Umlaut and Secondary Umlaut in Old High German

The most important vocalic sound-change of Old High German is the i-umlaut, usually referred to simply as umlaut. Its importance lies in its creation of a whole series of new sound units, which are still preserved in Modern Standard German, as well as in its structural similarity to certain sound-changes that occurred in practically all the other Germanic languages and are assumed for a period preceding the earliest OHG sources. It is the purpose of this article to deal particularly with some still controversial aspects of umlaut: the role of consonants in umlaut itself and in the so-called secondary umlaut (Sekunddirumlaut); the geographic distribution of umlaut and its spread; and its often misunderstood chronology.1 I. THE ORIGIN OF UMLAUT AND SECONDARY UMLAUT