West Germanic Gemination
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West Germanic Gemination is a sound change that took place in all West Germanic languages, around 300 AD. All single consonants except /r/ were geminated (doubled) after a short vowel and before /j/; sometimes also before /w/, /r/, and /l/. A similar change occurred in the history of Old Norse, but was much more limited, applying only after /k/ and /g/. This change particularly affected the infinitives of the first conjugation of weak verbs, which ended in /jan/. By historical times (c. 800-900 AD), all of the West Germanic languages except Old Saxon had dropped the /j/. The /j/ also triggered i-Mutation, as well as palatalization in Old English and Old Frisian. Examples:
| Gothic (no gemination) | Old Saxon | Old English | |
|---|---|---|---|
| bidjan | biddian | biddan | "ask" |
| hugjan | huggian | hycgan | "think" |
| leitils | luttil | "little" | |
| akkar | akrs | æcer | "field, land" |
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