Editing Middle Dutch (section)

===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).