>Low German, like English, unlike Dutch and High German, has lost the
>ppp ge-.
>
>Torsten
In Oberdeutsch "ge-" is much weaker than in Hochdeutsch; at least
AFA Bavarian is concerned (between Augsburg & beyond Vienna, to
Pannonia).
Cf.:
http://www.bayrisch-lernen.de/grammatik/grammatik.html
Plosive und Obstruenten im Wortanlaut (p,t,k,b,d,g und z [ts])
verhindern die Präfigierung mit 'ge-' beim Partizip Perfekt:
p- Inf. plärrn Part. Perf. plärrt
t- Inf. dringa Part. Perf. drunga
k- Inf. kocha Part. Perf. kochd
b- Inf. bschdein Part. Perf. bschdeid
d- Inf. duschn Part. Perf. duschd
g- Inf. gem Part. Perf. gem
z- Inf. zupfa Part. Perf. zupfd
These spellings aren't quite good renderings for the real
pronunciation (which in turn may also differ depending on regions).
Of course, such final -d's as above are actually [t]: "bschdeid"
[b'Stejt]. So: [ple&t, druN&, koxt, bStejt, duSt, gem, tsupft]
cf. Hochdeutsch: geplärrt, gedrungen, gekocht, bestellt, geduscht,
gegeben, gezupft.
A few lines further, the Bavarian variant of "gehabt" is stated as
"ghabt". But this is some fifty-fifty: 50% Hochdeutsch still.
The actual Partizip-Perfekt variant is [kopt], "ge-" shrinks
to a mere [k]. Also compare "gesagt, gegessen": [ksokt, ksoxt],
[ge(:)sn].
Look a bit farther and you see the participle perfect "do(&)"
and infinitive "doa" [do:&], i.e. getan "done", tun "do".
"Ich habe getan" => "I hob do(a)". (But "wir tun": "mi& tean/dean".)
OTOH, there are situations where "ge-" (or its shrunken variants
[k] or [g]) is used in an unusual way for High German standards:
"[gfrait mi]" vs "es freut mich". :)
George