Editing Old Norse (section)

=== Umlaut ===
{{See also|Germanic umlaut|Old Norse morphology#Before Old Norse|l2=Old Norse morphophonology}}

Umlaut or mutation is an [[assimilation (linguistics)|assimilatory]] process acting on vowels preceding a vowel or semivowel of a different [[vowel backness]]. In the case of ''i-umlaut'' and ''ʀ-umlaut'', this entails a fronting of back vowels, with retention of lip rounding. In the case of ''u-umlaut'', this entails [[labialization]] of unrounded vowels. Umlaut is phonemic and in many situations grammatically significant as a side effect of losing the [[Proto-Germanic language#Morphology|Proto-Germanic morphological suffixes]] whose vowels created the umlaut [[allophones]].

Some {{IPA|/y/}}, {{IPA|/yː/}}, {{IPA|/ø/}}, {{IPA|/øː/}}, {{IPA|/ɛ/}}, {{IPA|/ɛː/}}, {{IPA|/øy/}},<ref name="FromOldNordic" /> and all {{IPA|/ɛi/}} were obtained by [[i-mutation|i-umlaut]] from {{IPA|/u/}}, {{IPA|/uː/}}, {{IPA|/o/}}, {{IPA|/oː/}}, {{IPA|/a/}}, {{IPA|/aː/}}, {{IPA|/au/}}, and {{IPA|/ai/}} respectively. Others were formed via ʀ-umlaut from {{IPA|/u/}}, {{IPA|/uː/}}, {{IPA|/a/}}, {{IPA|/aː/}}, and {{IPA|/au/}}.<ref name="JohnsonEcyc" />

Some {{IPA|/y/}}, {{IPA|/yː/}}, {{IPA|/ø/}}, {{IPA|/øː/}}, and all {{IPA|/ɔ/}}, {{IPA|/ɔː/}} were obtained by u-umlaut from {{IPA|/i/}}, {{IPA|/iː/}}, {{IPA|/e/}}, {{IPA|/eː/}}, and {{IPA|/a/}}, {{IPA|/aː/}} respectively. See [[#Old Icelandic|Old Icelandic]] for information on {{IPA|/ɔː/}}.

{{IPA|/œ/}} was obtained through a simultaneous u- and i-umlaut of {{IPA|/a/}}. It appears in words like ''[[wikt:gera|gøra]]'' (''{{lang|non|gjǫra}}'', ''{{lang|non|geyra}}''), from Proto-Germanic [[wikt:Appendix:Proto-Germanic/garwijanan|*garwijaną]], and commonly in verbs with a velar consonant before the suffix like ''[[wikt:søkkva|søkkva]]'' < ''[[wikt:Appendix:Proto-Germanic/sankwijanan|*sankwijaną]]''.<ref name="CleasbyOE" group="cv">{{harvnb|Cleasby|Vigfússon|1874|loc = pp.&nbsp;761–762 (Introduction to Letter Ö (Ø))}}</ref>

OEN often preserves the original value of the vowel directly preceding runic {{lang|non|ʀ}} while OWN receives ʀ-umlaut. Compare runic OEN ''{{lang|non|glaʀ, haʀi, hrauʀ}}'' with OWN ''{{lang|non|gler, heri}}'' (later ''{{lang|non|héri}}''), ''{{lang|non|hrøyrr/hreyrr}}'' ("glass", "hare", "pile of rocks").

==== U-umlaut ====
U-umlaut is more common in Old West Norse in both phonemic and allophonic positions, while it only occurs sparsely in post-runic Old East Norse and even in runic Old East Norse.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center"
|+ Comparison demonstrating U-Umlaut in Swedish<ref>{{citation | last1 = Benediktsson | first1 = H. | title = Some Aspects of Nordic Umlaut and Breaking | journal = Language | volume = 39 | issue = 3 | pages = 409–431 | doi = 10.2307/411124 | year = 1963 | jstor = 411124 }}</ref><ref name=Iversen>{{harvnb|Iversen|1961|pp=24-}}</ref>
|-
! scope="col" rowspan=2 | Meaning
!! scope="col" rowspan=2 | West Old Norse
!! scope="col" rowspan=2 | [[Old Swedish]]{{ref label|id0|1}}
!! scope="col" colspan=2 | Modern Swedish
!! scope="col" colspan=2 | Icelandic
|-
! scope="col | Transcription !! scope="col" | IPA
! scope="col | Transcription !! scope="col" | IPA
|-
| Guardian / Caretaker || {{wikt-lang|non|v'''ǫ'''rðr}} || {{lang|mis|v'''a'''rþer}} || {{wikt-lang|sv|v'''å'''rd}} || {{IPA|sv|voːɖ|}} || {{wikt-lang|is|v'''ö'''rður}} || {{IPA|is|ˈvœrðʏr|}}
|-
| Eagle || {{wikt-lang|non|'''ǫ'''rn}} || {{lang|mis|'''ø'''rn}} || {{wikt-lang|sv|'''ö'''rn}} ||{{IPA|sv|œːɳ|}} || {{wikt-lang|is|'''ö'''rn}} || {{IPA|is|œrtn|}}
|-
| Earth || {{wikt-lang|non|j'''ǫ'''rð}} || {{lang|mis|[[wikt:iorþ#Old Swedish|i'''o'''rþ]]}} || {{wikt-lang|sv|j'''o'''rd}} {{ref label|id1|2}} || {{IPA|sv|juːɖ|}} || {{wikt-lang|is|j'''ö'''rð}} || {{IPA|is|jœrð|}}
|-
| Milk || {{wikt-lang|non|mj'''ǫ'''lk}} || {{lang|mis|[[wikt:miolk#Old Swedish|mi'''o'''lk]]}} || {{wikt-lang|sv|mj'''ö'''lk}} {{ref label|id1|2}} || {{IPA|sv|mjœlk|}} || {{wikt-lang|is|mj'''ó'''lk}} || {{IPA|is|mjoul̥k|}}
|}

: {{note label|id0||none}} [[Old Swedish#Orthography|Old Swedish orthography]] uses {{angbr|[[þ]]}} to represent both {{IPAslink|ð}} and {{IPAslink|θ}}. The change from Norse {{angbr|[[ð]]}} to Old Swedish {{angbr|þ}} represents only a change in orthography rather than a change in sound. Similarly {{angbr|i}} is used in place of {{angbr|j}}. And thus changes from Norse {{angbr|j}} to Old Swedish {{angbr|i}} to Swedish {{angbr|j}} should be viewed as a change in orthography.
: {{note label|id1||none}} Represents the u-umlaut found in Swedish.

This is still a major difference between Swedish and Faroese and Icelandic today. Plurals of neuters do not have u-umlaut at all in Swedish, but in Faroese and Icelandic they do, for example the Faroese and Icelandic plurals of the word {{wikt-lang|is|land}}, {{wikt-lang|fo|lond}} and {{wikt-lang|is|lönd}} respectively, in contrast to the Swedish plural {{wikt-lang|sv|land}} and numerous other examples. That also applies to almost all feminine nouns, for example the largest feminine noun group, the [[o-stem]] nouns (except the Swedish noun {{lang|sv|jord}} mentioned above), and even [[Thematic stem|i-stem]] nouns and [[Proto-Indo-European root#Word formation|root nouns]], such as Old West Norse {{lang|non|mǫrk}} (''[http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/IcelOnline/IcelOnline.TEId-idx?type=entry&eid=MO3RK-1&q1=mörk mörk]'' in Icelandic) in comparison with Modern and Old Swedish {{lang|mis|[[wikt:mark#Swedish|mark]]}}.<ref name=Iversen />