Old Norse
Proto-Germanic stressed short e becomes ja or (before u) jǫ regularly in Old Norse except after w, r, l. Examples are:
- PG *ek(a) "I" → (east) ON jak, Swedish jag, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål jeg (but Jutlandic æ, a, Icelandic ek → ég, Nynorsk eg)
- Faroese has both. The standard form is eg, while the dialects of Suðuroy have jeg.
- PG *hertōn "heart" → ON hjarta, Swedish hjärta, Faroese hjarta, Danish hjerte
- PG *erþō "earth" → Proto-Norse *erþū → ON jǫrð, Swedish, Danish jord, Faroese jørð
According to some scholars, the diphthongisation of e is an unconditioned sound change, whereas other scholars speak about epenthesis or umlaut.
Read more about this topic: Vowel Breaking
Famous quotes containing the word norse:
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