Germanic A-mutation - Dialectal Variation

Dialectal Variation

a-mutation is more evident in some Germanic languages than others. It is widely found in Old High German, less so in other West Germanic languages and Old Norse. a-mutation is less extensive in Old East Norse (the precursor of Danish and Swedish) than Old West Norse (spoken in Norway and its colonies). There is no trace of it at all in Gothic, where Proto-Germanic */e/ and */i/ had fallen together, as had */o/ and */u/. Old Gutnish, at the eastern end of the territory where Old Norse evolved, resembles Gothic in this respect. But there is some suggestion that a-mutation may have been preserved in Crimean Gothic.

• Old English fugol, fugel : Old High German fogal "bird"
• Old Gutnish hult "copse, wood" : Old English, Old Icelandic holt

Variation is found within dialects too with doublets such as Old English spora : spura "spur", spornan : spurnan "to spurn", cnocian : cnucian "to knock"; Old Icelandic fogl : fugl "bird", goð : guð "god", goll : gull "gold".