Editing Old Norwegian (section)

==Phonological and morphological features==
One of the most important early differences between Old Norwegian and [[Old Icelandic]] is that ''h'' in the [[consonant]] combinations ''hl-'', ''hn-'' and ''hr-'' was lost in Old Norwegian around the 11th century, while being preserved in Old Icelandic. Thus, one has e.g. Old Icelandic {{lang|mis|hlíð}} '[[slope]]', {{lang|mis|hníga}} '[[curtsey]]' and ''{{lang|mis|hringr}}'' 'ring' and Old Norwegian ''{{lang|mis|líð}}'','' {{lang|mis|níga}}'' and ''{{lang|mis|ringr}}'', respectively''.''<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Faarlund |first=Jan Terje |title=The Germanic Languages |publisher=Routledge |year=1995 |editor-last=Konig |editor-first=Ekkehard |edition=1st |location=London |pages=38–71 |chapter=Old and Middle Scandinavian |doi=10.4324/9781315812786 |isbn=978-1-315-81278-6 |editor-last2=Auwera |editor-first2=Johan van der}}</ref>

Many Old Norwegian dialects feature a height based system of [[vowel harmony]]: Following stressed high vowels ({{IPA|/i/}}, {{IPA|/iː/}}, {{IPA|/y/}}, {{IPA|/yː/}}, {{IPA|/u/}}, {{IPA|/uː/}}) and diphthongs ({{IPA|/ei/}}, {{IPA|/ey/}}, {{IPA|/au/}}), the unstressed vowels {{IPA|/i/}} and {{IPA|/u/}} appear as ''i'', ''u'', while they are represented as ''e'', ''o'' following long non-high vowels ({{IPA|/eː/}}, {{IPA|/øː/}}, {{IPA|/oː/}}, {{IPA|/æː/}}, {{IPA|/aː/}}). The situation following stressed short non-high vowels ({{IPA|/e/}}, {{IPA|/æ/}}, {{IPA|/ø/}}, {{IPA|/a/}}, {{IPA|/o/}}, {{IPA|/ɔ/}}) is much debated and was apparently different in the individual dialects.<ref>[http://folk.uib.no/hnooh/vokalharmoni/ Homepage of a symposium on Old Norwegian vowel harmony, held in Bergen in March 2015] (in Norwegian)</ref>

The [[Old Norse#Umlaut|''u''-umlaut]] of short {{IPA|/a/}} (written ''ǫ'' in normalized Old Norse) is not as consistently graphically distinguished from non-umlauted {{IPA|/a/}} as in Old Icelandic, especially in writings from the Eastern dialect areas.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Gordon |first=E. V. |title=An Introduction to Old Norse |publisher=Clarendon Press |year=1957 |isbn=0-19-811184-3 |edition=2nd |location=Oxford |pages=319–320 |chapter=Part VI. Old Norwegian}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Benediktsson |first=Hreinn |date=1963 |title=Some Aspects of Nordic Umlaut and Breaking |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/411124 |journal=Language |volume=39 |issue=3 |pages=409–431 |doi=10.2307/411124 |jstor=411124 |issn=0097-8507|url-access=subscription }}</ref> It is still a matter of academic debate whether this is to be interpreted phonologically as a lack of umlaut or merely as a lack of its graphical representation.<ref name=":1" />

Old Norwegian had alternative dual and plural first person pronouns, ''mit,'' ''mér,'' to the Common Norse ''vit,'' ''vér.''<ref>Richard Cleasby, Guðbrandur Vigfússon — ''[http://lexicon.ff.cuni.cz/texts/oi_cleasbyvigfusson_about.html An Icelandic-English Dictionary]'' (1874). [http://lexicon.ff.cuni.cz/html/oi_cleasbyvigfusson/b0124.html Eirligr-Ekkill]</ref>