Abstract

Runic evidence shows that the phonemes r and palatal ʀ merged at an early date in West Norse. I argue here that skaldic poetry also comprises valid evidence of this merger and that there is no reas ...

Highlights

  • Old Norse distinguished between r which descended from IndoEuro­pean r, and a phoneme conventionally represented as ʀ, de­scended from Indo-European s voiced to z by Verner’s law

  • The exact reali­zation of ʀ is unknown but since it affected preceding vowels in the same way as i did (ʀ-mutation) it is often referred to as palatal r

  • For the period of transition, both the runic and the skaldic evidence is quite sparse but the two sources of data seem to be in harmony

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Summary

Introduction

Old Norse distinguished between r which descended from IndoEuro­pean r, and a phoneme conventionally represented as ʀ, de­scended from Indo-European s voiced to z by Verner’s law. The ʀ phoneme eventually merged with r in all the Nordic languages and is not represented in any surviving manuscript. It is, represented by a special symbol in runic writing, the ýr rune. Palatal ʀ is most common in inflectional endings, such as in kurmʀ : kunukʀ (Old Icelandic Gormr konungr) and tanmarkaʀ (Old Icelandic Dan­markar) on the older Jelling stone (DR 41). It is common in pro­ nouns such as þaiʀa (Sö 120 Skogshall; Old Icelandic þeira) and þaʀ (Ög 136 Rök; Old Icelandic þær).

Runic evidence
Skaldic poetry as a source
Interpretation of the skaldic evidence
Conclusion
Findings
Bjørneby and Valby Trå ladle Early Manx crosses Many inscriptions
Full Text
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