Meaning of ``Goth``

[Leo A. Connolly]

Herb Stahlke wrote:

> I  don't know Germanic linguistics well, but could /kans/ be
> something Notker would have written?

> Herb Stahlke

> <<< Georg at home.ivm.de  1/ 6  8:37p >>>

>> By the way (displaying my ignorance here), how does OHG "kans" appear as
>> modern German "gans"?  Did only the /d/ -> /t/ part of this shift get fully
>> established in standard German?

Stefan Georg replied:

> It's OHG, MHG, and NHG /gans/.

True enough.  But initial /g/ is often written <k> or <c> the Bavarian
and Alemannic dialects of OHG.  In fact, 19th century linguists seemed
to regard this as the "proper" development -- they called it
"strengalthochdeutsch".

In the systems of these dialects, Gmc. /k-/ had become affricate [kx-],
usually written <ch> or <kh>.  Gmc. /g/ was the only other velar stop,
and in initial position was surely voiceless all or most of the time
and, apparently, sometimes fortis [k], to judge from modern Swiss
dialects.  Notker would have written <kans> at the start of a sentence,
or if the preceding word ended with an obstruent, apparently indicating
the fortis [k].  He wrote <g> after vowels, nasals, and resonants.  This
is part of the famous Notker'sche Anlautsgesetz.  Initial [kx] is now
preserved only in certain Austrian dialects; most  Alemannic, Bavarian
and Austrian dialects have restored [kh], while Swiss dialects have [x].

Gmc. /t/ appears as <z> in OHG, /d/ as <t> in Alemannic, Bavarian, and
East Franconian (and in the modern standard language), and /T/ appears
as /d/, which Notker writes <t> after obstruents.

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