Beyond the handbooks: A quantitative approach to Old High German phonology and morphology

Abstract

This paper presents three case studies using a relational database to investigate the phonology and morphology of Old High German (OHG) nominal forms quantitatively. Results first show that the -iz-/-az-stem class was less clearly defined than handbooks suggest, and that -ir was not yet a general plural marker. Second, for feminine i-stem nouns, the frequency of primary umlaut does not increase over the OHG period, nor does its association with plurality. Third, the study charts the transition of dative plural marking from -um to -Vn during the OHG period.