Ablaut

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Ablaut \Ab"laut\, n. [Ger., off-sound; ab off + laut sound.]
     (Philol.)
     The substitution of one root vowel for another, thus
     indicating a corresponding modification of use or meaning;
     vowel permutation; as, get, gat, got; sing, song; hang, hung.
     --Earle.


     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  ablaut
       n : a vowel whose quality or length is changed to indicate
           linguistic distinctions (such as sing sang sung song)