Editing Germanic umlaut (section)

===Present stem Umlaut in weak verbs ({{lang|de|Rückumlaut}})<span class="anchor" id="Rückumlaut"></span> ===

The German word {{lang|de|Rückumlaut}} ("reverse umlaut"), sometimes known in English as "unmutation",{{sfnp |Curme |1952 |pp=315–316}} is a term given to the vowel distinction between present and preterite forms of certain [[Germanic weak verb]]s. These verbs exhibit the dental suffix used to form the preterite of weak verbs, and also exhibit what appears to be the vowel gradation characteristic of strong verbs. Examples in English are think/thought, bring/brought, tell/told, sell/sold. The phenomenon can also be observed in some German verbs including {{lang|de|brennen/brannte}} ("burn/burnt"), {{lang|de|kennen/kannte}} ("know/knew"), and a handful of others. In some dialects, particularly of western Germany, the phenomenon is preserved in many more forms (for example [[Luxembourgish language|Luxembourgish]] {{lang|lb|stellen/gestallt}}, "to put", and [[Limburgish language|Limburgish]] {{lang|li|tèlle/talj/getaldj}}, "to tell, count"). The cause lies with the insertion of the semivowel {{IPA|/j/}} between the verb stem and inflectional ending.{{sfnp |Paul |1966 |pp=159–160}} This {{IPA|/j/}} triggers umlaut, as explained [[Germanic umlaut#Description|above]]. In short-stem verbs, the {{IPA|/j/}} is present in both the present and preterite. In long-stem verbs however, the {{IPA|/j/}} fell out of the preterite.{{sfnp |Paul |1966 |pp=159–160}} Thus, while short-stem verbs exhibit umlaut in all tenses, long-stem verbs only do so in the present. When the German philologist Jacob Grimm first attempted to explain the phenomenon, he assumed that the lack of umlaut in the preterite resulted from the reversal of umlaut.{{sfnp |Paul |1966 |pp=159–160}} In actuality, umlaut never occurred in the first place. Nevertheless, the term "Rückumlaut" makes some sense since the verb exhibits a shift from an umlauted vowel in the basic form (the infinitive) to a plain vowel in the respective inflections.