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Word Analysis (Subject) / Major innovations in Ger and Engl (Lesson)

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• German innovations (consonants) 1) High German Consonant Shift (OHG) separated Old High German from the rest of the Germanic languages started in the south and moved up a) Germanic voiceless plosives /p, t, k/ became affricates /pf, ts, kh/ (when not after vowels) => Pfahl - pale b) Germanic geminate plosives /pp/ and /tt/ became affricates /pf/ and /ts/ => hüpfen - hop c) Germanic /p, t, k/ (when after vowels) became fricatives /f, s, x/ => besser - better d) Germanic voiced plosives became voiceless: /b, d, g/ > /p, t, k/, but only /d>t/ entered the standardlanguage => traum - dream e) Germanic /θ/ (and /ð/) retained in English but became plosive /d/ in German => dick - thick 2) Germanic /v/ (/v/ between vowels and /f/ word-finally) retained in English but became /b/ in German => Fieber - fever
• English innovations (consonants) 1) K-Patalisation (OE): Germanic /k/ became palatalised to /tʃ/ in Old English (when next to a front unrounded vowel (/i/, /e/, /æ/) => Kirche - church   2) Losing of /x/ (post ME) Germanic /x/ became lost in English (post-Middle English) => Lachen - Laugh  
• German and English innovations (consonants)   1) Losing of /γ/ (OHG, OE): English and German both changed Germanic /γ/ in the OHG and OE periods. In German it became /g/ and in English /j/: gähnen - yawn. 2) Germanic /k/ merged and palatalised with a preceding /s/ in OE to produce          /∫/ and the same development happened in German but much later: late MHG - ENHG: => Schiff - ship [Schaf – sheep (Gmc *skēpan )]  
• English innovations (vowels) 1) The Great Vowel Shift (post-ME): major change in pronuncition, affecting long vowels and diphthongs 'pull chain' (high vowels shift → other move up) vs. 'push chain' (low vowels move up and 'push') Lower vowels replace higher ones /i:/ > /ai/    /e:/ > /i:/    /a:/ > /ei/     /u:/ > /au/    /o:/ > /u:/     /ɔ:/ > /o:/      2.) Unrounding of /y/ and /y:/ (post-ME) => no front rounded vowels in Engl. (küssen - kiss)     
• German innovations (vowels): 1) Diphtongisation (ENHG): Gmc /i:/ and /u:/ remained in OHG and MHG, but were later diphthongised to /ai/ and /au/ respectively in the EHNG period MHG mīn hūs > ENHG mein Haus   2) Monophtongisation: Gmc. /e:/ and /o:/ were first diphthongized to /iə/ and /uo/ in OHG, and then monophthongised to /i:/ and /u:/ in ENHG: Gmc. *dēp- > OHG tiuf/tiof > ENHG tief Gmc. *bōk- > OHG buoch > ENHG Buch  
• Developement of the Germanic Diphtongs /ai/ and /au/*   /ai/ OHG kept diphtong /ai/ OE: /ai/ > /a:/, and then later rounded to /o:/, by ME => Stein – stone, Seife – soap, Bein – bone   /au/ OE: /au/ > /ea/ OHG: /au/ > /au/ OR /o:/ - conditioned change => seam – Saum, dream – Traum, leaf – Laub => bean – Bohne, dead – tot, bread – Brot /au/ > /o:/ in German before /h/, /r/ and alveolar consonants (/t/, /d/, /s/, /z/, /n/) The modern pronunciations of English <ea>, e.g. dream, bread are a result of later vowel developments, post ME, largely lexically motivated.  
• Reasons if word did NOT undergo a change 1) The word entered the language later as a borrowing (e.g. from latin) 2) The conditional factor was not present at that time

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