Why does OE endleofan have "d"?
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2Is there a particular reason why it shouldn't? – Draconis Jun 19 '20 at 22:56
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1@Draconis as far as I know the first part means one, OE an – user44264 Jun 19 '20 at 23:11
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1Ah, so you're asking why there's a /d/ in there, when it's a compound of two roots that don't contain /d/? That's entirely answerable, but I'd suggest editing that into your question. – Draconis Jun 20 '20 at 01:59
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Should be asked at [english.se] instead. – curiousdannii Jun 20 '20 at 04:03
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2@curiousdannii Does ELU handle Old English questions? I thought they were mostly focused on Modern English, and the /d/ has disappeared in the modern language. – Draconis Jun 20 '20 at 04:44
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@Draconis Yep they do. https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/tagged/old-english – curiousdannii Jun 20 '20 at 04:49
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It's only a partial answer : I'm not sure about the why but I can give some details about the history of endleofan.
You're right when you say the /d/ is recent:
"[In Proto-Germanic] 'eleven' and 'twelve' were compounds *aina-lif- [...] and *twa-lif- [...the] litteral meanings must originally have been *'one left over', *'two left over', but even the etymology of the second part is unclear"
(Don Ringe, 2008, From Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Germanic, p. 205 (chapter 3, §3.4.5.ii))
The /d/ appeared in some dialects (e.g. in West-Saxon), not in all Old English dialects:
"11. en(d)lefan, endleofan; Ru.¹ enlefan; Li. once ællef [...]"
Campbell, 1974, Old English Grammar, §478 (p.282, chapter XVI)
Ru.¹ stands for a Mercian text (Rushworth Gospels)
Li stands for the Lindisfarne Gospels, circa +715
The /d/ consonant is an epenthetic consonant which facilitates the pronunciation of /nl/. This sound transformation belongs to the so-called "intrusion of consonants":
"Intrusion of consonants occurs in a few forms only."
"ml > mbl:" [...]
"mt > mpt:" [...]
"nl > ndl: W-S endleofan [...] beside enlefan"
"nr > ndr:"
"sl > stl:" [...]
"sn > stn:" [...]
"ls > lts:" [...]
(Campbell, 1974, Old English Grammar, §478 (p.192, chapter IX))
But why was this sound added?
I'm not 100% sure but I can quote what Gaston Zink explained about the appearance of a /b/ in the Latin word 'núm(e)rum' > French 'nombre' (my translation);
"The energetic articulation required by this unusual sequence on both side of the syllabic border [i.e. in numrum] then leads to a break in the plosive consonant: by anticipating the tension necessary for /r/, the finale of /m/ becomes stronger instead of weaker and becomes de-nasalized (under effort, the uvula rises again); the segmentation produces a /b/ that, with /r/, forms an explosive sequence."
(Gastin Zink, 1986, Phonétique historique du français, pp. 45-46, text slightly modified)
[original text : see note a]
For endleofan, please notice that /n/ and /d/ are both dental consonants. The same reasoning applies to this word.
[note a]
"L'articulation énergique que requiert cet enchaînement insolite de part et d'autre de la frontière syllabique [numrum] entraîne alors une brisure de la consonne implosive : par anticipation de la tension nécessaire pour le /r/, la finale de /m/ se renforce au lieu de s'atténuer et se désanalise (sous l'effort, la luette se relève); la segmentation produit un /b/ propre à former avec /r/ une suite explosive."
(Gastin Zink, 1986, Phonétique historique du français, pp. 45-46; text slightly modified)
suizokukan
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Why do you think it's partial though? You addressed the most important issues, "The /d/ consonant is an epenthetic consonant which facilitates the pronunciation of /nl/" and "The /d/ appeared in some dialects (e.g. in West-Saxon), not in all Old English dialects" - and that's all that matters. – Alex B. Jun 20 '20 at 16:08
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@AlexB. : this sound change appears in a certain context, for example related to the position of the tonic accent. I don't know the exact phonetic value of the word endleofan, hence my cautious remark. Feel free to complete my answer! – suizokukan Jun 20 '20 at 16:35