The German vowel “a” changes to the English “i”
What is the name of a sound shift law under which the German vowel "a" changes to the English "i", e.g.
Macht -> might;
Nacht -> night
vowels
asked 4 hours ago
V.NikishkinV.Nikishkin
84
add a comment |
What is the name of a sound shift law under which the German vowel "a" changes to the English "i", e.g.
Macht -> might;
Nacht -> night
vowels
asked 4 hours ago
V.NikishkinV.Nikishkin
84
1
You seem to have copied the examples from your other post (why from a different account?), but in this question you probably want to highlight the vowels and not the consonants.
– Keelan
4 hours ago
1
Sound shifts change earlier forms into later ones, but German and English are present-day languages.
– Greg Lee
3 hours ago
add a comment |
What is the name of a sound shift law under which the German vowel "a" changes to the English "i", e.g.
Macht -> might;
Nacht -> night
vowels
asked 4 hours ago
V.NikishkinV.Nikishkin
84
What is the name of a sound shift law under which the German vowel "a" changes to the English "i", e.g.
Macht -> might;
Nacht -> night
vowels
vowels
asked 4 hours ago
V.NikishkinV.Nikishkin
84
asked 4 hours ago
V.NikishkinV.Nikishkin
84
edited 4 hours ago
V.Nikishkin
asked 4 hours ago
V.NikishkinV.Nikishkin
84
asked 4 hours ago
V.NikishkinV.Nikishkin
84
asked 4 hours ago
V.NikishkinV.Nikishkin
84
84
1
You seem to have copied the examples from your other post (why from a different account?), but in this question you probably want to highlight the vowels and not the consonants.
– Keelan
4 hours ago
1
Sound shifts change earlier forms into later ones, but German and English are present-day languages.
– Greg Lee
3 hours ago
add a comment |
1
You seem to have copied the examples from your other post (why from a different account?), but in this question you probably want to highlight the vowels and not the consonants.
– Keelan
4 hours ago
1
Sound shifts change earlier forms into later ones, but German and English are present-day languages.
– Greg Lee
3 hours ago
1
1
You seem to have copied the examples from your other post (why from a different account?), but in this question you probably want to highlight the vowels and not the consonants.
– Keelan
4 hours ago
You seem to have copied the examples from your other post (why from a different account?), but in this question you probably want to highlight the vowels and not the consonants.
– Keelan
4 hours ago
1
1
Sound shifts change earlier forms into later ones, but German and English are present-day languages.
– Greg Lee
3 hours ago
Sound shifts change earlier forms into later ones, but German and English are present-day languages.
– Greg Lee
3 hours ago
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
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oldest
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Sound changes happen from an ancestor language to a descendant language, not from one modern language to another. However, in this case, German seems to have preserved the vowels from Proto-Germanic pretty faithfully, while English hasn't. So it's still valid to talk about a shift from PGmc *a to OE /i/.
The key here is called Anglo-Frisian brightening: *a shifted forward to something like [æ] in most environments. In Old English, front vowels then got raised before /xt/. This is why vowels before English ght are generally higher than before German cht: see also recht~right, etc.
Post-OE, the /x/ disappeared and lengthened the vowel in compensation, giving something like /ni:t/. The Great Vowel Shift then turned this into modern /najt/.
answered 3 hours ago
DraconisDraconis
12.1k11952
add a comment |
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1 Answer
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Sound changes happen from an ancestor language to a descendant language, not from one modern language to another. However, in this case, German seems to have preserved the vowels from Proto-Germanic pretty faithfully, while English hasn't. So it's still valid to talk about a shift from PGmc *a to OE /i/.
The key here is called Anglo-Frisian brightening: *a shifted forward to something like [æ] in most environments. In Old English, front vowels then got raised before /xt/. This is why vowels before English ght are generally higher than before German cht: see also recht~right, etc.
Post-OE, the /x/ disappeared and lengthened the vowel in compensation, giving something like /ni:t/. The Great Vowel Shift then turned this into modern /najt/.
answered 3 hours ago
DraconisDraconis
12.1k11952
add a comment |
Sound changes happen from an ancestor language to a descendant language, not from one modern language to another. However, in this case, German seems to have preserved the vowels from Proto-Germanic pretty faithfully, while English hasn't. So it's still valid to talk about a shift from PGmc *a to OE /i/.
The key here is called Anglo-Frisian brightening: *a shifted forward to something like [æ] in most environments. In Old English, front vowels then got raised before /xt/. This is why vowels before English ght are generally higher than before German cht: see also recht~right, etc.
Post-OE, the /x/ disappeared and lengthened the vowel in compensation, giving something like /ni:t/. The Great Vowel Shift then turned this into modern /najt/.
answered 3 hours ago
DraconisDraconis
12.1k11952
add a comment |
Sound changes happen from an ancestor language to a descendant language, not from one modern language to another. However, in this case, German seems to have preserved the vowels from Proto-Germanic pretty faithfully, while English hasn't. So it's still valid to talk about a shift from PGmc *a to OE /i/.
The key here is called Anglo-Frisian brightening: *a shifted forward to something like [æ] in most environments. In Old English, front vowels then got raised before /xt/. This is why vowels before English ght are generally higher than before German cht: see also recht~right, etc.
Post-OE, the /x/ disappeared and lengthened the vowel in compensation, giving something like /ni:t/. The Great Vowel Shift then turned this into modern /najt/.
answered 3 hours ago
DraconisDraconis
12.1k11952
Sound changes happen from an ancestor language to a descendant language, not from one modern language to another. However, in this case, German seems to have preserved the vowels from Proto-Germanic pretty faithfully, while English hasn't. So it's still valid to talk about a shift from PGmc *a to OE /i/.
The key here is called Anglo-Frisian brightening: *a shifted forward to something like [æ] in most environments. In Old English, front vowels then got raised before /xt/. This is why vowels before English ght are generally higher than before German cht: see also recht~right, etc.
Post-OE, the /x/ disappeared and lengthened the vowel in compensation, giving something like /ni:t/. The Great Vowel Shift then turned this into modern /najt/.
answered 3 hours ago
DraconisDraconis
12.1k11952
answered 3 hours ago
DraconisDraconis
12.1k11952
answered 3 hours ago
DraconisDraconis
12.1k11952
answered 3 hours ago
DraconisDraconis
12.1k11952
12.1k11952
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1
You seem to have copied the examples from your other post (why from a different account?), but in this question you probably want to highlight the vowels and not the consonants.
– Keelan
4 hours ago
1
Sound shifts change earlier forms into later ones, but German and English are present-day languages.
– Greg Lee
3 hours ago