Germanic A-mutation - Effects of A Single Nasal Consonant

Effects of A Single Nasal Consonant

Old English derives from a type of Germanic in which single */m/ had the same effect on preceding */u/ and */e/ as a nasal stop followed by another consonant. The effect occurs in other West Germanic languages, though more erratically, and sometimes in Old Norse.

• Old Norse nema, Old High German neman : Old Frisian nima, nema, Old Saxon niman, neman : Old English niman "to take"
• Old High German gi-noman, Old Frisian nomen : Old Norse numinn, Old English numen, Old Saxon numan "taken" (past participle)
• Old High German gomo "man", Old Frisian gomo : Old Norse gumi, Old English guma, Old Saxon gumo

a-mutation was also sometimes blocked before single */n/, again with much variation among languages.

• Old Saxon honig, -eg, Old High German hona(n)g : Old English hunig (for older -æg), Old Frisian hunig, Old Norse hunang :

But single */n/ shows no tendency to raise a preceding */e/ to */i/ in any of the old Germanic languages.