Editing Middle Dutch (section)

==Phonology==

===Differences with Old Dutch===
Several phonological changes occurred leading up to the Middle Dutch period.

* Earlier Old Dutch {{IPA|/ie/}}, {{IPA|/ia/}}, {{IPA|/io/}} merge into {{IPA|/iə/}} already in Old Dutch.
* Voiceless fricatives become voiced syllable-initially: {{IPA|/s/}} > {{IPA|/z/}}, {{IPA|/f/}} > {{IPA|/v/}} (merging with {{IPA|/v/}} from Proto-Germanic {{IPA|/b/}}), {{IPA|/θ/}} > {{IPA|/ð/}}. (10th or 11th century)
* {{IPA|/ft/}} > {{IPA|/xt/}}
* {{IPA|/iu/}} > {{IPA|/yː/}} or {{IPA|/iə/}}. The outcome is dialect-specific, with {{IPA|/iə/}} found in more western dialects and {{IPA|/yː/}} further east. This results in later pairs such as ''dietsc'' {{IPA|/diətsk/}} versus ''duitsc'' {{IPA|/dyːtsk/}}.
** Various dialects also show {{IPA|/iw/}} > {{IPA|/yw/}}, while others retain {{IPA|/iw/}}. Compare southeastern Middle Dutch ''hiwen'' {{IPA|/hiwən/}} with modern Dutch ''huwen'' {{IPA|/ɦyʋə(n)/}}.
** In word-initial position, some northern dialects also show a change from a falling to a rising diphthong ({{IPA|/iu/}} > {{IPA|/juː/}}) like [[Old Frisian]]. Cf. the accusative second-person plural pronoun ''iu'' {{IPA|/iu/}} > northern ''jou'' {{IPA|/jɔu/}} versus southern ''u'' {{IPA|/yː/}}.
* Phonemisation of [[Germanic umlaut|umlaut]] for back vowels, resulting in a new phoneme {{IPA|/y/}} (from earlier Old Dutch {{IPA|/u/}} before {{IPA|/i/}} or {{IPA|/j/}}). Unlike most other Germanic languages, umlaut was only phonemicised for short vowels in all but the easternmost areas; long vowels and diphthongs are unaffected.
* Insertion of {{IPA|/w/}} between {{IPA|/uː/}} and a vowel.
* Syllable-final {{IPA|/uː(w)/}} > {{IPA|/ouw/}} in some areas. This created pairs such as ''duwen'' {{IPA|/dywən/}} versus ''douwen'' {{IPA|/dou(w)ən/}}, or ''nu'' {{IPA|/ny/}} versus ''nou'' {{IPA|/nou/}}.
* Lowering of {{IPA|/u/}} > {{IPA|/o/}} when not umlauted.
** This change did not (fully) occur in the southwestern (Flemish) dialects. Hence, these dialects retain ''sunne'' "sun" where others have ''sonne''.
* Fronting of {{IPA|/u/}}, {{IPA|/uː/}} > {{IPA|/y/}}, {{IPA|/yː/}}. In some dialects, {{IPA|/uː/}} remained syllable-finally or before {{IPA|/w/}}.
** This change did not occur in Limburgish.
** In Flemish, this change also affected cases that escaped the lowering in the previous change, hence ''sunne'' {{IPA|/ˈzynnə/}}.
* Vowel reduction: Vowels in unstressed syllables are weakened and merge into {{IPA|/ə/}}, spelled {{angbr|e}}. (11th or 12th century) Long vowels seem to have remained as such, at least {{IPA|/iː/}} is known to have remained in certain suffixes (such as ''-kijn'' {{IPA|/kiːn/}}).
* Diphthongisation of the long mid vowels: {{IPA|/eː/}}, {{IPA|/øː/}} {{IPA|/oː/}} > {{IPA|/eɛ/}}, {{IPA|/øœ/}}, {{IPA|/oɔ/}}.
* Non-phonemic lowering of short {{IPA|/i/}}, {{IPA|/y/}} > {{IPA|/ɪ/}}, {{IPA|/ʏ/}}.
* [[Open syllable lengthening]]: Short vowels in stressed open syllables become long. As a result, all stressed syllables in polysyllabic words become [[Syllable weight|heavy]]. Old Dutch (original) long vowels are called "sharp-long" and indicated with a circumflex (â, ê, î, ô). Lengthened vowels are "soft-long" and are indicated with a macron (ā, ē, ī, ō).
** Lengthened vowels initially have the same vowel quality as the short variants, so this produces {{IPA|[aː]}}, {{IPA|[eː]}}, {{IPA|[ɪː]}}, {{IPA|[oː]}}, {{IPA|[ʏː]}}.
** {{IPA|[ɪː]}} and {{IPA|[ʏː]}} are then lowered to {{IPA|[eː]}} and {{IPA|[øː]}} respectively.
** Lengthened {{IPA|[eː]}}, {{IPA|[øː]}}, {{IPA|[oː]}} remain distinct from the previously diphthongised long mid vowels.
** In most dialects, lengthened {{IPA|[aː]}} merges with original {{IPA|/aː/}}, but in some, a distinction in backness develops.
** This introduces many length alternations in grammatical paradigms, e.g. singular ''dag'' {{IPA|/dax/}}, plural {{lang|enm|dag(h)e}} {{IPA|/daːɣə/}}.
* Dental fricatives become stops: {{IPA|/ð/}} > {{IPA|/d/}}, {{IPA|/θ/}} > {{IPA|/t/}}, merging with existing {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/d/}}. (around 12th century)
** The geminate {{IPA|/θθ/}} (originating from Germanic ''*-þj-'') develops into {{IPA|/ss/}}: {{lang|odt|*withtha}} > {{lang|dum|wisse}}, {{lang|odt|*smiththa}} > {{lang|dum|smisse}}.
* [[L-vocalisation]]: {{IPA|/ol/}} and {{IPA|/al/}} > {{IPA|/ou/}} before dentals.
** This change does not occur in Limburgish, which retains the distinction but undergoes its own round of vocalisation in modern times, producing {{IPA|/ow/}} and {{IPA|/aː/}} respectively.
* Lengthening of vowels before {{IPA|/r/}} + dental consonant. This did not occur in all dialects, and in some, {{IPA|/e/}} was lengthened to {{IPA|/aː/}}. E.g. ''farth'' {{IPA|/farθ/}} > ''vāert'' {{IPA|/vaːrt/}}, ''ertha'' {{IPA|/erθa/}} > ''āerde'' {{IPA|/aːrdə/}}, ''wort'' {{IPA|/wort/}} > ''wōort'' {{IPA|/woːrt/}}.
* Syncope of schwa {{IPA|/ə/}} in certain environments, particularly inflectional endings. This phonemicises the soft-long vowels produced by open syllable lengthening, which can now also occur in closed syllables. E.g. ''hēvet'' > ''hēeft''.

===Consonants===
The consonants of Middle Dutch differed little from those of Old Dutch. The most prominent change is the loss of dental fricatives. In addition the sound {{IPA|[z]}} was phonemicised during this period, judging from loanwords that retain {{IPA|[s]}} to this day.

For descriptions of the sounds and definitions of the terms, follow the links on the headings.

{|class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+ Middle Dutch consonant phonemes
!colspan=2|
! [[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! [[Dental consonant|Dental]]/<br/>[[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
! [[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
! [[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! [[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-
!colspan=2| [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| {{IPA link|m}}
| {{IPA link|n}}
|
|
|
|-
!rowspan=2|[[Plosive consonant|Plosive]]
!{{small|[[Voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
| {{IPA link|p}}
| {{IPA link|t}}
|
| {{IPA link|k}}
|
|-
!{{small|[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| {{IPA link|b}}
| {{IPA link|d}}
|
|
|
|-
!rowspan=2|[[Fricative consonant|Fricative]]
!{{small|[[Voicelessness|voiceless]]}}
| {{IPA link|f}}
| {{IPA link|s}}
|
| {{IPA link|x}}
| {{IPA link|h}}
|-
!{{small|[[Voice (phonetics)|voiced]]}}
| {{IPA link|v}}
| {{IPA link|z}}
|
| {{IPA link|ɣ}}
|
|-
!colspan=2| [[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
|
| {{IPA link|l}}
| {{IPA link|j}}
| {{IPA link|w}}
|
|-
!colspan=2| [[Rhotic consonant|Rhotic]]
|
| {{IPA link|r}}
|
|
|
|}

Notes:

* All obstruents underwent [[final-obstruent devoicing]] as in Old and Modern Dutch.
* During the first part of the Middle Dutch period, [[Gemination|geminated]] varieties of most consonants still occurred. Geminated {{IPA|/ɣ/}} was a plosive {{IPA|/ɡɡ/}}, retained in modern Limburgish as {{IPA|/ɡ/}}.
* {{IPA|/m, p, b/}} were most likely [[Bilabial consonant|bilabial]], whereas {{IPA|/f, v/}} were most likely [[Labiodental consonant|labiodental]].
* {{IPA|/n, t, d, s, z, l/}} could have been either dental {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|n̪}}, {{IPAplink|t̪}}, {{IPAplink|d̪}}, {{IPAplink|s̪}}, {{IPAplink|z̪}}, {{IPAplink|l̪}}]}} or alveolar {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|n|n͇}}, {{IPAplink|t|t͇}}, {{IPAplink|d|d͇}}, {{IPAplink|s|s͇}}, {{IPAplink|z|z͇}}, {{IPAplink|l|l͇}}]}}.
** {{IPA|/n/}} had a velar allophone {{IPAblink|ŋ}} when it occurred before the velars {{IPA|/k, ɣ/}}.
** After {{IPA|/n/}}, {{IPA|/ɣ/}} was realized as a plosive {{IPAblink|ɡ}}.
* {{IPA|/r/}} was most likely [[Alveolar consonant|alveolar]], either a [[Trill consonant|trill]] {{IPAblink|r|r͇}} or a [[Tap consonant|tap]] {{IPAblink|ɾ|ɾ͇}}.

===Vowels===
Most notable in the Middle Dutch vowel system, when compared to Old Dutch, is the appearance of phonemic rounded front vowels, and the merger of all unstressed short vowels.

====Short vowels====

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Middle Dutch short vowels
!
! [[Front vowel|Front]]<br/><small>[[Roundedness|unrounded]]</small>
! [[Front vowel|Front]]<br/><small>[[Roundedness|rounded]]</small>
! [[Central vowel|Central]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA|ɪ}}
| rowspan="2" | {{IPA|ʏ}}
|
|
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| {{IPA|e}}
| {{IPA|ə}}
| {{IPA|o}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
| colspan="4" | {{IPA|a}}
|}

* The exact height of {{IPA|/ʏ/}} is not certain, and may have varied between actual {{IPA|[ʏ]}} and a lower {{IPA|[ø]}} or even {{IPA|[œ]}}.
* {{IPA|/e/}} and {{IPA|/o/}} could have also been {{IPA|[ɛ]}} and {{IPA|[ɔ]}}, as in modern Dutch.
* {{IPA|/a/}} was a back {{IPA|[ɑ]}} in most varieties, but front {{IPA|[a]}} probably occurred in some western dialects.

====Long vowels and diphthongs====
Long vowels and diphthongs cannot be clearly distinguished in Middle Dutch, as many long vowels had or developed a diphthongal quality, while existing diphthongs could also develop into monophthongs. Sometimes, this occurred only in restricted dialects, other developments were widespread.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Middle Dutch long vowels
!
! [[Front vowel|Front]]<br/>[[Roundedness|unr.]]
! [[Front vowel|Front]]<br/>[[Roundedness|rnd.]]
! [[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPA|iː}}
| {{IPA|yː}}
| ({{IPA|uː}})
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]-[[Opening diphthong|opening]]
| {{IPA|ie̯}}
| ({{IPA|yø̯}})
| {{IPA|uo̯}}
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]-[[Opening diphthong|opening]]
| {{IPA|eɛ̯}}
| ({{IPA|øœ̯}})
| {{IPA|oɔ̯}}
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| {{IPA|eː}}
| {{IPA|øː}}
| {{IPA|oː}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
| {{IPA|aː}}
|
| {{IPA|ɑː}}
|-
! [[Closing diphthong|Closing]]
| {{IPA|ɛi̯}}
| ({{IPA|œy̯}})
| {{IPA|ɔu̯}}
|}

* The rounded front vowels in brackets only occurred in the eastern dialects, where umlaut of long vowels and diphthongs occurred.
* The rounded back vowel {{IPA|/uː/}} only occurred in the Limburgish dialects.

Many details of the exact phonetics are uncertain, and seemed to have differed by dialect. The overall system is clear, however, as almost all the vowels remain distinct in modern Limburgish: {{IPA|/iː/}}, {{IPA|/iə̯/}}, {{IPA|/eɛ̯/}}, {{IPA|/eː/}} and {{IPA|/aː/}} appear in modern Limburgish as {{IPA|/iː/}}, {{IPA|/eː/}}, {{IPA|/iə̯/}}, {{IPA|/æː/}} and {{IPA|/aː/}} respectively.

The vowels {{IPA|/ie̯/}}, {{IPA|/yø̯/}} and {{IPA|/uo̯/}} developed from Old Dutch opening diphthongs, but their exact character in Middle Dutch is unclear. The following can be said:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.dbnl.org/tekst/loey001midd03_01/loey001midd03_01_0005.php|title=A. van Loey, Middelnederlandse spraakkunst. Deel II. Klankleer · dbnl|last=DBNL|website=DBNL|access-date=21 September 2017}}</ref>
* In eastern Brabant, and all of Limburg, the pronunciation remained diphthongal.
* {{IPA|/ie̯/}} is frequently found written with just {{angbr|i}}, which may indicate a monophthongal pronunciation. {{IPA|/ie̯/}} never merged with the long vowel {{IPA|/iː/}}, however, as no rhyme pairs between these vowels are found.
* In the coastal areas (Flanders, Holland), {{IPA|/uo̯/}} seems to have been a monophthong {{IPA|[oː]}} or {{IPA|[ʊː]}}. Before velar and labial consonants, the pronunciation was a close {{IPA|[uː]}}. This is revealed by the distinction in spelling between {{angbr|oe}} and {{angbr|ou}}.
* In western Brabant, the pronunciation of {{IPA|/uo̯/}} was more close, probably monophthongal {{IPA|/uː/}}.

The vowels {{IPA|/eɛ̯/}}, {{IPA|/øœ̯/}} and {{IPA|/oɔ̯/}}, termed "sharp-long" and denoted with a circumflex ''ê'' ''ô'', developed from Old Dutch long vowels. The opening diphthong pronunciation was probably widespread, and perhaps once universal, as it is nowadays still found in both West Flemish and in Limburgish, at opposite ends of the Middle Dutch language area. In the general area in between, including standard Dutch, the vowels merged with the "soft-long" vowels during the early modern Dutch period.
* In southern Flanders, southern Brabant and Holland, {{IPA|/eɛ̯/}} appears spelled with {{angbr|ie}} (e.g. ''stien'' for ''steen''), while {{IPA|/ie̯/}} appears with {{angbr|e}} (e.g. ''speghel'' for ''spieghel''), suggesting a merger between these phonemes.
* {{IPA|/oɔ̯/}} is sometimes found to rhyme with {{IPA|/oː/}}. It is possible that the two vowels merged under some conditions, while remaining distinct in other cases.
* In Brabant, {{IPA|/oɔ̯/}} occasionally rhymes with {{IPA|/uo̯/}}. In western Brabant, this implies a close monophthongal pronunciation {{IPA|[uː]}}.

The vowels {{IPA|/eː/}}, {{IPA|/œː/}} and {{IPA|/oː/}}, termed "soft-long" and denoted with a macron ''ē'' ''ō'', developed through the lengthening of Old Dutch short vowels in open syllables, but also frequently before {{IPA|/r/}}. They were simple monophthongs in all Middle Dutch dialects, with the exception of western Flanders where {{IPA|/eː/}} later developed into {{IPA|/ei̯/}}. They might have been close-mid but also perhaps open-mid {{IPA|[ɛː]}}, {{IPA|[œː]}} and {{IPA|[ɔː]}}, as in modern Limburgish.

There were two open vowels, with "sharp-long" ''â'' developed from the Old Dutch long ''ā'', and "soft-long" ''ā'' being the result of lengthening. These two vowels were distinguished only in Limburgish and Low Rhenish at the eastern end, and in western Flemish and coastal Hollandic on the western end. The relative backness of the two vowels was opposite in the two areas that distinguished them.
* On the coast, ''â'' was front {{IPA|/aː/}} or {{IPA|/æː/}}, while ''ā'' was central or back {{IPA|/ɑː/}}.
* In the eastern varieties, ''â'' was back {{IPA|/ɑː/}}, while ''ā'' was front or central {{IPA|/aː/}}. {{IPA|/ɑː/}} merged into {{IPA|/oː/}} during Middle Dutch, first in Low Rhenish, then later also in Limburgish further south.
* In all dialects between, the two vowels were not distinguished. The phonetic realisation ranged from back {{IPA|[ɑː]}} (in Brabant) to front {{IPA|[aː ~ æː]}} (Holland further inland).

The closing diphthong {{IPA|/ɛi̯/}} remained from the corresponding Old Dutch diphthong. It occurred primarily in umlauting environments, with {{IPA|/eɛ̯/}} appearing otherwise. Some dialects, particularly further west, had {{IPA|/eɛ̯/}} in all environments (thus ''cleene'' next to ''cleine''). Limburgish preserved the diphthong wherever it was preserved in High German.

The closing diphthong {{IPA|/ɔu̯/}} has two different origins. In the vast majority of the Middle Dutch area, it developed through [[l-vocalization]] from older {{IPA|/ol/}} and {{IPA|/al/}} followed by a dental consonant. In the eastern area, Limburg in particular, it was a remnant of the older diphthong as in High German, which had developed into {{IPA|/oɔ̯/}} elsewhere. L-vocalization occurred only in the modern period in Limburgish, and the distinction between {{IPA|/ol/}} and {{IPA|/al/}} was preserved, being reflected as ''ów'' and ''aa'' respectively.

===Changes during the Middle Dutch period===

Phonological changes that occurred during Middle Dutch:

* {{IPA|/mb/}} > {{IPA|/mː/}}, {{IPA|/ŋɡ/}} > {{IPA|/ŋː/}}. This eliminated the sound {{IPA|/ɡ/}} from the language altogether.
** {{IPA|/p/}} and {{IPA|/k/}} originating from {{IPA|/b/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}} through [[Final-obstruent devoicing|final devoicing]] were not affected. This therefore resulted in alternations such as singular ''coninc'' {{IPA|/koːniŋk/}} versus plural ''coninghe'' {{IPA|/koːniŋːə/}}, singular ''lamp'' {{IPA|/lamp/}} versus plural ''lammere'' {{IPA|/lamː(ə)rə/}}.
* {{IPA|/sk/}} > {{IPA|/sx/}} (spelled {{angbr|sc}} or later {{angbr|sch}}). It is unclear when this change happened, as the spelling does not seem to differentiate the two sounds (that is, {{angbr|sc}} and {{angbr|sch}} could both represent either sound).
* {{IPA|/ɛ/}} > {{IPA|/ɛi/}} before {{IPA|/n/}} plus another consonant, merging with original Old Dutch {{IPA|/ɛi/}} (< Proto-Germanic {{IPA|/ɑi/}}). E.g. ''ende'' > ''einde'', ''pensen'' > ''peinsen'' (from Old French ''penser''). This change is found sporadically in Old Dutch already, but becomes more frequent in some Middle Dutch areas.
* Epenthesis of {{IPA|/d/}} in various clusters of sonorants. E.g. ''donre'' > ''donder'', ''solre'' > ''solder'', ''bunre'' > ''bunder''. In modern Dutch, this change has become grammaticalised for the ''-er'' (comparative, agent noun) suffix when attached to a word ending in -r.
* Shortening of geminate consonants, e.g. for ''bidden'' {{IPA|/bɪdːən/}} > {{IPA|/bɪdən/}}, which reintroduces stressed light syllables in polysyllabic words.
* Early diphthongization of long high vowels: {{IPA|/iː/}} > {{IPA|/ɪi/}} and {{IPA|/yː/}} > {{IPA|/ʏy/}} except before {{IPA|/r/}} and {{IPA|/w/}}, probably beginning around the 14th century.
** The diphthongal quality of these vowels became stronger over time, and eventually the former merged with {{IPA|/ɛi/}} ''ei''. But the diphthongal pronunciation was still perceived as unrefined and 'southern' by educated speakers in the sixteenth century, showing that the change had not yet spread to all areas and layers of Dutch society by that time.
** Notably, this diphthongization parallels the mutation of long high vowels in the [[Great Vowel Shift]] of Late [[Middle English]] and [[Early New High German]]. However, those languages lowered previous {{IPA|/iː/}} all the way to {{IPA|/aɪ/}}.
* Following the previous change, monophthongization of opening diphthongs: {{IPA|/iə/}} > {{IPA|/iː/}}, {{IPA|/uə/}} > {{IPA|/uː/}}. The result might have also been a short vowel (as in most Dutch dialects today), but they are known to have remained long at least before {{IPA|/r/}}.
* Beginning in late Middle Dutch and continuing into the early Modern Dutch period, schwa {{IPA|/ə/}} was slowly lost word-finally and in some other unstressed syllables: ''vrouwe'' > ''vrouw'', ''hevet'' > ''heeft''. This did not apply consistently however, and sometimes both forms continued to exist side by side, such as ''mate'' and ''maat''.
** Word-final schwa was restored in the past singular of weak verbs, to avoid homophony with the present third-person singular because of word-final devoicing. However, it was lost in all irregular weak verbs, in which this homophony was not an issue: irregular ''dachte'' > ''dacht'' (present tense ''denkt''), but regular ''opende'' did not become *{{lang|nl|opend}} {{IPA|/oːpənt/}} because it would become indistinguishable from ''opent''.
* During the 15th century at the earliest, {{IPA|/d/}}{{citation needed|date=June 2015}} <!-- guess it would be more probable if it was pronounced ð̞ at that time --> begins to disappear when between a non-short vowel and a [[schwa]].
** The actual outcome of this change differed between dialects. In the more northern varieties and in Holland, the {{IPA|/d/}} was simply lost, along with any schwa that followed it: {{lang|nl|luyden}} > ''lui'', ''lade'' > ''la'', ''mede'' > ''mee''. In the southeast, intervocalic {{IPA|/d/}} instead often became {{IPA|/j/}}: ''mede'' > ''meej''.
** The change was not applied consistently, and even in modern Dutch today many words have been retained in both forms. In some cases the forms with lost {{IPA|/d/}} were perceived as uneducated and disappeared again, such as in ''Nederland'' and ''neer'', both from ''neder'' (the form ''Neerland'' does exist, but is rather archaic in modern Dutch).