Key to Phonological and Morphological Markers

Where regular, predictable phonological or morphological correspondences between Old English and Old Norse suggest that the form of a Middle English word is better explained by input from Old Norse than by a plausible parallel development in Old English, the applicable marker or markers are indicated under the Phonological and Morphological Markers heading. These short-hand references summarise major points of divergence (although not always unambiguous) between the two languages from their common Proto-Germanic ancestor. It should be noted that the list here is by no means exhaustive, but limited to the criteria applicable to the corpus of words considered here. The evidence for these correspondences is discussed at length in Dance (see esp. 82–113, with references), and his § numbering is noted below.

ON /ei/ < PGmc */ai/ [Dance §1]:
PGmc */ai/ > VAN /ɑi/, (later) /ɛi/, giving late ME /ai/, in contrast to ME /ɔ:/ or /a:/ (or shortened /a/) < OE /ɑ:/

ON /au/ < PGmc */au/ [Dance §2]:
PGmc */au/ > VAN /ɑu/, (later) /ɔu/, giving late ME /au/ or /o:/ in contrast to ME /ɛ:/ (/e/ or /a/ when shortened) < OE /æ:ɑ/

ON /ey/ < PGmc /*/au/ by front mutation [Dance §3]:
PGmc */au/ + front mutation > VAN /ɛy/, (later) /øy/, giving ME /ai/, in contrast to ME forms < Angl OE /e:/

ON /ɑ:/ < PGmc /*/e:/(1) [Dance §4]:
PGmc */e:/1 > VAN /ɑ:/, giving ME /ɔ:/ or /a:/ (or shortened /a/) in contrast to ME /e:/ (/e/ or /a/ when shortened) or /o:/ before nasals < Angl OE /e:/, WS /æ:/ (OE ǣ1)

ON /y:/ < PGmc /*/iu/ by front mutation [Dance §5]:
PGmc */iu/ > VAN /y:/, giving ME /i:/, /y/ or /e/, in contrast to ME /e:/ (or rounded reflexes) < Angl OE /e:o/ (< /i:o/)

I-mutation:
An ON variant produced i-mutation in contrast to OE formations where the effects of mutation are not visible

Syncope [Dance §6.2]:
The absence of lightly-stressed vowels corresponds with VAN forms in contrast to their presence in the same position in OE

Syncope (and failure of front mutation) [Dance §6.2]:
Shows failure of i-mutation after a light root syllable, perhaps as a side-effect of syncope in (pre-)VAN

/y/ < ON /y/ [Dance §6.3]:
PGmc */we/ > */wi/ (by front mutation) > VAN /y/ in contrast to ME /u/ < OE /wu/

Lack of breaking of OE root vowel:
The absence of breaking in VAN in contrast to OE (if they represent the same PGmc stem) corresponds with the vocalism of a ME form

ON fricative */ð/ < PGmc /ð/ [Dance §7]:
Non-initial PGmc */ð/ > VAN /ð/, giving ME /ð/ in contrast to /d/ < OE /d/

Absence of palatalization of */g/ [Dance §8.2]:
PGmc */ɡ/ > VAN /ɡ/, giving ME /ɡ/ and /ɣ/ (> /w/) in contrast to ME /j/ and (after nasals and when geminated) /dʒ/ < OE in front environments

Absence of palatalization of */k/ [Dance §8.1]:
PGmc */k/ > VAN /k/, giving ME /k/ in contrast to ME /tʃ/ < OE in front environments

Absence of palatalization of */sk/ [Dance §8.3]:
PGmc */sk/ > VAN /sk/, giving ME /sk/ in contrast to ME /ʃ/ < OE in most environments

Sharpening of ON /ggw/ < PGmc */ww/ [Dance §9]:
PGmc */ww/ > VAN /ɡɡw/, giving ME /ɡ/ in contrast to ME forms in vowels, diphthongs or semi-vowels < OE 

Dissimilation of ON /mn/ > /fn/ [Dance §10.2]:
PGmc */mn/ > VAN /fn/, giving ME /vn/ rather than retaining /mn/

Dissimilation of ON */nan/ > /ðan/ [Dance §10.2]:
Perhaps (pre-)VAN /n…n/ (< PGmc */n/ + adv. –an) resulted in /ð…n/ by dissimilation, giving ME /ð …n/ rather than retaining /n…n/

ON /ðð/ < /dd/ [Dance §10.3.1]:
PGmc */ð…ð/ > VAN /ðð/ by syncope, giving ME /d/ in contrast to OE */d…d/

ON loss of initial */w/- before /r/ [Dance §10.3.2]:
PGmc */wr/- > VAN /r/-, giving ME /r/ in contrast to ME /wr/ < OE

ON loss of initial */w/- before /l/ [Dance §10.3.2]:
PGmc */wl/- > VAN /l/-, giving ME /l/ in contrast to ME /wl/ < OE

Loss of nasal consonant in ON [Dance §11.1]:
PGmc */m/ in final position is lost in VAN (with compensatory lengthening of the preceding vowel), in contrast to ME /m/ from /m/ retained in OE

Loss of */w/ medially and compensatory lengthening [Dance §12.3]:
PGmc */w/ lost medially in VAN with compensatory lengthening of the preceding vowel, in contrast to ME forms affected by retained OE /w/

ON /ɑ:/ < PGmc */anx/ [Dance §6.1]:
PGmc */anx/ > VAN /ɑ:/, giving ME /ɔ:/ or /a:/ (or shortened /a/) in contrast to ME /o:/ from OE /o:/

ON loss of /x/ medially [Dance §11.2]:
PGmc */x/ lost medially in VAN in most environments, in contrast to ME [x] from the retained consonant in OE

ON loss of /x/ finally [Dance §11.2]:
PGmc */x/ lost stem-finally in VAN, in contrast to ME [x] from the (sometimes) retained consonant in OE

ON nominal –r [Dance §13]:
PGmc *-z is retained as VAN inflexional –r (rhotacized –R), giving ME /(ə)r/ in contrast to native cognates where the ending was either lost in OE or never present

ON reflexive pers. pronominal dative sg. –r < PGmc *–z [Dance §13.3]:
PGmc *-z is retained in the dative singular of the first, second and reflexive personal pronouns of VAN (rhotacized –R), giving ME /(ə)r/ in contrast to native cognates where the ending was lost in OE

ON adjectival (adverbial) –t [Dance §13.4]:
VAN had *-t as the nominative and accusative strong neuter adjective ending, which was also used to form adverbs on adjectives, giving ME /t/ in contrast to forms from OE where this ending did not occur

ON middle voice –sk [Dance §15]:
PGmc *sek(e) (the accusative singular reflexive pronoun) developed in VAN into a middle voice ending –sk in the second and third person singular and the third person plural, giving ME /sk/, in contrast to OE, which had neither this grammatical category nor the ending

ON consonant cluster assimilation [Dance §10.1]:
A range of consonant clusters, some created by syncope, were subject to assimilatory changes in VAN, which did not occur in OE

Sharpening  of ON /ggj/ < PGmc* /jj/ [Dance §9]:
PGmc */jj/ > VAN /ɡɡj/, giving ME /ɡ/ in contrast to ME forms in vowels, diphthongs or semi-vowels < OE 

Metathesis:
Metathesis of the PGmc sequence */r/ + vowel (unusually) occurred in VAN where the OE cognate preserved the original sequence

Absence of metathesis [Dance §12.1]:
VAN generally preserved PGmc sequences of */r/ + vowel in contrast to the (unsystematic) tendency in OE for metathesis

Absence of i-mutation:
PGmc variants without i-mutation are generalised in ON, giving ME /u/ in contrast to OE which generalised the i-mutated form

ON adverbial comparative –r < PGmc *-iz [Dance §13.4]:
The PGmc comparative adverbial ending *-iz is retained as VAN –r (rhotacized –R), giving ME /(ə)r/ (insofar as it can be distinguished from native morphemic material) in contrast to native cognates where the ending was lost in OE 

ON /jo:/ < /*/eu/ by shifting stress in diphthong [Dance §6.4b]:
The systematic stress-shift from /eu/ (< PGmc) to /jo:/ in late VAN diphthongs gives ME /jo:/, /ju:/ where some variant forms without stress-shift might be expected from OE

ON lowering of */i/ > /e/ before assimilated nasal:
PGmc */i/ lowered to /e/ in VAN before an assimilated nasal consonant, giving ME /e/ (though lowering of /i/ > /e/ also occurred as a native development)

Absence of back mutation of */i/:
VAN retained PGmc */i/ before a back vowel, giving ME /i/ in contrast ME /e/ from the back mutation of OE /i/ (/eo/< /io/) which gave ME /e/ 

ON loss of */w/ before rounded vowel [Dance §12.2]

ON fracture of */e/ and shift of stress in diphthong */ea/ > /ja/:
Fracture of PGmc */e/ to */ea/ occurred when */a/ was present in the following syllable. The stress then shifted to the first element of the originally falling diphthong giving ON /ia/ (see e.g. Noreen §85) in contrast to OE, in which PGmc */e/ was retained and subject to a variety of other changes depending on the dialect and following consonants.

Absence of WGmc consonant gemination [Dance §12.4]