stigbreytingu
Stigbreytingu is a term used in Icelandic linguistics to describe a systematic alternation of a word’s phonetic form that accompanies inflection or derivation. The word combines stig, meaning step or grade, with breyting, meaning change. In practice, stigbreytingu refers to recurring stem changes that occur across different inflected forms, such as various cases, numbers, or tenses. The phenomenon is primarily historical: many patterns are found in Old Norse and early Icelandic, and while some traces remain in modern Icelandic, others have disappeared or been reduced. It is nonetheless important for understanding the language’s phonology and its development within the Nordic language group.
The mechanisms of stigbreytingu are variable. In some contexts the root or stem changes its consonants or
Scholars study stigbreytingu through historical-comparative methods, examining older texts, etymologies, and inflected forms to reconstruct the
Stigbreytingu is one of several processes illustrating how phonology and morphology influence each other in Icelandic