Editing Germanic languages (section)

==Linguistic developments==

The subgroupings of the Germanic languages are defined by shared innovations. It is important to distinguish innovations from cases of linguistic conservatism. That is, if two languages in a family share a characteristic that is not observed in a third language, that is evidence of common ancestry of the two languages ''only if'' the characteristic is an innovation compared to the family's [[proto-language]].

The following innovations are common to the [[Northwest Germanic]] languages (all but [[Gothic language|Gothic]]):
* The lowering of /u/ to /o/ in initial syllables before /a/ in the following syllable: {{lang|gem-x-proto|*budą}} → ''bode'', Icelandic {{lang|is|boðs}} "messages" ("a-Umlaut", traditionally called ''Brechung'')
* "Labial umlaut" in unstressed medial syllables (the conversion of /a/ to /u/ and /ō/ to /ū/ before /m/, or /u/ in the following syllable){{sfnp|Campbell|1983|p=139}}
* The conversion of /ē<sub>1</sub>/ into /ā/ (vs. Gothic /ē/) in stressed syllables.<ref>But see {{Harvcoltxt|Cercignani|1972}}</ref> In unstressed syllables, West Germanic also has this change, but North Germanic has shortened the vowel to /e/, then raised it to /i/. This suggests it was an areal change.
* The raising of final /ō/ to /u/ (Gothic lowers it to /a/). It is kept distinct from the nasal /ǭ/, which is not raised.
* The [[monophthongization]] of /ai/ and /au/ to /ē/ and /ō/ in non-initial syllables (however, evidence for the development of /au/ in medial syllables is lacking).
* The development of an intensified demonstrative ending in /s/ (reflected in English "this" compared to "the")
* Introduction of a distinct ablaut grade in Class VII [[Germanic strong verb|strong verbs]], while Gothic uses [[reduplication]] (e.g. Gothic ''haihait''; ON, OE ''hēt'', preterite of the Gmc verb ''*haitan'' "to be called")<ref>See also {{Harvcoltxt|Cercignani|1979}}</ref> as part of a comprehensive reformation of the Gmc Class VII from a reduplicating to a new ablaut pattern, which presumably started in verbs beginning with vowel or /h/{{sfnp|Bethge|1900|p=361}} (a development which continues the general trend of de-reduplication in Gmc{{sfnp|Schumacher|2005|p=603f}}); there are forms (such as OE dial. ''heht'' instead of ''hēt'') which retain traces of reduplication even in West and North Germanic

The following innovations are also common to the [[Northwest Germanic]] languages but represent [[areal feature|areal changes]]:
* Proto-Germanic /z/ > /r/ (e.g. Gothic ''dius''; ON ''dȳr'', OHG ''tior'', OE ''dēor'', "wild animal"); note that this is not present in [[Proto-Norse]] and must be ordered after [[West Germanic languages|West Germanic]] loss of final /z/
* [[Germanic umlaut]]

The following innovations are common to the [[West Germanic languages]]:
* Loss of final /z/. In single-syllable words, Old High German retains it (as /r/), while it disappears in the other West Germanic languages.
* Change of [ð] (fricative allophone of /d/) to stop [d] in all environments.
* Change of /lþ/ to stop /ld/ (except word-finally).{{sfnp|Campbell|1983|p=169}}
* [[West Germanic gemination]] of consonants, except ''r'', before /j/. This only occurred in short-stemmed words due to [[Sievers' law]]. Gemination of /p/, /t/, /k/ and /h/ is also observed before liquids.
* Labiovelar consonants become plain velar when non-initial.
* A particular type of ''umlaut'' /e-u-i/ > /i-u-i/.
* Changes to the 2nd person singular past-tense: Replacement of the past-singular stem vowel with the past-plural stem vowel, and substitution of the ending ''-t'' with ''-ī''.
* Short forms (''*stān, stēn'', ''*gān, gēn'') of the verbs for "stand" and "go"; but note that [[Crimean Gothic]] also has ''gēn''.
* The development of a [[gerund]].

The following innovations are common to the [[Ingvaeonic]] subgroup of the [[West Germanic languages]],  affecting mainly English, Frisian, and to a lesser extent Low German (all of which are Ingvaeonic), as well as Dutch, but not High German:
* The so-called [[Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law]], with loss of /n/ before voiceless fricatives: e.g. ''*munþ'', ''*gans'' > Old English ''mūþ, gōs'' > "mouth, goose", but German ''Mund, Gans''.
* The loss of the Germanic [[reflexive pronoun]] {{lang|gem-x-proto|*se-}}. Dutch has reclaimed the reflexive pronoun {{lang|nl|zich}} from Middle High German {{lang|gmh|sich}}.
* The reduction of the three Germanic [[verb]]al [[plural]] forms into one form ending in ''-þ''.
* The development of Class III weak verbs into a relic class consisting of four verbs (''*sagjan'' "to say", ''*hugjan'' "to think", ''*habjan'' "to have", ''*libjan'' "to live"; cf. the numerous Old High German verbs in ''-ēn'').
* The split of the Class II weak verb ending ''*-ō-'' into ''*-ō-/-ōja-'' (cf. Old English ''-ian'' < ''-ōjan'', but Old High German ''-ōn'').
* Development of a plural ending '''*-ōs''' in a-stem nouns (note, Gothic also has ''-ōs'', but this is an independent development, caused by [[terminal devoicing]] of ''*-ōz''; [[Old Frisian]] has ''-ar'', which is thought to be a late borrowing from [[Danish language|Danish]]). Cf. modern English plural ''-(e)s'', but German plural ''-e''.
* Possibly, the [[monophthong]]ization of Germanic ''*ai'' to ''ē/ā'' (this may represent independent changes in Old Saxon and [[Anglo-Frisian]]).

The following innovations are common to the [[Anglo-Frisian]] subgroup of the [[Ingvaeonic languages]]:
* Raising of nasalized ''a, ā'' into ''o, ō''.
* [[Anglo-Frisian brightening]]: Fronting of non-nasal ''a, ā'' to ''æ,ǣ'' when not followed by ''n'' or ''m''.
* [[Metathesis (linguistics)|Metathesis]] of ''CrV'' into ''CVr'', where ''C'' represents any consonant and ''V'' any vowel.
* [[Monophthongization]] of ''ai'' into ''ā''.