[gothic-l] Re: Germanic/Gothic phonology and Wright's grammar

[Francisc Czobor]

Dear Gazariah,

I'm not a specilist in linguistics, only amateur, but I agree with
you.
I didn't read Wright's Grammar, but in other sources that I have
seen, those changes mentioned by you, like /u/ > /o/ are assigned to
West Germanic, not to Common Germanic. Of course, there is an /u/
> /o/ change aslo in North Germanic, but not in the same conditions
as in West Germanic (cf. PGm *burgs > Got. baurgs, NGm. borg, but OHG
burg; on the other hand, the form "guth" for "god" is attested also
in ON, beside the form "goth").

Francisc

--- In gothic-l at yahoogroups.com, "gazariah" <brahmabull at h...> wrote:
> I notice that Wright's Grammar of the Gothic Language (62)
describes
> a Primitive Germanic change of /u/ to /o/ if (long or short) /a, o/
> or (always long) /e/ follows in the next syllable, unless the
change
> is blocked by an intervening nasal or /i, j/. This is what gives
OE,
> OS /god/ OHG /got/ from IE */ghutom/ but cf. OHG /gutin/ where the
> change is blocked.
>
> Further on (70) is a Gothic (not common Germanic) change of /o/
> to /u/, resulting in /guth/.
>
> There is a similiar development for IE /eu/: some of its reflexes
> become /iu/ by a common Germanic change, then the rest become /iu/
> too, by a specifically Gothic change.
>
> I am not a specialist in Germanic, and I'm wondering why Wright is
> describing a change as Primitive Germanic and then simply reversing
> it for Gothic. Why not say that /u/ to /o/ happened in WGmn and
NGMc,
> but not in Gothic? I suppose this could be related to the dating of
> IE and Germanic /e/ to Gothic /i/.
>
> More geneally, what is the reputation of Wright's grammars? They
were
> published a long time ago, and I'm sure they're rather dated. But
are
> they regarded as generally reliable? Wright (with or without his
> wife) published a whole series of manuals on Germanic grammar, yet
I
> seldom see any reference to them.
>
> Gazariah


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