Old High Jermench (MGR)

---

Old High Jermench Iermânêh
Spoken in:	Kingdom of Germany / Holy Roman Empire
Conworld:	Mundus Germaniae Romanae
Total speakers:	unknown
Genealogical classification:	Indo-European Romance Northern-Romance Old High Jermench
Basic word order:	SVO
Morphological type:	inflecting
Morphosyntactic alignment:	nominative-accusative
Writing system:
Created by:
P Collier, BP Jonsson	2006+

Introduction

The term Old High Jermench (OHJ) refers to the earliest stage of the Jermench language and it conventionally covers the period from around 500 to 1050 CE. Coherent written texts do not appear until the second half of the 8th century, and some treat the period before 750 as 'prehistoric' and date the start of OHJ proper to 750 for this reason.

The main difference between OHJ and the Northern-Romance dialects from which it developed is that it underwent the High Jermench Consonant Shift. This is generally dated very approximately to the late 5th and early 6th centuries - hence dating the start of OHJ to around 500. The result of this sound change is that the consonant system of Jermench remains different from all other Northern Romance languages, including {Rom-English} and Low Jermench. Grammatically, however, OHJ remained very similar to Old {Rom-English}, Old {Rom-Dutch} and Old {Rom-Low Saxon}.

By the mid 11th century the many different vowels found in unstressed syllables had all been reduced to 'e'. Since these vowels were part of the grammatical endings in the nouns and verbs, their loss led to radical simplification of the inflectional grammar of Jermench. For that reason, 1050 is seen as the start of the Middle High Jermench period.

Modern Descendants

• (Modern High) Jermench
• {Rom-Luxembourgish}
• {Rom-Yiddish}

Phonology

Consonants

Consonants
		Bilabial		Labiodental		Dental		Alveolar		Palatal		Velar		Glottal
Nasal		m						n				ŋ
Plosive		p   b						t   d				k   g
Affricate		p͡f						t͡s
Fricative				f   v		θ		s   z				x		h
Approximant		w								j
Trill								r
Lateral								l

¹The stop allophones occured in initial position or when geminated. In other positions b d and g are realised as fricatives.

1. There is wide variation in the consonant systems of the OHJ dialects arising mainly from the differing extent to which they are affected by the High Jermench Consonant Shift. Precise information about the articulation of consonants is impossible to establish.
2. In the plosive and fricative series, where there are two consonants in a cell, the first is fortis the second lenis. The voicing of lenis consonants varied between dialects.
3. /θ/ changes to /d/ in all dialects during the 9th century.
4. OHJ has long consonants, and the following double consonant spellings indicate not vowel length as in Modern Jermench orthography, but rather genuine double consonants: pp, bb, tt, dd, ck (for /kk/), gg, ff, ss, hh, zz, mm, nn, ll, rr.

Vowels

Vowels
				Front		Near-front		Central		Near-back		Back
High				iː								uː
Near-high						ɪ				ʊ
High-mid				e								oː
Low-mid						ɛ   ɛː						ɔ   ɔː
Low								a   aː

Phonological History

Primary I-Mutation

High Jermench Consonant Shift

The High Jermench consonant shift was a phonological development which took place in the southern parts of the Northern Romance dialect continuum in several phases, probably beginning between the 3rd and 5th centuries CE, and was almost complete before the earliest written records in the High Jermench language were made in the 9th century. The resulting language, Old High Jermench, can be neatly contrasted with the other continental Northern Romance languages, which mostly did not experience the shift.

The High Jermench consonant shift altered a number of consonants in the Southern Jermench dialects, and so explains why many Jermnch words have different consonants from the obviously related words in {Rom-English} and {Rom-Dutch}. Depending on definition, the term may be restricted to a core group of nine individual consonant modifications, or it may include other changes taking place in the same period.

For the core group, there are three thrusts which may be thought of as three successive phases:

1. The three voiceless stops became fricatives in certain phonetic environments ( Spanish picaza maps to Jermench faiche);
2. The same sounds became affricates in other positions (tu : zu); and
3. The three voiced stops became voiceless (de : tei).

Of the other changes which sometimes are bracketed within the High Jermench consonant shift, the most important (sometimes thought of as the fourth phase) is:

4. /θ/ (and its allophone [ð]) became /d/ (Proto-Northern Romance *thrattar : Modern Jermench dratzer).

This phenomenon is known as the "High Jermench" consonant shift because it affects the High Jermench dialects (i.e. those of the mountainous south), principally the Upper Jermench dialects, though in part it also affects the Central Jermench dialects. However the fourth phase also included Low Jermench and {Rom-Dutch}.

The High Jermench consonant shift did not occur in a single movement, but rather, as a series of waves over several centuries. The geographical extent of these waves varies. They all appear in the southernmost dialects, and spread northwards to differing degrees. While some are found only in southernmost parts, most are found throughout the Upper Jermench area, and some spread on into the Central Jermench dialects. The shift th→d was more successful; it spread all the way to the North Sea and affected {Rom-Dutch} as well as Jermench. Most, but not all of these changes have become part of modern Standard Jermench.

The High Jermench consonant shift is a good example of a chain shift. For example, phases 1/2 left the language without a /t/ phoneme, as this had shifted to /s/ or /ts/. Phase 3 filled this gap (d→t), but left a new gap at /d/, which phase 4 then filled (th→d).

Stage 1

In this phase, voiceless stops became geminated fricatives intervocalically, or single fricatives postvocalically in final position.

p→ff or final f

t→zz (later Jermenchss) or final z (s)

k→hh (later Jermenchch)

Note: In these OHJ words, <z> stands for a voiceless fricative that is distinct somehow from <s>. The exact nature of the distinction is unknown; possibly <s> was apical while <z> was laminal.

The first phase did not affect geminate stops in words like *fattar "father", nor did it affect stops after other consonants, as in words like *sunt "(they) are", where another consonant falls between the vowel and the stop. These remained unshifted until the second phase.

Stage 2

In the second phase, which was completed by the eighth century, the same sounds became affricates (i.e. a stop followed by a fricative) in three environments: in initial position; when geminated; and after a liquid consonant (/l/ or /r/) or nasal consonant (/m/ or /n/).

/p/ > /p͡f/ (written <pf> or <ph>)

/t/ > /t͡s/ (written <z> or <tz>)

/k/ > /k͡x/ (written <kch>)

The shift did not take place where the stop was preceded by a fricative, i.e. in the combinations /sp, st, sk, ft, ht/. /t/ also remained unshifted in the combination /tr/.

• The shift of /t/ > /t͡s/ occurs throughout the High Jermench area and is reflected in Modern Standard Jermench.
• The shift of /p/ > /p͡f/ occurs throughout Upper Jermench, but there is wide variation in Central Jermench dialects. The further north the dialect the fewer environments show shifted consonants. This shift is reflected in Standard Jermench.
• The shift of /k/ > /k͡x/ is geographically highly restricted and only took place is the southernmost Upper Jermench dialects. The Tyrol is the only region where the affricate /k͡x/ has developed in all positions. In alpine regions only the geminate has developed into an affricate, whereas in the other positions, /k/ has become /x/. However, there is initial /k͡x/ as well, since it is used for any k in loanwords, for instance [kxariˈb̥ikx].

Stage 3

The third phase, which had the most limited geographical range, saw the voiced stops become voiceless.

b→p

d→t

g→k

Of these, only the dental shift d→t finds its way into standard Jermench. The others are restricted to southernmost dialects. This shift probably began in the 8th or 9th century, after the first and second phases ceased to be productive, otherwise the resulting voiceless stops would have shifted further to fricatives and affricates.

Morphology

Nouns

1st Declension

Group I

Feminine.

A Standard paradigm 1st Declension – Group Ia Singular Plural Nominative – a – as Accusative – a – as Genitive – â – âr Dative – â – îs	B Nouns with primary I-mutation. 1st Declension – Group Ib Singular Plural Nominative – a – as Accusative – a – as Genitive – â – âr Dative – â ̈– s
C Nouns with primary I-mutation and loss/assimilation of final -s after /s/, /z/, or /t͡s/.  1st Declension – Group Ic Singular Plural Nominative – a – as Accusative – a – as Genitive – â – âr Dative – â ̈–

Group II

Feminine.

A Standard paradigm 1st Declension – Group IIa Singular Plural Nominative – – as Accusative – – as Genitive – s – âr Dative – â – îs	B Nouns with loss/assimilation of final -s after /s/, /z/, or /t͡s/. 1st Declension – Group IIb Singular Plural Nominative – – as Accusative – – as Genitive – – âr Dative – â – îs
C Nouns with primary I-mutation.  1st Declension – Group IIc Singular Plural Nominative – – as Accusative – – as Genitive – s – âr Dative – â ̈– s	D Nouns with primary I-mutation and loss/assimilation of final -s after /s/, /z/, or /t͡s/. 1st Declension – Group IId Singular Plural Nominative – – as Accusative – – as Genitive – – âr Dative – â ̈–

2nd Declension

Group I

Masculine.

A Standard paradigm 2nd Declension – Group Ia Singular Plural Nominative – – î Accusative – – s Genitive – s – ôr Dative – î – îs	B Nouns with loss/assimilation of final -s after /s/, /z/, or /t͡s/. 2nd Declension – Group Ib Singular Plural Nominative – – î Accusative – – Genitive – – ôr Dative – î – îs
C Nouns with primary I-mutation.  2nd Declension – Group Ic Singular Plural Nominative – ̈– Accusative – – s Genitive – s – ôr Dative ̈– ̈– s	D Nouns with primary I-mutation and loss/assimilation of final -s after /s/, /z/, or /t͡s/. 2nd Declension – Group Id Singular Plural Nominative – ̈– Accusative – – Genitive – – ôr Dative ̈– ̈–

Group II

Masculine.

A Standard paradigm 2nd Declension – Group IIa Singular Plural Nominative – s – î Accusative – – s Genitive – s – ôr Dative – î – îs	B Nouns with loss/assimilation of final -s after /s/, /z/, or /t͡s/. 2nd Declension – Group IIb Singular Plural Nominative – – î Accusative – – Genitive – – ôr Dative – î – îs
C Nouns with primary I-mutation.  2nd Declension – Group IIc Singular Plural Nominative – s ̈– Accusative – – s Genitive – s – ôr Dative ̈– ̈– s	D Nouns with primary I-mutation and loss/assimilation of final -s after /s/, /z/, or /t͡s/. 2nd Declension – Group IId Singular Plural Nominative – ̈– Accusative – – Genitive – – ôr Dative ̈– ̈–

Group III

Masculine.

A Standard paradigm 2nd Declension – Group IIIa Singular Plural Nominative – s – î Accusative – – s Genitive – î – ôr Dative – – îs	B Nouns with loss/assimilation of final -s after /s/, /z/, or /t͡s/. 2nd Declension – Group IIIb Singular Plural Nominative – – î Accusative – – Genitive – î – ôr Dative – – îs
C Nouns with primary I-mutation.  2nd Declension – Group IIIc Singular Plural Nominative – s ̈– Accusative – – s Genitive ̈– – ôr Dative – ̈– s	D Nouns with primary I-mutation and loss/assimilation of final -s after /s/, /z/, or /t͡s/. 2nd Declension – Group IIId Singular Plural Nominative – ̈– Accusative – – Genitive ̈– – ôr Dative – ̈–

Group IV

Masculine.

A Standard paradigm 2nd Declension – Group IVa Singular Plural Nominative – – î Accusative – – s Genitive – î – ôr Dative – – îs	B Nouns with loss/assimilation of final -s after /s/, /z/, or /t͡s/. 2nd Declension – Group IVb Singular Plural Nominative – – î Accusative – – Genitive – î – ôr Dative – – îs
C Nouns with primary I-mutation.  2nd Declension – Group IVc Singular Plural Nominative – ̈– Accusative – – s Genitive ̈– – ôr Dative – ̈– s	D Nouns with primary I-mutation and loss/assimilation of final -s after /s/, /z/, or /t͡s/. 2nd Declension – Group IVd Singular Plural Nominative – ̈– Accusative – – Genitive ̈– – ôr Dative – ̈–

3rd Declension

Group I

Feminine.

A Standard paradigm 3rd Declension – Group Ia Singular Plural Nominative – s – s Accusative – – s Genitive – s – Dative – î – ius	B Nouns with loss/assimilation of final -s after /s/, /z/, or /t͡s/. 3rd Declension – Group Ib Singular Plural Nominative – – Accusative – – Genitive – – Dative – î – ius
C Nouns with primary I-mutation.  3rd Declension – Group Ic Singular Plural Nominative – s – s Accusative – – s Genitive – s – Dative ̈– – ius	D Nouns with primary I-mutation and loss/assimilation of final -s after /s/, /z/, or /t͡s/. 3rd Declension – Group Id Singular Plural Nominative – – Accusative – – Genitive – – Dative ̈– – ius

Pronouns

Pronouns
		Singular				Plural
		masculine	feminine	reflexive	impersonal	masculine	feminine	reflexive
1st person	Nominative	iu		―	―	nus		―
	Accusative	mei			―	nus
	Genitive	mî		―	―	nôstar		―
	Dative	mouî		―	―	nous		―
2nd person	Nominative	zû		―	―	uuus		―
	Accusative	zei			―	uuus
	Genitive	tuuî		―	―	uuestar		―
	Dative	zouî		―	―	uuous		―
3rd person	Nominative	el	ella	―	hôm	illî	ellas	―
	Accusative	sei			hôm	sei
	Genitive	suuî		―	hôms	suuî		―
	Dative	souî		―	hômî	sîs		―
Interrogative & relative	Nominative	cî		―	―	cî		―
	Accusative	cie		―	―	cus	quas
	Genitive	cius¹	quâis	―	―	cour	quâr	―
	Dative	cî	quâî	―	―	cius²		―

¹ /kjʊs/
² /ki͜us/

Verbs

The earlier shift of stress to the word stem in Proto-Northern Romance (PNR), together with the loss of many unstressed vowels, led to considerable changes in the morphology of verbs in Old High Jermench as many of the old Latin/Romance verb endings merged or disappeared.

By far the largest degree of change took place in the preterite indicative, which was derived from Latin's perfect. The change was wrought by the loss of the original fourth conjugation endings and the subsequent reanalysis of many verbs, and it was these changes which really drove the beginning of the creation of the new OHJ verb system.

The changes, which began in PNR and continued in early OHJ, saw the -ī class indicative perfects disappear entirely as new preterite forms arose, with the exception of feci and fui, which came to be viewed as irregular. Original fourth conjugation verbs whose stems ended in –s were often reanalysed as -si class (original third conjugation), while others with stems ending in -d were aligned with the formerly reduplitative verbs in the original first declension. The remaining original fourth congjugation verbs generally developed new -uī forms and merged their preterites with original second conjugation verbs:

vēnī > *vénuí > winwî.

There followed a general rearrangement of all preterites, and ultimately examples of all classes could be found in each conjugation. From this point, a more useful distinction when considering the preterite became the distinction between weak (those formed from Latin perfects in -v-) and strong verbs, rather than their conjugation per se.

In the remainder of the original third conjugation the original short vowels were in general completely lost, to be replaced in some instances by [ə] but often by the corresponding second conjugation endings as these two conjugations increasingly fell together. As part of this process, the preterite subjunctive (derived from Latin's pluperfect subjunctive) of original third conjugation verbs developed an epenthetic –u–, which had become –w– by the stage of early OHJ:

sūmpsissem > *súmsuiss > sûmswis

There was also considerable interchange between the combined second/third conjugation and the original fourth, especially in the present indicative to replace forms that had become indistinct through vowel syncope.

By the end of the OHJ period, the verb system is classified as having two conjugations (respectively, form the original first and from a combination of the original second, third and fourth), each of which has strong and weak forms.

These forms are illustrated in the tables below.

Indicative Mood

1st Conjugation

Present (weak) Singular Plural 1st person – – âms 2nd person – as – âts 3rd Person – az – antz	Preterite (weak) Singular Plural 1st person – e – oums 2nd person – est – asts 3rd Person – ouz – ârntz
Present (strong) Singular Plural 1st person 2nd person 3rd Person	Preterite (strong)¹ Singular Plural 1st person – î – iems 2nd person – istî – ists 3rd Person – ûz – ierntz

¹ Primarily verbs with stems ending in -t.

2nd Conjugation

Present (weak) Singular Plural 1st person – – îms 2nd person – îs – ats¹ 3rd Person – az¹ – antz¹	Preterite (weak) Singular Plural 1st person – i – ôms 2nd person – ist –ists 3rd Person – ôz – îrntz
Present (strong) Singular Plural 1st person – – ams¹ 2nd person – îs – ats¹ 3rd Person – az¹ – antz¹	Preterite (strong) Singular Plural 1st person – wî – wiems 2nd person – wistî – wists 3rd Person – ûz – wierntz

¹ Here a represented [ə]

Some strong 2nd conjugation verbs, primarily those with stems ending in -s, formed their preterite indicative differently:

Preterite (Simple Past)
		Singular	Plural
	1st person	– sî	– siems
	2nd person	– sistî	– sists
	3rd Person	– sûz	– sierntz

Subjunctive Mood

1st Conjugation

Present Singular Plural 1st person – – iems 2nd person – as¹ – iets 3rd Person – az¹ – antz¹

Preterite (Simple Past) Singular Plural 1st person – wis – ôsiems 2nd person – wis – ôsiets 3rd Person – wist – wissantz¹

¹ Here a represented [ə]

2nd Conjugation

Present Singular Plural 1st person –a – âms 2nd person – as – âts 3rd Person – az – antz

Preterite (Simple Past) Singular Plural 1st person – wis – iuseims 2nd person – wis – iuseits 3rd Person – wist – wissantz¹

¹ Here a represented [ə]

3rd Conjugation

Present Singular Plural 1st person –a – âms 2nd person – as – âts 3rd Person – az – antz

Preterite (Simple Past) Singular Plural 1st person – wis – wissiems 2nd person – wis – wissiets 3rd Person – wist – wissantz¹

¹ Here a represented [ə]

Imperative Mood

Singular 1st Conjugation – a 2nd Conjugation – ei 3rd Conjugation – ie

Plural 1st Conjugation – âz 2nd Conjugation – îz 3rd Conjugation – iez

Infinitive and Past Participles

Infinitive
	1st Conjugation		– âr
	2nd Conjugation		– îr
	3rd Conjugation		– ier

Perfect Past Participle (Supine)
1st Conjugation		cun – âz
2nd Conjugation		cun – îz
3rd Conjugation		cun – ûz

Passive Past Participle
		Masculine	Feminine
	1st Conjugation	cun – âts	cun – âzza
	2nd Conjugation	cun – îts	cun – îzza
	3rd Conjugation	cun – ûts	cun – ûzza

The passive participle agrees with the gender of the patient.

Auxilliary Verbs

Estzar (to be)

Present Singular Plural 1st person sou soums 2nd person es ests 3rd Person est suntz

Preterite (Simple Past) Singular Plural 1st person duî doums 2nd person dustî dusts 3rd Person duz dourntz

Estzar was used in conjunction with a passive participle to create the passive voice.

The passive participle agrees in gender with the patient. For example, ella est cunâmâzza (she is loved), el duz cuntâts (it was given).

Hâbeir (to have)

Present Singular Plural 1st person hâb hâbeims 2nd person hôs hâbeits 3rd Person houz hôntz

Preterite (Simple Past) Singular Plural 1st person houuuî houuueims 2nd person houuuistî houuuists 3rd Person houuut houuueirntz

The present tense of hâbeir was used in conjunction with a past participle to create the perfect: iu hâb cundouz (I have been).

The preterite of hâbeir was used in conjunction with a past participle to create the pluperfect: uuus houuueims cunuuintz (we had come).

UUienîr (to come)

Present Singular Plural 1st person uuien uuienîms 2nd person uuienîs uuienîzzîs 3rd Person uuienaz uuienantz

Preterite (Simple Past) Singular Plural 1st person uuinuuî uuinuueims 2nd person uuinuuistî uuinuuists 3rd Person uuinuz uuinuueirntz

The present tense of uuienîr was used in conjunction with an infinitive to create the future: zû uuienîs intûzar (you will lead).

The preterite of uuienîr was used in conjunction with an infinitive to create the conditional (i.e. 'future-in-the-past): iu uuinuuî ferdounâr (I would forgive).

Sample Texts

Sacramenta Argentariae

The Sacramenta Argentariae are the pledges of allegiance taken in 842 by Louis the German and his brother Charles the Bald. As well as their allegiance to each other, Louis and Charles pledged their opposition to the Emperor, their elder brother Lothair.

According to our chief source for the meeting, Nithard's De dissensionibus filiorum Ludovici pii (On the Dissensions of the Sons of Louis the Pious), each king swore the oath not in Latin but in the vernacular of the other's kingdom, in front of the assembled armies, which then made their pledge in their own languages. The first oath is in a variety of old Gallo-Romance, the ancestor of Old French; The second is in Old High Jermench. They are one of the first texts we have written in Romance languages clearly distinct from Latin.

LODHUVICUS, QUONIAM MAJOR NATU ERAT, PRIOR HAEC DEINDE SE SERVATURUM TESTATUS EST:

Pro Deo amur et pro Christian poblo et nostro commun salvament, d'ist di in avant, in quant Deus savir et podir me dunat, si salvarai eo cist meon fradre Karlo et in aiudha et in cadhuna cosa, si cum om per dreit son fradra salvar dift, in o quid il me altresi fazet, et ab Ludher nul plaid numquam prindrai, qui, meon vol, cist meon fradre Karle in damno sit

QUOD CUM LODHUVICUS EXPLESSET, KAROLUS ROMANA LINGUA GERMANIARUM SIC HEC EADEM VERBA TESTATUS EST:

Fôr Iî âmarî ez louis cristânî fuoflî ez nôstrâ ambôs sâlûzzî, tei ikchlouî iurn ah âbantz, in sî mouî Ius seffantza ah fuotsâz ferdaz, sî uuard iu ekchlou mou dratzar, sîht hôm âbad teiriht sou dratzar tiuz, in lâ cî el mei sî meizzêma daz, ez âbad Luozzâr in nurr côsa nei soubîr, lâ mâ uuuontzâz souî nôzeir uuienaz.