This article is about the linguistic phenomenon in the Germanic languages. For the diacritic umlaut symbol ¨, see Umlaut (diacritic).
See also: Germanic a-mutation, i-mutation, and u-mutation
Type of vowel change
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
The Germanic umlaut (sometimes called i-umlaut or i-mutation) is a type of linguistic umlaut in which a back vowel changes to the associated front vowel (fronting) or a front vowel becomes closer to /i/ (raising) when the following syllable contains /i/, /iː/, or /j/.
It took place separately in various Germanic languages starting around 450 or 500 CE and affected all of the early languages[1] except Gothic.[2] An example of the resulting vowel alternation is the English plural foot ~ feet (from Proto-Germanic *fōts, pl. *fōtiz). Germanic umlaut, as covered in this article, does not include other historical vowel phenomena that operated in the history of the Germanic languages such as Germanic a-mutation and the various language-specific processes of u-mutation, nor the earlier Indo-European ablaut (vowel gradation), which is observable in the conjugation of Germanic strong verbs such as sing/sang/sung.
While Germanic umlaut has had important consequences for all modern Germanic languages, its effects are particularly apparent in German, because vowels resulting from umlaut are generally spelled with a specific set of letters: ⟨ä⟩, ⟨ö⟩, and ⟨ü⟩, usually pronounced /ɛ/ (formerly /æ/), /ø/, and /y/. Umlaut is a form of assimilation or vowel harmony, the process by which one speech sound is altered to make it more like another adjacent sound. If a word has two vowels with one far back in the mouth and the other far forward, more effort is required to pronounce the word than if the vowels were closer together; therefore, one possible linguistic development is for these two vowels to be drawn closer together.
^Cercignani, Fausto (1980). "Early "Umlaut" Phenomena in the Germanic Languages". Language. 56 (1): 126–136. doi:10.2307/412645. JSTOR 412645.
transcription delimiters. The Germanicumlaut (sometimes called i-umlaut or i-mutation) is a type of linguistic umlaut in which a back vowel changes to...
in Germanic languages were not present in Proto-Germanic but developed later as areal features that spread from language to language: Germanicumlaut only...
umlaut triggered by a following high front vowel; in particular: Germanicumlaut, a prominent instance of i-mutation in the history of the Germanic languages...
and West Germanic were also encompassed in a larger subgroup called Northwest Germanic. Northwest Germanic: mainly characterized by the i-umlaut, and the...
law Holtzmann's law Sievers' law Verner's law Kluge's law Germanic a-mutation Germanicumlaut (all of the early languages except for Gothic) Great Vowel...
The -j- produced umlaut of the stem vowel in languages other than Gothic. The -j- caused West Germanic gemination in the West Germanic languages in short-stem...
This happened, for example, in all of the West Germanic languages besides Old High German, where umlaut produced stem alternations in Class III weak verbs...
Germanic, including: The lowering of Proto-Germanic ē (/ɛː/, also written ǣ) to ā. The development of umlaut. The rhotacism of /z/ to /r/. The development...
formally distinct from phenomena like the Germanicumlaut, a form of vowel mutation used in plural forms in Germanic languages. There have been a variety of...
occurred in most Germanic languages. Like most other Germanic languages, Old English underwent a process known as i-mutation or i-umlaut. This involved...
language. The term "umlaut" is found especially in the Germanic languages (see Germanicumlaut). In some other languages, other terms are used instead...
often involves vowels. Indo-European ablaut (English sing-sang) and Germanicumlaut (goose-geese), mentioned above, are well attested examples. Another...
phonology; see Phonological history of Old English § Palatalization and Germanicumlaut § I-mutation in Old English for more information. "Inch" is cognate...
English, has not undergone the High German consonant shift, does not use Germanicumlaut as a grammatical marker, has largely abandoned the use of the subjunctive...
English are generally considered irregularities, surviving results of Germanicumlaut. They include: man → men, woman → women louse → lice, mouse → mice...
with an extra -j-, which causes umlaut in the present where possible. In West Germanic, it also causes the West Germanic gemination. The forms of class...
Öffa bills ("ö" is a Germanicumlaut that can be transcribed "oe") or job-creation bills were promissory notes created in 1932 by the German government...
display a number of innovations shared by all Germanic languages attested later: lack of Germanicumlaut, lack of rhotacism. The language also preserved...
-lier, -liest or -loker, -lokest. A few adjectives also displayed Germanicumlaut in their comparatives and superlatives, such as long, lenger. Other...
and beyond. A common example of transphonologization is Germanicumlaut. Germanic In many Germanic languages around 500–700 AD, a sound change fronted a...
the distinction becomes apparent when the two diphthongs undergo Germanicumlaut, such as in forming plurals: The vowel length distinctions of German...
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