Editing Middle Low German (section)

===Consonants===
{| class="wikitable"
! &nbsp;
![[Labial consonant|Labial]]
![[Alveolar consonant|Alveolar]]
![[Postalveolar consonant|Post-alv.]]
![[Palatal consonant|Palatal]]
![[Velar consonant|Velar]]
![[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|-align=center
![[Nasal stop|Nasal]]
| {{IPA|m}}
| {{IPA|n}}
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| {{IPA|[ŋ]}}
| &nbsp;
|-align=center
![[Stop consonant|Stop]]
| {{IPA|p}}&nbsp;&nbsp;{{IPA|b}}
| {{IPA|t}}&nbsp;&nbsp;{{IPA|d}}
| &nbsp;
| {{IPA|[c]}}
| {{IPA|k}}&nbsp;&nbsp;{{IPA|[ɡ]}}
| &nbsp;
|-align=center
![[Affricate consonant|Affricate]]
| &nbsp;
| ({{IPA|t͡s}})
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|-align=center
![[fricative consonant|Fricative]]
| {{IPA|f}}&nbsp;&nbsp;[{{IPA|v}}]
| {{IPA|s}}&nbsp;&nbsp;[{{IPA|z}}]
| ({{IPA|ʃ}})
| [{{IPA|ç}}]&nbsp;&nbsp;{{IPA|[ʝ]}}
| [{{IPA|x}}]&nbsp;&nbsp;{{IPA|ɣ}}
| {{IPA|h}}
|-align=center
![[Approximant consonant|Approximant]]
| {{IPA|ʋ}}
| {{IPA|r}}
| &nbsp;
| {{IPA|j}}
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|-align=center
![[Approximant consonant#Lateral approximant|Lateral]]
| &nbsp;
| {{IPA|l}}
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
| &nbsp;
|-align=center
|}
* Square brackets indicate [[allophone]]s.
* Round brackets indicate phonemes that do not have phoneme status in the whole language area or are marginal in the phonological system.

It is not rare to find the same word in MLG affected by one of the following phonological processes in one text and unaffected by it in another text because the lack of a written standard, the dialectal variation and ongoing linguistic change during the Middle Low German (MLG) era.

'''General notes'''
* '''[[Final devoicing]]''': Voiced obstruents in the syllable coda are devoiced, e.g. ''geven'' (to give) but ''gift'' (gift). The change took place early in MLG but is not always represented in writing. [[Proclitic]] words like ''mid'' (with) might remain voiced before a vowel because they are perceived as one phonological unit with the following word. Also, as can already be seen in Old Saxon, lenited {{IPA|/b/}} is devoiced to {{IPA|[f]}} before syllabic nasals or liquids, e.g. ''gaffel'' (fork) from [[Proto-Germanic language|PG]] ''*gabalō''.
* '''[[Grammatischer Wechsel]]''': Because of sound changes in Proto-Germanic (cf. [[Verner's law]]), some words had different sounds in different grammatical forms. In MLG, there were only fossilised remnants of the "grammatischer wechsel" (grammatical change), namely for {{IPA|/s/}} and {{IPA|/r/}}, e.g. ''kêsen'' (to choose) but ''koren'' ((they) chose), and for {{IPA|/h/}} and {{IPA|/ɡ/}}, e.g. ''vân'' < PG ''*fanhaną'' (to take hold, to catch) but ''gevangen'' < PG ''*fanganaz'' (taken hold of, caught).
* '''[[Assimilation (phonology)|Assimilation]]''': A sound becoming more similar to a (usually) neighbouring sound, usually in place or manner of articulation, is very common across all languages. Early MLG did mark assimilation much more often in writing than later periods, e.g. ''vamme'' instead of ''van deme'' (of the).
* '''[[Dissimilation]]''': In MLG, it frequently happened with {{IPA|/l/}} vs. {{IPA|/r/}} or {{IPA|/l/}} vs. {{IPA|/n/}}, e.g. ''balbêrer'' < ''barbêrer'' (barber), or ''knuflôk'' < ''kluflôk'' (garlic). Both forms frequently co-existed. The complete loss of a sound in proximity to an identical sound can also be explained in such a way, e.g. the loss of {{IPA|/l/}} in ''Willem'' (William) < ''Wilhelm''.
* '''[[Metathesis (linguistics)|Metathesis]]''': Some sounds tended to switch their places, especially the "liquids" {{IPA|/l/}} and {{IPA|/r/}}. Both forms may co-exist, e.g. ''brennen'' vs. (metathesised) ''bernen'' (to burn).
* '''[[Gemination]]''': In MLG, geminate consonants, which came into being by assimilation or [[Syncope (phonology)|syncope]], were no longer pronounced as such. Instead, geminate spelling marks the preceding vowel as short. Many variants exist, like combinations of voiced and voiceless consonants (e.g. {{lang|gmh|breifve}} letters, {{lang|gmh|sontdage}} Sundays). Late MLG tended to use clusters of similar consonants after short as well as long vowels for no apparent reason, e.g. {{lang|gmh|tidth}} for {{lang|gmh|tîd}} (time).
* '''h spellings''': A mute ''h'' appeared sporadically after consonants already in Old Saxon. Its use greatly increased in MLG, first at the end of a word, when it often marked the preceding vowel as long, but it later appears largely randomly. In very late times, the use of ''h'' directly after the vowel is sometimes adopted from Modern High German as a sign of vowel length.

'''Specific notes on nasals'''
(Indented notes refer to orthography.)

* {{IPA|/m/}} had a tendency to shift to {{IPA|/n/}} in the coda, e.g. ''dem'' > ''den'' (the (dat.sg.m.)).
** Intervocalic {{IPA|/m/}} is sometimes spelled ''mb'' whether or not it developed from Old Saxon {{IPA|/mb/}}.
* {{IPA|/n/}} assimilated to {{IPA|[ŋ]}} before velars {{IPA|/k/}} and {{IPA|/ɣ/}}.
* Final {{IPA|/n/}} often dropped out in unstressed position before consonants, e.g., {{lang|gml|hebbe(n) wi}} (we have), cf. Modern Dutch for a similar process. Similarly, it often dropped from {{IPA|/nɡ/}}-clusters after unstressed vowels, especially in Westphalian, e.g. ''jârlix'' (annually) < ''jârlings''.
* Furthermore, {{IPA|/n/}} had been deleted in certain coda positions several centuries earlier (the so-called [[Ingvaeonic nasal spirant law]]), but there were many exceptions and restorations through analogy: the shifted form ''gôs'' (goose < [[Proto-Germanic language|PG]] ''*gans'') with an unshifted plural ''gense'' (geese) was quite common. Non-shifted forms have been common in the more innovative Eastern dialects.

'''Specific notes on stops and fricatives'''
* {{IPA|/b/}} as a stop {{IPA|[b]}} is always word-initially (''blôme'' flower, bloom), at the onset of stressed syllables (''bar'''b'''êrer'' barber) and (historically) geminated (''ebbe'' ebb, low tide). Its allophones in other cases are word-internal {{IPA|[v]}} and word-final {{IPA|[f]}} (e.g. ''drêven'' to drive, vs. ''drêf'' drive (n.)).
* Voiceless {{IPA|/f/}} usually appeared word-initially (e.g. ''vader'' father), word-finally (merged with historical {{IPA|/b/}}, see above), otherwise between short vowels and nasals/liquids (also from historical {{IPA|/b/}}, e.g. ''gaffel'' fork) and in loans (e.g. ''straffen'' to tighten, from [[High German]]).
** It was mostly written ''v'' in the syllable onset, {{lang|gmh|f(f)}} in the coda. Exceptions include loans (''figûre''), some proper names (''Frederik''), cases like ''gaffel'' as mentioned earlier and sporadically before ''u'' (where ''v'' would be too similar graphically) and before ''l'' and ''r''. Sometimes, ''w'' is used for ''v'', and ''ph'' for ''f''. 
** In MLG (like in other medieval) texts, there is usually no clear graphic distinction between ''v'' and ''u''. The distinction between both (consonant value as ''v'', vocalic value as ''u'') is used in modern dictionaries, in grammars and in this article simply for better readability. Thus, in the manuscripts, e.g. ''auer'' is ''aver'' (but).
* {{IPA|/w/}} was originally an approximant {{IPA|[w~ʋ]}} but seems to have later shifted towards a fricative. Its exact articulation likely differed from dialect to dialect, and many of them merged word-internally with {{IPA|[v]}}, an allophone of {{IPA|/b/}}.
** In writing, ''w'' for word-internal {{IPA|/w/}} was kept strictly separate from {{IPA|[v]}} at first, but the use of ''w'' later also expanded to {{IPA|[v]}}.
** The clusters {{IPA|/dw-/}}, {{IPA|/tw-/}}, {{IPA|/sw-/}}, {{IPA|/kw-/}} were originally often written with ''v''/''u'' (''svager'' brother-in-law) but later mostly shifted to a ''w''-spelling, except for {{IPA|/kw-/}}, which kept ''qu'' from Latin influence.
* The dentals {{IPA|/t/}} and {{IPA|/d/}} tended to drop out between unstressed vowels, e.g. ''antwēr'' (either) instead of ''antwēder'', and in word-final clusters like {{IPA|/-ft/}}, {{IPA|/-xt/}} or {{IPA|/-st/}}, e.g. often ''rech'' next to ''recht'' (law, right), ''schrîf'' next to ''schrîft'' ((he/she) writes).
* Remnants of Old Saxon {{IPA|/θ/}} shifted via {{IPA|/ð/}} into {{IPA|/d/}} in the early MLG era. After {{IPA|/l/}} and {{IPA|/n/}}, it was the case already in late Old Saxon. For {{IPA|/rθ/}}, word-final {{IPA|/-θ/}} and some frequent words like ''dat'' (that, the (neut.)), the change also happened very early. The changes happened earliest in Westphalian and latest in North Low Saxon.
* {{IPA|/s/}} was voiced intervocalically as {{IPA|[z]}}. Whether it was voiced word-initially is not fully clear. There seems to have been dialectal variation, with voiceless {{IPA|[s]}} more likely for Westphalian and voiced {{IPA|[z]}} more likely for East Elbian dialects.
** Because of the variation, voiceless {{IPA|/s/}} (for example in loans from Romance or Slavic) was often written ''tz'', ''cz'', ''c'' etc. for clarity.
* The phonemic status of {{IPA|/ʃ/}} is difficult to determine because of the extremely irregular orthography. Its status likely differed between the dialects, with early MLG having {{IPA|/sk/}} (Westphalian keeping it until modern times) and no phonemic {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, and e.g. East Elbian and in general many later dialects had {{IPA|/ʃ/}} from earlier {{IPA|/sk/}}. If there is phonemic {{IPA|/ʃ/}}, it often replaces {{IPA|/s/}} in clusters like {{IPA|/sl-/}} and {{IPA|/sn-/}}.
* Connected with the status of {{IPA|/ʃ/}} is the manner of articulation of {{IPA|/s/}}. Orthographic variants and some modern dialects seem to point to a more retracted, more ''sh''-like pronunciation (perhaps {{IPA|[s̠]}}), especially if there was no need to distinguish {{IPA|/s/}} and {{IPA|/ʃ/}}. This is consistent with modern Westphalian.
* {{IPA|/t͡s/}} is at best a marginal role as a phoneme and appears in loans or develops because of compounding or [[epenthesis]]. Note the palatalised {{IPA|/k/}} (next point).
** In writing, it was often marked by copious clustering, e.g. ''er'''tzc'''ebischope'' (archbishop).
* {{IPA|/k/}} before front vowels is strongly palatalised in Old Saxon (note the similar situation in the closely related [[Old English]]) and at least some of early MLG, as can be seen from spellings like ''zint'' for ''kint'' (child) and the variation of placename spellings, especially in [[Nordalbingia]]n and [[Eastphalia]]n, e.g. ''Tzellingehusen'' for modern ''[[Kellinghusen]]''. The palatalisation, perhaps as {{IPA|[c]}} or {{IPA|[t͡ɕ]}}, persisted until the High Middle Ages but was later mostly reversed. Thus, for instance, the old affricate in the Slavic placename ''Liubi'''c'''i'' could be reinterpreted as a velar stop, giving the modern name ''[[Lübeck]]''. A few words and placenames completely palatalised and shifted their velar into a sibilant (''sever'' beetle, chafer, from [[Proto-Germanic language|PG]] ''*kebrô''; the city of ''[[Celle]]'' < Old Saxon ''Kiellu'').
** Early MLG frequently used ''c'' for {{IPA|/k/}} (''cleyn'' small), which later became rarer. However, geminate ''k'' (after historically short vowels and consonants) continued to be written ''ck'' (e.g. ''klocke'' bell), more rarely ''kk'' or ''gk''. 
** ''gk'' otherwise appeared often after nasal (''ringk'' ring, (ice) rink). 
** {{IPA|/ks/}} was often written ''x'', especially in the West. 
** {{IPA|/kw/}} usually appeared as ''qu'', under Latin influence (''quêmen'' to come).
* Furthermore, after unstressed {{IPA|/ɪ/}}, {{IPA|/k/}} often changed into {{IPA|/ɣ/}}, e.g. in the frequent derivational suffix ''-lik'' (''vrüntligen'' friendly (infl.)) or, with [[final devoicing]], in ''sich'' instead of ''sik'' (him-/her-/itself, themselves).
** Sometimes, ''ch'' was used for a syllable-final {{IPA|/k/}} (''ôch'' also, too). The ''h'' can be seen a sign of lengthening of the preceding vowel, not of [[spirantisation]] (see "''h''-spelling" below).
* {{IPA|/ɣ/}} was a fricative. Its exact articulation probably differed by dialect. Broadly, there seem to have been dialects that distinguished a voiced palatal {{IPA|[ʝ]}} and a voiced velar {{IPA|[ɣ]}}, depending on surrounding vowels ({{IPA|[ʝ]}}: word-initially before front vowels, word-internally after front vowels; {{IPA|[ɣ]}} in those positions, but with back vowels), and dialects that always used {{IPA|[ʝ]}} word-initially and word-internally (Eastphalian, Brandenburgian, e.g. word-internally after a back vowel: {{lang|gmh|voyet}} [[Vogt|vogt, reeve]]). Nevertheless, {{IPA|[ʝ]}} was kept separate from old {{IPA|/j/}}. In the coda position, {{IPA|/ɣ/}} became a dorsal fricative (palatal {{IPA|[ç]}} or velar {{IPA|[x]}}, depending on the preceding sound), thus merging with {{IPA|/h/}}.
** The spelling ''gh'' was at first used almost exclusively before ''e'' or word-finally but began to spread to other positions, notably before ''i''. It did not indicate a different pronunciation but was part of an orthographic pattern seen in many other parts of Europe. Furthermore, in early western traditions of MLG, sometimes ''ch'' was used for {{IPA|/ɡ/}} in all positions, even word-initially.
** Coda {{IPA|/ɡ/}} was mostly spelled ''ch'' because it completely merged with historic {{IPA|/h/}} (see below).
* After nasals and as a geminate, {{IPA|/ɣ/}} appeared as a stop {{IPA|[ɡ]}}, e.g. ''seggen'' "to say", ''penninghe'' "pennies". In contrast to modern varieties, it remained audible after a nasal. Pronouncing ''g'' word-initially as a stop {{IPA|[ɡ]}} is likely a comparatively recent innovation under High German influence.
** {{lang|gmh|gg(h)}} could be used for {{IPA|/ŋɡ/}} in older MLG, e.g. ''Dudiggerode'' for the town of [[:de:Düringerode|Düringerode]].
* {{IPA|/ɣ/}} was frequently dropped between sonorants (except after nasals), e.g. ''bormêster'' ([[burgomaster]], mayor) < ''bor'''ge'''rmêster''.
* {{IPA|/ɣ/}} was often epenthetised between a stressed and an unstressed vowel, e.g. ''nei'''g'''en'' (to sew) < Old Saxon ''*nāian'', or ''vrûghe'' (lady, woman) < Old Saxon ''frūa''. In Westphalian, this sound could harden into [g], e.g. ''eggere'' (eggs).
* {{IPA|/h/}} in the onset was a glottal fricative {{IPA|[h]}}, and it merged with historic {{IPA|/ɣ/}} in the coda (see above). Word-final {{IPA|/h/}} after consonant or long vowel was frequently dropped, e.g. ''hôch'' or ''hô'' (high). In a compound or phrase, it often became silent (''Willem'' < ''Wilhelm'' William).
** Onset {{IPA|/h/}} was written ''h'', while coda {{IPA|/h/}} = {{IPA|[ç~x]}} was mostly written ''ch'' but also {{lang|gmh|g(h)}} and the like because of its merger with {{IPA|/ɣ/}}.
* Coda {{IPA|/h/}} = {{IPA|[ç~x]}} frequently dropped between {{IPA|/r/}} and {{IPA|/t/}}, e.g. ''Engelbert'' (a first name) with the common component ''-bert'' < Old Saxon {{lang|gmh|-ber(a)ht}} (bright, famous). In unstressed syllables, it could also occur between a vowel and {{IPA|/t/}}, e.g. ''nit'' (not) < Old Saxon ''niowiht'' (not a thing).
** Often, ''h'' was used for other purposes than its actual sound value: to mark vowel length (see ''h''-spelling under "General Notes" above), to "strengthen" short words (''ghân'' to go), to mark a vocalic onset ({{lang|gmh|hvnsen}} our (infl.)) or vowel [[hiatus (linguistics)|hiatus]] (''sêhes'' (of the) lake).

'''Specific notes on approximants'''
* {{IPA|/j/}} was a palatal approximant and remained separate from {{IPA|[ʝ]}}, the palatal allophone of {{IPA|/ɣ/}}.
** It was often spelled ''g'' before front vowels and was not confused with ''gh'' = {{IPA|[ʝ]}}. The variant ''y'' was sometimes used (''yöget'' youth). 
* {{IPA|/r/}} was likely an alveolar trill {{IPA|[r]}} or flap {{IPA|[ɾ]}}, like in most traditional Low German dialects until recently. Post-vocalic {{IPA|/r/}} sometimes dropped, especially before {{IPA|/s/}}. 
* {{IPA|/l/}} was originally probably velarised, i.e. a "dark l" {{IPA|[ɫ]}}, at least in the coda, judging from its influence on surrounding vowels, but it was never extensively vocalised as Dutch {{IPA|/l/}} was. During the MLG era, it seems to have shifted to a "clear l" in many dialects and tended to be dropped in some usually unstressed words, especially in Westphalian, e.g., {{lang|gmh|as(se)}}, instead of {{lang|gmh|alse}} (as).