THE PHONETIC AND MORPHOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE VERB HABEN IN OLD HIGH GERMAN

Abstract

This research looks at the phonetic change of the nasal sound m > n in Old High German (Althochdeutsch) to determine how it affects the language's morphological structure, specifically with regard to the verb haben. The study demonstrates how this phonetic shift, which mostly affected verb ends and unstressed syllables, helped to stabilise grammatical paradigms. The link between spoken and written Old High German is also examined in this research, demonstrating that the shift initially manifested in speech before being mirrored in writing. It also examines the process of vowel lengthening that took place throughout the change from Middle High German to New High German, as well as the creation of participles (habenti, gihabet). The study comes to the conclusion that the German language's morphological regularisation and phonological simplicity were significantly influenced by the m > n shift and quantitative vowel modifications.