(Hebrew characters)=gefangen, (
Hebrew characters)=ofen, (
Hebrew characters)=hof, (
Hebrew characters)=brief. Initially, however, (
Hebrew characters) alternates with (
Hebrew characters), as (
Hebrew characters)=vor, (
Hebrew characters)=ver-, (
Hebrew characters)=fasten; medially (
Hebrew characters) is always written before t, as (
Hebrew characters)=füft, (
Hebrew characters)=gift, and at the end of a word after a consonant, (
Hebrew characters)=hülf, (
Hebrew characters)=fünf.
For the s-sound there are three different signs: (1) zayin ((Hebrew characters)), which mostly represents the soft sound and is, therefore always used at the beginning of a word, as (
Hebrew characters)=sie, (
Hebrew characters)=selb, (
Hebrew characters)=söbntn, (
Hebrew characters)=sechsten, (
Hebrew characters)=unser, (
Hebrew characters)=erloesn, (
Hebrew characters)=wesen, (
Hebrew characters)=gras, (
Hebrew characters)=boes, but (
Hebrew characters) and (
Hebrew characters)=biz, and (
Hebrew characters) and (
Hebrew characters)=Los, and (
Hebrew characters)=müezen; (2) Seen ((
Hebrew characters)), used medially before t and at the end, as (
Hebrew characters)=sechsten, (
Hebrew characters)=sünst, (
Hebrew characters)=fasten, (
Hebrew characters)=opez, obez, (
Hebrew characters)=grôz, (
Hebrew characters)=ich muoz, (
Hebrew characters)=Samuels, (
Hebrew characters)=Moses; (3) the Samech ((
Hebrew characters)) occurs only once in the foreign word (
Hebrew characters)=samît or semît.
The dialect of our text is obviously Middle German, as amply proved by the following linguistic pecularities: e becomes ê when it stands near l or r, such as êlenden 593, and always in verdêrben. This fact is proved by the rhyme her(re): sêre 827. Before l, e becomes a. Thus can be explained the rhyme stalle: schelle 1115. The following rhymes also point to the same dialect:
e: i, gehengen: singen 1329, her(re): mir 1373, hêr: mir 1453, brengen: gelingen 351, henken: getrinken 1127;
œ: e, wœre: êre 63: herre 1309;
œ: i, wœr(e): mir 1009;
i: î, nit: zît 25, 71, 699, 795, 1001; mich: rîch 1237; bin: sîn 877;
iu: u, friunden: gunden 883;
anc: ant, bezwanc: lant 769;
h assimilates medially in niht, nit: zît (see i: î). Intervocalic h disappears in slagen: Haman 1259. The same happens before t, as gemaht: stat 1033, gedaht: rat 1355, and at the end of a word in hô: dô 923: gegan 1003.
(e)n disappears finally in ende: senden 145, 215, schiere: zieren 149,[1] tage: sagen 1135, finde: schinden 641, knehte: gefehten 563, genuoge: truogen 1403, unwerde: erden 591, stunde: gefunden 687, hiute: liuten 927.
- ↑ If our text has enden, schieren, etc., this is no doubt due to the copyist, as remarked above.