GERMAN AND ENGLISH COGNATES. 279 3. In the consonants there is found a tendency to variation — or shifting - within the same organ or class (lingual, labial, guttural), by which to - correspond respectively except that in the linguals, where there is no German aspirate, the sibilants, are substituted: or, by mnemonic initials, Saxon-English-S H A; High-German - HA S. NOTE. In every case the German example is placed first this being the form which the student needs to identify. In general, however, the English (Low German) forms are more primitive than the (High) German. 4. Linguals-here the variations are most regular. a) English d; German t: Traum, dream; tot, dead; thun, do; (initial 3) zahm, tame; zehn, ten; eitel, idle; Sattel, saddle; Blut, blood; rot(h), red. b) English t; German s, 3: zu, to; (medial) besser, better; Wasser, water; (final) das, that; Fuß, foot; Herz, heart; Netz, net (13 for 33). c) English th; German d:— danken, thank; dick, thick; Bruder, brother; Feder, feather; Bad, bath; Tod, death. NOTE.-Hence forms like: Vater, father; Mutter, mother; tausend, thousand; fort, forth, are irregular. 5. Labials - here variations are less regular. a) English b; German p (rarely initial) :— Polster, bolster; Rippe, rib; Stoppel, stubble. b) English p; German f, pf but only pf initial: - tief, deep; Schlaf, sleep; auf, up; Pfad, path; Apfel, apple; Zopf, top. c) English f, v; German þ (not initial): — Kalb, calf; taub, deaf; selb, self; eben, even; sieben, seven. NOTE. Sometimes f, v are interchanged, orthographically, as: Ofen, oven; zwölf, twelve; Vater, father; voll, full; vier, four. 6. Gutturals here variations are still less regular. The English aspirate gutturals especially have undergone various modifications. a) German I often English ch (tch), g (dg) — less frequently. when initial: Kinn, chin; kanen, chew; Bank, bench; strecken, stretch; Ede, edge (d for ff). == b) German ch English k (not initial); ch; gh (silent; also =f); or lost. Buch, book; brechen, break; Buche, beech; reich, rich; Similarly h (not initial):—nah, nigh; rauh, rough; sehen, see; ziehen, tow. NOTE. - When h is purely orthographical it is not represented in English. - was, what; c) German g initial =g; sometimes y: Garn, yarn; gähnen, Elsewhere g is vocalized, or lost, in English: yawn, etc. Tag, day; sagen, say; Magd, maid; Segel, sail; Magen, maw; Säge, saw; Vogel, fowl; Hügel, hill; Ziegel, tile; frostig, frosty. NOTE. - Often change is prevented by the presence of another consonant; as, mild, mild; Gold, gold; Hand, hand; Ende, end; Stein, stone; treten, tread; Faust, fist; fechten, fight; oft, oft, etc.; and is, in general, less regular initially than elsewhere. 7. The liquids 1, m, n, r show frequent variation: a) Interchange: Busen, bosom; Fessel, fetter; Hanf, hemp. r with s(z): war, was; küren, choose; frieren, freeze; Eisen, iron. b) Omission: als, as; solcher, such; ander, other; uns, us; sprechen, speak. c) Transposition (r): brennen, burn; durch, through; dritt, third. 8. Letters, initial or final, are sometimes added or omitted; or elsewhere inserted or dropped-sometimes only orthographically. a) g(e)leich, like; G(e)lück, luck; Art, axe; quetschen, squeeze. b) Lamm, lamb; Donner, thunder; Brücke, bridge; Eiland, island; konnte, could — and other variations occasionally. 9. In addition to such variations, the intimate relation of German and English is further obscured by the partial or complete loss of English inflections, which were all of Teutonic origin. Also, by the frequent use in English of borrowed (classical or French) words, while the native word is either lost or used in another sense (§ 2, c). REMARK.The above simple statements are deemed sufficient for the guidance of the beginner. In many cases they might be expanded, or qualified, by further explanation; but this is left to the teacher, or for later study. In preparing these pages use has been made especially of Skeat's Principles of English Etymology, from which also many of the examples have been taken. |