# Proto-Germanic/Printable version

The current, editable version of this book is available in Wikibooks, the open-content textbooks collection, at
https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Proto-Germanic

# Pronunciation

Welcome to the pronunciation lesson of Proto-Germanic!

## Consonants

| | | Bilabial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Velar |
| | | Bilabial | Dental | Alveolar | Palatal | Plain | Labial |
| Nasal | Nasal | m ⟨m⟩ | | n ⟨n⟩ | | | |
| Stop | Unvoiced | p ⟨p⟩ | t ⟨t⟩ | | | k ⟨k⟩ | kʷ ⟨kw⟩ |
| Stop | Voiced | b ⟨b⟩ | d ⟨d⟩ | | | ɡ ⟨g⟩ | ɡʷ ⟨gw⟩ |
| Fricative | Unvoiced | ɸ ⟨f⟩ | θ ⟨þ⟩ | s ⟨s⟩ | | x ⟨h⟩ | xʷ ⟨hw⟩ |
| Fricative | Voiced | | | z ⟨z⟩ | | | |
| Approximants | Approximants | | | | j ⟨j⟩ | | w ⟨w⟩ |
| Lateral | Lateral | | | l ⟨l⟩ | | | |
| Trill | Trill | | | r ⟨r⟩ | | | |
* In some positions, voiced stops /b/, /d/, and /ɡ/ are pronounced as [β], [ð], and [ɣ] instead:
** in intervocalic positions;
** in word-initial positions in the case of /ɡ/ [ɣ]; and
** sometimes after /r/ in the case of /d/ [ð], varying with its stop allophone.
* /n/ before velar stops /k/ and /ɡ/ (both of which can be labialized) is pronounced as /ŋ/.

## Vowels

Oral vowels :
| Type | Front | Front | Front | Back | Back | Back |
| Type | short | long | overlong | short | long | overlong |
| Close | i ⟨i⟩ | iː ⟨ī⟩ | | u ⟨u⟩ | uː ⟨ū⟩ | |
| Mid | e ⟨e⟩ | eː ⟨ē²⟩ | eːː ~ æːː ⟨ê⟩ | | oː ⟨ō⟩ | oːː ⟨ô⟩ |
| Open | | æː ⟨ē¹⟩ | eːː ~ æːː ⟨ê⟩ | ɑ ⟨a⟩ | ɑː ⟨ā⟩ | |
Nasal vowels :
| Type | Front | Front | Back | Back |
| Type | short | long | short | long |
| Close | ĩ ⟨į⟩ | ĩː ⟨į̄⟩ | ũ ⟨ų⟩ | ũː ⟨ų̄⟩ |
| Mid | | | | õː ⟨ǭ⟩ |
| Open | | | ɑ̃ ⟨ą⟩ | ɑ̃ː ⟨ą̄⟩ |

# Pronouns and numbers

Welcome to the first lesson of Proto-Germanic!

## Pronouns
### Personal pronouns
#### First and second person

Unlike almost all modern Germanic languages, Proto-Germanic personal pronouns still has dual forms (except those were non-existent for the third person).
| Case | Singular | Singular | Dual | Dual | Plural | Plural |
| Case | First | Second | First | Second | First | Second |
| Case | I | you thou | we two | you two | we | you |
| Nominative | *ek | *þū | *wet | *jut | *wīz | *jūz |
| Accusative | *mek | *þek | *unk | *inkw | *uns | *izwiz |
| Genitive | *mīnaz | *þīnaz | *unkeraz | *inkweraz | *unseraz | *izweraz |
| Dative / Instrumental | *miz | *þiz | *unkiz | *inkwiz | *unsiz | *izwiz |
In Gothic, however, ending *-az in the genitive forms are replaced by ones ending in *-ō (yielding *mīnō, *þīnō, *unserō, *izwerō, *unkerō and *inkerō). Unstressed forms of monosyllabic personal pronouns are formed by raising *-e- to *-i-, so *ek yields unstressed *ik, *wet yields *wit, and *mek yields *mik.

#### Third person

The third person pronouns, however, are very diverse throughout the family (Old English he, but Gothic es). The table below, however, are extracted from the corresponding Wikipedia article about the grammar of Proto-Germanic.
| | Singular | Singular | Singular | Plural | Plural | Plural |
| | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter | Masculine | Feminine | Neuter |
| | he | she | it | they | they | they |
| Nominative | *iz | *sī | *it | *īz | *ijôz | *ijō |
| Accusative | *inǭ | *ijǭ | *it | *inz | *ijôz | *ijō |
| Genitive | *es | *ezōz | *es | *ezǫ̂ | *ezǫ̂ | *ezǫ̂ |
| Dative | *immai | *ezōi | *immai | *emaz | *emaz | *emaz |
| Instrumental | *ina (?) | *ezō | *ina (?) | *imiz | *imiz | *imiz |

## Numbers
### List

| 1 | *ainaz | 11 | *ainalif | 30 | *þrīz tigiwiz |
| 2 | *twō | 12 | *twalif | 40 | *fedwōr tigiwiz |
| 3 | *þrīz | 13 | *þritehun | 50 | *fimf tigiwiz |
| 4 | *fedwōr | 14 | *fedurtehun | 60 | *sehs tigiwiz |
| 5 | *fimf | 15 | *fimftehun | 70 | *sebun tigiwiz *sebuntēhundą |
| 6 | *sehs | 16 | *sehstehun | 80 | *ahtōu tigiwiz *ahtōutēhundą |
| 7 | *sebun | 17 | *sebuntehun | 90 | *newun tigiwiz *newuntēhundą |
| 8 | *ahtōu | 18 | *ahtōutehun | 100 | *hundą *hundaradą *tehuntēhundą |
| 9 | *newun | 19 | *newuntehun | 1000 | *þūsundī |
| 10 | *tehun | 20 | *twai tigiwiz | | |

### Derivatives

* Cardinal: Usually formed by the suffix *-dô, however, it instead becomes *-tô after voiceless consonants (*fimf "five" → *fimftô "fifth"). Some numbers have irregular forms:
** *ainaz → *frumô "first"
** *twō → *anþeraz "second"
** *þrīz → *þridjô "third"
** *fedwōr → *fedurþô "fourth"
** *sehs → *sehtô "sixth"
** *ahtōu → *ahtudô "eighth"

# Nouns and adjectives

Welcome to the second lesson of Proto-Germanic!

## Nouns
### Masculine nouns

Ending in *-az :
| | *dagaz "day" | *dagaz "day" |
| | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | *dagaz | *dagōz |
| Vocative | *dag | *dagōz |
| Accusative | *dagą | *daganz |
| Genitive | *dagas *dagis | *dagǭ |
| Dative | *dagai | *dagamz |
| Instrumental | *dagō | *dagamz |
Note that nouns containing *-e- always umlauted to *-i- before all endings containing *-i- in first syllable (nominative *berg-az "mountain, hill", but genitive *birg-is). Noun stems ending in *-j- or *-ij- have their own declensions with unique genitive singular ending (there are two variants of genitive singular, however):
| Nominative singular | *harjaz "army" | *hirdijaz "shepherd" |
| Genitive singular | *harjas | *hirdijas |
| Genitive singular | *haris | *hirdīs |
So, all of the expected sequences *-ji- and *-iji- instead becoming *-i- and *-ī- as a result of regular sound changes.

### Feminine nouns

Ending in *-ō :
| | *gebō "day" | *gebō "day" |
| | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative | *gebō | *gebōz |
| Vocative | *gebō | *gebōz |
| Accusative | *gebǭ | *gebōz |
| Genitive | *gebōz | *gebǭ |
| Dative | *gebōi | *gebōmz |
| Instrumental | *gebō | *gebōmz |

### Neuter nouns

Note that nouns in the neuter gender have syncretism in nominative, vocative, and accusative cases.
Ending in *-ą :
| | *wurdą "word" | *wurdą "word" |
| | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative Vocative Accusative | *wurdą | *wurdō |
| Genitive | *wurdas *wurdis | *wurdǭ |
| Dative | *wurdai | *wurdamz |
| Instrumental | *wurdō | *wurdamz |
Ending in *-az :
| | *lambaz "lamb" | *lambaz "lamb" |
| | Singular | Plural |
| Nominative Vocative Accusative | *lambaz | *lambizō |
| Genitive | *lambizz | *lambizǭ |
| Dative | *lambizī | *lambizumz |
| Instrumental | *lambizē | *lambizumz |
Retention of neuter -az declension is a complex issue. Anglian dialect of Old English fully preserved this declension (see lamb), while the rest of West Germanic only in the plural (the singular endings were replaced by more common masculine counterparts, e.g. dative *lambai from earlier *lambizī). Old Norse and Gothic fully merge this to the masculine -az declension.
* ↑ A Grammar of Proto-Germanic: III. Inflectional morphology