376 On English Prceterites. and seven long; e, 6, u, ai, au, ei, iu. These appear in this pure form in the Gothic only, for as early as the ninth century, the Old High Dutch, changed a when followed by i, into e ^ In the same language o arose occasionally out of u, and e out of i. The Anglo-Saxon a, according to par- ticular circumstances, became e (that is when followed in another syllable by i), or a (written in MSS. ae) before cer- tain combinations of consonants ; or ea, before h, r, 1, and combinations of these letters : lastly before mm, nn and certain other duplications and combinations of consonants it deepened into o. In like manner the Anglo-Saxon i, before h, r, 1 became e or eo, as before h and r, the same i had in Gothic itself become ai. Before other consonants it either remained in Anglo-Saxon as i, or was dulled as in Ohd into e. U which in Gothic before h and r, assumed the form au and the sound of o, either remained in Anglo-Saxon u, or o, or if followed by i in another syllable, assumed the sound of the German ii and was written y. The Gothic e found a representative in the Anglo-Saxon ae, (quite distinct from a, and generally marked ae' in Anglo-Saxon MSS. and
- This the German grammarians since Klopstock, call Umlaut^ or About-sound,
Examples of the various changes here mentioned will make the matter clear. a into e. Got. Balg-s (m) pi. balg.eis. Ohd. Pale. pi. Pelk-i. cutis. u into o. Got. Gx) (n) idolon. Ohd. Kot. deus, i into e. Got. Gib-a (f ) doiium, Ohd. Kep-a. AS. a into e. Got. Har-j-is (m) ^<r^ra^«5. AS. Her-e. a into a. Got. Dag-s (m) c?i^5. AS. dag (the sound of this vowel is that of a in the word back). a into ea. Got. Bam. (n) infans. AS. Beam. a into o. Got. Man-s. (m) AS. Mon. i into eo. Got. Hair-us (m) gladius. AS. Heoro. i into e. Got. Wig-s (m) via. AS. Weg. Ohd. wee. u into o. Got. Dauh-tar. (f ) AS. jy6hi-ox. filia. u into y. Got. Kun-i. (n) AS. cyn (for cyn-ne) genus. Got. e into ae. Got. Ded-s (f ) AS. daed. factum. 6 into ^. Got. B6t-an. AS. Bet-an. meliorari. u into 5^. Got. HQs. (n) sing, domus. AS. h^'s. (n) pi. domus. ai into a. Got. Haim-s (f ) vicus. AS. Ham. (m) au into ea. Got. Laub-s (m)/o/n^m. AS. leaf. (n). ei into i. Got. NeiJ? (m) invidiam. AS. NiJ?. iu into e6 or ;^. Got. {?iubs (m)/t^r. AS. Ye6f. AS. ea into y or i. Got. Maht-s (f ) potestas. AS. meaht and miht. eainto^. Got. Nau)7-s,(f ) muw/ia. AS. nead. and nM- (more than once ne6d which seems formed upon the present iu, rather than the praet. au of the theoretic verb niuj^an, nauf?»
