Infinitive Past Tense Participle II ne

Gt domjan domida [ð] domiðs deem, deemed

O Icel kalla kallaða kallaðr call, called

OE macian macode macod make, made

The dental suffix [ð, θ, d] is a marker of the Past and Participle II; it is preceded by remnants of the old stem-suffixes: -i- in the Gt domida, -o- in OE macode. The weak verbs formed several classes with different stem-suffixes, in the same way as nouns fell into declensions.

Vocabulary

Until recently it was believed that the Germanic languages had a large proportion of words, which have no parallels in other groups of the IE family. Recent research, however, has revealed numerous non-Germanic parallels for words formerly regarded as specifically Germanic. It appears that Germanic has inherited and preserved many IE features in lexis as well as at other levels.

The most ancient etymological layer in the Germanic vocabulary is made up of words (or, more precisely, roots) shared by most IE lan­guages. They refer to a number of semantic spheres: natural phenomena, plants and animals, terms of kinship, verbs denoting basic activities of man, some pronouns and numerals; in addition to roots, the common IE element includes other components of words: word-building affixes and grammatical inflections. Numerous examples of parallels belong­ing to this layer were quoted above, to show the sound correspondences in Germanic and non-Germanic languages.

Words which occur in Germanic alone and have no parallels outside the group constitute the specific features of the Germanic lan­guages; they appeared in PG or in later history of separate languages from purely Germanic roots. Semantically, they also belong to basic spheres of life: nature, sea, home life. Like the IE layer the specifically Germanic layer includes not only roots but also affixes and word-build­ing patterns. The examples in Table 8 illustrate Germanic words, whose roots have not been found outside the group, and some word-building patterns which arose in Late PG. Those are instances of transition from

compound words into derived words; they show the development of new suffixes – from root-morphemes – at the time when many old derivational stem-suffixes had lost their productivity and ceased to be distinguished in the word structure. The new suffixes made up for the loss of stem-suffixes.

Table 8

Specifically Germanic Words and Word Building Patterns

Old Germanic languages				Modern Germanic languages
Gt O Icel OHG OE				Sw G NE
hus	hứs	hûs	hūs	hus	Haus	house
drigkan	drekka	trinkan	Drincan	dricka	trinken	drink
land	Land	lant	land	land	Land	land
saiws	sǽr	sēo	Sæ	sjő	See	sea
—	visdomr	wistuom	wisdom	visdom	—	wisdom
	fjands-	fiands-	feond-	fiendskap	Feind-	'hostility'
	kapr	caft	scipe		schaft	(cf. fiend)

(Though some of these words have no direct descendants we find the same suffixes in other formations: G Irrtum, Freundschaft, NE friendship – the roots may be common IE but the suffixes are specifically Germanic (vis- is related to R ведать, frēond to R приятель).

Both etymological layers of the vocabulary – the IE and the specifically Germanic layer – are native words. In addition to native words the OG languages share some borrowings made from other lan­guages. Some of the early borrowings are found in all or most languages of the group; probably they were made at the time when the Germanic tribes lived close together as a single speech community that is in Late PG. It is known that the name of the metal iron was borrowed from the Celtic languages in Late PG; cf. Celt isarno, Gt eisarn, O Icel isarn, OE isen, iren. (The Teutons may have learnt the processing of iron from the Celts.) A large number of words must have been borrowed from Latin prior to the migration of West Germanic tribes to Britain. These words reflect the contacts of the Germanic tribes with Rome and the influence of the Roman civilisation on their life; they mostly refer to trade and warfare; e.g.:

L pondō, Gt pund, O Icel pund, OE pund, NE pound

L prunus, O Icel plóma, OE plūme, NE plum

L strata via, OHG strậza, OS strậta, OE stræt, NE street