Examples
Compare the first person plural pronoun "us" in various old Germanic languages:
-
- Gothic uns
- Old High German uns
- Middle Dutch ons
- Old English ūs
- Old Frisian ūs
- West Flemish uus
- Limburgian oos, ós
- Old Saxon ūs
- Old Norse oss
Gothic represents East Germanic, and its correspondence to German and Standard Dutch shows it retains the more conservative form. The /n/ has disappeared in English, Frisian, Low German, and dialectal Dutch with compensatory lengthening of the /u/. This phenomenon is therefore observable throughout the "Ingvaeonic" languages. It does not affect High German, East Germanic or North Germanic. The absence of a nasal in Old Norse oss is a separate development, as can be seen by the lack of compensatory lengthening of the vowel.
Likewise:
- Germanic *tanþs → English tooth, North Frisian tôs, toss (vs. Low German Tähn, Dutch and Swedish tand, German Zahn, Icelandic tönn).
- Germanic *anþeraz → English other, Icelandic aðrir, West Frisian oar, West Flemish (Frans-Vlaams) aajer, Old Saxon ōðar, āthar (vs. Low German anner, German/Dutch ander, Icelandic: annað/annar/önnur, Swedish annat/annan/andre/andra).
- Germanic *gans → English goose, West Frisian goes, guos, Low German Goos, Faroese gás, Swedish gås (vs. Dutch gans, German Gans).
- Germanic *fimf → English five, West Frisian fiif, East Frisian fieuw, Dutch vijf, Low German fiev, fief (vs. German fünf, Icelandic fimm, Swedish fem).
- Germanic *samftō, -ijaz → English soft, West Frisian sêft, Low German sacht, Dutch zacht (vs. German sanft).
Read more about this topic: Ingvaeonic Nasal Spirant Law
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