ablaut

Ablaut (also Apophonie ) is a change of the vowel within etymologically related words or parts of words in the Indo-European languages . The term was introduced into linguistics by Jacob Grimm in 1819 to denote the regular change in the stem vowel in the inflection of the Germanic strong verbs (it was used similarly in isolated cases, but not yet as a clearly defined technical term).

A distinction is made between qualitative ablaut (change in vowel color) and quantitative ablaut (change in vowel length). The designation for the ablaut levels is not uniform. As a rule, a distinction is made between three levels of the Indo-European ablaut:

Full level (also basic level or normal level)
Stretch level (long level)
Zero level (also shrinkage level or reduction level).

Ablaut in Indo-European

According to the common understanding, most of the Urindo-European roots (e.g. * bʰer 'bring', * dewk 'lead' or * peh₃ 'drink') would have contained * / e / as a root vowel. In addition, all would have uridg. Roots have an initial consonant, so that z. B. ** ed 'eat', ** it 'be', ** ag̑ 'drive' or ** okʷ 'see' were excluded. Ferdinand de Saussure established the laryngeal theory , according to which - in a later developed version - laryngeals by recoloring of the original * / e / meant that in the original language in addition / e / * and * / a / and * / o / incurred. The phonetic realization of the laryngals is - as is generally the case with the other phonemes, cf. the glottal hypothesis - not entirely clear (they are therefore distinguished by index numbers); but it can for * h₁ * / h / or * / ç / ( me -sound), for * h₂ * / x / ( oh -sound) and for * h₃ * / γ ^w / (voiced and with rounded lips) at least approximately be accepted. * H₁ does not change color ( * h₁ed 'eat', * h₁es ' be '), * h₂ causes color change to * / a / ( h₂eg̑ ' drive '> h₂ag̑ ) and * h₃ causes color change to * / o / ( h₃ekʷ ' see '> h₃okʷ ). On completion of the change of color and elongation (when to stand the recolored vowel; * peh₃ 'drink'> Po ) the laryngeals except * dwindle h₂ in Anatolian (> Hitt. H or HH ; in initial position is obtained h₃ *) in all languages phonetically without a trace.

If the * / e / remains unchanged, one speaks of the -e full level. If an originally expected * / e / was not accented in the basic Indo-European language, it disappeared; the corresponding word component was then in the zero level (3rd Sg. * h₁és -ti 'he is', 3rd pl. * h₁ s- énti 'they are'; the so-called "strong" and "weak" sub-stems are created) . In addition to the zero level, there was the long grade * / ē / (see. Below the comments on Nartenisierung and scale-up ). The ablaut series zero level - full level - expansion level is also referred to as quantitative ablaut. The qualitative ablaut variants were the - o shades of * / o / or * / ō / (for the ablaut situation “-o- if -e under no accent” see below). If * / o / or * / ō / have the accent ( i.e. * / ó / or * / ṓ / ), there is a phenomenon that is called "secondary -ó- and -ṓ-grading" under the following premises and conditions can be described:

With the exception of descriptively precisely ascertainable ablaut phenomena z. B. in the area of endings, the subject vowel or analogical influences, the basic language accent-ablaut assignment always follows the rule "-é- under accent, zero under non-accent, -o- if -e- (secondary) under non-accent (this ablaust situation arises e.g. in many original reduplicated verb formations, with nominal compounds and disjunctions, in unstressed full nominal suffixes with root accent or in word forms which in the course of their evolutionary development - for example through anaptyx or other pronunciation facilities - receive the full level twice) ". A root noun like * péd 'foot' (this “strong” sub-stem is still originally preserved in Latin Akk.Sg. pedem <* péd -m̥ 'the foot', Latin nom.Pl. pedēs 'feet' <* péd (+ -éy-) -es and lat. Abl.Sg. pede <Lok.Sg. * péd + -i) designed for reasons of pronunciation technique (this process of introducing an -é- into the "weak" sub-stem is called "nartenization" after Johanna Narten ) its expected “weak” sub-stem * p d-´ either to * péd- or to * p d-é- um. * P d-é- is perceived as not yet sufficient and is again nartenized to either * péd-e- or ped-é-, from which * péd-o- or pod-é- arise due to the accent-ablaut assignment. The individual languages usually eliminate the resulting pleonasm and choose one form in different ways (e.g. Latin the variant with -é- the root and Greek the variant with -o- the root) and abandon the other . If the resulting ablaut variants are needed to differentiate meanings, they are retained (Latin -sēns 'being, -wesent': sōns 'guilty'; egtl. 'Der, who is'; nhd. Foot with the -ṓ variant (cf. following the notes on the scale-up ), but tethered to the -é variant); In the verbal area (under the conditions described) the -é variant is regularly used as a "normal verb" (e.g. * h₁éd-o- as the basis for nhd. 'esse') and the -o variant as a "causative iterative “(E.g. * h₁od-é- (+ -yo-) as the basis for nhd. 'Ätze'; egtl. 'Lasse essen') continued.

The exceptionally frequent occurrence (only apparently contradicting the original accent-ablaut assignment) of stressed -o stages (i.e. -ó and -ende stages) in nominal and verbal "strong" sub-stems is due to the fact that "weak" sub-stems ( mainly with -o-level, but also with -é-level or zero level) are able to create a new (= then secondary ) "strong" sub-stem that is individually tailored to them ("dominance of the 'Weak' sub-stem ”). The used Aufstufungsvokale in the renovated "strong" part master can -e- (eg with then complete Nartenisierung. B. lat. Pes 'foot'), -O- and -O- (z. B. in the Greek paradigm of foot -Worts , but also in the verbal area in the esse -word poor. owtem 'I eat' <* h₁ṓd + -o- or in Latin sōpiō 'I sleep a' <* swṓp + -yo-), "zero" (with root nouns) or also resonant expansions (Greek “weak” δείκνῠ- , but “strong” δείκνῡ- 'show'). In the verbal area, the -ó-gradation develops into a fixed rule in the formation of verbal “strong” sub-stems, e.g. B. in the -ó-step perfect or in Anatolian ḫi verbs (heth. Daii 'he puts' <* dʰ h₁-óy -ey with -ó-gradation in the suffix, formed from "weak" * dʰ h₁- i -énti > heth. tii̯anzi 'they issue'). This “weak” sub-stem is continued in Latin in its regular theming (* dʰ h₁- i -énti> * dʰ h₁- i -ó-nti). fiunt 'they are made' (with -k̑ extension of the root in Latin faciunt 'they make') and in altind. Passive dhīyánte 'they are posed', which with the mean of the -ó gradation (in the root; only 3rd sg.) forms an athematic past tense * (h₁) é * dʰóh₁-i, which is used as a passive orist (altind. ádhāyi 'was asked').

The ablaut created in this way can be shown well in the verbal ablaut series ( present tense - aorist - perfect ), e.g. B. at uridg. Root * leyk ^w 'leave':

The full level is used for the present tense: The ending is added directly to the root * l ey k ^w 'leave' (plus a primary suffix ). The aorist, on the other hand, demands the zero level: * l i k ^w , so that (plus augment and ending) the form * é + lik ^w -ó-m 'I left' is created. The perfect tense is formed using the o-full stage: * l oy k ^w , so that (plus reduplication and ending) the form * le-l óy k ^w -h₂e 'I have left' is used.

This ablaut series is continued directly, for example in Greek: λ εί πω, ἔλ ι πον, λέλ οι πα (transcribed l eí pō, él i pon, lél oi pa)

Ablaut in German and Germanic verbs

In Germanic, a dental suffix (e.g. -t- in German, -ed in English) is used to mark the past tense and the participle II of the (newer) so-called weak verbs . Example from German:

praise , the stem vowel does not change when forming the past: praise, praise, praise .

In the (older) strong verbs, on the other hand, there is a largely regular ablaut, that is, the main vowels change during the conjugation . The ablaut relationships in German are still clearly recognizable today. Example:

singing , full level (the Germanic * / i / goes back to the * / é / in the Indo-European present tense), sang: o-tinting (the * / - ó- / from the old perfect (which was reinterpreted as a simple past in Germanic) for * / a / ; compare eight versus Latin octō from basic language * ok̑tṓ), sung: zero level ( / un / from syllable * / ņ / )

drink , the vowel changes when the past is formed: drink, drink, drink .

There are seven ablaut series in Germanic , within which a vowel is ablaut according to a fixed rule (the original reason for this is, among other things, the following consonants). In German, all seven ablaut groups are preserved to this day, although some verbs have also changed their ablaut group in the course of language history or have become weak, e.g. For example, the verb backen is mostly weakly inflected in North German today (backen - backte - baked), while in Upper German the strong past tense and past participle (backen - buk - baked) can be found.

Overview of the ablaut series (modern order) and ablaut levels (ancient Germanic loudness)
	Full level	Expansion stage	tinted full stage	tinted expansion step	Shrinkage level
Stem vowel	e	ē	O	O	-
1st row: + i	e + i	ē + i	o + i	ō + i	i
2nd row: + u	e + u	ē + u	o + u	ō + u	u
3rd row: + nasal / liquid + consonant	e + nasal / liquid + consonant	ē + nasal / liquid + consonant	o + nasal / liquid + consonant	ō + nasal / liquid + consonant	(syllabic) nasal / liquid + consonant
4th row: + Nasal / Liquid	e + nasal / liquid	ē + nasal / liquid	o + nasal / liquid	ō + Nasal / Liquid	(syllabic) nasal / liquid
5th row: + consonant except nasal / liquid	e + consonant except nasal / liquid	ē + consonant except nasal / liquid	o + consonant except nasal / liquid	ō + consonant except nasal / liquid	not possible
6th row: a / o -ablaut instead of e / o -ablaut (possibly pre-Indo-European substrate)
7th row: formerly reduplicating verbs

Examples of verbs in the individual ablaut series :

1. German ablaut series: ei - i / ie - i / ie

b ei SEN - b i 'll give - ss i KISSING
schr ei ben - schr ie b - Screwed he ben
schn ei the - schn i tt - geschn i kill

2. German ablaut series: ie - o - o

b ie gen - b o g - born o gen
b ie ten - b o t - give o th
fl ie gen - fl o g - gefl o gen
for he ren - fr o r - gefr o ren
w ie gen - w o g - gew o gen

alternatively: au - o - o

s au gen - s o tot - g o gen
s au fen - s o ff - ges o ffen

3. German ablaut series: e / i - a - o / u

s i nts - s a ng - ges u nts
schw i mmen - schw a mm - geschw o mmen
st e beets - st a rb - d o beets
h e lfen - h a lf - h o lfen

4. German ablaut series: e / o - a - o

k o mmen - k a m - GEK o mmen
n eh men - n ah m - gen o mmen

5. German ablaut series: e / i - a - e

l e sen - l a s - gel e sen
l ie gen - l a gel - g e gen
s i tzen - s a ges - ß e SEN

6. German ablaut series: a - u - a

tr a gen - tr u sep - g a gen
gr a ben - gr u est - b a ben
b a CKEN - b u k - give a CKEN

alternatively: ö - o - o

schw ö ren - black o r - weakened o ren

7. German ablaut series: ei / au / ō / a / ū - i - ei / au / ō / a / ū

h ei SEN - h ie ß - go ei KISSING
h au s - h ie b - go au en
st o SEN - st ie ß - d o KISSING
f a nts - f i gef - ng a nts
f a fill - f ie gef - l a fill
proposes a fen - schl ie f - Closed a fen
r u fen - r ie f - ger u fen

When learning the Middle High German and Old High German language, studying the Ablaut series is particularly important.

The ablaut goes back to the Urindo-European language. In Urgermanic he was systematically productive for the formation of the root forms of the verbs, which can still be observed today across languages, e.g. B.

German:

steal - steal - stolen
give - gave - given

Dutch:

steles - stal - stolen
geven - gaf - geven

English:

steal - stole - stole
give - gave - given

Icelandic:

stela - stal - stolið
gefa - gaf - gefið

Gothic:

stilan - stâl - stelun - stulans
giban - gâf - gebun - gibans

What can be observed here is the similar, but mostly not exactly the same, ablaut series system (since there were different sound shifts). The typeface often maintains older forms that have already changed in the spoken language.

Knowing the historical developments of the ablaut can often help explain seemingly random irregularities. For example, the verb “sein” in Latin has the forms est (he / she / it is) and sunt (they are), which are very similar to the related German forms. The difference between singular and plural in both languages can be easily explained: the Urindo-European root of both verbs is * h ₁ es- . In the Indo-European original language, the plural stem vowel was omitted (so-called zero level of the ablaut), which led from * h ₁ és-ti for is to * h ₁ s-énti for are (Latin sunt < * h ₁ s-ó- nti ; the Latin verb is addressed in the 1st, 1st and 3rd place).

The ablaut also plays a role in word formation; in German, the nouns Band and Bund are derivatives of the verb bind . However, this so-called implicit derivation is no longer productive today .

Strictly separated from Ablaut is in the West and North Germanic non umlaut (for example, German M. Au s - M externa se, M externa Slein; f a lead - f ä HRT), since this has been caused by the phonetic environment , e.g. B. by an -i / j- in the following syllable. It is a much younger phenomenon than the Indo-European ablaut, which is why there is no systematic or historical connection with the change in the ablaut series and the umlaut is usually not counted among the ablaut phenomena.

Ablauts in Sanskrit

Panini , the author of the first Sanskrit grammar, started with the zero level as the basic level and referred to the full level as Guṇa (high level) and the extended level as Vṛddhi (growth)

Sanskrit dictionaries, which are usually structured according to the roots , usually contain the zero level of the root as an entry. In addition to the vowels a / ā, i / ī, u / ū and the diphthongs o / au and e / ai , the semi-vowels y and v also appear, and Sanskrit also uses the sonant liquids ṛ and ḷ , and also the nasals m and n can have a vowel function.

Sanskrit has 15 ablaut series:

	Zero level	Guṇa	Vṛddhi
I.	- upab - daḥ ("trampling")	a p a dyate ("he goes")	ā p ā daḥ ("the foot")
II	i / y j i taḥ ("defeated")	e / ay j e tā ("the winner")	ai / āy aj ai ṣam ("I defeated")
III	u / v śr u taḥ ("heard")	o / av śr o tā ("the hearer")	au / āv aśr au ṣīt ("he heard")
IV	ṛ / r bh ṛ taḥ ("worn")	ar bh ar ati ("he wears")	ār bh ār aḥ ("the burden")
V	ḷ / l k ḷ ptaḥ ("joined")	al k al pate ("it fits")	āl ?
VI	a / m g a cchati ("he goes") jag m iva ("we both went")	am ag am at ("he went")	ām ?
VII	a / n rāj ñ ā ("by the king" Instr. )	an rāj an ("O King" voc. )	ān rāj ān am ("the king" acc. )
VIII	i / - sth i taḥ ("confessed")	ā tiṣṭh ā mi ("I stand")	-
IX	ī g ī taḥ ("sung")	ā (i) / āy g āy ati ("he sings")	-
X	ū	ā (u) / āv	-
XI	ī / (i) y	ayi / ay	-
XII	ū / (u) v bh ū taḥ ("become")	avi / av bh avi tum ("to become")	-
XIII	īr / ūr / ir / u t ī rṇaḥ ("translated")	ari / ar t ar ati ("he crosses over")	-
XIV	ā (m) d ā myati ("he subdues")	ami / am d am aḥ ("the tamer", proper name)	-
XV	ā j ā yate ("he is born")	ani / an j ani tum ("generate")	-

Ablaut in Lithuanian

In Lithuanian there are three series of ablaut, although not all gradations occur in the words.

line	Normal level	Expansion stage	Tinting	Expansion stage and tinting		Zero level	Comments
I.	e	ė	a	O	uo	i (į)
	ž é lti "sprout"	ž ė lė	ž a lias "green"	ž o lė "grass"	-	-	The zero level does not occur here because liquids or nasals are missing.
		ė because "food"			uo the "mosquito"	-
	Nasalization gave rise to the series ę, ą, į, although these vowels are now long and no longer nasal.
	gr ę žti		gr ą žìnti			gr į žti
	An i has been inserted next to r and l, i.e. H. ir, ri, yr, ry, il, li etc.
	b e rti "pour"	b ė rė	b a rstyti "sprinkle"			b ì rti, b y ra (bįra) "to be poured"

line	Normal level	Expansion stage	Tinting	Zero level			Comments
II.	ei (ej)	ėj	ai (aj)	i	y	ie
II.	sn ei gėti "snow heavily"		sn ai gė "snowflake"	sn ì gti "snow"	sn y guriuoti "snow a little"	sn ie gas "snow"

line	Normal level or tint	Zero level		Expansion stage
III.	ouch	u	ū	uo	ov
	l au kti "wait"	l ù ktelėti "wait a bit"	pal ū kėti "wait a while" l ū kuriuoti "wait"
	kr áu ti “load; pile"		kr ū và "pile"		kr óv ė

However, so-called ablaut derailments also occur, whereby these consist in the fact that the i-stage occurs without the following liquids or nasals.

t e škia, t ė škė (t ė kšti "squirt; hit, knock; throw"), t a škyti "squirt", t ì ško (t ì kšti "squirt"), t y ška "squirt, squirt"

literature

Benjamin W. Fortson: Indo-European Language And Culture. An Introduction. 2nd edition. Wiley-Blackwell, Oxford 2009, ISBN 978-1-4051-8896-8 .
Alwin Kloekhorst: Etymological Dictionary of the Hittite Inherited Lexicon. Brill, Leiden / Boston 2008, ISBN 978-90-04-16092-7 .
Helmut Rix : Historical grammar of Greek. Phonology and form theory. Darmstadt 1976, 1992, ISBN 3-534-03840-1 .
Helmut Rix: Lexicon of Indo-European Verbs . LIV. The roots and their primary stem formations. Edited by Martin Kümmel, Thomas Zehnder, Reiner Lipp and Brigitte Schirmer. 2nd, enlarged and improved edition. Reichert, Wiesbaden 2001, ISBN 3-89500-219-4 .
Elmar Seebold: Comparative and Etymological Dictionary of Germanic Strong Verbs. Mouton, The Hague 1970, DNB 458930229 .
Alfred Senn: Handbook of the Lithuanian Language. Volume 1: Grammar (= Indo-European Library. Series 1: Textbooks and Handbooks ). Winter, Heidelberg 1966, pp. 77-79.
Andrew L. Sihler: New Comparative Grammar of Greek and Latin. Oxford University Press, Oxford / New York 1995, ISBN 0-19-508345-8 .
Oswald JL Szemerényi: Introduction to Comparative Linguistics. 4th revised edition. Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1990, ISBN 3-534-04216-6 .
Harald Wiese: A journey through time to the origins of our language. How Indo-European Studies explains our words. Logos-Verlag, Berlin 2007, ISBN 978-3-8325-1601-7 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Ablaut - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations

Online verb form generator conjugation of strong verbs with marking of ablauts