Reflex in Verb-noun Alternations
The effect of the Germanic spirant law can also be very neatly observed by comparing certain verbs with related nouns. A prominent example is the Indo-European verbal noun suffix *-tis, which survived and remained productive in Germanic, but other suffixes with *-t- were also in use.
| Germanic | English | Frisian | Dutch | German |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| *gebanan – *giftiz | give – gift | jaan – jifte | geven – gift | geben – Gift |
| *pleganan – *plihtiz | play – plight | pliigje – plicht | plegen – plicht | pflegen – Pflicht |
| *weganan – *gawihtiz | weigh – weight | wage – gewicht | wegen – gewicht | wiegen – Gewicht |
| *habjanan – *haftaz | (have) | hawwe – | hebben – -haftig | haben – Haft |
| *kleubanan – *kluftiz | cleave – cleft | kleauwe – kloft | klieven – klucht | klieben – Kluft |
| *maganan – *mahtiz | may – might | meie – macht | mogen – macht | mögen – Macht |
Read more about this topic: Germanic Spirant Law
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