A-mutation
Encyclopedia
A-mutation is a metaphonic
process supposed to have taken place in late Proto-Germanic (circa 200 AD).
. It has also been called "a-umlaut", "a/o-umlaut", "velar umlaut" and, formerly, "Brechung". (This last was Grimm's term, but nowadays German Brechung, and its English equivalents breaking and fracture, are generally restricted in use to other unrelated sound-changes which later affected individual Germanic languages)
The high vowel was not lowered, however, if */j/ intervened between it and the following non-high vowel. An intervening nasal consonant
followed by a consonant of any kind also blocked the process (and raised original */e/ to */i/).
a-mutation seems to have preceded the raising of unstressed final */o:/ to */u:/ in the dialects ancestral to Old English and Old Norse, hence in Old English the phenomenon is subject to many exceptions and apparent inconsistencies which are usually attributed to a mixture of paradigmatic levelling and phonetic context.
, less so in other West Germanic languages
and Old Norse. a-mutation is less extensive in Old East Norse (the precursor of Danish
and Swedish
) than Old West Norse (spoken in Norway
and its colonies). There is no trace of it at all in Gothic
, where Proto-Germanic */e/ and */i/ had fallen together, as had */o/ and */u/. Old Gutnish
, at the eastern end of the territory where Old Norse evolved, resembles Gothic in this respect. But there is some suggestion that a-mutation may have been preserved in Crimean Gothic
.
Variation is found within dialects too with doublets
such as Old English spora : spura "spur", spornan : spurnan "to spurn", cnocian : cnucian "to knock"; Old Icelandic fogl : fugl "bird", goð : guð "god", goll : gull "gold".
, all instances of */o/ in the language arose from a-mutation of */u/, since Proto-Indo-European */o/ had already become Proto-Germanic */a/. a-mutation of /u/ is much more common than that of /i/ but also subject to many exceptions. In some dialects, the change may be blocked in labial
contexts. Specifically, a tendency has been observed for the mutation not to occur next to initial or medial */f/ or */w/ in association with */l/. Other exceptions, in particular where there is disagreement between dialects, may be due to the word having once been a u-stem.
The effects of a-mutation are perhaps most noticeable in certain verb types, e.g. strong verbs
of classes 2, 3 and 4) where o in the past participle alternates with u in the preterite
plural. For example, Old English flogen "flown" ← *fluǥanaz alternated with flugon "they flew" ← *fluǥún. Otherwise, where */u/ and */o/ would originally have alternated morphologically
, the old Germanic languages had almost always generalised one vowel or the other throughout the paradigm, although there does occur in Old Swedish (especially in the laws of Östergötland
) traces of regular alternation between /o/ and /u/ in line with a-mutation, e.g. kona (subj.
) : kunu (obj.
) "woman". As can be seen from the examples above, a-mutation is also found in lexical
alternations.
breost "breast" vs. treuwa "fidelity". In Old Norse, */eu/ → /ju:/, without regard to a-mutation, e.g. Old Icelandic djúpr. In Old West Norse, the second element of the diphthong was lowered before a dental or alveolar consonant
or /m/, transforming the diphthong to /jo:/, e.g. Old Icelandic bjóða "to offer". In Old East Norse, /ju:/ was simplified to /y:/ after post-consonantal /r/ as early as the 10th century (and later after initial /r/ and post-consonantal /l/), e.g. brýtæ vs. Old Icelandic brjóta.
a-mutation was also sometimes blocked before single */n/, again with much variation among languages.
But single */n/ shows no tendency to raise a preceding */e/ to */i/ in any of the old Germanic languages.
Metaphony
In historical linguistics, metaphony is a general term for a class of sound change in which one vowel in a word is influenced by another in a process of assimilation....
process supposed to have taken place in late Proto-Germanic (circa 200 AD).
General description
In a-mutation, a short high vowel (*/u/ or */i/) was lowered when the following syllable contained a non-high vowel (*/a/, /o:/ or /æ:/). Thus, since the change was produced by other vowels besides */a/, the term a-mutation is something of a misnomerMisnomer
A misnomer is a term which suggests an interpretation that is known to be untrue. Such incorrect terms sometimes derive their names because of the form, action, or origin of the subject becoming named popularly or widely referenced—long before their true natures were known.- Sources of misnomers...
. It has also been called "a-umlaut", "a/o-umlaut", "velar umlaut" and, formerly, "Brechung". (This last was Grimm's term, but nowadays German Brechung, and its English equivalents breaking and fracture, are generally restricted in use to other unrelated sound-changes which later affected individual Germanic languages)
- *hurnam → Old EnglishOld English languageOld English or Anglo-Saxon is an early form of the English language that was spoken and written by the Anglo-Saxons and their descendants in parts of what are now England and southeastern Scotland between at least the mid-5th century and the mid-12th century...
horn "horn" - *wiraz → Old English wer "man"
The high vowel was not lowered, however, if */j/ intervened between it and the following non-high vowel. An intervening nasal consonant
Nasal consonant
A nasal consonant is a type of consonant produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. Examples of nasal consonants in English are and , in words such as nose and mouth.- Definition :...
followed by a consonant of any kind also blocked the process (and raised original */e/ to */i/).
- *gulþam → Old English gold "gold"
- *gulþ(i)janan → Old English gyldan "to gild" (with later i-mutationI-mutationI-mutation is an important type of sound change, more precisely a category of regressive metaphony, in which a back vowel is fronted, and/or a front vowel is raised, if the following syllable contains /i/, /ī/ or /j/ I-mutation (also known as umlaut, front mutation, i-umlaut, i/j-mutation or...
of u to y).
- *hundaz → Old English hund "dog"
- *swemmanan → Old English swimman "to swim"
a-mutation seems to have preceded the raising of unstressed final */o:/ to */u:/ in the dialects ancestral to Old English and Old Norse, hence in Old English the phenomenon is subject to many exceptions and apparent inconsistencies which are usually attributed to a mixture of paradigmatic levelling and phonetic context.
Dialectal variation
a-mutation is more evident in some Germanic languages than others. It is widely found in Old High GermanOld High German
The term Old High German refers to the earliest stage of the German language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of...
, less so in other West Germanic languages
West Germanic languages
The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three traditional branches of the Germanic family of languages and include languages such as German, English, Dutch, Afrikaans, the Frisian languages, and Yiddish...
and Old Norse. a-mutation is less extensive in Old East Norse (the precursor of Danish
Danish language
Danish is a North Germanic language spoken by around six million people, principally in the country of Denmark. It is also spoken by 50,000 Germans of Danish ethnicity in the northern parts of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany, where it holds the status of minority language...
and Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
) than Old West Norse (spoken in Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
and its colonies). There is no trace of it at all in Gothic
Gothic language
Gothic is an extinct Germanic language that was spoken by the Goths. It is known primarily from the Codex Argenteus, a 6th-century copy of a 4th-century Bible translation, and is the only East Germanic language with a sizable Text corpus...
, where Proto-Germanic */e/ and */i/ had fallen together, as had */o/ and */u/. Old Gutnish
Old Gutnish
Old Gutnish was the dialect of Old Norse that was spoken on the Baltic island of Gotland. It shows sufficient differences from the Old East Norse dialect that it is considered to be a separate branch...
, at the eastern end of the territory where Old Norse evolved, resembles Gothic in this respect. But there is some suggestion that a-mutation may have been preserved in Crimean Gothic
Crimean Gothic
Crimean Gothic was a Gothic dialect spoken by the Crimean Goths in some isolated locations in Crimea until the late 18th century....
.
- Old English fugol, fugel : Old High German fogal "bird"
- Old Gutnish hult "copse, wood" : Old English, Old Icelandic holt
Variation is found within dialects too with doublets
Doublet (linguistics)
In etymology, two or more words in the same language are called doublets or etymological twins when they have different phonological forms but the same etymological root. Often, but not always, the variants have entered the language through different routes...
such as Old English spora : spura "spur", spornan : spurnan "to spurn", cnocian : cnucian "to knock"; Old Icelandic fogl : fugl "bird", goð : guð "god", goll : gull "gold".
i → e
According to Campbell a-mutation of i is limited in Old English to just three words, namely, nest "nest", spec "bacon", and wer "man". More plentiful instances of */i/ → */e/ have been cited in other West Germanic languages, with Old High German showing the greatest number of examples, including doublets such as skif : skef "ship". The mutation is rare in Old Norse, e.g. verr "man", heðan "hence", neðan "from below" in contrast to niðr "down(wards)" and perhaps jafn "even". Instances where a-mutation has failed to occur in Old Norse can mostly be explained as analogical forms, although a palatal stop /g/ or /k/ immediately preceding the /i/ in a short root syllable has a tendency to block or reverse the process.u → o
While Proto-Germanic inherited both of the phonemes */i/ and */e/ from Proto-Indo-EuropeanProto-Indo-European language
The Proto-Indo-European language is the reconstructed common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, spoken by the Proto-Indo-Europeans...
, all instances of */o/ in the language arose from a-mutation of */u/, since Proto-Indo-European */o/ had already become Proto-Germanic */a/. a-mutation of /u/ is much more common than that of /i/ but also subject to many exceptions. In some dialects, the change may be blocked in labial
Labial consonant
Labial consonants are consonants in which one or both lips are the active articulator. This precludes linguolabials, in which the tip of the tongue reaches for the posterior side of the upper lip and which are considered coronals...
contexts. Specifically, a tendency has been observed for the mutation not to occur next to initial or medial */f/ or */w/ in association with */l/. Other exceptions, in particular where there is disagreement between dialects, may be due to the word having once been a u-stem.
The effects of a-mutation are perhaps most noticeable in certain verb types, e.g. strong verbs
Germanic strong verb
In the Germanic languages, a strong verb is one which marks its past tense by means of ablaut. In English, these are verbs like sing, sang, sung...
of classes 2, 3 and 4) where o in the past participle alternates with u in the preterite
Preterite
The preterite is the grammatical tense expressing actions that took place or were completed in the past...
plural. For example, Old English flogen "flown" ← *fluǥanaz alternated with flugon "they flew" ← *fluǥún. Otherwise, where */u/ and */o/ would originally have alternated morphologically
Morphology (linguistics)
In linguistics, morphology is the identification, analysis and description, in a language, of the structure of morphemes and other linguistic units, such as words, affixes, parts of speech, intonation/stress, or implied context...
, the old Germanic languages had almost always generalised one vowel or the other throughout the paradigm, although there does occur in Old Swedish (especially in the laws of Östergötland
Östergötland
Östergötland, English exonym: East Gothland, is one of the traditional provinces of Sweden in the south of Sweden. It borders Småland, Västergötland, Närke, Södermanland, and the Baltic Sea. In older English literature, one might also encounter the Latinized version, Ostrogothia...
) traces of regular alternation between /o/ and /u/ in line with a-mutation, e.g. kona (subj.
Nominative case
The nominative case is one of the grammatical cases of a noun or other part of speech, which generally marks the subject of a verb or the predicate noun or predicate adjective, as opposed to its object or other verb arguments...
) : kunu (obj.
Oblique case
An oblique case in linguistics is a noun case of synthetic languages that is used generally when a noun is the object of a verb or a preposition...
) "woman". As can be seen from the examples above, a-mutation is also found in lexical
Lexical (semiotics)
In the lexicon of a language, lexical words or nouns refer to things. These words fall into three main classes:*proper nouns refer exclusively to the place, object or person named, i.e...
alternations.
The diphthong */eu/
In the West Germanic variety that gave rise to Old English, a-mutation did not affect the second element of the diphthong */eu/ (for which the earliest Old English texts have eu): treulesnis "faithlessness", steup- "step-" (Epinal Glossary 726, 1070); but in other branches of West Germanic */eu/ became */eo/ unless followed by */i/ or */w/, e.g. Old SaxonOld Saxon
Old Saxon, also known as Old Low German, is the earliest recorded form of Low German, documented from the 8th century until the 12th century, when it evolved into Middle Low German. It was spoken on the north-west coast of Germany and in the Netherlands by Saxon peoples...
breost "breast" vs. treuwa "fidelity". In Old Norse, */eu/ → /ju:/, without regard to a-mutation, e.g. Old Icelandic djúpr. In Old West Norse, the second element of the diphthong was lowered before a dental or alveolar consonant
Alveolar consonant
Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth...
or /m/, transforming the diphthong to /jo:/, e.g. Old Icelandic bjóða "to offer". In Old East Norse, /ju:/ was simplified to /y:/ after post-consonantal /r/ as early as the 10th century (and later after initial /r/ and post-consonantal /l/), e.g. brýtæ vs. Old Icelandic brjóta.
Effects of a single nasal consonant
Old English derives from a type of Germanic in which single */m/ had the same effect on preceding */u/ and */e/ as a nasal consonant followed by another consonant. The effect occurs in other West Germanic languages, though more erratically, and sometimes in Old Norse.- Old Norse nema, Old High German neman : Old FrisianOld FrisianOld Frisian is a West Germanic language spoken between the 8th and 16th centuries in the area between the Rhine and Weser on the European North Sea coast. The Frisian settlers on the coast of South Jutland also spoke Old Frisian but no medieval texts of this area are known...
nima, nema, Old Saxon niman, neman : Old English niman "to take" - Old High German gi-noman, Old Frisian nomen : Old Norse numinn, Old English numen, Old Saxon numan "taken" (past participleParticipleIn linguistics, a participle is a word that shares some characteristics of both verbs and adjectives. It can be used in compound verb tenses or voices , or as a modifier...
) - Old High German gomo "man", Old Frisian gomo : Old Norse gumi, Old English guma, Old Saxon gumo
a-mutation was also sometimes blocked before single */n/, again with much variation among languages.
- Old Saxon honig, -eg, Old High German hona(n)g : Old English hunig (for older -æg), Old Frisian hunig, Old Norse hunang :
But single */n/ shows no tendency to raise a preceding */e/ to */i/ in any of the old Germanic languages.