CHAPTER VII

ABLAUT (VOWEL GRADATION)

§ 122. By ablaut is meant the gradation of vowels both in stem and suffix, which was caused by the primitive Indo-Germanic system of accentuation. See § 32.

The vowels vary within certain series of related vowels, called ablaut-series. In Gothic, to which this chapter will chiefly be limited, there are seven such series, which appear most clearly in the stem-forms of the various classes of strong verbs. Four stem-forms are to be distinguished in a Gothic strong verb which has vowel gradation as the characteristic mark of its different stems:— (1) the present stem, to which belong all the forms of the present, (2) the stem of the preterite singular, (3) the stem of the preterite plural, to which also belongs the whole of the preterite subjunctive, (4) the stem of the past participle.

By arranging the vowels according to these four stems, we arrive at the following system:—

But although the series of vowels is seen most clearly in the stem-forms of strong verbs, the learner must not assume that ablaut occurs in strong verbs only. Every syllable of every word of whatever part of speech contains some form of ablaut. E.g. the sonantal elements in the following stem-syllables stand in ablaut relation to each other:—un-weis, unknowing, ignorant : witan, to know; *leisan [láis (§ 333), I know], to know : láisareis, teacher : lists, cunning, wile.

liufs, dear : ga-láubjan, to believe : lubō, love; siuks, sick, ill : saúhts, sickness; ana-biudan, to command : anabū̌sns, command; fra-liusan, to lose : fra-lusts, loss.

bindan, to bind : bandi, band, bond : ga-bundi, bond; rinnan, to run : rannjan (wv.), to let run : runs, a running, issue; þaírsan, to be withered : þaúrsnan, to become withered : þaúrsus, withered.

baíran, to bear : barn, child : bērusjōs, parents : baúr, son; qiman, to come : ga-qumþs, a coming together, assembly; man, I think : muns, thought; ga-taíran, to tear in pieces : ga-taúra, a tear, rent; qinō, woman : qēns, wife, woman.

mitan, to measure : us-mēt, manner of life, common-wealth; giban, to give : gabei, wealth.

batiza, better : bōta, advantage; saþs, full : ga-sōþjan, to fill, satisfy; dags, day : ahtáu-dōgs (aj.), eight days old; fraþjan, to understand : frōdei, understanding; graban, to dig : grōba, ditch, hole.

mana-sēþs, mankind, world, lit. man-seed : saian, to sow; ga-dēþs, deed : dōms, judgment, cp. Gr. τί-θημι, I place, put : θωμός, heap; waian, to blow: wōds, raging, mad.

Examples of ablaut relation in other than stem-syllables are:—

Nom. pl. anstei-s, favours : gen. sing. anstái-s : acc. pl. ansti-ns; nom. pl. sunju-s (original form *suneu-es, § 88), sons : gen. sing. sunáu-s : acc. pl. sunu-ns; fulgi-ns (aj.), 47hidden : fulha-ns, pp. of filhan, to hide; gen. sing. dagi-s, of a day : acc. pl. daga-ns; baíra-m, we bear : baíri-þ, ye bear = Gr. φέρο-μεν : φέρε-τε; brōþa-r, brother : dat. sing. brōp-r, cp. Gr. πατή-ρ : dat. πατ-ρ-ί; gen. sing. *aúhsi-ns, of an ox : acc. pl. *aúhsa-ns : gen. pl. aúhs-nē.

§ 123. In the following paragraphs will be given the Germanic equivalents of the above seven ablaut series, with one or two illustrations from Gothic. For further examples see the various classes of strong verbs, §§ 299–310.

§ 124.

Ablaut-series I.

II.

III.

IV.

V.

VI.

VII.

§ 125. The ablaut-series as given in § 124 have, for practical reasons, been limited to the phases of ablaut as they appear in the various classes of strong verbs. From an Indo-Germanic point of view the series I–V belong to one and the same series which underwent in Germanic various modifications upon clearly defined lines. What is called the sixth ablaut-series in the Germanic languages is really a mixture of several original series, owing to several Indg. vowel-sounds having fallen together in prim. Germanic; thus the a, which occurs in the present and the past participle, corresponds to three Indg. vowels, viz. a (§ 36), o (§ 39), and ǝ (§ 41); and the ō in the preterite corresponds to Indg. ā (§ 42) and Indg. ō (§ 45). In a few isolated cases there are also phases of ablaut which do not manifest themselves in the various parts of strong verbs, as e. g. acc. pl. *aúhsa-ns, oxen : gen. pl. aúhs-nē, where the vowel disappears altogether, as in Gr. πέτομαι : ἐ-πτ-όμην; slaúhts, slaughter : slahan (VI), to slay; lats, slothful : lētan (VII), to let; raþjō, number, account : rēdan (VII), to counsel; lūkan, to lock : pret. sing. láuk (II), which is an aorist-present like Gr. τῡ́φω, τρῑ́βω, another similar aorist-present form is trudan (IV), to tread. For the phases of ablaut which do not occur in the various parts of strong verbs, and for traces of ablaut-series other than those given above, the student should consult Brugmann’s Kurze vergleichende Grammatik der indogermanischen Sprachen, pp. 138–50.