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I know that there exist some verbs which were formed in Proto-Germanic by adding the causative marker -ja- to nouns or adjectives, such as these pairs:

However, I'm not too sure about how those evolved from the original word until now. I supposed it is related to I/J-Mutation. http://www.etymonline.com/imutate.php

Could you please explain it properly?

tchrist
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Manuel G P
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    What do you mean by adding -jan? – iBug Jul 29 '17 at 13:56
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    Are you sure 'tale-tell' and 'hale-heal' are in the same pattern as the others? – marcellothearcane Jul 29 '17 at 14:13
  • You should please explain what you meant by "adding -jan" because that does not seem to quite make sense as worded. You'll find that there are plenty more sets where those come from, like how the noun hood and the verb heed both derive from PIE kadh-* meaning to shelter or cover, and which also gave us hat. And the noun gloom and the verb gleam both derive from PIE gʰel-* meaning to glow. But I'm not sure the noun precedes the verb. – tchrist Jul 29 '17 at 15:57
  • @marcellothearcane For tale, tell yes there are, but not hale, heal that I can tell. – tchrist Jul 29 '17 at 16:01
  • @tchrist thanks for the edit clarifying what the question was. I didn't realise that 'tale' derives from 'tell' – marcellothearcane Jul 29 '17 at 16:05
  • @marcellothearcane That's not quite how it worked, but both share a common ancestor in PIE *del- meaning to reckon or count. Talk is also part of that constellation — but not (so far as I can see) tally, which is from Latin talea for a rod or stick. – tchrist Jul 29 '17 at 16:06
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    I added links to etymonline for ease of comparison. I'd suggest further etymological research in other Germanic languages (eg German and Swedish) to see how they dealt with the sound change, because other sound changes may have gotten in the way (feeding or bleeding order). – Mitch Jul 29 '17 at 16:29
  • The phenomenon (what happened) seems to be just vowel fronting, at least in English. – Mitch Jul 29 '17 at 16:30
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    You're right that i-mutation is indeed what happened here. Could you specify more precisely *what* about the development of these verbs it is that you want to know about? As it stands, it's rather broad. If you apply the regular outcome of i-mutation and get rid of the causative -*ja- marker (which was regularly lost), you more or less end up with the forms that we actually have. (I've edited your question to make it clear that *-ja- is Proto-Germanic, just so people don't think it's supposed to be English and vote to close your question as unclear.) – Janus Bahs Jacquet Jul 29 '17 at 16:50
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    I take it you have already read the Wikipedia article which discusses these Germanic causatives? – Janus Bahs Jacquet Jul 29 '17 at 16:54
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    There are plenty of effects of yodated causatives. One of them, prominent in these examples, is the normal Germanic phenomenon of Umlaut. The /j/ of the causative suffix palatalized consonants and fronted vowels, as [j] always does. – John Lawler Jul 29 '17 at 17:43
  • See also Professor Lawler’s answer to this question about causatives. – tchrist Jul 29 '17 at 21:58

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