... 110
-ham. ... ... ... 65
-head ... ... ... 109
-hood ... 67, 108, 109
-ian ... ... 105
-ing (nouns de:
noting action) 91,
103
-ing (diminutives) 91,
103
-ing (in the first
term of a Com-
pound) ... ... 117
-ing (present part.)
03, 229
-ing (gerund) 103,229
-ior ... ... ... 102
-ish ... 67, 91, 105
... ... ... 67
-ist ... ... ... 69
-kin ... ... ... 108
-1 (verbs in) ... 106
-le (nouns denot-
ing instrum.) , 88
-le (verbs in) ... 106
392
INDEX OF TERMINATIONS.
393
-ledge ... ... 50, 109
-less ... 110
-ling (derivatives
in) ... ... ...
-ling (adverbs)... 111
-long ... ... ... 111
-ly (adjectives) 17, 50,
67, 110
-ly (adverbs) 110, 111,
124
-ment ... ... ... 69
-n (past part.)77,
89, 179–185,229
-n (adjectives de-
noting material)
89, 105
-n (verbs in) ... 106
-IleSS . . . 68, 104
-OI’ ... ... ... 102
-ous ... ... ... 69
-at ... ... ... 90
-bar ... 104, 110, 117
-chen 6, 23, 103, 146
-der ... ... ... 79
-e (abstract nouns) 23,
, 142
-e (plural) 23, 143,
144
)
-e (dat. Sg.) ... 152
-e (pres, subj.) ... 192
-e (pf. subj.) 23, 193
-e? ... ... ... 69
-el (nouns denot-
ing instrum.) 88
-el (diminutives) 23,
88, 103
-eln (verbs in) ... 106
-en (nouns in) 39, 14i,
146
-en (infinitive) 19, 23,
77, 89, 107, 229
-en (past part.) 19, 77,
89, 179–185,229
-en (adjectives de-
-r (nouns denot-
ing agent) ... 102
-r (nouns denot-
ing instrum.) 90
—r (comparatives §
-ric ... ... ... 109
-ry ... ... ... 69
-s (adverbs) ... 111
-s (plural) 19, 63, 139
-s (genitive) 19, 20,
63, 111, 150, 151
-s (sg. 3) ... ... 202
-se (verbs in) 93, 106
-sh (adjectives) 67.91
-ship ... ... 67, 109
-Som ... ... ... 110
–SOIſle . . . ... 110
-St. (superlatives) 80,
-st (sg. 2) 202, 209,
210
II.-GERMAN.
noting materi-
al) ... 23, 89, 105
-en (plural) 19, 87,
140–142
-en (acc. Sg.) 87, 149
-en (gen. Sg.) 87, 150
-en (dat. sg.) 87 152
-end (pres. part.) 90,
229
-end (abstract
nouns) ... ... 90
-ems ... ... ... 124
-er (nouns denot-
ing agent) 102, 146
-er (nouns denot-
ing instrum.) 90
-er (nouns denot-
ing origin) ... 102
-er (nouns denot-
ing males) ... 102
-er (comparatives) 23,
61, 80, 90
-er (plural) 23, 80,
138, 147
-ern (adjectives
denoting mate-
rial) 89, 105
-t (past part.) 19, 78,
90, 186–189
-t (weak pf.) 186–189
-t (abstract nouns)
, 90
—t (sg. 2) 202, 217, 222–
(sg. 2) 202, 'T227
-teen ... ... 121
—ter (nouns in)... 79
-th (abstract nºo
}
-th (ordinals) ... 124
-th (sg. 3) ... ... 202
-ther ... ... ... 79
—ty ... 50, 54, 122
-ward ... 111
-wards ... 111
-wise ... 111
-y (adjectives) 17, 50,
91, 10
-y (nouns) ... ... 69
-yer ... ... ... 102
-erm (verbs in) ... 106
–es (gen. Sg.) 19, 20,
63, 150
-est (superlatives) 23,
80, 90
-est (sg. 2) 202, º
-et (past part.) 19, 90,
186-189,229
-et (sg. 3) ... ... 202
-et (pl. 2) ... ... 203
-ete (weak pf.) 186–189
ºfach ... ... ... 124
-falt ... 110, 124
filtig ... ... 124
-haft ... ... 110
-halb ... ... 124
-halben ... ... 124
-heit 67, 68, 108, 109,
36, 142
-icht ... 23, 105
-ieren ... 6, 107, 229
-ig 17, 22, 23, 50, 91,
105, 168
394
LNGLISH AND GERMAN GRAMMAR.
-igen ... ... 107, 109
-igkeit... ... ... 109
—ºn ... 23, 87, 142
-ing ... ... 91, 103
-inn ... ... ... 87
-iren ... 6, 107, 229
-isch 22, 23, 67, 91, 105
-ismus... ... ... 67
-ist ... ... ... 69
-keit 68, 109, 136, 142
-le? ... ... ... 124
-lein 6, 23, 103, 146
-lich 17, 22, 23: 50, 67,
110, 111
-ling . 23, 103
-lings ... ... 111
-los ... ... ... 110
-mal ... ... ... 124
-n (infinitive) 77, 89,
229
-n (past part.) 77, 89,
iº9'185,223
-n (adjectives de-
noting material)89,
105
-n (plural) 19, 87, 140–
( ' ' ' 142
-n (acc. sg.) 87, 149
-n (gen. sg.) 87, 150
-n (dat. sg.) 87, 152
-n (dat. pl.) 39, 152
–72 § 1) ... ... 217
-n (pl. 1) 208,209, 210,
211
-n (pl. 3) 203,209,210,
211
—nd ... ... 90, 229
-nen (verbs in) ... 106
-ner (nouns de-
noting agent) 102
-nisz 68, 104,136, 143,
146
-re? ... ... . ... 69
-rich ... ... 102
-rn (adjectives de-
noting material)89,
105
-8 (gen. Sg.) 19, 63,
(g ) 19: §
-s (adverbs) 111, 124
-sal 104, 136, 143, 146
-SO/772, ... 104, 110
-sch ... ... 67, 91
-schaft ... 109, 142
-8el ... ... ... 104
-st(abstract nouns)70
-st (superlatives), 23,
}
ERRATUM.
P. 236, l. 16, read Saaconés.
–st (ordinals) ... 124
-st (sg. 2) 23, 202, 209,
210, 211
... 122
-t (past part.) 19, 54,
78,90, 186–189,229
-t (adjectives) ... 90
-t (abstract nouns) 78,
136
-t (ordinals) , ... 124
-t (sg. 2) 209, 222–227
—t (sg. 3) ... 23, 202
-t (pl. 2) 203, 209, 210,
211
-Szig tº º e º º º
, 213
-te (weak pf.) 186–189
-te (ordinals) ... 124
-tel (partitives)... 124
-ter (nouns in) ... 79
-thwm, -tum 67, 75,
109, 147
-ung ... 91, 103, 142
-ut . ... ... 90
-wdrts ... ... 111
-weise ... ... 111
-zehn ... ... 121
-zeln ... ... ... 106
-zen ... ... 93, 106
-zig ... 50, 54, 122
Butler & Tanner, The Selwood Printing Works, Frome, and London.
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