56 CHARACTERS AND SOUNDS.
completely to the Sanskṛit a; and the sounds of the Greek ε and ο are wanting, in their character of degeneration from a, in Gothic as well as in Sanskrit. The ancient a has not, however, always been retained in Gothic; but in radical syllables, as well as in terminations, has often been weakened to i, or has undergone suppression; often, also, by the influence of a following liquid, has been converted into u. Compare, for instance, sibun, “seven,” with DEV saptan; taihun, “ten,” with dasan.
67. We believe ourselves authorized to lay down as a
law, that DEV a in polysyllabic words before a terminating s
is everywhere weakened into i, or suppressed; but before
a terminating th generally appears as i. A concluding DEV a
in the Gothic either remains unaltered, or disappears: it
never becomes i.
68. In the Old High German the Gothic a either remains
[G. Ed. p. 61.] unaltered, or is weakened to e, or is changed
by the influence of a liquid to u = perhaps o. According to
this, the relation of the unorganic e to the Gothic a is the
same as that of the Gothic (§. 66.) to DEV a; compare, for
instance, in the genitive of the bases in a DEV vṛika-sya,
Gothic vulfi-s, Old High German wolfe-s. In the dative plural
wolfu-m stands to vulfa-m in the same relation as above (§. 66.),
sibun to saptan. The precedence of a liquid has also, in Old
High German, sometimes converted this a into u or o;
compare plinte-mu(mo), cœco, with the Gothic blindamma. Also
after the German j or y, which in Sanskrit (DEV y) belongs as
a semi-vowel to the same class as ṛ, the Old High German
seems to prefer u to a; thence plintju, without j also plintu,
“cœca,” as a fem. nom, sing, and neuter nom. acc. voc.
plural; plinta “cœcam.” The u of the first person present, as
kipu, “I give,” Gothic giba, I ascribe to the influence of
the dropped personal letter m. Respecting the
degeneration of the original a sound to u compare also §. 66. In
the Old High German inseparable preposition ki (our
German ge) = Gothic ga. Sanskṛit DEV sa or DEV sam, we
